PELORUS ROAD BOARD

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVII, Issue 33, 7 February 1913, Page 6

PELORUS ROAD BOARD

MONTHLY MEETING

The monthly tneefcing of tho Pelorus Road Board was held on Tuesday. There wore present: Messrs J. Fulton (in the chair), J. Storey, R. F. Crispin, C Ncos, W. J. Bryant, W. Hodgson, and the secretary (Mr W. X. Matthews)-

THE NEW BRIDGE.

Business in connection with the final • •settling u]> with the contractors of the j Wairau bridge was taken first. The j secretary. explained the position in; regard to the. extra contracts under- • taken, by the Board in this connec- { iion—chiefly road and abutment work, i Tho contract price for the bridge it- ; self was £10,943 19s. It was found S .necessary to erect a small bridge at ; the noi'thcrn end leading on to the i approach of the main structure. This ■ was carried out at a cost of J&217 14s, ;■ jjicluding. stone abutments. Extra work on tli© abutments had cost £88 ils. Various other "extras" had j brought the amount, up to £11,477. The total amount paid to the con- j tractors to date was £9800. I

On the motion of Mr Nees, a. further payment of £1000 was author- . ised and. tho contractors' deposit of £563 ordered to be returned, leaving a balance representing 5 per cent, of the total amount due to the contractors,, to be retained by the Board, according to the conditions of the con- ; tract, for a. period of two months. j The secretary further reported on ' the faulty decking of the bridge. The wheel planks were too narrow, and it s?as a'matter of difficulty for drivers to keep upon them, more especially in the case of four-wheelers and two or three horses being driven abreast. He had roughly estimated that it would take 6GOoft. of timber to place ■two additional planks the entire length of the bridge, and to- fill up the centre would take 14,000 ft. The Resident Engineer had recognised that it was neeessai-y for something to be j done ? and said he had) written to the ! Public- Works Department on the matter. Mr Matthews emphasised the need for. protecting the decking. As it was. now the wheels of vehicles were constantly working over and crushing the edges. ; • On ilia motion of Mr Crispin,, seconded by Mr Ncos, it was resolved that the Public, Works Department be asked to fill in tho.decking along the , full length of the bridge. • ■Mr Storey suggested" that posts h& ©rectsd ou the bridge that would indicate the distance over a. passing place of an approaching vehicle. \ The secretary pointed out that it ;< would foe- desirable to put notices iip ' at the passing places to inform strangers that they must wait there to allow any approaching vehicle to pass. It was agreed tliat,is.iieh notices' would be useful for travellers, and on . the mot Son of Mr Hodgson it was de- ; cided that the secretary's*' suggestion ! be carried out. !

A communication was received fronvj the Public Works Department to the effect that authority had been given for a further sum of £200 to be ex-pended-on further road formation at. the northern end of the bridge. The secretary presented a-statement which,showed .that a liability of £51 6s 7d still'remained to be met on the cost of the opening ceremony. It was resolved, on the motion of Mr Nees, 'that a statement in connection with • the bridge luncheon be sent to the j other bodies that had intimated their j 7/Hlingness to co-operate. j A hearty vote of thanks was i)assed j •feo all those who had assisted at the I luncheon.

The question of the maintenance of ; the bridge was deferred- until next) meeting. . j OBJECTIONS TO A DAM. (

Letters were received from Messrs! A.. Gibson and A. Weaver drawing at- ] te'ntion to the dam the Board had I erected at the ford adjoining their \ properties, North Bank. Mr Gibson : held that the dam would hold back ! flood water and cause three of his ! cropping paddocks to flood. Both \ these gentlemen requested the im- ■ mediate removal of the dam, or fail- ; ing that would hold the Board re- j sponsiblo for any damage done. j Mr Barton, the Board's contractor, \ who was present, explained the posi- | lion. The. ford Had caused a lot of; trouble in. the past by scouring out' and causing a- 'deep dip in which, ; vehicles frequently got stuck. Carry-! ing out instructions he had erected a - two-foot dam of stones and netting to ; hold back the metal and make". the ; ford passable. In his opinion the dam would not hold back the water suffi-; ciently to cause any flooding on the; properties of either of the objectors. ; It was decided that as many mem- j ibers of the Board as could find it con- j lenient view the work and report at 't ■next meeting. The secretary was in- ; ■itjucted to.reply to Messrs Gibson and . .Weaver to that effect. TINLINE ROAD GRANT. j A notification was received from the Public Works 'Department that the grant of £300 for the Tiniiue road won now available. ••; NOXIOUS WEEDS. i The secretary reported that he had received a summons to appear at the CVjurt th& following day on behalf ot the Board, on two separate charges for failure to keep down noxious weds on the roadside and river margin near Wakamarina bridge. As ■fchero was some doubt as to the Board's liability in the matter, the secretary was instructed to appear and, if necesary, ask for an adjournment fcr a month in order tliat a ?-og;il opinion might.be obtained. In trie-event _ of the adjournment "being obtained, it was further resolved that tne correspondence in hand on th<! sub-?-:.-t bo forwarded to a Nelson lawyer, ami that the secretary follow it" up B rah a. -personal interview before next court day. ■ IttSTHICT REPRESENTATION! ; la reference fco the number of mom- ' ror ;s representing each subdivision, .Mr Noes said ho was not altogether «b tidied with the representation in •tny ieloru-s subdivision. He woiiid ; riiovo that the whole matter of repre- ■ :>>ntation on this Board bo gone into at tiie next meeting, and that tho ■vKratary be asked to provide-a-ro--Mir^ of the urnount • ,pf ..rates a rd' r:\up-uer of ratepayers in AKicii sub-' division as a paid© to them in the reao. j ustment.—(Jarried. ;' MISCELLANEOUS. '<■ waa i-esolv<?d that all necws.irv xoad patching work be carried out in •'•' mo North Bank subdivision. yu.rious other patching work in tho aii<T distnets was uuthorisod. : ~ Mr Crispin drew the Board's atten-' t'-Hi to an unusual request from two mcii who held river flat sections under r.|-.«- .jnrisdiction of t3;e Haibor Bonrd, . <vho wanted to become Tatepay-c?-> hi I on'nr to have .some status. He rnovor.] \ .thai tits secretary refer the matter j '•"..• ■ma Valuation Department in nv 1 v -

to find out what position the men were in.—Carried.

The secretary reported that he liad ', arranged for a supply of metal from ! across the bay. I

It was resolved that the top decking ' of the Dangerous Creek bridge ha re- i placed as soon as possible.

Mr Alford (Waka-marina) made a \ further application to the Board for a license to open a billiard-room at ' the Golden Bar. Mr Storey proposed that the secretary be instructed to reply to the effect that the matter had already been dealt with, and that ; the Board could see no reason to de~ \ part from its previous decision. This ■■ was carried, Mr Nees dissenting. I

A resolution was passed sanctioning an endevaor being made to have the Fisk bridge grant diverted to making a road from that locality to Nees and McLean's mill.

It was decided that the road-grader and a team of two horses be paid for at the rate of £1 a day.—Guardian.