HOROWHENUA COUNTY

Otaki Mail, 11 September 1922, Page 3

HOROWHENUA COUNTY

MONTHLY COUNCIL MEETING. Tliu monthly meeting on Saturday was attended by Crs. G. A. Monk (chairman), F. J. Ryder, C. I. Harkness, FT. 0. Bryant, S. A. Broadbelt, A. K. Knox, J. McLeavey and J. R. Whyte. Correspondence. The State Ad-aiices Office, Wellington, notified I'tat the special order authorising tile raising of a loan of £9OOO , fur the repaying of the County's ante- ! cedent liability had been 'gazetted; al- j so that the consent of the Governor J diMieral liad been given for raising of j .. Hi., loan.—Received. The Minister of [aternal Affairs forwarded a <-o]>y of the Local Bodies Loans Amendment Act, 1922, and called attention to sections 0 and 7. the former of which gave power to loeal authorities to borrow money for the relief of unemployment, and the latter authorised the borrowing of the cost of I raising a loan to pay off antecedenl liability in eases where a local body had I rai sod, or proposed to raise, the necessary loan outside New Zealand.—ReMr G. 0. Tolhurst, shnvebroker, Wellington, wrote in regard to the raising of the Count--- loan. He was in a position to raise money for investments of this nature, tun! would tie glad to assist the Council in the matter. A similar tetter was received from Messrs Findlny Hoggnrd and Morrison, Solici-j tor-, of Wellington.—Received. j Insanitary Dwelling. ,; The Health Department reported that I premises in Waikawn Beach road, Ma-! nakau, were in tin insanitary condi-1 ■toil and the owner should be called upon to make repairs within eight weeks —Notice to lie served according-G-ranfc for Civilian Blind. _ Mr Clutha Mackenzie. M.l'., wrote -tatiug ''that as a number of local I'Odies desired to make large contribu- , inl fund to aid the civilian blind peo- j -, !'■ of the Dominion, it became ncees--ary for validating legislation to be ; passed by Parliament. Cabinet had t agreed lo do so, making large contri- | but ions pcrmissablc by public bodies ] provided there was no opposition from j t a reasonable and responsible section of ; ratepayers. This legislation was be- 1 ing made to '.-over contributions from tiny local body. The writer asked that i this information be [.laced before the j Council. I The Chairman said he was going to , move that £lO be granted. An effort , >--is made on behalf of the object in j this district. A sum was raised voluu- . Irmly. _ jt The motion wa- supported by Cr. ] Knox and carried. i Sand Drift at Manakau. Mr- Elsie Diake, Manakau, com- ' plained of the sandriti encroiiching on ' the beach rond, and asked that souieCr. Bryant stated the work had been inspected before, but was only a small job. ' L'he matter wa. referred to Cr. Bryant and the Engineer to attend to, the ' Engineer staling that he understood the work had been attended to. 'He ' had given instructions to that effect. Complaint From Otaki. Messrs Harper and At more. Otaki. i -tated that nothing had yet been .lone i lo relieve Mrs Power's property of sur- t lace water, which had done further damage during recent rain. The Engineer said he had written to ( Mr Freeman suggesting making an tip- : UDintmont to discuss the matter, but had got no reply. Cr. Ryder said'the matter was very , ■ unsatisfactory, as the thing had been going on for months. The engineer said be would have the matter looked into without further delay. < ~'i? Sand Encroachment. Mr W. H. Field, M.P.. drew attention lo the sand drift on the outlet to the Waikanae beach road, where his propcrtv was situated. He asked that the ( ngineet make an inspection of the drift in question and have steps taken to cheek it. otherwise it was likely during this summer to assume serious proportions. In the writer's opinion the whole of the drift should be covered with marram grass and lupins where the same would grow. i The matter was referred to the Chair-j man and Engineer. j Accounts. > Accounts to the amount of £I2S6 were passed for payment. Engineer's Report. The Engineer reported:—"Although the weather was somewhat broken at the commencement of the period just ended, the work generally has been very satisfactory throughout the CounIn Tokomaiu Riding everything is in fair order. The grader is at present working in the southern end of the riding and I hope to send the plant to Shannon when the Levin-Foxton Main Road has been repaired. On August 22 a heavy flood occurred in the ManatvatiTßiver, and I have to state that although further erosion took place on the western bank of the river above the Manawatu bridge no further erosion has taken place above the bridge at the eastern end. In fact, in my opinion. at this particular spot, a big improveraent has taken place, although a little protective work is required below the bridge. The main current still continues to flow through the centre span of the bridge, or rather, has a tendency to hug the western bank. Re E. M. tonkin's request to have read leading io his property metalled I have visited and inspected the road in question and find that it is r ; o: c ! County road, but in the Shannon Bor •■' ough, so that our Council has no juris fiction ia the matter. I estimate th<

cost of forming' and metalling this piece lof road (7 chains) at £52 10s. 1 Wirokino Riding.—The roads in the 'northern part of the Wirokino riding I are now in good order. The wafer ta- ' blcs have all been attended o and a i considerable amount of metal hu.s been 'carted out. During the greater part of the period the plant and men have been engaged in repairs to the LevinFoxton road, and approximately 900 cubic yards of crushed metal have been put out. Owing to our roller driver having met with an accident the roller is laid up and the lorry and men are at present engaged on other work, the wsrk on the Foxton road being held up meanwhile.

Part of the main road and several of the district roads in the southern end of this riding are in need of repair, and it was my intention to shift the crushing plant to the Ohau River, but owing to the weak state of the decking on the Ohau river bridge I did not think it would he advisable to have our lorry continually travelling over the bridge. I will therefore call for tenders during the month for metalling the roads in question by drays.

A concrete crossing was put over the main water-race deviation during the month and a concrete abutment was put in a small bridge on lower Gladstone road to replace a wooden sill which was badly undermined.

Otaki Riding.—There is practically nothing to report on in this riding. The main road is in good order, although ti bit bumpy in the vicinity of Manakau.

To Horo Riiling.—Practically the same refers to this riding as to Otaki, except that several of the district roads are in-worse order. Tenders will be called during the next month for the supply and delivery of metal for these roads.

1 .Since last meeting a deputation comprising the Chairman, Councillors McLeavey and Hiirkness, the Clerk and myself, visited Wellington and interviewed the Minister of Public Works with a view to getting some financial assistance in order to redeck some of our main road bridges, especially the Oliau bridge, and the outcome of the interview with the Minister was that Mr .Hannah, district engineer for the Public "Works Department, visited the County hist week, and inspected till the main roads bridges in the County as well as the various roads for which Government grants were applied for. He informed me that he would report to the Minister during this week. Estimate for footpaths and other tar work at Waikanae township—my estimate for this is as follows: Forming paths Bft. wide. 71 chains at 30s per chain. £ll ."is: concrete kerbing, 18 cubic yards concrete at £2 15 per yard, £4!> 10s; gravel for paths, 84 cubic yards at 6s, £lO 4s; tarring footpaths, two-coat work. 200 gallons tar at Is 6d per gallon, £ls; reforming and metalling present road, £2O; tarring, two coats, 500 gallons at Is 6d, and this includes labour and sand £37 10s, total £l4?. 3s Qd."

Cr. Whyte stated thai the Tokomaru main roads were in very good order. He engaged a man to move a slip that came down. A culvert on the main road wanted early attention.

In reply to Cr. Ryder, the chairman said an early npportunity would be taken to go into the boundary question as raised by Mr Kelly at Tokomaru. Cr. Harkncss said he was sorry to hear the crusher and plant were i.Oi going to the Ohau river, and drew attention to the condition of the main road below the Ohau bridge. The Ohau «est road also wanted attention. Cr. Ryder said he was up to Gladstone road lately and a groyne in the Ohau river near Mr Marby's wanted seeing to. Cr. Bryant stated that the roads generally were good in the north end of 'the Otaki riding, and there was nothing to report.