FRANKLIN COUNTY COUNCIL.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 6, Issue 323, 2 November 1917, Page 1

FRANKLIN COUNTY COUNCIL.

Monthly Meeting

At the meeting of the Franklin County Council held yesterday there were present Crs J. Flanagan (chairman), E. Lyons, B. Higginson, T. J. Lockwood, W. C. Motion, H. Wilcox, T. W. Woods and J. A. Renall with the Engineer (Mr J. F. McArthur) and the County Clerk (Mr Alan P. Day). CR HENRY'S ILLNESS A message by telephone having been received that Cr Henry was confined to his bed suffering from quinsey it was proposed by Cr Motion and resolved that a letter of sympathy should be sent to Cr Henry expressing the Council's hope that he would Boon be restored to his usual health again. PARLIAMENTARY ELECTORAL BOUNDARIES A copy of the New Zealand Gazette was forwarded by the Minister of Internal Affairs showing the proposed change of the boundaries of the electoral districts, Pokeno and Maungatawhiri road districts, Mercer Town district and also a portion of the Hunua Riding having been placed in the Thames electorate, and the Franklin electorate having been extended to include Buckland and Tuakau.

Speaking in regard to the proposed change of boundaries Cr Lyons moved that in the opinion of the Council the southern boundary of Franklin electorate should be extended to include the whole of the Franklin County, that is that the Maungatawhiri Road District, the Pokeno Boad District, the old Mercer Eoad District including the Mercer Town Board District, and the Miranda portion of the Hunua Riding now proposed to be included in electorate district should be placed in the Franklin electorate. Cr Lyons said that there was a very sparse population throughout' the district and that the difference in the number of electors added to Thames would be immaterial, whereas the community of interest in the districts mentioned was certainly in the direction of Franklin.

The motion was seconded by Cr Wilcox who said that it had his hearty support.

The Chairman considered that the Council should enter a strong protest against the suggested change. The motion was carried unanimously. SURPLUS LAND The Under Secretary Public Works Department, Wellington, forwarded a copy of the Proclamation published in the Gazette allocating for the purpose of a road certain land in Block 10, Pukekohe parish, originally taken for the Waiuku Branch railway. REGISTRATION OF MOTORS The Minister of Internal Affairs in a circular letter notified the Council that as the result of a judgment given in a case Geraghty v. Porter the manner of affixing identification numbers to motors must be determined by the Governor-General by Ordei-in-Council and that such power cQuld not be delegated to registering authorities, An amendment of the law was therefore necessary and a draft of the proposed Order •in - Council affecting such amendment was forwarded. No action was taken. ROAI) WORKS AT HUNUA. Cr Lockwood mentioned that it was probable that sanction would be secured for the raising of a £ISOO loan for the Hunua roads and in view of the same he asked that plans should be prepared for dealing with Williamson's Hill. He also requested that the Engineer should arrange for a team of horses and a dray to work in Hunua. The requests were sanctioned. LOAN ADJUSTMENT

In accordance with the Council's proposal to pay the Pukekohe Borough Council the sum of £IOSO in respect of loan adjustments a letter! was received from the Town Clerk stating that the Borough could not accept the offtr made and asking that the Countv should agree to a liability of £ll6O being the proportion on a valuation basis at the time the alteration in the boundaries between the two bodies took place. If the County did not agree the Borough Council considered that the matter should be referred to a Commission to assess the respective liabilities.

The matter was referred to the sub-Committee that had previously considered the same. A backblocker's plight A letter was received from Mr Alex Campbell, of Awhitu, acknowledging receipt of a notice from the Council that proceedings would be takeo against him if he continued to use his sledge on the track. He stated that he had purchased a dray but owing to the narrowness of the track he was unable to use it and he asked what means he shou'd take to get his produne to and fro. He suggested that the track should be widened for dray traffic.

Cr Renall reported that ho had recently inspected the road in question and found that the roadway was not sufficient to take an ordinary vehicle. He understood that Mr Campbell was entitled to thirds and he moved that these should be handed over to him and that he shonld be authorised to do the amount of such thirds. The resolution was carried.

HELVETIA RAILWAY STATION Application having been made to the Hon. W. Frazer, Minister of Public Works, for a Government subsidy of £IOO (£ for £) towards ihe cost of forming a portion of the road giving access to the new Helve' tia railway station a reply was received from the Minister that he was obtaining a report on the matter. COMPLAINTS AND REQUEBTS A petition was presented, signed by Mr H. Pearman and five other settlers, drawing attention to the bad state of Tramway road between Glenbrook Station, and Gearon's road and asking for the same to be formed at an early date.—Deferred for consideration by Cr Henry.

Mr Charles Bischoff wrote com* plaining oi the bad condition of the road between Mr Cameron's and hia properties near Waiuku. He stated that it was the only access to his farm and that the road was practically impassable.—Referred to the riding member Cr Higginson and Engineer. A complaint was made by Mr J. Batty (Karaka) of the bad state of the road between the Black Bridge and Olasson's Creek Bridge, the part of the road near the latter bridge being particularly bad. He asked for the same to be repaired.— The Chairman reported that the road in question was in a very bad state and he moved that the Council should form and metal the portion of the road referred to this summer and Mr Batty should be informed accordingly.—Carried. A complaint was made by Mr A. E. Kretschman (Paparimu) of the unsatisfactory state of a portion of the Paparimu-Ararimu road and especially the approaches on both sides of the biidge. He stated that he had been obliged to lay fern to make it passable, but as there were bog holes in the road and swamp land on each side the condition was serious. He also complained that the silt from the road was being washed into a stream running through his property and the water was held back to such an extent that a seven wired fence only showed two feet above the stream. He suggested that the outlet should be made to carry off the water.

Cr Lockwood mentioned that the creek in question had been blocked up to the level of the bridge and on his motion it was resolved that the matter should be referred to the Engineer to inspect and report. Cr Lockwood added that the clearing of creeks would soon become a serious question and would affect the whole County. DEVELOPING THE WAIKATO BIVER

A letter was received from the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce stating that with a view to creating a deeper interest in the potential value of the Waikato river a meeting to consider the advisability of forming a Waikato River Navigation League would be held in Hamilton oa Friday, the 16th November next aid an iavi ation was extended to the Chairman of the Council to be present on that occasion. Arising out of this communication Cr Lyons said that since the Council had taken over the Mercer quarry the Railway Department had made car tain charges for handling metal and he suggested that representations should be made so that the Railway Department should make some concessions with regard to the charges imposed on the local authorities for handling metal. It might also be possible for the Department to have a truck available at certain times without any restrictions. Cr Motion expressed the opinion that the only way to create any impression was to give effect to the recommendatu ns of the recent Waikato River Commission. No further action was taken. COUNTY ROiDS

The Chairman reporting on the roads throughout the County mentioned that 160 miles of road were urgently required to be formed and metalled, the cost of which would be approximately £150,000. There were already about 190 miles of roads metalled, but only about half that mileage was in a fair condition and the remainder would require a large expenditure to bring the roads even into a fair condition. With regard to by-roads [which represented approximately about 600 miles) these had not been formed and the Council recognised that at least 300 miles of such good by-roads should be constructed to give proper access to settlers' properties. It had been the intention of the Council, said the Chairman, as soon as conditions were favourable to get as much money by loan as possible with a £ for £ subsidy from the Government but owing to war and other adverse conditions there was no hope at present in that direction. He made those statements so that the public should better understand that the Council were iully alive to the needs of the settlers but were handicapped in carrying out the programme of better roading conditions under the present existing circumstances. He hoped the ratepayers would recognise the impossibility of the works lie had alluded to being undertaken out of revenue as the same could only be done if the ratepayers agreed to shoulder tho necessary loans PARK ROAD PAI'AKURA LOAN' £450 A resolution was adopted for making and levying a special rate of One Penny in the £ over the Park road, Papakura Special Bating Area as securi y for tha Park Road Loan of £450.

1 A RAMA RAMA BRIDGE In regard to a bridge partiallly washed away on a road at Rama Rama leading to Mr H. W. Snelling's property, as to the re-building of which the Council had asked Mr Snelling to contribute £ls towards the estimated cost (£35), a letter was received from Mr Snelling stating that he considered it the Council's duty to keep the bridge in repair as he paid his rates. The Clerk mentioned that the bridge was not on a legal road The matter was left to the Chairman and the Engineer to deal with. KARAKA ROAD DISTRICT The Clerk reported that the petition for the merging of the Karaka Road District in the County had been received but had been sent back as it did not contain the necessary number of signatures to entitle the Council to act on it. The petition would accordingly be presented at a later date instead of that day as originally intended.

GRAZING OX ROADS On the joint suggestion of Crs Motion and Higginson it was agreed to license cattle and horses at £1 per year from November Ist to April 30th to graze on the roads in the Waipipi and Waiuku Ridings, and on the application of Cr Renalla similar scheme was also sanctioned for the Awhitu Riding. Cr Renall mentioned that apart from the fact that the grazing would be revenue producing it was desirable in sparsely populated places that feed should- not be allowed to go to waste and further the risk of roadside fires would be lessened. VALEDICTORY. At the close of the meeting the chairman thanked the Councillors for the kindness and courtesy extended to him throughout the past three years. He felt it a great honour when he was elected as chairman and he had done his best on behalf of the County. Whether he had been successful or not heileft it to others to judge. He felt that in the five years of the Council's existence very good work had been performed and if he was not reelected he would have no regrets of failures committed. It was the duty of the ratepayers to elect the best possible men as their representatives and he personally would cheerfully accept the verdict of the electors. He trusted that both he and all the other members of the Council who were offering themselves for re-election would be able to re-assemble after the election.. Cr Renall agreed with the chairman that it was the ratepayers' duty to elect the best men and for that reason he refused to stand down for any inferior man. He was quite confident he would be re-elected. No one more than the present members could be more eager to give the County good roads and they had done their best out of the rates receivable. He hoped as the result of the forthcoming election to continue to be a good help to his district and to his fellow members.