WAITOMO COUNTY COUNCIL.

King Country Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 105, 29 October 1908, Page 3

WAITOMO COUNTY COUNCIL.

A meeting of the V/aitomo County Council was held at To Kuiti on Monday last. There were prcrent: Council ion. l Lusk (Chairn-.ar;), K. I. Hunt, Ormsby, Scholes, Hcli'man, T. Hunt, Johnston and Gregg. ----Correspondence. • •

Letters were received J'rcro the i allowing:-- Lands Department re tnirds: Agricultural Department' accompanied by a Gazette extract notiJymg that African Boxthorn hat! I.nvn declared a noxious weed: A. Drv'tt. iiclliym.ty that he had met with an accident while employed by the Council on Tawarau road, and asking' icr compensation. —Chairman at Wellington. —

Major Lusk, who had been appointed by the Council at last meeting to pro? ceed to Wellington along with the deputation from the townships, gave an interesting summary of his work at the Empire city. In addition to waiting on the Government in connection with township and county affairs, numerous matters of detail were attended to.

—Mangaotaki Petition. — Attention was drawn to the position of the application by Mangoataki settlers to have their distirct included in the County boundaries. The Clerk stated that the instructions of the Department had been carried out, and a letter received some time ago intimated that the Department would attend to the matter, but up' to the present nothing further had been done. The Clerk was instructed to write urging the Department to give the matter prompt attention. —County Licenses. —

It was decided to exempt the Te Kuiti contractors' night cart from license fee.

—Mistaken Identity.—

Concerning a letter received from the Lands Department with reference to the expenditure of thirds on a road giving access to B. Van Houte's section, the Clerk stated he knew of no such person, and thought the letter had been sent to the wrong County. It was resolved to reply accordingly. —Tiroa Timber Agreements.—

An opinion was received from Mr Martin, solicitor to the Counties Association, stating that under the agreements Messrs Ellis and Burnand were not liable for rates in respect of the land affected.

—Mangaorino New Road.— Messrs Cornish, Boddie and Snowden waited on the Council and submitted a plan showing the proposed road through Mr Boddies' property, and requested the Counccil to convey to Mr Boddie the road reserve shown on the plan in exchange for the land taken by the new road. Mr Cornish stated that the settlers affected had agreed upon the matter and would be greatly benefitted by the completion of the road. Mr Boddie said that in the public interest he was glad to fall in with the proposal, providing the new road was fenced on both sides, and he was allowed to run a water pipe under the road to provide water for the 'section which would be cut off. It was understood the expenses were to be borne by the settlers. It resolved on the motion of Cr Ormsby seconded by Cr Scholes, that the Council, agree at the request of the settlers to give Mr Boddie a portion of the road reserve in front of section 3, block IV, in exchange for a road through the said section 3, the property of Mr Boddie. All expenses in connection with the transfer and fencing of the new road to be paid by the interested settlers. Mr Boddie to have the right to carry a water pipe beneath the road. —Road Through Native Land. —

The Engineer reported that he had run some grades on the Eastern side of the river towards Ahuroa. A good grade of about 1 in 15 could be obtained, and the road would be an important one. Cr Ormsby said he would like to see the road surveyed and graded. It would eventually be a main road and the Council shouldibear at least a portion of the expense. It was resolved to instruct the engineer to do the work of grading and surveying as far as the Kaingaika block. . >i>.„ —Green and Colebrook's Property.— Mr Darrow waited on the Council to learn the exact position with regard to the reading of the property, which had been cut up for sale. After considerable discussion it was resolved on the motion of Cr Ormsby, seconded by Cr Hoffman, that the Council inform Messrs Green and Colebrook that the Council will be satisfied to take over the roads through the lands proposed to be sold providing the main road, forming portion of the new Mangaorino road is metalled and the others formed to the satisfaction of the County Engineer.

—Road Reserve. — Mr T. Porter waited on the Council with an application to purchase a portion of the road reserve which adjoined his property at Te Kuiti. After discussing the question of road reserves and the desirability of selling or holding them it was resolved on the motion of Cr N. I. Hunt, seconded by Cr Hoffman, that Mr Porter be given permission to fence and use tne land during the pleasure of the Council, but that the Council did not see its way at present to sell. - -Mangaorino Loan. -

The special order confirming" the Mangaorino road loan was confirmed on the motion of Cr Ormsby, seconded by Cr N. I. Hunt. Speaking to the motion, Cr Scholes said he did not tnink any great diiliculty would be experienced in connection with the ivlangaorino road loan, Uir. settlers had in some cases good grounds for complaint. 'When a loan is projected the promoters usually represented that a subsidy was being' applied tor and was cenam to be granted. In this belief settlers were induced to support the project and when the loan was applied for it was found no subsidy was forthcoming. Cr Ormsby pointed out that in the case of the Mangaorino road the Government had done work to nearly the amount of the subsidy asked for, and would probably do considerably more. - Mairoa Loan. — Mr Travers presented a petition bearing twenty signatures, requesting that the Mairoa lean be annulled for the present on the following grounds : - 1. That the wishes of the ratepayers bad not been respected. 2. That the greater portion of the land through which the road would

pass was Native c.wshhl arid not liable to for rates. 3. That portion of the road between the railway and tiv angawhitikau river was. in another r:d;n;r and out of the jurisdiction of the rating area. •■!. It was not advisable to place metal on the road until the road was consolidated. 5. tt was the duty of the Government to make a, road to give aeo as tu the holding's. <5. That the grant of £IBOO was not. sufiicient to prepare the read for metal. 7. No competent disinterested person had estimated tiv cost of the we rk. S. The moneys for each particular road had not been allocated as stated in the "King Country Chronicle." It was pointed out to Mr Travels that expenses to a considerable amount had been incurred in connection with the loan, and he was asked if the settlers who wished to have it annulled would be willing to bear the expense. Mr Travers said the point had not been considered.. The Chairman, as member for the Mairoa Riding, explained the position of the loan. When the project was undertaken they were led to believe that a £ for £ subsidy would be granted. The expenditure of £7OOO was to be spread ove? two years and with the subsidy this would have amounted to £7OOO a year. When the settlers found that the subsidy was not forthcoming they were naturally indignant and a large number wished to throw up the idea. However, he had suggested holding over the matter until it was seen what treatment they got on the Estimates. The result now was that on this year's Estimates for the roads affected the amount voted aggregated £4COO, irrespective of three sums of £SOO each granted £ for £. Notwithstanding this a section of the settlors was now in opposition to the loan and the petition was the result. The fact that the conditions referred to in the petition were the same at the time the loan was projected indicated what weight attached to the arguments. Cr N. I. Hunt said the loan should be gone on with. The fact that the subsidy had not been directly granted was immaterial seeing that the grants totalled more than the subsidy asked for. Cr Hoffman said there was too much nonsense with regard to the loans. The Council should proceed with the application and not be made fools of. It was resolved that the petition be received. —Tumu Tumu Thirds.— With reference to an account of the Roads Department for £l7 the matter was left in the hands of Cr Johnston and the Clerk to settle. —Kio Kio Road. — Cr Gregg wished to know what had been done regarding the Kio Kio road. It was resolved that the Engineer be instructed to call for tenders for the work as soon as possible. —Willows at Te Kuiti. — Cr Ormsby said some of the residents wished to have willows on the river banks lopped, and he requested the perm'ssion of the Council for the purpose. It was left to Cr Ormsby to attend to. Obstructed Road. — With reference to the Esplanade at Otorohanga, Cr Gregg reported that, Mr Quinn had refused to remove his fence which obstructed the esplanade. It was r£ solved that the Council direct their workmen to remove the fence. —Waitewhena Telephone. — A letter was received from Mr A. Barnett, requesting permission for the Waitewhena Telephone Company to erect a line on the road between Kaeaea and Mangaroa. It was resolved to defer consideration of the matter pending further information as to the proposal. The Clerk was instructed to write to that effect, also stating that the Council wished to give every encouragement to such undertakings but required to be assured there was no risk to the public. In connection with the telephone proposal it was decided to obtain a legal opinion as to the liability of the Council in the event of accident due to private telephone lines being allowed on County roads. —Te Kuiti Town Loan. — A copy of the special roll was presented for the Chairman's signature, in order to complete the documents necessary in connection with the loan. —Workman's Compensation.— With regard to the injured workman on the Tawarau road it was decided to pay half wages from the time of the accident to the date of meeting. The next meeting of the Council was fixed for November 9th at 6.30 p.m.