FRANKLIN COUNTY COUNCIL.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 2, Issue 133, 3 October 1913, Page 3

FRANKLIN COUNTY COUNCIL.

The October Meeting. A full meeting of the Franklin County Council was held in the office, Fukekohe, on Thursday; present—Mr W. C. Motion (in the chair), Crs Flanagan (Druiy), Henry (Mauku), Wilcox and Dynes Fulton (Pukekche), K. Lyons (Mercer), Camobeli (Runua), Renal! (Hwhitu), and Big£in3on (Waiuku). WAIUKU MERGING. Cr HigrMnson moved, That tno merging cf tha Waiuku roa! district tdke eff ci as from March 31st. He p.inted out that the Board had a deficit of some £3OO and when they jiined the co:nty they wanted rot to have thi deficit. There were certain works in progress which the Board wanted to s:e completed before relinquishing control. There was the difficulty that if the extension of time were deciied upon the Board would be without a rate.

Cr Campbell: Can't you strike a rate'/ •

Cr Bicginsori: We don't want to do that on top of the county rate. I think it would be better if the Council collected their rate and returned a certain proportion of it to the Board. Tha chairman said the request to extend the time at which the merging would take effect was a very reasonable one; on the petition asking to. defer the merger there were IC2 signatures, wfcereaa on the original petition there were only 119 signatures. Cr Renall seconded the motion, which wa3 carried. The opinion appeand to ba that the best way would be for the Council to collect the rate and hand over a share to the Waiuku Road Boa'd. IHEY READ "THE TIMES." Cr Bigginson asked Cr Lyons whether fce meant, when he spoke at the previous meeting, that the ranger to be employed was to get £1 for every day? Cr Lyons said that each Councillor had the right to engage the iatger, who was to be paid £1 for each day that he was sent out, the ranger also to get driving; fees. There had been nothing on the road since the matter had been published in the paper (the "Times"); the notificution had worked like magic. Cr Fulton: It was the same down our way!

BROKEN WATER-TABLES. Cr Campbell said the step that had been taken at the previous meeting, to caution people agflinst breaking down tfce water-tables, was in the right direction. But he thought, in addition, that 250 notices should be printed on calico to be posted up all over the county, and he moved to that effect. They were not desirous of prosecuting people; the object of the action was to preserve the rcais. But the utmost notice shoulJ be given of the Council's intention to prosecute those who damaged the watertables.

Cr Henry seconded. There was no doubt, he said, that in the past the water-tables bad been used as brakes. Out his way, on some roads there were now no water-tables at all, the lowest part being the middle of the ro2d. The sides of the cuttings were used in goirg down the hills. Other memteri expresed similar point of view and the motion was carried. A CONTRACT TROUBLE. A letter addressed to Mr Allan, late chairman of the Pukekohe East Road Board, was referred to the Council. It was from D. Crowley demanding payment of balance of momy due for contract for concrete bridge et Tuakau. (It appears that the late clerk of the Board could not tally the metal chips which Crowley eaid had come from Momirgside quarries.) Cr Fulton explained the position. When the work was finished it was passed by the engineer and a cheque in final payment was drawn. The difficulty was that the contractor had paid "private" rate 3en the railage for metal chips and not "local body" rates, and this difference, of £2 18s, he did not think the Board should pay. He moved to that effect. Seconded by Cr Wilcox and carried.

ROAD DEVIATION WORK. The correspondence of A. M. Sheppard, licensed surveyor, who had forwarded an account to the late Fukckohe East Road Board for £22 7s, for surveying the road deviation r.t Tuakau, was submitted. The Board had paid £7 16s in settlement, hut this cheque was relumed. Id refusing acceptance Mr Sheppard anked the Board, it the amount was considered too high, to refer the matter to arbitration. A solicitor's firm also wrote saying that the Board owed £3O and asked for settlement. The Board still declined to pay and the solicitors again wrute saying that unless the balance was paid proceedings would be taken. Arbitration was again susgested. To which the County Clerk replied: "The Fukekohe East Head Board being abolished and merged in the county your letter of the 4ih inst. has been handed to this Council as successors to the Board. I am instructed to inform you that as fares the information supplied this Council goes, it appears that Mr Sheppard has been paid in full for the survey that he was to make, for which he charged £22 163. The point in dispute was the payment of labourers to assistThe Board has agreed to pay these men and written to the etfect that they are prepared to forward cheque to you to make up the payment of £22 ltis in full for services r?ndered hy Mr Sheppard." Cr Fulton explained that the I'ukekohe East Read Board had left it in hi 3 hand* to get the survey. No price was fixed for the survey when*Sheppard was ergagert. After the work was done th-3 Department would net approve the plan, and Sheppard smt no fewer than thren different surveyors to go over the work again. The additional work was the result of his own inaccuracies in the origiral survey. Tre first account was fur £22 16s; cf that sum £ls had been paid and a cheque for £7 16s for the balance had been sent. Cr Wilcox said the Board had never acknowledged ary indebtedness more than £22. juiuUiyyiiiiyii

ANOTHEK cl.ai.v. ! ■) W. Stayie, co;:tricior, ti Buckiand, following up pievicu3 correspondence, wrote, under date ll'h September: "1 d.i not hold any contiact for 330 yards metal. In January o: February the Board advertistd for terders for 530 yarc's for the Pukekohe East Road Bo?.rd and my tender was accepted. The then trustee for the division sought m? a few days later and asked roe to gtt 150 yards in addition to the crntracr, which I did. I did rot know then that this 150 yardd was tj come oif the 530 yards. 1 was called npon about 4 we ks ago to sign this contract, and en the specifications it etatrd 400 yards, I had all the spawis > Kquired, total about 680 yards. Three morit!i3 rgo the Board asked me, through Mr Lauc-, to ge; 25 yards for repjirs, also 150 yaids for repair?, tot?l 175 yards, «nd also 250 yards for Goldi>.g'a hill, metalling, and all these work 1 ? a:e bein? done. These 13 enough snawls, abuut 600 yards, on hand to complete the fame. There h 260 yards on at 03 61 and approximately 600 yards epawls on hand at 2s 9.1 per yar?, and 40 yaids of metal for repairs at 63 31 per yard in the quarry. 'lhis work was all measured up by Mr Lauer on September 2nd. and 1 believe his estimate of spawls was 550 yard?."

To which the County Clerk replied: "I have to inform you that from infcrmation received from enquiries made since I received your letter, it appears there is no money due directly to you. 1 am informed that your contract is for 530 yards metal at 9s 6d per yard, put on road. You have put rn road 260 yards amounting to £123 10s, full payment, and you have received £135. You are entitled to 75 per cent, on metal put on road, so that 260 yards at 75 p:r cent, of contract would be £93, so you lnve received 03 account of spawh £42, a total cf £135, So und;-r the circumstances you will see that you are not entitled Jo any further payment until further work is done."

WHERE IS IT? R. S. Hunter, of Bucklai;d, asked if the Council would pay half the cost of repairing the fence dividing hi 3 place from the recreation ground. He did r.ot think it advisable to erect a new fence until the swamp in the recrcaUon groun i had sunk to the level of his lar.d. Cr Wilcox: I was rot aware there is a recreation ground there! Cr Fulton: 1 know of none. Left to Cr Wiicox to enquire tnd report upon. TUAKAU RAILWAY STATION TO IUAKAU BRIDGE. The district engineer wrote: " with reference to the application made by Messrs Crairj; and Henderson, of Tuakau, fcr a grant of £SOO for widening and completely lormirg about 35 chains of the section of the above-named road leading to the railway station, I have to afk you kindly to have the exact locality of the required work marked en the plan submitted."

WAIAU WHARF,

John Routly, who had charge of the work, explained that hs had issued to the contractors for the Waiau wharf their final certificate. The figures given showed an excess of expenditure over the amount of contract of £lO9 3s 6d. "This excess," said the writer, "has arisen mainly horn two causes: (a) the unfitness for use in the n:w structure of a quantity of timber we expected to obtain from the old wharf for decking ard piliaa; (b) the necessity of lengthening the new wharf span of 16 feet in order to enable the N.S.S. 'Jo's cargo boat to come alongside. The extra was for 4073 f.et tuper of jarrah and totarß, costing at Waiau from 27s to 84s 6d, according to sizes. The extra for pile-driver was £?. The item of £35 for extra labour was an allowance at the rate of 173 6d the hundred feet super for working 4000 feet extra of bridge timber." PAFAKURA-PAPAIUMU ROAD E. C. Beale asked for the following information: What amount cf the loan authorised at the poll taken on June 3rd last ia to be devoted to the improvement of the road mentioned? Does that amount car/y any subsidy from the Government, and if so how much? Is the loan money, and the suDsidy, if any, available now? Kindly give particulars of the workto be done on the said road with approximate dut>s of commencement thereof. Left in Cr Campbell's hand 3. "THIRDS" SPENT. Mercer Road Beard intimated that the thirds on section 163, Koheroa parish, had been spent with olh:r morey en main roads leading to the section.—This was in reply to a question from the county clerk asking how the £ll 14s had been spent.—Mr Bentley, who owns the section, desired that the thirds should be spent on the road between the Mangatangi creek and a point known ai Enoch's hill, in cutting down a few small pinches and putting on some metal.

NOXIOUS WEEDS BED. Hubert C. Hay, of Patuinahce, wrote to Or Henry, saying: "I have ennaiderfd the offer made to me on beh."if of the Franklin County Council, viz., that (he Council should make over to 1112 all the strip cf land adjoining my property on condition trust I p&y tiie expenses attaching to the transfer, and agree to accept same." It was left with Cr Henry to effect a sale. WAIAU WARD. A. E. Wright, late clerk of the Mauku Road Board, wrot3 to Cr Henry:—"He thirds for Waiau Ward: 1 forwarded lo the Commissioner of Crown Lands the schedule fur ins expenditure of the 'thirds' about three months ago as requested by the late Beard. I allocated the money eo as to place. it agairst Mr A. Moote's works just completed, about half on the cuttings past Messrs Taylor Bros, towards Mr McLarin's, and half 0:1 the road towards R. Keilly's. It appear tint th-? Department intends ignoring nr, application and get it tlraight fre 111 thi Council." GREAT SOUTH ROAD CONTROL. The Mercer Read Board wrote asking if the Council would be willing to hand over control rf the Great South read going through the township of Mercer, Request declined. ihHliidWliliittdi