OHURA COUNTY COUNCIL

King Country Chronicle, Volume IV, Issue 229, 29 January 1910, Page 5

OHURA COUNTY COUNCIL

The ordinary monthly meeting of the Ohura County Council was held at Mangaroa on Wednesday last. There were present: Crs Stevenson (chairSandison,' Risk, and Stuart. Nf The minutes of the previous meeting were confirmed, subject to amending of resolution 9.

—Correspondence. — Mangaroa Streets: A letter was received from the Minister of Lands with reference to the formation of streets in Mangaroa township, and stating that it was for the Minister of Public Works to arrange with the Council to have the work done. The chairman explained that before receiving the letter in question he had again written on the subject but had received no reply.—Letter received. Mangakara Road: A letter was read from the Department, stating that no funds were available for the Mangakara road bridges. Any unspent money will be made available when the Council submits proposals. The chairman said no other road in the County was so badly treated as Mangakara. Strong opinions were expressed by the Councillors regarding the manner in which the roads question was being handled by the Government, the prevailing idea being that the subject was being dallied with as long as possible, in order to avoid expending money this season.

Kiwi Street, Mangaroa: Mr C. Kibblewhite wrote requesting that when the streets of Mangaroa township w?re being dealt with money - should be devoted to forming Kiwi "Street. The matter was held over until the money was available. Ongarue River Bridge: The Taumarunui Chamber of Commerce wrote with reference to the proposed bridge over the Ongarue river near Taumarunui, stating that the bridge would be outside the Native township and an application had been made totheMani-apoto-Tuwharetoa Maori Land Board in the matter. The Chamber was entirely in sympathy witfi the project, and Mr C. J. Rayn would interview the Council on the subject. ■ The chairman said the work was a highly important one, and had been strongly urged by Mr Jennings on the Minister. A vote had been placed on the Estimates for a subsidy of £2 for £1 by the Government, and this was probably the best they could expect. He (the chairman) had interviewed the settlers interested on the subject, and it was proposed to devote the accrued ■ thirds of the Kururau riding to the bridge. The thirds amounted to £450, and this would provide for more than one-third of the settlers' liability at the estimate of £ISOO for completing the bridge. They had not received a definite estimate of the cost from the Department, but as the Department had voted up to £IOOO on the basis of a £2 for £1 subsidy, the cost would be probably £ISOO. He had seen Mr Ryan and had proposed that the TauTown Conuncil or Maori Land Board should provide £125, the settlers of Kururau Riding £375 out of the accrued thirds, and the Government £IOOO towards the bridge. There were cases in which it.was possible to make benefiting local bodies contribute their legitimate share towards such work, but in order to have the work pushed on he considered it advisable to enter into the agreement with the Taumarunui people on the terms stated. Cr McKinnon said the work was of' such importance to the Kururau settlers that no effort should be spared in pushing it ahead. If the thirds could not be hypothecated for the bridge they would have to strike a special rate but seeing that the road of little use to them until the bridge was built, he considered the thirds could be legitimately devoted to the bridge. Cr Risk said perhaps the Government subsidy proposal was merely the thin end of the wedge with regard to all their roads. There was not a doubt the bridge should be erected by the Government. Cr O'Brien said that seeing the Council was to contribute money towards the work, they should have a voice in saying what sort of a bridge should be erected. It was resolved that in respect to the proposal of a £2 for £1 subsidy by the Government the Council would provide 3-12 of the cost out of accrued thirds, providing the Taumarunui Town Council contributed 1-12 of the cost. Dog Registrar: A number of applications were receiver] for the position . of dog tax collector, pind the tender of #, Seely at lOd per dog was accepted. Several tenders were not considered in consequence of no provision having been made for sureties Thirds: Cr McKinnon drew attention to the fact that the Minister of Public Works had threatened to take the thirds from the County unless the same were expended. Cr Sandison said some of the thirds ghould certainly be spent and some set aside for the purpose of meeting terest on proposed loans. Cr Risk said that six months notice had to be given of the intention to take the thirds, and there would be time to act when notice had been received. Culverts: On the motion of Cr McKinnon, seconded by Cr .O'Brien, it was resolved that in cases where the cost of concrete culverts was excessive the enigneer should be authorised to put in wood.

—Waitewhena Road —

On the motion of Cr Risk, seconded by Cr McKinnon, the engineer was instructed $o prepare plans iorexpen fling $p 00 in forcing a dray road 'in tjie felewhg'ngr "^r ; " Ri^" §3id if was desirable to have th'p plans at once so that wheii the money from t}ie Government was made available the work cpyld be proceeded with at

—Tp|cirima Telephone— O s ßrien dfew attention tp the proposal 'of tfce Government with reference to the telephone line from • to Tpkirima, and requested the Council to give the required guarantee of £l3 M \ per year. On the option of Cr O'Pnen " " deponded by Cr McJCjnnon, it was de? cided to give the guarantee, —Metalling WorkOn the motion of the chairman, Seconded by Cr S&nidspn, the enigneey was instructed to prepare estimates for widening to 14 feet, and metalling

Turoto and Maiora roads from the main read to the bridge at Mr McLoed's property. —Noxious Weeds

The following were scheduled as noxious weeds within the County: — Bathurst burr, oxeye daisy, pennyroyal, ragwort, broom, foxglove, burdock, gorse, blackberry, Canadian and Californian thistle, sweet briar, and kangaroo acacia. —Engineer's Report— The engineer reported with reference to the gravel at Tatu that he bad been unable to inspect the locality in consequence of fallsn bush. Whan the bush was burned he would inspect and report. In respect to access to section 7, block 5, Ohura S.D., he found on inspection that ample reserve had been made for a road which forms the only suitable access to the section. He recommended the Council to accede to Mr Clark's request and utilise thirds or other funds that could be appropriated for the purpose. . The length required was about 7.50 chains. The greater portion of this had been partly formed and it would require about £4-5 to complete to a 12ft dray road. The first portion for about two chains would require to be .widened by making up on the outer edge to avoid weakening the main road.

—Special Meeting — At a special meeting to fix the weekly half-hoilday to be observed in the County, it was resolved on the motion of Cr Sandison, seconded by Cr McKinnon, to fix Thursday as the halfholiday.