Waitomo County Council.

King Country Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 99, 18 September 1908, Page 4

Waitomo County Council.

A meeting of the Waitomc County Council was held in ;Mr E. Kerr's commercial room, Te Kaiti on September 11th. There' were present Councillors Lusk (chairman), N. I. Hunt, Crmsby, Scholes, Johnston, and Gregg. Leave 01 absence was granted to Cr Loveday. Correspondence: Mr H. Hine wrote offering a site for a council office; also with regard to the appointment of a soilcitor to the council. The Minister for Railways, wrote intimatng that there was no intention to alter the published time table of the Main Trunk line express. The Secretary to the Treasury in connection with the Mangarimo loan. The Chief Stock Inspector regarding the granting of a slaughtering license to Mr Albrccht'sen. .C. J. Riddle, as to the position of settlers under the Bush and Swamp Act, with regard to voting at an election of councillors. . R. C. Jordan requesting permission to erect a sign board in Sheridan Street. A. Barnett, offering to purchase portion of a road reserve; also requesting permission to lay a small water .main to the butter factory,' sand dig a well and plant trees on.'the" esplanade. ~ J. • R. the th.i rds; in the.. Mairoa. riding;.-; ahd extending the county boundaries tp;jnclude Mangaotaki. J. C. Crean, refences' abstracting" "a road'at Otorohanga. A. Blackman, regarding the; state of Queen Street, Te 'Kuiti. F.-J. Danks-With reference to the road between Kio Kio Station and the creamery.

Proposed new road at Te Kuiti: Mr C. Cornish waited on the Council and on behalf-of the Mangaorino settlers requested that a road should be opened up through Mr Boddie's property to connect the Mangarino road with a road surveyed through Messrs Green and Colebrook's property. Mr Cornish explained that the proposed road would shorten the distance to the top of the Mangaorino road by at least a mile, ?.r.d drew attention to the fact that the present road round by the river was liable to flood. The settlers proposed that the piece of road reserve applied for. by Mr Boddie should be given in exchange for the road proposed to /be taken through that gentleman's property. Mr Boddie said he offered no objection to putting a road through his property providing it did- not come, too close to his house.—On the motion of Cr.Ormsby seconded by Cr Johnston it was decided to defer the matter, until next meeting and the County Engineer was instructed to grade a road as suggested in the meantime. Road through Native Land: Mr Boddie holder of section 2, Te Kuiti, No. 2 B, requested the council to take steps to have a road laid off to give access to his and other*sections in the neighbourhood. Mr Boddie intimated his willingness to pay for the survey of the road to his property.. The applicant,stated that the position was serious arid was only typical of mariy cases in the county. He hoped the Council would do something to establish a precedent in the public interesjt. Cr Ormg- : -the proposal and liibved that the Engineer be instructed to report fully on the best route to give access to section 2j Te Kuiti, >No. 28, and other sections in the neighbourhood. Cr Johnston seconded the motion which wa3 carried.

Mr T. Burd District Road Engineer, waited on the Council regarding the necessity of «a bylaw dealing with the trespass of animals on roads. He pointed out that the nuisance was a serious one, especially with regard to pigs, and although action could be taken under the "Public Works Act," it was advisable that the Council should have a by-law dealing with the matter.—The Chairman, on behalf of the Council undertook that the matter would receive attention and thanked Mr Burd for his suggestion. County Office Site: Consideration of Mr'Hine's offer was deferred until next meeting, as. was .the letter regarding the appointing" of a Solicitor to the County. . '

Mangaorino Loan:. The Secretary to the Treasury wrote pointing out. the course to adopt in order to validate the application for the jpoan.—lt was decided to. make a fresh Special' Order. Bush and Swamp Settlers: With regard to the position of settlers undetf the 'Bush and Swamp Act," it was pointed but that - ratepayers or those who were eligible to become ratepayers, could by applying to the County Clerk have their names placed- on- the County roll at any time. - Street Signboard: It was decided to grant Mr Jordan's application for permission to erect a sign board in Sheridan Street, subject to removal when requested by the Council. Road Fence at Otorohanga: The Councillor for the riding was authorised to see to the removing of the <3bj struc£iiig'fenee complained of byoMr Crean. : i. p .-. V'v Purchase of Road' R'tiserVe': Mr Barnett's application for the purchase of a road reserve at Te Kuiti was held' over until next Council meeting- Regarding Mr Barnett's application with respect to' a water main and- ; well-, the matter was left in the hands of Cr Ormsby with power to actCounty Extension: Cr Hunt said he understood the matter of extending the boundaries to include Mangaotaki, had been left in the hands of the settlers to take action. —It was decided to authorise the Chairman to attend to the matter when in Yv r eliington, providing the application from the settlers has been sent in.

Te Kuiti Streets : With reference to the application of A. Blackman for repairs to streets, it was deicdecl that in view of the small amount to the credit of the riding fund nothing could be done at present.

Kio Kio Road: In supporting the application for draining and repairing Kio Kio road, Cr Gregg said that there was a sum of about •£J!.'.O in accrued thirds available for the work, which was absolutely necessary, in order to provide means of transit between the railway and the creamery. lie moved that the Engineer be instructed to carry out the wol - K to the amount of funds available and that he draw out specifications to be placed before the Council at next meeting. Seconded by Cr Scholes and carried.

Otorohanga Road: Cr Gregg drew attention to Mr Matthews' application

for an additional.sum to be expended in giving road access to his property at Oterphanga. , The matter had come before the Council at last meeting, when the amount of £7 had been authorised to be expended under the supervision of the Engineer. The sum mentioned was insufneient and he proposed that tye available thirds up to £u be granted for the work.--Seconded by Cr Johnston and carried. Te Kuiti Street Obstruction : Attention was drawn to the obstruction caused by a verandah belonging to Messrs Cotter in Rora Street, Te Kuiti and it was decided to notify the owners to remove the obstruction within 21 days from the date of the notice. It-was also resolved to instruct the Clerk to notify owners of property with houses and fences encroaching on the Esplanade, to remove the fences forthwith, and to provide for removing the buildings within a reasonable time. Hutiwai Road : Cr Johnston was authorised to expend up to £5 in clearing slips on the Hutiwai road between Tapuae junction and Mr Nixon's property. - .-, , —Engineer's Report.—

Since the last'meetingjof the Council most of the bad places on the Otoro-hanga-Pirongia road have been repaired, and all, the' others should be finished next weetk. Before the road can be kept in anyhting like good order during the winter months it will be necessary to put in a great number of culverts, The? bridge. across the creek in King-Street is finished, and the bank in the same street has been made up with pumice, but, just after it was finished, and before it had time to settle, we had a very • heavy downpour which washed away part of the bank, and the approach to the bridge. The bank is now hard and not likely to be again effected by the rain. The timber for the culvert and bridge at Otorohanga has been delivered. I received a letter from Mr Danks, of Kio Kio, saying that on the road from Kio Kio Railway Station to the creamery, some of the culverts were rotten and dangerous, also, that some of the culverts,were:too high to allow the settlers carry on their drainage work. After inspecting the road I found the work which was urgently required, was two'new sets of pipes, and the lowering of four culverts. So I gave instructions to have this done at once. Since then I hear one or two accidents have happened. The piece of land Mr Boddie applied for between his section and the road, is never likely to be required, for. the road, and is much better occupied than left, as in time it would only become a harbour for noxious weeds. I have graded the road Mr H.. Matthews wrote about, and let him a contract for the formation. The twp men on the Arapae Road have been engaged most of the time making and cutting at the rock bluff, near the Mangapu, and making drains close to the Kfhi- Kihi stream. Two men have been engaged on the Tawarau road, putting in culverts in place of the bVoken bridges complained of by Mr Wier.