OHINEMURI COUNTY.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 4972, 10 May 1926, Page 4

OHINEMURI COUNTY.

MONTHLY COUNCIL MEETING. routine business. The monthly meeting of the Ohinemuri County Council was held bn Thursday afternoon last, the chairman (Cr. W. F. Johnstone) presiding over the following: Crs. G. H. Morgan, A. R. Robinson, F. C. Hubbard, A. D. McGuire, C. Hands;, H. M. Corbett, R. R. Morrison, O. E. Mace, and Messrs R. W. Evans (clerk) and E. Shaw (engineer). CRIITERION BRIDGE. The district engineer, Public Works Department, lyrote acknowledging the agreement made between the Paeroa Borough Council and the Ohinemuri County Council to find the sum df £3o'oo towards' the cost of erecting the Criterion Bridge over the Ohinemuri River ,at Paeroa in the proportion of, Paeroa Borough £1650 and Ohinemuri County £1350. The council was asked to pass a resolution agreeing to pay the sum in two yearly instalments'. The following resolution was, carried : “That this council agrees to contribute the. sum of £1350 in two equal yearly instalments, namely, £675 on May 6, 1927, and £675 on May 6, 1928.”

ROAD DEVIATION. ' The Public Works 'resident en‘gineer forwarded a plan of the WaihiWhangamata road, showing the proposed deviation to give access to the P.ara.kawai Stream bridge. The consent of the council, to the deviation was required, and l the plan would then be forwarded to the Commissioner of Crown ‘ Lands for hisf consent, which would complete) the preliminary • .arrangeihents) enabling legislation. . . I NGAHINA BRIDGE.

In connection with the. Ngahina bridge over the Waihou River at the, Puke, the resident engineer wrote as follows•

“Ab inspection of this bridge was recently made, and it was found that the steel swing span requires immediate attention. The steel has become, very rusty, and should be well scraped and steel brushed to remove all rus,t from steel and angle irons; It should then receive two coats of paint.; It, was also found that the bolts in the woodwork right through the bridge require screwing up. Some (f them, in fajet, are ,three-eighths df. an inch from being up. The ends of the corbels’ are splitting badly, should receive a coat of paint or tar. The. top of the deck over the whole length of the bridge requires, cleaning, especially between the traffic planks arid th’e whel guards, where there is at. present ,a considerable; deposit of mud, which will quickly deteriorate .the structure. I Svould be pleased i'f you wquld take this matter , in hand at your earliest convenience, this work being a, fair charge, against annual subsidy for highways maintenance.” ,

The chairman said that the. work was required, and was urgent. The cost, would *be borne by the Hauraki Plains County- Council one-quarter, the. Ohinemuri County Council onequarter, and the Main Highways, Board one-half. '

It was resolved to put the Work in hand' ; immediately, provided’ the Hauraki Plains County Council was prepared to contribute: its share of the cost. , , STOP-BANK ROAD.

In answer to Or. McGuiire the chairman said that the stop-lbank roa4 at the Puke was under the. control of the Public Works Department, and' had not yet been hancted- over to |he council. ‘

Or; McGuire : move/dl that ' the department be asked toj> carry out. inuclineeded repairs. . In iseconaing, CivHubbard said that the 'road was fast'getting into a depiprable state! and it was ifully time some repair work wasi done; CLOSING OF iROAD. ' The Under-Secretary, Public Works Department, forwarded the statutory proclamation relative to closing a,portion of road- in Block VIII., Waitoa survey district, adjoining Fitzgerald’s. ' HOSPITAL LEVY. The Thame's Hospital Board forwarded ,a statement of the estimated l ’revenue and expenditure of the board for the year r 1926-27. . The council’s contributin’a wfas shown as £1147 15s sd, being ..409din the £ on a,, valuation of £6'73,750. HIKUTAIA STREAM BRIDGE. The T hames County engineer wrote, with ’reference to the Hikutaia Streemti bridge, drawing attention to the need of providing traffic plankinr* for the decking of the HikutaiaN ettierton road bridge. Also the need, f.or repairs to the< metalling on the. . concrete bridge south of Hikutaia. The council was asked to have, the work undertaken, ha,lf the cost to be borne ’ by the respective councils. — Agreed to. • ’ « LOAN OF £1150.? With reference to the council’s application for a loan of £ll5O, the Public Trustee forwarded the necessary forme: for completion,, and advised that in the event of the loan be-

ing made it, would be for a period of /36% years' at six per 'cent, plus one per cent, sinking fund. The chairman explained tha ( t the application was in connection with the Mataura special rating area. Cr. Hands said .that he was afraid the rate olf interest Was too high for the few settlers concerned. The’ matter was deferred for one month to enable the riding member to make inquiries as; ,to the rate the settlers could reasonably pay. • REDUCTION OF RENT. The Imperial Gold Mining Co., Ltd., applied for a reduction of rent on properties- owned by the company at Karangaha,ke to 2s 6d an acre, which was granted last year.—Granted. HOUMANGA ROAD. A resident of Waihi with property on Houmanga Road, Waihi Plains, wrote drawing attention to the urgent need for repairs to the road, especially from Richard’s property to the lower corner. The writer claimed that little had been done to the road, and the amount of rates paid each year was out of all proportion to the amount expended on maintenance work. I

The engineer explained that he had done all that wa f s necessary for a clay road. It had been graded and formed up, and was quite a good. road. REQUEST FOR CONTRIBUTION 1 . Messrs Thorp Bros., Paeroa, on behalf of the settlers, in the vicinity of the Kauoiti stream, applied for at contribution towards the cost of clearing the stream of debris. It was pointed out that the work had already been undertaken by the settlers in the area.

The chairman said th,at four years; ago the council had contributed £25 towards cleaning the drain. The applicants) had offered to contribute about £lOO towards the work. As, the stream was practically the outlet for the Rotokohu swamp he thought that the Public Works Department, through the Prime Minister, might be. approached with a 'request that one of the department’s dredging manchines be, used on the work. It was, resolved that £25 be. granted in the meantime, and that, steps be ta,ken to approach the Prime is’ter on the matter .during his visit to Paeroa.

NETHERTON FERRY. , Cr. McGuire asked what had . been done in connection with .the; Hikutaia and Netherton ferries question. The chairman replied that the ratepayers in the Netherton riding of the Thames Counts’ had de'cided to take a poll on the question. During the month the chairman isald that he had heard of a firm at Kopu having a punt for sale. He. had advised the chairman- of the Hauraki Plains County Council of the matter, and Cr, J. C. Miller, he believed, had inspected trie punt and agreetr to take it. Sub-sequently-the Hauraki Plains County engineer had inspected the punt and had come to the conclusion that it wa.s- not worth moving on account of the fittings that would be required to niake it suitable for Netherton. Mr Shaw' hgd also made inquiries, and had learned .that the punt would only be leased until, May 12. .The counties concerned were now awaiting the result of the, poll at Hikutaia before moving further in the matter. The chairman added .that the Hauraki Plains County would lose no time in authorising a new punt if necessary once the decision was ■known. I OLD TEAROHA ROAD. The. chairman, mentioned that 40 ya,rds of metal were required to complete the work on the Old Te Arolia Road; near the long swamp. There were also several, water-tables crossing the road th,at required to be lifted. He moved that authority be given the engineer to pnoieed witli .the work. Seconded' by Cr. Robinson, and carried; KAIMANAWA RIDING ROADS. Cr. Morrison said that there were a number of roads in the Kaimanawa. riding that required attention. He suggested that an extra man should be employed, and the. surfaceman’s Cottage be occupied. The engineer said that the recommendation would be given effect to as ' soon as. crushing operations at Komata were discontinued. " ' FINANCE. During, the month the receipts to the County Fund totalled £1689 Is 3d. Accounts amounting, to £1312 6s|-3d on that fund were passed for payment.