WAITOMO COUNTY COUNCIL.

King Country Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 71, 28 February 1908, Page 3

WAITOMO COUNTY COUNCIL.

The usual monthly meeting of the Waitomo County Council was held at : Te Kuiti on Monday last. There were present: Messrs D. H. Lusk (Chairman), Ormsby, Loveday, John- ; ston, and Hoffman. Leave of absence was granted to Messrs N. I. Hunt, T. Hunt, Scholes ' and Williamson. DOG REGISTRAR. The tenders of A. Watts, for collecting the dog tax, and W. McNaught, for the supply of collars, were accepted. PEKANUI ROADS. ( A. J. Coffin wrote requesting the Council to urge the Roads Depart- J ment to expend all available money j on the Pekanui road. The writer j stated he understood there had been * £2OO or £250 voted on the Estimates, but nothing had been done. —It was decided to leave the matter with the Chairman and Cr Hoffman to deal with. RE-ADJUSTMENT OF RIDINGS. A, Kidd, of Aria, wrote enquiring as to when the County Ridings were to be re-adjusted.—lt was decided, on the motion of the Chairman, seconded by Cr Johnston, to reply to Mr Kidd that the question of re-adjustment would be dealt with before the general election in November next. DEPUTATION. Messrs Boddie and Steel, as representatives from the Te Kuiti Committee, waited on the Council for the purpose of urging the claims of certain roads of the district for inclusion among the necessitous roads, on which the projected special expenditure of £200,000 per annum, for five rears is to be made. Mr Boddie suggested that as the Premier would probably visit the district next month, it was important that proper steps should be taken to urge upon the Premier's notice the great necessity of certain roads in the district for special consideration. Mr Boddie referred specially to the [main Auck-land-Taranaki road, and the Te KuitiKawhia road through Gparure, and trusted the Council would strongly advocate their inclusion in the scheme, i he Te Kuiti residents intended to give prominence to the roads question when the Premier came through, and hoped thereby to strengthen the hand of the Council in the matter. The Chairman said the Council was pleased to have the co-operation of the town residents and would be glad to make strong representations to the Premier, with a view to giving effect to the suggestions made. The deputation then withdrew. The question of necessitous roads was then discussed, and, on the motion of the Chairman, seconded by Cr Hoffman, it was decided to recommend the Auckland-Taranaki road, Te Kuiti-Kawhia road, Ohura main road, and Kawa-Kawhia road for inclusion in the scheme outlined by the Premier. It was pointed out that all the roads mentioned were main thoroughfares, which served very large districts and formed the connection with the Main Trunk Railway. HAUTURU ROAD. Cr Hoffman applied for authority \o expend £8 in anticipation, of 'y£ceiyihg " t hu '■ P.ri' Mr Howe's, seer tion. The work was urgently necessary. —The authority asked for was granted. TE KUITI FOOTPATHS. Cr Qrmshy asked thatthe Council I should grant authority for the expenI diture of £4 in placing-a few loads of

gravel on the footpath of the main street.— The necessary authority was given.

TE KUITI RAILWAY CROSSING. Cr Ormsby reported that he had seen Inspector Sellars with reference to the Railway Department forming portion of King street at the railway crossing. Nothing definite had been arranged, and he was afraid the Department would not do much.

SANITARY PANS. Cr Ormsby drew attention to the fact that tenders for the supply of nightsoil pans closed on March Ist. He wished to be authorised to accept a tender. —The necessary authority was given. NIGHTSOIL CONTRACT.

The ; tender of J. M. Bird was accepted for the service, and it was decided to have a contract drawn up and signed. The service to commence as soon as the requisite arrangements could be made.

EXPENDITURE OF " THIRDS."

A letter was received from the Commissioner of Crown Lands drawing attention to the large amount of money which had accrued from " thirds " and " fourths " in the district, and for which no proposals had been made by the Council for expenditure.

Cr Loveday stated that the money referred to was from " thirds " in the Ohura riding. Before the Oh lira district had joined the Waitomo County he had interviewed the Commissioner of Crown Lands at New Plymouth in connection with the matter. He had learned that the " thirds " were being expended by the Roads Department, and had requested that the money should be kept in order to have a decent amount later, to enable the settlers either to do good work with it, or use it for paying interest and sinking fund on a loan. This had been done, and when in Wellington he (Mr Loveday) had brought the matter before the Minister for Public Works, who approved of the course. Mr Loveday expressed surprise at the action of the Commissioner, and wished the Council to protect the settlers in the matter.

The Chairman said that steps could be taken to have the money properly set aside to meet the interest -on future loans, and it was decided that the necessary action should be taken. FENCING A ROAI}. C. J. Randrup, agent for W. T. Hall, wrote requesting to erect a fence across Tetahi road—lt was decided to grant the permission on condition that the fence would be pulled down directly any objection was made thereto. NEXT MEETING. The date of next meeting was fixed for the third Monday in March.