FRANKLIN COUNTY COUNCIL.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 3, Issue 177, 10 March 1914, Page 1

FRANKLIN COUNTY COUNCIL.

j The March Meeting. The monthly meeting of the Fratikliu County Csuncil was held on Thursday; present—Crs W. C. Motion (Waipipi, in the chair), R. Higginson (VVaiuku), J. A. Renall (Awbitu), Dynes Fulton End H. Wilcox (Pukekohe), J. Flanagan (Drury), R. Lyons (Mercer), Grant Campbell (Hunua). BY-LAWS. The county solicitor, Mr Hanna, read the summary of by-laws to be advertised, and explained the st*ps required to be taken in order to give the by-laws legal force. The by-laws indicated that only four blocks could be purchased in a cemetery by any one person, and this created some discussion. The position of the various cemetery trustees was questioned and a number cf other aspects reviewed. Incidentally the question arose as to the legality cf Luriah at tiunua, it being stated that there were r.o cemetery trustees there and it was not known if any authority have ever been given to use the place now used as a burial ground. The special order confirming the by-laws was adopted. • A HURT ANKLE.

A. Kaibau wrote saving that he had injured bis ankle while at work at the crusher at Roesiter's quarry on Tuesday, 10th inst.—lt was reported that a notice had been sent to the Insurance Company. WORKS IN OPAHEKE. M. Markham, chairman of the Opaheke Road Board, forwarded a notification from the Public Works Department showing the unauthorised balances of votes for road work?, etc., in the Opabeke road district as follows:—Opaheke main road, £ for £, £150; Price and Ararimu deviation, £200: Ararimu to Wairoa river, £IOO. With regard to the giants Mr Markham saio the Board would readily hand over control to the Council. "In fact," said the writer, "bfnce the works are on the Council's road I take it that the Board would hardly be in order in proceed rig with them. Possibly, it is not too late to get them under way this year. You might be able to prevail upon the Roads Department to take over Price's deviation and see that through. That would prevent the vote from lapsing. Let me know as soon as yoitible when once the engineer has decided as to Pratt's bill deviation."

Cr Flanagan thought the deviation would have to ba laid off again as the route had overgrown with fern, tie moved, 'I hat the engineer get the work on Price's deviation done as soun as possible. Seconded by • Cr Lyons and carried. Cr Lyonß remarked that if the deviation had been gazetted the survey pegs would still be there.

GRANTS IN WAIPIPI. Cr Renall handed a letter to the Council whicb had been sent to him as chairman of the Waipipi Road Board. It showed that there were two unauthorised balances Unspent as follows:—Otaua to Aka Aka, £ for £, £400; Turangaruru to Waipipi main road, £1 for £2, £763 15s sd. It was decided that the engineer should look up the matter and put in a claim for the money. RAMA RAMA BY ROAD. R. F. Thomas, of Rama Rama, by letter addressed to Cr Wilcox, said there was a by-road through T. Harkness' and his farm and he asked particulars about the purchase of it from the county. The road ran for 40 chains through the writer's property, blocks 41 ami 47. Cr Wilcox said he would call on Mr Thomas at the first opportunity and aek to have the road pointed out to bim.

A WAIPIPI ROAD. J. 11. Herrcld, Waiuku, asked that the engineer inspect a couple of unformed roads on his procerty. Although paying close on £SO for rates to the Council he had not a road into his place and as he intended to build shortly he desired the inlet. The year before last the Waipipi Koad Board allowed him £5 for one road and he put on another £5 to that amount, but ihat was not sufficient. It was left to Cr Kenall and the engineer to enquire into the matter. Miss M. A. Barstow, of St. Michael's, Waioku, said there was a public road past her property which formed the only entrance to it and she was anxious to have the road made useable. When inspecting Mr Herrold's read the foregoing is also to be gone over and report to be made at next meeting.

WAIPIPI ROAD EXCHANGES. I The county clerk reported upon the position with regard to a claim by Makgill and Middletir. for payments in connection with exchanges and road deviations. In July, 191?, J. E. and D. Makgill offered to take £25 for all land taken in three deviations through their

property; on the rooiion of Messrs

Kenall and Barriball, members of the Waipipi Rosd Board, the efftr was accepted. This information was taken from the Road Board minutes.

It was decided to write to Mr Makgill and say that after hokifig up the minutes they found that the old Road Board had agreed to his offer to accept £25 for the roads taken for deviation. CLEVEDON TO HAUARAHI.

The Public Works Department replied to the clerk's le.ter which stated that complaints had been made about the enndi ion of the road leading into Kawakawa bay, and asked that repairs be effected. "Before

the Council tock over the district (wrote the district engineer) this road was controll.d by the Department, there being at the time no loial body. Now, however, that your Council has been constituted and has power to levy rates for maintaining the roads it eeems to me that the Department's responsibility has ceased." Cr Campbell said he could net agree with the latter and thought the Department should make a 10 fo.t road before the Council took it over. I! the Council spent money on it that would establish a precedent and then the Department would sav they had nathirg further to do with the road. This view was adopted by the Council.

GOVERNMENT MONIES. The Advances Office wrote eaying thai as soon as the £ISOO loan to construct various roads in the Hunua riding had been passed by the law officer tne debentures would be forwarded lor execution.

The district engineer wrote about the £125 which the Council desired to spend in repairirg a bad s.ction of road "between Mauku and Waiuku.". Tbis work seemed to be maintenance; it eo, it could not Le charged to the grant. Alsk the oiler of £125 cxpen i.ure had heen nude to the Karaka Road Board so that it this Board was now merged the woik under the grant must be carried out on that section of load in the late Karaka road district.''

Cr Higginson said the Depaitment seemed lo be a bit mixed up.

Cr Henry said a grant for £125 had appeared on the Estimatf 9 ar.d he had suggested that the motey should be applied to that portion of the Druiy to Waiuku road within the old Mauku road district. He moved, That tbe iJepartment be replied to saying that ihe work wa> for formatioL and construction purpose?, not for repairs, and that Ihe Department had asked the Council to supervise tha expenditure of the money.

Cr Lyons Eeconded, but poinled out that if the Dspaitment had previously asked the Karaka Road Board to spend the money this Council could do nothing. Thß motion was carried. SLAUGHTER HOUSE. Mawson McAlpine applied for a slaughtering license in Mauku, which was granted.

A MAUKU REQUEST Noinian L. Ncakes draw attention to the fact t';at the Council last year promheJ to have the road leading into Bcurnc stream farm j.ut in

or<!er. At present (ill) 1 'l4l the rdad was almost impassable for traffic and was the only inlet into hfs property, Mr Tilly's and Mr Firth's hack entrance. Ihe road had already betn surv by Mr McArthur at a cost of £7 to £9.

Cr Henry said that 12 montus ago the work was hud off aid tenders invited. But it was thm found that there was r.o money avalatla anoj the work was hvkl in abeyance. He moved, That tbe engineer ir.spect acd report.—Carried. A DANGEROUS CULVERT.

G, Gillon, Mauku,>,<lrew attentior to a culveit on the Tramway read in front of his farm which was in-fl dangerous condition, the planks of it all bein* 100-e and curkd up by the sun. As the stringers were very oror he suggested nutting in 18 inch pipes. covered with earth. This would te 3 feet 6 inches deep and woulJ make a'permanent joh. Wooden culverts were always a rource cf expense. Cr Henry said as this was a matter of emergency he ha I had the culvert repaired.—Action cortinmd.

WAIAU LOAN. The Advances ObVce advised t>at £l5O tad been remitted to the b.uik en the above loan. f A BAD BRIDGE. The clerk of the Karaka Read Board d;ew attention to tli. 1 bad state of the bridge on the DruryWaiuku road ever the Whar.gamaire creek, ccmmonly known as the Four Mile bridgf. Me suggested that this aid tre other bridges to the wis:ward of Halliday's Le clone with a view to forming ard grading Work that was being undertaken by the Board.

Cr Henry eaid these were the bridges tbey saw when touring the riding and the engineer h:id made a-noti of what was required. He moved, That the engineer b: instructed to inspect the bridges and have whatever repairs were necessary put in hand. Seconded by Cr Wilccx and carri d.

A MAUKU COMPLAINT. T. Carmichael, Fatumahoc, askcci that the load in front cf hi 3 place he attended to at once. "For fix mon'hs tf the yar." sail the leit.'i, "it is absolutely impas»atle and for an eld read you will admit this is not right.''

Cr Herrv said the engineer arranged t*at a £l2 lCs balance shculd be extended on thii read He asked that the engineer write to the contractor and urge that the work be proceeded with at onco.

AMONGST THE CLAIMANTS. A. E. Wright, Mauku, who furwarded his final account for service in connection with the merging of the Mauku Road Boaid, added; "Now thst I am bo ply a »-atep3ycr I would respectful v draw your attention to tie stale of the load krown us Quinn's read. There i.s a very soft spot at the junction ot Quinn's road with the road leading to my property which in the winter becomes almost impa9sa'jle. The Rojd Board had some work laid off-»t this spot but it was never Ist. The long hill by Mr Rowe's property is becoming very uneven owing to the water being allowed to run down the centre of the ro*d. Ore day on this hill with plough and scoop would do wonders."

Cr Henry Baid <hia was a read on which £ll6 contract bad b:eu Itt t-. Mcore. The road generally had not been Icoktd after ;ir,d was in a bad state. When Mr Wright was clerk he apparently did not think it seemly that the road should he made then as he (Mr Wright) \v:s the chief user. Cr Henry told him that W9S the very \itni he should have had it done. Ha moved, That the engineer call upon Mr Wright and inspect the road and if there were any money for the road that this be scent, Seconded by Cr Rei.all and carried. PIPES ACKOS3 ROAD.

W. Finlav, Mauku, asked permission to lay a half-inch water pipe acrcss the road leading between Patumahce and Mauku about 18 inches below the surface

On Cr Henry's motion the request was granted. THE BUCKLAND BUSH. E. Yates wrote sayinc he had been intornied that in forming the road Ircm Pukckohe to Buckland through Yates' bu-h the workmen hid piled a lot of rubbi-h on the side of the road against the bush which, when dry, would he a source of greai danger in the case cf a careless snicker throwing a match into it. The writer added that he thought this bush should be acquired by tha County Council for preservation to the public. Cr Wilccx said with regard to the rubbish thit was gathered up be could not see that it was rny more dangeroua now than it was before; not so much.

There seemed to be a unanimous opinion that the Council was not in a position to acquire the land £t present for scenic purposes and it was decided to write accordingly.

A NAMfcJ IMMORTALISED. A. H. Tapper, secretary of the Tuakau Progressive League, wrote askirg that that part of the new road from Liverpool street, Tuakau, to the junction with the old Whangarata road be officially nam-d Bollard road. Cr Fultcn pointed out that at present some confusion arose over the nnnics. The christening was approved. A KOHE KOBE ROAD. D. AshwiD wrote saying that hia boundary fence cro.-sed the toad in two places. He wanted to complete the fence but did not care to fence oil' the road. He asked what were the Council g'ing to da? Cr Renall said it appeared the road bad been put across a corner'which Mr Ashwin claimed. To shift the road out would necessitate a good deal cf cutting and he had euggested that it should ba left, Siice the letter bad been sent in he had made an arrangement with Mr Ashwin. A ROAD WANTED. R. E. Workman asked if the part of the road ftom Maungatawhiri Valky through Smith's to the beach hal been gazetted a public road, or when it was likely to be. There was a distance of 30 chains to tbe main road through private property which the public wanted. Cr Lyons said he went to the Survey office about this matter and found that the portion referred to had not been gazetted owing to the trouble over compensation for Smith. He moved, That tbe matter be referred to the Public Works Department.—Carried. TREASURY REMITTANCES. The Paymaster General notified that £IOO had been forwarded for excavating clay material en the Waipipi to Kohe Kohe Top road; £36 5s for eupply and spreading of metal on Church road; £72 for supply and spreadii g of metal Pukekohe East to Drury; subsidy £125. The £125 subsidy was on account of Waiuku Road Board and oo Cr Higginson's motion it was decided to pay this amount to the credit of the Waiuku Board.

tIGHT FOR A GRANT. A letter from the Prime Minister, enclosing a opy of a l.tter from Cr J. A. Rfnall and askirg for some comments thereon, caused a bit of a flutter. Cr Kenall'a letter dealt with the history of the £SOO giant for the Waiuku-Awhitu road. Some years ago heavy rains washed away soma large culverts at the Waiuku end and to replace them £225 of the grant was taken. Ihia left only £275 to be spent on the road nearer AwlutJ. He now understood that the chairman had used his endeavours to diveit £l5O of this money for work at Waiuku end. K this was so he asked that the spending ol the diverted money be stopped. Ihe chairman said ths original grant was for the Awhitu-Waiiku road. The vote waj on the Esti mates and its expenditure was entirely under the Department to spend wherever plans of work were prepared. This vo'.e had been on the Estimates since 1906-1907 and bad never been utilised eo he suggested that if portion of it were spent his riding would subsidise the amount. If Cr Renall had some work he wanted put through he would have to prepare plans of it. He contended that he was entitled to uss that money for his end. He had brought forward a scheme which had been accepted by the Depaitment, and it Cr Kenall had not been able to do that duiing his four or five years it was his own fault.

Cr Renall said the £225 which had been spent took them two miles out of Waiuku. The grant had been applied for by the other end which was entitled to the money. He thought the chairman's action very ungra:iou?. He had had his own property subdivided and was prepared to do the fencing at his own coat, so that things were being got ready for the expenditure of this money. He did not expect if Mr Motion got £225 oat of their £SOO grant that he would attempt to take any more. Last year he applied for £SOO in addition to the miserable £275 that had been left from the first grant but only the £275 had been voted again. Now another £l5O hai been taken by the chairman and only £125 was left. This was quite insufficient. He was willing to raise a loan and suggested that since £l5O had been taken that another £250 be applied for. He would like to say that he had only been on the Waipipi Road Board for 2J years. The chairman saii the Public Works Department was not going to spend £275 on a road which would cost £I2OO or more; if a loan had been arranged to provide the balance of the money the road would have gone thnugb. Cr Campbell moved, That Mr Masssy be asked to have £l5O from unauthorised expenditure devoted to this work. Seconded by Cr Henry acd carried.

AN INTEREST CLAIM. The clerk of the Pukekohe West Road Board (Mr H. G. It. Masou) wrote about the Council's claim, aa successors to the Mauku Hoad Board, fcr £i 10s interest for 6 months endirg August Ist, 1913. He had been directed to send £1 10s Od in settlement. It was pointed out that this payment was in respect of a county road which the Council had taken over and had struck a rate for the Pukekohe West road district wnich presumably was meant to cover all the expenses of the Council in respect of county roads. Tte county clerk was asked to get further information and report to next meeting.

BOMBAY-I'AfARATA BRIDGE. When the nrw concrete bridge on the Bombay-Paparata ruad was belrg constructed a temporary ciossing in limber was erected by Mr Sawyer, cf Bombay, at a cost of £5. Now that the new bridge is in use tbe old structure is out of commission. Cr Flanagan introduced Mr Sawyer to the Council and eaid he was prepared to accept the timber in the bridge in payment ot his account. Taking into account the circumstances Cr Flanagan «aid he thought this would be a good deal for the county, and he moved that the offer be accepted.— Carried. Cr Lyons referred to tte lack of hand-rails over tha concrete bridge aril ha euggested that these should be put on; at present it was dangerous to Btock.—The matter was left in the hands of the engineer. WAIPIPI ROADS.

Cr Renall reported that he had had the engineer out his way to consider the regrading ot the road*. The engineer found such grades as 1 in 4 and 1 in 5 which showed how necessary it was to give access into Waiuku. He had handed the roads over to the engineer and it would be for him'to go through the district and get on with the work. Cr Higglnson said he had been through Waipipi roads and it was the roughest country he had been over. If Cr Renall raised a loan of £20,000 he might get good roads. (Laughter). INSURANCE ON EMPLOYEES.

Cr Lyons said he was satisfied the present want ot system in insuring the employees of contractors was unsatisfactory. He instanced a case of one accident in which a contractor's horse was killed and the driver narrowly escaped a like fate. In that case, said Cr Lyons, if the man had hem killed and judgment for £SOO had been given against the contractor, a-d say the contractor could not meet the liability, th?n the chargi would fall upon the County Council. He moved, That an insurance policy be effected based on the expecditure, the chairman ard clerk to determine the amount. Seconded by Cr Renall.

Cr Henry asked if the intention was to make it compulsory for the contractors to insure their employees, bevause if so the amount would be simply passed back by being added to the contract price.

Cr Lyons said that was so; his idea waa for the Council to insure direct. The motion was carried. TUAKAU METAL.

Cr Fulton reported that some 12} yards of broken metal at Tuakau had been inadvertently taken bv Mr Peacock, who had acquired the property upon which the metal was and believed it was his. Mr Peacock was willing to pay any reasonable sum for it, and he moved that an account tor the stone at 7s 6d per yard be rendered.

Cr Wilcox seconded the motion, which was carried. THE MEETING ADJOURNED. As the Ccuncil bad had a two days' sitting, and it was now after 6 o'clock with a lot of business still to do, including the contentious question of alteration of the riding boundaries it was decided to adjourn the meeting until that day fortnight. THE PUKEKOHE RIDINu. Pukekohe riding has two representatives from the east, Cis Wilcox and Fulton. Both those gentlemen feel that Pukekohe West ought to be represented or. the Council, and Cr Fulton suggested that he should retire from the Council. He gave notice to move that the riding be divided into two so that in future each part would have its own representative. Cr Wilcox supported the notice, which will be dealt with at a future meeting. It wes understood that when passed the new arrangement would come into force at the next elections of the Council.