COOK COUNTY COUNCIL.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume X, Issue 1192, 3 November 1882, Page 2

COOK COUNTY COUNCIL.

A \>eetin'i.i of the Cgdlc i e::niy Council was held last evening at I lie Comicil Chambers at the. usual hour. Present—‘rs. -T dc-Lm .-n •, in the chair). Chambers. Clarke, thinmm. Western, and Alhnach. The. minutes; of Inst mr-mm • were read and eonlirmcd. Inoo. m in’<; Co'mr. rex ~.■• mu:. *. letter was read from Mr John Ixuowlcs, the CnderHecretary for LTddic Vvorks, Wellington, acknowledging the Councirs letter of the 12th Bept. last, stating that tiicrc wore n<» funds either in the Public Works or Crown Lands Votes out of which any fuvtiu r drainage of the Patiitahi iflo'k eo.ild be undertake)) by flu fa B was rc'i.lved to acknowledge tin-’letter v.i;h tHauks.—Chas, (bay,

j Wai o-iiika, vix-'c isl-iug fur :i. ’icc?:-’: f<;r slaughtering. The Ch; inmm that it was ! out, of th'.ir power io •'■■ i. it was agreed ■ t'c.'G t!:c ::pr-):. • l.n take outa ■ H r;:. ; fc.r the remmv’.-.- () ; »’ ;( t crni a o re ed on. I solved that the Council in reply r-> Mr Vinj Ze.Jand Hand JT-T <>i ■.-..1' .Vw rmnent . Lau : the cluii C-? ' he sum--, bimig Gd. , M. f < o ’ . 1 i" cm I iiat they could ’ not com pl.-'c rem- ' re clearing the 'l;'.' ciUi’ii C'x.'(.'l-. '/. e i'.u! !'!'’•?;'ik'fi'.xl time on ! the Oi mond-Oomii-i E -ad, owing to the • sc'iu. iiy of tir.i'n ; ;Tcy. theref,-re, asked ? A .'NT? o' '/T. LbgktTibged 1 and mi iiiti’.i.:> :o: . ■ 1 ■ uhuet that r,iic ! logs must Lc. .T;:-r! <mto; i,’m creek, and that ■ they must iini ch tme 'oni'-act within the ex- ; tended time. Mr inter w;i.-. instructed to • warn people a-- to the drni'T .u- .■•tate of the , T ' * ' ‘ ; to th--1. ■ -rd i' tion m the It was resolved iluT the I : d r be ac knowledged, ami t ii.o ' Mml-e informed : thaT Im would )>.•••.. mi’.••>• --d with as soon ; as possible after l’m Tu-.vn Clerk returned. | 'ITp.-, 1;. • ■.. .Toad, ’j u ? foili. wing letter was I receive d from Mr .!. G. bm rard with refer- : eucu 10 the nl.-wc . ; “ Tn flic ChTrm m of I’m <",'oek County I Council : Ovl. 23, i : Sir. !n reply to 1 your memo. N<». T’. Oct. .‘Jrd, I have the ik'i:or 1 u \ ’ !'•■•..ll«■ <■ mientioned ' sums have, linen paid t,o my credit at the Hauk of New Z«? J md on account of the ronstrnctiou of th' ■. -■ v.- r-.' id Southern Petroleum f'ouipaDy. C 100; Whitmore : and Co., E 25; Mi’mr, TIB: Locke, TH); 1 laics, .£s—- total £L">O. 1 shall be glad, therefore. having now commenced the works, to receive the subsidy promised by your Council in aid of this cci'.tribution, as per your : letter .Aug. 7, No. Ils’, which will amount j - r ' < - ° IOJC '[’he Ic’tcrv.-- ordered to be acknowledged, with au intimation that as soon as funds were available iiie mat ter v. nnhl be attended I M E. li. H'trr d ited Nov. 5 T - . Hili . . • ■ ! . nm t h of the i Wai ipe • '■'■■■ u .. .-s ii)’c for-toe’-., I <.i even !. ■; . .• • t also called at- • ii.i.l i-.m to id ’. ■ cl :.!.■; au im-oiivcnicnce ail p-.r ■ :i> iii.d. r.'.o v. r*i.i ■ >.a:ll’ng that way. ' A let’.' - v. a- th' .. :*.. 1 b m Hr -loscph 2nd ?-7ovcmber, 188’2. I The CTairmaii Cock f.'uiiuly Council. Siu. -With ' v to my contract A 73, seciiicns 2 and for j'-tiit; l .:." Drains. &c., f n rain be*„- , i om- f'r.mcil will plcrne r<‘- '■ mind your ” t! ■ extra works have been done, ov< r ■ , ’ < • t’m original con- • . ■■■;< fund of the

Mr Winter explained tnat the fine imposed was for overtime. The‘Chairman thought that the question was as to whether or not they should give Mr Price a little more time. It was ultimately decided that the question could not be raised without proper notice 1 being given, seeing that the question had ! been decided at a previous meeting of the i Council. The Chairman said that it was out of the power of the Council to do anything without a special resolution of the Council. ' Outgoing Correspondence.— The outI going correspondence was then read. < Engineers Report.—The Engineer’s Rej port was read by the Engineer Gisborne, 2nd November, 1882. ' The Chairman County Council. i Sir,—l have the honor to submit the following report for your information andguia- ! ance: East Coast Road.—This track is in fair repair owing to the fine weather, with the : exception of a few small culverts which vej quire to be renewed. Tenders will be called for constructing a new bridge and repairing ; others on the Tologa Bay fiats by next meeting. 1 would also recommend that about 10 ; chains of ro id through the Vawa township be drained, fascined, and formed this summer. This quct-cion was brought up at a ■ previous meeting and postponed. In the | event of the owners fencing in the land ■ through which the present track runs, and the traffic confined to the surveyed road it will be impassable iu a very short time as it ■ rnn< through a swamp. Ormond-Opotiki Road. - This contract is gri .'.’Jy retarded owing to the delay in pro- ; curing timber, more especially the kauri for '"■'T airoa Hoad. — The slips on No. 1 section have been removed, but the road is still impassable for dray traffic owing to the boggy nature of the ground, and I am of opinion that it will be necessary to metal about 12 chains before it can be used. There is a ; plentiful supply of first-class limestone on ! the ground, and I would recommend that , the work be undertaken. Also that a new . bridge be constructed on this section, the present old structure being dangerous. As both these works are of considerable importi ance, insomuch that the contractors further . along the line arc obliged to get timber over this portion of road before they can complete their own contracts. I would ask that it the recommendations be granted, tenders be called for the works, closing on Wednesday next, and a committee of your Council ! empowered to open same.—l have, &c., Geo. J. Winter, County Engineer. The report was adopted. Mr Morris’s Complaint re Contract , No. A, Gl.— The following is the report of ! the Committee with reference to this question ; — Gisborne, Nov. 2 1882. To the Chairman Cook County Council, Gisborne.

j Sir, —The Committee of the Council ap--1 pointed to enquire into the complaints pre- ‘ ferrod by Mr Morris to the effect that coni tract No. A Gl, on the Wairoaßoad was not I carried out by the contractor in accordance : with the specifications, proceeded on the 30th 1 Sept to the place accompanied by Mr Morris, ‘ Mr Reynolds, C.E., Mr H. Kripner, and ■ Capt. Winter, County Engineer. You are a’read t y aware that the main allegations con- ; tained in Mr Morris’s letter to the Council ■ were that the width of road and the slope of . the cuttings were less in measurement than < they would have been had the contract been ; faithfully performed. Considering the time . that has elapsed since the work was passed by the Engineer, and the fact that the C'om- ! mittec was composed of non-professionul men, > they do not feel competent to express a de- . cided opinion as to the mariner in which the j various details of the contract were executed. The specifications state “The road from peg 22!) to peg A shall be formed throughout to ; a not less width than 12ft. on the solid, the present bridle track (which is of an average : width of Sit. 6in.) shall he widened out to • 12f’t. on the solid.” Starting within the im- ■ mediate vicinity of peg 229. the width of the ; road was taken, altoge'.l’er in 56 places, the j measnroineids being on an average of about j 2 chains apart, la I 5 instances the width of [ the road as under the contract distance of ' 12ii. required by the specifications. With ; reference to the slopes of the cuttings the

: ■ -pacifications directed that they should be “ cut and neatly trimmed off to a batter of 2 f;' t in .’hi.." or, :v? your Council willperj cr-ix c a Latter of Siu. to the foot. Captain I Winter and Mr Jlcynolds took the measurei men tn of batter along the road at forty-one ■ points, places mutually agreed upon by them | The result of the measurements gavo, accord ' ing to Mr Reynolds, an average of s£in. of I batter to the foot ; the steepest hatter being 1 3yin. to t’lo foot, and ths flattest 7fin. to the ! foot, the average being as above stated. According io Mr Winter the average was to the foot ; steepest batter 4in. to the foot ; and Ilic flattest, to the foot. Attached hereto for Hm information of the Council are copies of all measurements taken on the groinul. 'l’he line of road comprised in the contract is about 178 chains. The measurement-. taken extended over about two-thirds of the whole distance and all parties were sat Tiled that the result of the measurements taken would be a fair index of how the contract had been carried out. The specifications also state that “all fern and scrub along the line of road shall bo cleared for a width of ten feet on the upper side and six feet on the lower side of formation.” It did not appear to the Committee that this portion of the work had been done along that part of the mad inspected by them. .Recognizing how largely the interests of the ratepayers of the County are involved in the proper carrying out of all public works entrusted to the Council, the Committee consider that the thanks of that body are due to Mr Morris for having brought before them the imperfect way in which the work herein referred to lias been carried out by the contractor. —We are, etc., M. -J. Gannon, Chairman of Committee. The Chairman here left the chair and addressed the council- He said that he was of opinion that the work was properly carrier). out. The speaker then entered into

full details with reference to the work, and argued that the contractor had carried out the work satisfactorily. Cr. < kinnon said that it was some months ago since this matter had been first brought under the notice of the council by Mr Morris. He (Cr. Gannon) was one of the committee who proceeded to examine the work. Crs. Johnson and Clarke took the measurements of the width of the road, and two experienced engineers had gone up and measured the depth of the batter. Upon these figures the n port was based and he was sorry to have to say that there the result shewed scandalous waste of public money in connection with this contract. In no single instance out of 41 measurements of the batter was the bank sloped to the dimensions required by the specifications. According to Captain Winter's own figures, the slope fell short of what was required by the specific;!- [ tions by as much as a half a foot, to every yard. .As to the width of the road, it was proved to have been, in fourteen instances ii-.’t of fifty, six under the twelve feet. It w.e, nonst-nse to talk about taking the average width, as a criterion. It might be 40 feet wide fora mile, and two feet in one iace, and thus would be rendere 1 utterly useless to the public. The road was blocked up and impassable by the

many slips that had occurred along it, slips that he was certain would never have | occurred had the proper slope been given at I the time the work was done. There had j been a dead loss of over £ 150 through this j job. It would cost £7O or £BO to remove I the slips and make the road passable, and had it been known to tenderers that the con- I tract would have been passed as it was, it I would, he felt sure, have been taken for £7O oi- £BO less than the amount paid. Yet in spite of all these facts and figures, Cr. Johnson asked that the Council should say that the work was carried out satisfactorily. He (Cr. Gannon) could quite understand and appreciate a man who stuck up for his friends, but when it came to a question of squandering away public money it was high time to stop it. Cr. Johnson : I must object to the personal allusion about sticking up for one’s friends.

Cr Gannon, continued : He said he had put the remark in the most general way, however if Cr. Johnson objected to the imputation that he (Cr. Johnson) “ would stick up for his friends” he (Cr. Gannon) was quite willing to withdraw the expression. Cr. Gannon said that he considered that Mr Morris was fully entitled to the thanks of the Council for the steps he had taken in this matter, and no doubt greater care would be taken in future.

Cr. Chambers urged the necessity of adjourning the discussion until there was a full meeting of the Council. The Chairman thought it would be desirable to have a full meeting of the Council. It was then moved by Cr. Gannon, and seconded by Cr. Clarke, “That the report be adopted.” This was negatived, and it was resolved that the question be further discussed at next meeting. Special Meeting.—lt was resolved that a special meeting of the Council be held on next Monday week at 11 a.m., in order to discuss an application ui re the Roads and Bridges Act. Tenders for Stationery.—These tenders were left over until the return of Mr Warren, the Clerk of the Council, who was ordered to report at next meeting. Tenders for Dog Collars.—The tender of Mr H. Bruce was accepted. Payments.—Several accounts were passed for payment. The meeting then adjourned.