FRANKLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 9, Issue 529, 7 May 1920, Page 3

FRANKLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MONTHLY MEETING. i The ordinary monthly meeting of the Fiankiln County Council was held yejKerateMbeji th*re were present: Crs) Jrf Claud Motion (chairman), R. T. Reid. J."A. Short. T. W. Woods, J. S. Montgomerie, H. Wilcox. Jas Keith. T. J. Lockwood. W. H. Thomas, together with the clerk (Mr. Alan P. Day) and the engineer (Mr. J, F. McArthur). Owing to a mishap to his car the chairman did not arrive to time, the chair being teken temporarily by Cr. H. Wilcox, father of the present council. ■ Goods-shed for Aha Aha. With the object oi providing a landing breastwork and goods-shed at Aka Aka, the council applied to the Prime Minister for a Government subsidy of £225 (£1 for £1) towads the cost of the work. In reply thereto tjie Prime Minister (the Right Hon. W. F. Massey) said he would confer with the Minister of Marine with a view to seeing whether anything could be done in the direction desired.—Received. Drainage District Abolished. L The Under-Secretary of the DeVpartment of Internal Affairs forwarded an extract from the New Zealand Gazette abolishing the Pukekohe Drainage District from April 15, 1920.—Received. Prickly Pear, and Noxious Weed. The Department of Agriculture notified that tho plant known as "prickly pear", had been added to the third schedule of the Noxious Weeds Act. —Received. Land for a Public Road. The Public Works Department forwarded a copy of a proclamation taking land for a road through Block 1, Awhitu Survey District. The approximate area of the piece of land proclaimed as a road was 1 acre 2 rood and 34.8 perches, being portion of Section N.E. 20, Awhitu Parish. Block 1, Awhitu Survey District.— Received with satisfaction. Section 13A, Waipipi. The Lands and Survey Department (Auckland) asked if Section 13A of 3, Waipipi Parish, was likely to :»e required for a reserve?— Left to chairman and clerk. Patumahoe Domain. With reference.-to the lease of the . Patumahoe Domain, the Commissioner of Crown Lands advised that the Land Board had resolved' that the area in Question be offered for lease for a term of 14 yeaa s at a minimum rental of 30s.—Received. Paerata Loan. The Public Trust Ofiice asked on ... what date the council required the balance of tho Paerata ht&n of £6OOO. The clerk stated that there was a balance of £3OOO retained by the Trust Office.—Balance to be, asked for on December 1. Hull's Hermitage Road, Waiuku. "The State Advances Office intimated that the State Advances Board had resolved to entertain the council's application for a loan of £2OOO ■For the purpose of forming and metalling Hull's Hermitage Road, Waiuku.—Ratepayers to* be asked to sanction loan. Hospital Board Levy. s&e Auckland Hospital nnd Char- ; jtaJiJß, Aid Board advised that the apportionment o f the esti'imtWd expend it ui" among the contributing local bodies bjsW upon a levy of seven twenty-fifths of a penny in the £1 on the capital value yof the rateable property in the hosTpital district The estimated expenL' diture was £139.556 16s sd, made up I as follows: Liabilities of the board *at lAarch 31. 1920. £24.826 16s 7d; expenditure for year ending Mfich 81. I£2o. £114.729 19s lOd. The esti- " mated:-; income was £40,078 16s 7d, maflt up as under: Amounts due to the board at March 31. 1920, £8153 16s 7d; income for year ending March 31, 1920. £31.925; excess of expenditure over income. £99.477 19s lOd. The proposed apportionment of the estimated expenditure was based as under: Contributions at seven-twentv-fifths of a penny in the £1 (54 884 8s 2d; subsidy on. £54,884 8s 2d at 16s 3d in the £l, £44.593 lis Bd. Total £99.477 19s lOd. The rateable capital value of the Frankl.n Countv, as returned by the Valuation Department at March 31, 1919. , was £3.838.100. Any objection to the f valuation must be ms.de before May 14. The clerk said tHttf no objection could be made. The council's contribution this year would be £4472 Ifis 8d while last year it was £2762. ,-FThe question of the present method of levying upon local bodies for revenue necessary for the maintenance of hosnital and charitable -aid boards was "the subject of a cir-'-*ular letter received from the lua*peka County Council Lawrence. The members of the Tuapeka County were unanimous that the present system of raising revenue was inequitable, inasmuch as it unduly taxed the property owners, while allowing those possessing wealth in other forms to escape contribution. It suggested, to overcome the difficulty, that the Government be urged to amend the provisions ff p ,h? Hospital and Charitable Ina», atcs Act in the direction of makin/ the cost of such institutions a charge on the Consolidated Fund of the Do- ' minion.— Heartily supported.

Request. Mr. J- S. Torbet (Pollok) applie.' for permission to erect a legal swim' cnte on a road used only by himsell —Referred to .Crv., Short t and enpi neer to repoi*tt'.* ,w Kohekohe Ratepayers. The secretary of the Kohekohe Ratepayers' Association invited the chairman and countv engineer 1 meet a committee of the association to inspect the roads in No. 5 subdivision with a view of having loan monies allocated thereon. —Received Waipipi Ratepayer*. The Waipipi Ratepayers' Association forwarded proposed allocation of loan, £2470 a%'drawn up by th»committee.- Received.

Soldiers' Memorial Site. The Awhitti Soldiers' Memoii ' Committee requested the council 1 grant a site on the Awhitu Domau for a soldiers' monument, in honou 1 ' of Awhitu men who fought in th great war, I!>U-.IS. Left to ritlinmember, with nrjjbroval of council o" the request: alsol to form tenni courts, as asked in Mr. H. A. Han ilton's letter, was likewise approve; 1 by council. An Unopened Road. M■. las AlcKwen (Kohekohe) agai:

W T-'te asking for the council to opoi up an unused road at Kohekohe be twwn Mr. i.ever'; and his property -. Hi* r "" was that the road v.:t ~( | Tniii Mr. Lever was usine hi nee. -Left to IV. Shortt and engi ii<"-er.' .. tr Coal From Hunua. Mi- H llohson (Matamata) nppli ed for permission to use the jjumv. Road for conveying coal from Hum. -ollierv to Papakura station will traction engine, lie pointed out that ne would be using a traction en gine and two waggons, each carrying four tons. ~ , The clerk reported that he replied hv telegram as follows: Have to Svtae round! will not permit use 0 f traction engine or steam tractor "'ting coal Hunua. Loads not to ex three tons.-Clerk's letter approved.

Ponga Road. Mr. John Reid (Ponga) drew the council's attention to the disgraceful state of the Ponga Road, and urged that it be immediately attended to—Deferred pending arrival of deputation. Balance of Money for Land. Mrs. M. A. Hirst (Hunua) applied for the balance of £75 due for fencing, and land on the Hunua Falls Road. —Agreed, on recommendation of Cr. Lockwood. Watercourse Obstruction. A firm of solicitors, instructed by Mr. G. Nicholls, Paparata Valley, requested the council to exercise the powers conferred by Section S3 of the Land Drainage Act, to compel the owner of a property at the corner of the Bombay and the Papa-,rimu-Papakura Roads to remove all noxious weeds and growth from the natural watercourse, to allow the water to get away from Mr Nicholl's land. Cr. Lockwood said the council had fulfilled its moral obligations, whatever the legal technicalities might be.—Council not prepared to do any more.

Patumahoe-Waiau Pa Road. The Waiau Pa branch of the New Zealand Farmers' Union requested the council to roll and blind the new-ly-laid metal on the Patumahoe-Wai-au Road. Cr. Montgomeries supported work to be done as soon as roller available.

Request For a New Road—Mauku Riding. Mr. J. Henry and five other ratepayers of Mauku Riding requested the council to open a road from the Patumahoe-Pukekohe Road at the entrance to the Patumahoe station along and between the properties of Mr. J. Henry and Messrs Geo Wright and Jas. Hunter, giving an outlet into Hunter's Road. The petitioners asked that the engineer visit, inspect and report to the council on the proposed line of road. The parties interested suggested that the cost of purchasing the land and the construction of the toad be bwne mnin-

ly by themselves with a subsidy from the council, equalling the benefits that other ratepayers outside those mentioned may receive. It was pointed out that the Railway Department had already agreed to sell for the purijflfcf the road a portion of the landflßjuired near the station from the Waiuku railway construction, provided the council accepted and fulfilled the conditions usual in such cases. This removed all difficulties from acquiring the land as the other owners bid agreed to sell what was requtiedT% Cr. Moriteomerie supported, also Cr. Woods.—Left to Cr. Montgomerie and engineer. A Mangatangi Request.

The Mangatangi Ratepayers' Association requested the council to metal the rfad from canal bridge to the corn* of New Brighton-Pokeno Road, mi also that teams be put on to Imetal as much as possible of the Miranda Road before the winter. —Matter had been attended to, but no tenders had been received for the work.

Puni Drainage. Mr. W. T. Dazeley (Puni) drew the council's attention to the state of the watercourse running through his property into Mi 1 . McClune's. He pointed out that for years he had attended to the drain at his own expense, but requested the council to attend to it in future. The water backed up on to his property because it could not get away.— l#VL to Cr. Woods and engineer. Another Puni Request.

The state of the road from the Puni Store to Mr. J. A. McClune's gate was brought under the council s notice by Mr. McClune, who requested that it be attended to before the winter, as portions of the road were impassable in wet About to be attended to. >'.

Old Road Deviation. A firm of solicitors wrote regarding the old road deviations through Mr. J. M. Tuohey's farm on Puke-kohe-Bombay Road, now being brought under the Land Transfer Act.—Agreed to- provided council not put to any expense. Metal for Gateway.

Mr. H. J. Middlemiss (Pukekohe West) asked fol« a couple of loads of metal for the entrance to his property.—Granted if metal availMr. W. E. Kitson (Aka Aka) asked that repairs and improvements be made to the road from Henrys bridge over the Aka Aka creek to his gate.—Left to Cr. Reid and engineer (Continued Tuesday).