WAITOMO COUNTY COUNCIL.

King Country Chronicle, Volume IV, Issue 280, 27 July 1910, Page 5

WAITOMO COUNTY COUNCIL.

Monthly Meeting.

The usual monthly meeting of this was held on Monday at the ° County offices, Te Kuiti. Present—•Crs Scholes (chairman), Crs Hoffman, -cmyth, O'Dwyer, Gregg, Were, Johnston and Boddie. Mr W. T. Jennings, M.P., was also present. Tapuae Road. —Mr Finlay D. McLean wrote drawing attention to the bad state of the road fronting his property, stating that it was very dangerous owing to being very narrow and precipitous.—The engineer explained that £IOO of "thirds" would be spent on that road very shortly. Cr Boddie said it seemed to him that the bad part referred to was the place where the money should be spent. The settlers should be the people to decide where the money should be expended. —lt was decided toexpend the"thirds" accruing, in widening and giving access to McLean's section. Pirongia-Otorohanga Road. —Mr J. G. Ranby, for settlers, wrote asking the Council to authorise the preparation of estimates for a loan to metal this road ten feet wide from Hautura road to Paulson's hill bridge and from the Otorohanga-Waipa bridge to the junction of the Waitomo - Pirongia road. —The engineer was authorised to prepare estimates. Hauturu-Otorohanga Road. —Mr John Williamson, on behalf of rate-

payers, wrote that it had been decided to raise a loan to metal portions of this road from Otorohanga to Honikiwi, and asking that the engineer •report. The engineer could also look into quarry reserves. Cr Hoffman said they must have quarry reserves and proposed that the engineer should look into this. Cr Johnson 'also "urge 3 this and other reserves should be acquired. He understood they could be easily got. Cr Boddie said the Council always had power to get gravel without necessarily owning the reserves. —It was decided to let the engineer report. Storm Water Drain.—Mr Karl Hegglin wrote that he was unable to accede to the request of the Council for permission to run a drain through his property to take storm water off the Potaka road, and saying that hewould be willing to allow the Council tn clean, deepen or widen the already existing drain. Cr Smyth said he had made no such statements as the writer suggested. He got a motion to the effect that permission be applied for to cut the drain. That was all. For one acre that the existing drain drained for his brother it drained ten acres of the writer's. —It was decided on the rcetion of Crs Smyth and Hoffman that the matter be left in the hands of the engineer to deal with. Counties' Association. —The clerk to the conference of delegates wrote that it was to be held at Auckland on ,_■ August 18th, and asked for the names of the delegate-) and any remits. —The clerk had forwarded the names of the delegates. Bush-felling. Mr Jas. Gleadow asked authority to fell the bush on his frontage on the Kihikihi-Mairoa road. —Resolved on the motion of Crs O'Dwyer ar.d Were that the request be granted. Noxious Weeds. —Cape weed and pennycress were notified by the Governor -in - Council as having been scheduled as noxious weeds.—Received. Mairoa-Pio Pio Road.—Mr R. Liv- • ingstone wrote asking on behalf of settlers for an estimate to be prepared for metalling a portion of this road at the Pio Pio end.—lt wa3 decided on the motion of Crs O'Dwyer and Were that the engineer prepare estimates. Slaughterhouse Licenses.—The Department of Agriculture notified that the following licenses had been duly renewed:—C. B. Holloway, Hugh Robertson, John Ormbsy. R. and P. Cotter, Mrs J. M. Albrechtsen.— Received. Accrued "Thirds."—The Commissioner for Crown Lands wrote the Council for the information of Mr E. J. Early, that the following amounts accrued annually as "thirds" on the Eections owned by the settlers mentioned, L. Beck £1 15s 6d, F. Cooke £7 2s 4d, E. J. Early £l4 9s Bd, N. J. Larsen £7 4s Bd, J, Steele £ls 16s 4d. —Received. County Road Declared.—The Public Works Department wrote notifying that the Te Kuiti-Mokau road had been declared a County road —Received, Cr O'Dwyer asking whether they had any option in accepting this. The chairman said they had no option. The roads had been "Gazetted" already. Cr Boddie said this a main arterial and provincial road. He held that no County should be asked to maintain what was a highway for the people. He recognised that they had no choice in taking it over, but they might test it by asking the Minister of Public Works his consideration of retaining the control of the main road through the County. The traffic was more than the County was capable of bearing. He gathered from the Minister on the recent meeting with him that he took up this attitude. He moved-that the Minister be written to, pointing out as this was the main provincial road between Auckland and New Plymouth, it should be maintained 'put of the consolidated revenue, and that the Minister be respectfully reguested to retain the control and maintenance of this road, as the burden of doing so was beyond the funds of the County Council.—Carried. Changes of Ownership.—The Bruce County Council wrote asking cooperation in pressing on the Government the desiraoility of including in the Rating Act an amendment making it compulsory op owners to give written notice of every change of ownership or oeeupancy of rateable property within the County.—Mr Jennings explained that a reply to his question in the House on this subject said that the Act already provided for this. —The Council took no action. Whakarewaka Cutting.—Mr W. M. Rattray wrote suggesting that the rock now being blown out and thrown - away should be used for metalling the ■•'■ ptorohanga-Hauttfru road. It was {he yyprst piece of for a distance of . 15 miles'and would make a great difference to them if metalled. "A chain is only as strong as its weakest link." —The engineer said the only rock being thrown what was no -gbpd,—The letWf vva^cgive^.