FRANKLIN COUNTY COUNCIL.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 1, Issue 43, 12 November 1912, Page 2

FRANKLIN COUNTY COUNCIL.

The Monthly Meeting. The monthly meeting of the Franklin County Council was lu Id in Pukekohs on Thursday; p;es=nt Messrs W. C. Motion, Waipini, in the chair; R. Higginson, Wuiuku;! Dynes Fulton and H. Wilcox, Puke-j kohe; J. Flanagan, IJrury; J. Henrv, Mauku; R. Lyons, Mticar; G. j Camphe'l, Hunua. ENGINEER. An applicant desired to know if the Council would soon tie lequiring the services of an engineer. The Clerk said he had replied sayiag that the Council did not in- : (end to appoint an engineer at i present. ! This action was confirmed. 1 UUNUA RAILWAY ROUTE. A opy of a petition to be forwarded to th 3 Prime Minister by j the Auckland United Railway | Lea?u s wa3 read. These Leagua.s j art; ur'i-rj? tha consttuction cf the line :-long the Hu ua rcute. The advantages set out for this line were: (1) The shortening of the di tance by approximately onehalf, 4uckhni-Pae;oa, for all East Coast, Waihi and Thames traffic; (2) Relief to tha Main Trunk line, thereby saving duplication for many years; (3) Opening uc of a very 1 trge area of land at present practically useless for lack of railway facilities for developing rich mineral, agricultural and pastoral wealth, giving transit relief to a very large numbar of struggling and isolated settlers, as well as opening up natural scenic beauties; (4) The present position —by a long distance from railway stations—proves very expensive to your petitioners, and others, alio to local ladies in tha upkeep of main roads, and this is largely responsible for the chronic financial difficulties of the sid local bodies. Easy transit h the rcoc of abundant pro ductinn and prosperity; (5) Your petitioners are thoroughly of the opinion that this proposed line of railway will prove to he a profitable investment The petition proceeds: "We, therefore, respectfully ask you to authorise that an exhaustive survey ba made before committing to any ether route. Your petitioners submit 'hat we are asking for a reasonable, fair, just and equitable expenditure of public money in the construction of this line, and by authorising it ynu will not only confer a benefit on us, but also upon the whole population between Auckland and Uisborne. We fully believe that in years to come you and your colleagues <>ill look back with pride at having accomplished so great a national work." In conneflioi with the foregoing petition Hunua League alone attached about 300 Bignamres. The County Clark (Mr Stemhridge) explained that he had been asked by the secretary of ths joint Leagues to by the matter before the Council, and to ask that the chairman I ot this County be cne of the depuj tation to lay the matter before the Prirne Minister. , D.uii.g the dis:us3ion which followed, Cr Lyon' said that so far as the Maungatawhiri Val'ey was concerned it did not matter whether the railway went by way of Pokeno or jby Hunua. His own opinion was that there was no necessity for this | line ur.til the East Coast line, frou Waihi to Gisborne, was finished Cr Flanagan said it seemed a treI mendous to get this i line through. He moved, that from the information to hand thii Council does not feel justified in taking any I action in the matter. Cr Fulton seconded tha motion, which v,hb carried. COUNTY ROAD DECLARED. The Under-Secretary gave notification that the Kavakawa Ray to Hauarahi Stream road, by Order-in-Council, had been declared a County road, in terms of subsection } 3 of section 103 of The Public ! Wcrks Act, 1908. Cr Lampbell said the road was I away back in the never-never. He j did not ktiow how it had come to be ! gazetted, or what influences had j been at work. The letter was received, Councilj lors remarking toat they could do | nothing in the matter. CHARITABLE AID RATE. In congee"ion with the hospital and charitable aid rate on Maungatawhiri outlying district, it will be remembered that the Auckland Hoard demanded payment of £4l 0s 7d. It was held that the County should pay. ! In reply, the Council pointed out that • as the rate hid been struck it could j not collect lor tne Board until next year. i The County Clerk brought this { matter forward again, and said that I tha Valuation Department appeared to be row collecting this rate on beI half of the Hospital Board, so that i the County weulJ be relieved of any j fuither bother in connection with the j matter this year. I Cr Campbell was fcuthorised to I make enquiries and report to next J meeting. ! THIRDS. < I The Lauds Office intimated that i £57 Is w;n available from "thirds" , in the OtaU district. I Cr Lyons asked if the people could j dictate ao to where the money was to j be spent. : tr Wilcox thought that the people : interested should be consulted in ! the matter. It wai pointed nut that so long as th: money was spent for the ; benefit of the properties no objection could be taken. ; Mr Motioi : tiupnusihg there was no road to a property, you would not spend the mo ey jist opposite the property, but would continue the road towards the property. GOVERNMENT GRANTS. j Cr Wilcox pointed out that there j were several £ for £ grants in this | distri t, and it would be a pity if j these were not availed of. The I beards had no money with which to take iip the subsidy. Lr Lyons: lhey have got their overdrafts. Cr Fulton: Then the County will have to take the overdrafts over. Cr Wilcox said if they could make a charge against the districts concerned and take advantage of the grants it would be a good thing.

SAFE. : Cr CamplHl reported the result of his enquiry concerning the re- | quired safe. An Auckland firm had agreei to give th * Council the use of a £l6 safe, free of charge if the strong-room dcor were purchased from th 3 firm, or at a nominal rental oth.rwise. This offer was accepted. SJ.ONE-CKUSHING PLANT. Cr Campbell said a hitch had oc- | cumd, and the committee had not | been able to gn into the matter [ very fully. | representatives cf different firms explained the virtues of their various machines, and it was arranged that the Council inspect certain crushers already at work. Cr Henry objected that the inspections would cause delay, and he did not know whether Councillors would know very much m >re after seeirg the machines at wirk than they knew before. If they were going to benefit their roads they should get some metal on to them during the coning summer. Cr Wilcox: The first thing to knOw is where we are to crush. Cr Flanagan: Come down to my district; 111 get you plenty of metal. OFFICE SITE. When this matter came forward the chairman said if they did not get a site on the main street there was no need to hurry at all, as there would be plenty of other sites available. Cr Henry agreed that they should not hurry; now they wete going to get the railway they might have the County office at WaiuKU. There was no urgency in the matter. Cr Flanagan and they should try and no something for th-a ratepayers rather than make a splash with builiing offices. Cr Henry agreed that something should be done to the roads, if possible. Cr Higginsin, to Cr Henry: You should i.ot have let them get in such a bad state before ycu tried to do anything. Cr Campbell moved, That the question of builiing be deferred lor the present, and that the Clerk be instructed to secure the presant premises for ainther six month?. Cr Henry seconded tnis motijr, which w«s carried. Cr Wilaox moved, That a deputation wait on tha Minister for Kailways whea in Auckland about securing a site in King-street. He understood that the matter could be easily arranged with tha present lessee, who had only a couple of years to run. Cr Flanagan seconded. Ihey should try for one of these leases and not go In for land speculation in Pukekohe. Tha motion was carried. Cr Henry said teat Mr Massey and proDably the Minister for Railways would be through h°r? on the 19th, and it was decided that as many as possible wouid wait upon them. KOAD BOARDS MERGING. The County Clerk said there seemed to Le a great diffeienca or opinion concerning the steps to be taken to enable tie Road Board 3 to merge. The chairman said that January or Fehiuary next would be a good tima to put the matter of merging Lefore the Road Boirds. He intended calling a meeting in his rlist:iet, and rie understood that Cr Higginsjn intended doing the same in his. Cr Fulton th"UgU it woull be premature to take action now, as the Road Boards were not at all likely to do anything till'the end of the year. He thought Pukekohe Eist would merge then. The chairman moved, That the matter of merging be held over for the present. Secon ei by Cr Fulton, and carried. Cr Henry thought the Clerk's idea a goo r i one, to send out circulars to the different local todies explaining the forms to be complied with in respect to mining. It was understood that this would be done when the proper time arrives. COUNTY SOLICITOR. Mr Hanna was appointed C'umty solicitor. BY-LAWS NEKDED, Cr Lyons paid the matter of bylaws ought to be gone on with. I'hty needed th" by-laws before next winter to control the traffic, and he moved, That tha Clerk write to other counties for copies oi their by-laws. Cr Flanagan seconded. He said nnless they took the matter of framing the by-laws seriously, Councillrs might better stay at home. He thought that the f'ountj should take over the administration of by-laws all over thy Ccu ty; Road Boards could not do it without the members making bad friends. The motion was carried. Cr Fulton said another important matter was the election of a public pound. Straying hcrsei anl cat'le, he said, did mire harm on the roads than anvthirg else. QUARRY SITE. Cr Flanagan said the Council had no quarry site at presant, and he again extended a cordial invitation to Councillors to go to Drury to see the nr.tal there. Cr Lyons and tha Mercer Road Board had asked him to take the Conn"il doA'n to Mercer to see the metal theie. Cr Henry: Out our way there are five or six quarries which would metal all th.' mads in franklin. If you desire it I will gee quotations for them. I have one quarry for which I would not take Is >a yard; j when the railway comes through | these quarn s will be very tseful. Cr Campb.'ll hoped that, no parochial spirit would be shown in connection with this stone busir.ess. Stone was required ui every section of the County. They could not cart stone from Drury to Waiuku, but the metal must lie procured for : each section where it cjuld be got !he handiest, cheapest and easiest. Sa tar as Druiy was concerned he did not see that they should lavour that sito any mure than anywhere else; D;ury ctmld nt absorb all the interest of stoi.e-erushing unless it could be pioven that it cuJd supply more cheaply and more easily than anywhere else. There was stone in Hunua quite as good anything in Drury--which could be used to serve its own section of the district. He thought if the visit were left to Cr Flanagan and himself to arrange

that a mutually suitable tune be fixed a hen Councillors cojid- -visit both Drury and Hunua on the sama day. This was agreed to. FINAN' laL PQ3UION. The financial positon at November sth was shown as fellows:—Cr: Bv receipts from Cour.ty Cjp f PKlice £l2 16s 3d, by rates received 17s 4d, total £5Bl 13s 7d. Dr: qt-pen-diture to data £327 10s 6d; t?fedi*: balance £254 3s Id Gr Campbell asked if the money coming in would be sufficient to cover working expenses, and upon getting a reply in the affirmative moved, That £2oo be placed on fixed deposit for three months. Cr Henry asked if it was not arranged that the money not wanted should he allocated to the different districts. Mr Motion: We will want tha mo-:ey fir machinery and buildings. Cr Henry "said th;t If tha money were not refunded to the districts ihere would be a great outcry, hatepayers were asking what was the object of the rate, and he had told them that after paying the working expenses of the county it was tha intention to remit the balance to the Boa-da in proportion to their payments. Cr Wilcox said ha did not understand that any money was to be handed back; it was to be spent by the County. Mr Mothn said thst Cr Flanagan's resolution was that the money should be spent, as nearly us possible, in the localities in which the rates wure collected. But if they were going to get a crusher they could not pay out on roads this year. Cr Wilcox said he understood that when the two counties were: formed they were ta get £IOOO each; he had heard nothing of the matter since. Mi Motion: Where was the money to come from? Cr Wilcox: From the Government. Mr Motion: I did not know any thing about that. Cr Flanagan said it was a moat important thing t) keep in view the question of spending these rates. A good many ratepayers were ve-y sore at having to psy a second ra:e, and it the Council took up some piece of road, ana made a good job of it, it would be some recompense, They should not go in for too much machinery. He thought if they got a road grader and crusher this year that would be enough, and t(-en they could spend some money oo tha roads. Ha that the. £SOO grant for the Great South-road from Drury to Kar giriri ought to ba availed of, as this may be the last year in which gracts will be given at all. After an interesting discussion on road grants and subsidies, reported elsewhere, the Council rose.