FRANKLIN COUNTY COUNCIL.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 2, Issue 134, 7 October 1913, Page 2

FRANKLIN COUNTY COUNCIL.

The October Meeting. The following report is continued from Friday's isiiua : NOT CONVERTIBLE, Ci Reiall, referring to tha traction engine that rnd bficn purchased, said he '.nietstcod thst it wsa not converlnle into a toad roller. If that was sn there must have b. en aa error or a nriiudirstanding somewhere. To ("ret a r.on-eonvertible tractor he regarded as one of the gravest mistakej that the Council had made to date. !f that was s\ ho* did it come about? I*. was oi: tha minutes that the engins was to be convertible, but that seemed to have been altered It suit purpusea. Cr Campbdi hctly resented the suggestion. The lemarks, he raid, were totally unwarranted and un-callid-for, and the expressions were "ungracious and ungentlemanly."

Cr Kenall ware! this outburst aside. No offence was intended but he wanted to know why a nonconvertible was got. Upon the minutes being referred to it was found Uiat Cr Renall wa3 a member of the machintry aetection committee, and that alternate tfm'ers had been invittd.

Cr Higginson said the reason they did not get a convertible engine was that it would ba too heavy for the bridges. Cr Flanagan said that after many discjasiona it had been decided <o get a ncn-convartible engin?. WORK FOR TUE ENGINEER. Word wa3 received from the new engineer, Mr McArthur, taymg that he would arrive during the eecond week in November.

Cr Flanagan sai.l ha wa3 a bit afraid there would be sjme little rush for the ergineer for some time ahead. He thought they should define the order of precedence which the work should take.

Cr Henry said he thought that Mr Motion should tike charge of the engineer upon his anival. They might take a car and go over the wr.de county. In tin various ridings tha ctiairmaa could be joinul by the membpr for the riding and the inspection would show tne engineer just what hs had to face, and the chairman would become familiar with the requirements of all the ridings. Or course the chairman wouid be out of pocket but he could claim remuneration.

Cr Renall: Seeing that Atfliitu was the first district to merga we should have prscedence with the engineer.

Cr Campbell very gravely said that ha Honestly thought that th?. engineer ought to begin at Hunua. He claimed that he would have more money to spend this year in the way of loans, subsidies, granti and rates than any other trvo ridings. The summer was advancing and unless something,, were done very soon a large proportion of that money canld not be 6pent. He thought the engineer snould first take a flying survey of Hunua. It was agreed that the idea of taking the enpineer around was a good one and a motion, that tr.e chairman arrange the matter, was carried unanimously.

GKEAT SOUTH ROAD AT MERCEK. When the request of the Mercer Road Board—that the Council should hand over control of the Great South road going through the township to that tody—was read, , Ct Lyons said that Mercer should have a town board, but as it had rot he did not see how this Council could surrender control of an important section of an important road. Cr Lyons was asked to interview the chairman of the Board and rerort to the Council later on. GRANTS AND SUBSIDIES Treasury advice was received that tha sum of £57 2s Sd had been paid to the county's bank credit, bei'ig £7 2s 8d balance of £SOO for installing Patumahoe township roads and £SO metalling from Patumahoe to Waiau. Alsd £55 15s tor formation of Patumahoe to Drury road,. via Woodhouse hill; £SO for Deed's creek bridge £ for £; and £607 14s 2d for the following:-Awhitu £39 Bs, Drury £125, Maungatawliiri £29, Mercer £ls 18s, Opaheke £46 14s, Paparata £46 lis, Pokeno £55, Pukekohe East £125, Pukekche West £125. The htter sunn represented the County's 50 per cent, of the Road Board subsidies.

Cr Henry: Nothing there for Karaka or Mauku? Mr Motion: Nar for Waipipi; it won't do for my district to bs lift out, Cr Campbeil: Nor for Hunua. The clerk was instructed to write asking what had happened to the subsidies for these districts. AN IDLE SECTION During consideration or the proposed transfer of a strip of land to H. C, Hay, Fatumahoc, it was said that there was about f.aif an acre of land. At present it wh9 quite use 1238 and was a breeding place fur noxicu3 weeds. The final understanding was that Cr Henry should endeavour to sell toe piece to Mr Hay, a;id the sum of one shilling was mentioned as a possible price. THE WAIAU WHARF.

The explanation by John Ronthy, who had charge of the Waiau wharf work, regarding the discrepancy between the monty for v,htch he had given payment certificates and the contract price, provoked expressions of displeasure. It was said that the tender was for £245. whiie the toial tost had come to £;js4. Cr Henry: That is ridicukus. Cr Renal]: Good gracious! Cr Campbell asked if they wtre paying the money because th2 contraccur made a mistake in his tender?

Cr Henry aaid he was surprised that the work in ennnection with this wharf jhculJ have added up to what it was. The Waiau peotl.? expected the work to cost £245, hut it had coat £'lo9 more than that. The ratepayers would ha disagreeably JUiprisrd to find that their indebtedness had hsen su increased. It wu3 surprising to thi"k that a more accurate estimate could not have been made in the first placa. The payment was deterred until Cr Henry inspects ar.d approved the work.

[Mr Routley's explanation was published in Friday's "Tinifca."] A PAPARaTA ROAD. Mr Woottcn, clerk of the l'aparata Road Boird, asked the Council to take over a part of the I> •mbayFaparuta road through i'arker'a and Mrs Manning's.—There was £55

169 lOd and £1 5s id deferred thirds available, the cash being in the bans. Mr Parker h;:d agreed to give the lend free of cent, it was understood that the road work wcul! cost £IOO, rot including the survey. Tr.ere was al:o a liability of £l9 for engineering expenses to be taken cv:r.

The chairman: That means there is about £lO to do about £IOO worth of work!

Flanagan said the creamsrv bridge they were building was on the E#meroarl; he plumed tha Council would have to take the roa i over. The matter waa ccfened until Cr Flanagan inspects and reports. THE TRAMWAY ROAD.

Messrs Hodi»kinson and A. Hull, representing tho Waiuku Koad Hoard, waited m lh; Council and asked tf they would do simething towards forming the Tmnway road. This wai the to ;nda r y read between Waiuku and Mauku read districts at.d Mr HodgKiiiiOn said he thought it only fair that Mauku should cjiiuibutc half the cost of fuming soms 20 chains of road. Waiuku Road Board would metal it afteiwards. Cr Ilerry pointed out that tha old Mauku road district came into the Council very h avily loaded with indebtedness but if the funds were available he wa3 agreeable that the Mauku division shoulf pav up to £lO.

This arrangement was regarded as satisfactory.

Mr Hull asked if the Council wuuld allicate a portion of Waiuku rates to the Waiuku Road Beard. The chairman said thia woulJ be attended to by the Council. A PATUMAHOE CULVERT. Cr Henry ssid he had received a lett.r from Mr Wily, president of the Ratepayers' Association, objecting to the principle that property of private pcoph should be drained by the Council. This was in connection with a request made by C. A. Ciispe. Cr Henry said ha had replied saying t:at :f the culvert was a danger to the public the work would be done, but the other could be delayed until the engineer had an opportunity to inepect. He had arranged with lioaler ti do certain work. He thought it well to leave the work in absyance, as requested by Mr Wily; it was possiol: they might have Mr Wily representing that district o.n the Council and, said the Councillor, Mr Wliy would be a very gcod man.

COUNTY BOUNUARIES. Tho chairman reportel that Cr Campbell, the cierk and himself hid attended the conference with representatives of the Maouxau County Council ta consider the question of transferring a slice of the Hur.ua riding ti Manukau. The proposal seemed to inset with tlie approval of the Manukau delegates, who said they would report to their Council. So far, however, nothing more had been heard about the matter.

Cr Campbell said the sevsrance of part of Hunua necessitated some consideration of the adjustment of the boundaries between Hunua and Mercer. He moved, That Crs Flanagan, Henry', Lyons an J the mover be a committC2 to consider the boundaries of the riding lying to the e?st side of the railway, and if the committee can come Jo an amicabK. agreement regarding a readjustment that the committee make a recommendation to the Council.

Cr Flanagan seconded and Gr Lyons supported the motion, Vrhich was carried.

BATKINS' ROAD, TUaKAU. Cr Fulton presented a petition from the settlers interested, asking the Council to raise a loan of the estimate] cost (£700) to form and metal the road known as Batkins' road, near Tuakau, the petitioners agreeing to pay interest and sinking fund en the said loan. It was decided to accede to the request. BUILDING FINANCE. lhe chairman repotted that as a result of an interview ha had with the bank manager the money required for ths building of the county offices would be available at 5i per ceat. Considering the present state of the money market he regarded that a3 a very satisfactory arrangement. The loan would run indefinitely, but the Council's intention was to pay out of revenue onesixth of the cost of (ha property each year, and at the end of six years the building and ground would be a splendid a?Eet for the county. At the interest rate he had named it would be cheaper than paving rent for their present hovel and an office fur the engineer which he had engaged in the Premier hall until such times as the county offices are ready. FINANCE COMMITTEE

So as to relieve the crush of work on meetiDg day it was arranged that in future the Finance Committee—the chairman, Crs Campbell, Henry, Renall and Fultonshould m?et en the night before the meeting day crd clear up a lot of detail committee work. A WAIFIFI ROAD.

U. Furniss, wharf road, Waipipi, wrote:—"l am going to ask ycu to do something towards opening up an old public road into sections part 344, 345, and 349, going in from the Wharf road for about 30 chains and leading on down to Te Totaia creek or point. Only a part of the road requirts to be made tit for traffic, the part leading from the Wharf road. \V? ourselves would help th 3 Council do F.ome of the work free of cost, that u a few small jobs if pipes are found. Tiie sections were lately in the possesion of Mr W. Hoskir>, I having taken them over from him. I would be thankful if your Council could help U3 in this matter. We have 13 or 14 acres of grass to lay down, the ground t) work up, etc., and at present we have t<J traffic through private property to ;>et on to the sections. In time gone by part of the land was known a3 the big swamp, so how would it do to call it tbe Bii? Swamp road?"

It was decided that when the engineer arrives that office- and Cr Kenall «ill inspect the position and report.

THE RAILWAY LINE. W. Garrett wrote saying that just as this county was being formed the Pukekoho East Road Board had been urging the Government to sell them the old railway lino from Bucklaud to Tuakuu for a road, and tho matter was placed in his hands to arrange, As tho Board had now merged he would be glad to collier with the Council if tlmy wero thinking of taking the project up. Cr Fulton: The Board never asked them to buy it, not at any

time. There had bcou a lot of correspondence between the Tuakau Progressive League. Still, tho Council might meet Mr Garrett and discuss the matter

Finally, Crs Wilcox and Fulton, wore depute I to interview Mr Garrett.

ELECTRIC LIU.HT FOR WAIUKU. Tho chairman ssid he had consulted the solicitor with regard to Mr Mr VcEwen's application for the right to supply electric energy in Waiuku, and ascertained that it would bo necessary for Mr McFweu to get an Order-in-Council before anything was don*. First of all a scheme would have to be sent into tho Council for approval. Ho supposed that when the Waiuku Road Hoard merged Waiuku would then have a town board and it would bo for them to arrange about tho electricity.

J. P. Droomgool, Waiuku, wrote saying that ha had been spoKen to on more than cne occasion re electtic lighting and ha desired the Councillors' views on the subject. So far he had not gone into tha matter of cost to instal same. He had a7J horse-power engine which he used for his planer, etc., and was writing to a party for information as to probable cost of installing a small plant. Should tha price be reasonable ha would bo prepared to consider the matter, with tho Council's approval.

OTAUA CHURCH ROAD. The s-cretary of the Otaua church committee dre* attsntion to the state of the road in front of the church builoing. "As there is quite an expanse of mud between the metal and the gateway to the church it is almost impossible for those who are on foot to cross from the ona to the other. Therefore we urge that the Council fhould put in a crossing for us even if it thould be a narrow one." Cr Flanagan: Wo can't touch that. The chairman said that the people had raado a formation and the Council should give tho required pipes. Cr Wilcox: I pay treat them well. I think that applications from churches and creameries should be most favourably considered. Cr Flanagan said it would be dangerous to yield in mattors of this sort. He had just put in two crossings to his own place, but—(laughingly)—he would sond iu his bill now. The chairman, with a smile, said this crossing would improve his own property. It was left iu Mr Motion's hands with power to act. CREAMERY BRIDGE. Tha district Government engineer intimated that the plans aid speci-licaiioii-j for this bridge had been approved. On receipt of the formal authority from Wellington the work might be put in hand.—There was a sum of £l5O, £ for £ nubsidy, on the Eatimatea for this work.

Cr Flanagan explained what had been done about the bridge which was estimated to cost £ooo. The plans hud beou approved. So as to expedite matters he bad arranged for 100 yards of spawls which would be crushed for the concrete work, and the cost to the county would be allowed for by the contractor.