MOUTOA DRAINAGE BOARD.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 857, 25 June 1910, Page 3

MOUTOA DRAINAGE BOARD.

The ordinary monthly meeting oi the Moutoa Drainage Board was held in the Board’s office last night. Present: —Messrs B. GGower (chairman), O. R- Robinson, VV. S. Carter, and F. S. Raslon.

The clerk reported that the balance of loan, ,£2300, had now been placed to credit, and the bank balances at dale are : Credit to loan account ; ,£2452 ss, and general account ,£45 13s id. After deducting the amount to be passed for payment, ,£231 2s sd, and making provision for the engineer’s salary, and balance of drain contracts, £t6o 6s 6d, the balance of loan account will be ,£2OIO 16s id. Assuming the working expenses will be £9O per month for 12 months, full time, equal to there will be a balance of 16s id at the end of that period. He suggested, therefore, that be placed on fixed deposit at the Bank of New Zealand for twelve months, the rate of interest being 3 per cent. Accounts amounting to ,£231 2s 5d were passed for payment against loan account, and £6 7s against general account. The making and levying of the general and special rates was confirmed, and Messrs Carter and Easton were appointed to sign the rate book.

It was pointed out that when the drainage contracts at the top end, now in hand, were completed ,£3BO odd, out of the set aside for this work, would have been expended, and it was suggested that ,£SO be charged to this work on account of engineering expenses.

Mr Carter objected to this amount being charged, as he considered it was excessive, and after some discussion it was decided to leave the adjustment over until a future meeting. Among the accounts brought forward to be passed for payment was an amount of £ll for cleaning 22 chains of drain, which the chairman said had been overlooked when tenders bad been called, and had been let since the Board meeting at the same price as the other drain.

Mr Carter protested against arrangements for the work being done, being made outside the Board meetings. All these matters should come before the Board.

The chairman again pointed out that the matter had been overlooked at the last meeting. Mr Carter said he had previously entered his protest against the work of the Board being done outside the meetings, and said there was too much of that kind of thing being done lately. He objected to the Board being run by one man.

The Chairman said that the Board was not being run by one man. If Mr Carter had had more experience on public bodies he would know that small matters of the kind could well be attended to by the chairman and engineer.

Mr Carter said that he was not referring to the chairman. —The matter was then allowed to drop. It was decided to place /Tooo on fixed deposit at the Bank of New Zealand at three per cent. The engineer reported on the progress of the work for the past month as follows :—Williams and Gupwell have practically completed their contract in a satisfactory manner, and can be paid their contract amount, retaining, however, their deposit of £2 for clearing the fescue, etc., from near Cook’s drain to the bend, a length of five or six chains. Neilson is making fair progress with his contract for the completion of keen’s and the cross drain, and can be paid on account the sum of ,£lO. Newth and Saville have completed about 30 chains of their contract from the Karl Kari, which is up to about the middle of what is calhd the lake portion ot this outlet drain ; they can be advanced as a progress payment the sum of £l6 1 os. The mile drain has been done for a length of 22 chains, and the contractor can be paid the amount, being £ll. The levels for Duck Creek work will be taken within the next fortnight or three weeks, in order that a report on the matter can be furnished for next Board meeting. As there is a considerable quantity of water coming down the main drain from the Kari Kari to the diagonal, and also down Langley’s, and as Cook’s drain gets cleaned up, still more will come, I think the diagonal should be deepened as soon as possible where the Board has decided that it is necessary. The number of days worked by the dredge during the last month was 17 y 2 , and the length completed 10 chains, the cost of the length beiug j<67 1- Considerable timber has been met with, which delayed the progress. The weather also has been by no means good during some of the time worked, yet the daily average rate of progress has been \2 l /t yards, which I think satisfactory. The increased boiler pressure of xolbs per square inch which the Railway Department, at my request, has granted, will also result in better and more economical working when it is taken advantage of. The new driver is satisfactorily performing his duties. The Board rose at 9.15 p.m.