HOROWHENUA COUNTY COUNCIL.

Shannon News, 17 April 1923, Page 3

HOROWHENUA COUNTY COUNCIL.

THE APRIL MEETING. The monthly meeting of the Horowhcnua County Council was held on Saturday. The County Chairman (Mr G. A. Monk) presided and there were also present, Councillors A. R. Knox, 0. I. Harkness, S. A. Broadbelt, J. McLeavey, J. R. Whyte, W. Barber, F. J. 'Ryder and H. G. Bryant. Accounts amounting to £1285 15s 3d were passed for payment. Health By-Laws. A letter was received from the District Health Office, requesting that in future all drafts of by-laws affecting public health, be sent to the Medical Officer of Health for consideration before being given to the Press. . The Chairman explained that this simply amounted to a request from the Health Department, they should submit them to that Department before finally adopting them, which was only a wise precaution. The Chairman moved that the letter be received. —Carried. Waitarere Road. A petition was received from a'number of settlers of the Wirokino riding asking that repairs be affected to the Waitarere Road. Mr Monk said that something should be done in this case. At the present juncture they could not do much but a recommendation to the incoming Council might be advisable. Councillor Harkncss said that he had been over the road and sympathised with the settlers’ complaint. The road was in a bad state and badly in need of repairs. The culverts wore blocked up and the work done was being de-, stroyed by the sand drift. * He agreed with the Chairman that there should be a recommendation to the incoming Council, and he would move to this effect.—Carried. General. A letter from Messrs F. and J. Patten offering - a lorry for hire was referred to the Engineer for consideration. A request from the Town Clerk, Shannon, for a tally of metal carled was also referred to the Engineer.

A letter was received from Mr J. Liggins, Tokomam, asking that a cul- 1 vert on the Pohcrua Road, be repaired. The Chairman explained that it lmd been proposed to form a special rating district for the purpose of metalling this road, but this had not been found possible. Firstly there had been trouble with Native land which*would have meant difficulty in collecting rates. Then certain other settlers had drawn out of the scheme, leaving only Mr Liggins directly interested. He thought that the matter should be referred to the incoming Councillor for the Riding and the Engineer. This was 'agreed to. Information Wanted. The Secretary of the Levin Farmers’ i Union wrote asking for information in connection with revenue from Wirokino Riding for the past year; estimate of maintenance of Main Road per mile; cost per yard of metal delivered on Foxton Road by County lorry; value of lorry on books to-day, etc. It was decided to leave the matter in the hands of the office staff to reply to. The Month’s Work. The progress report of the County foreman stated that the tarring of the Main road through the Village Self lenient hud been completed. The work in connection with the Waitoliu bridge was now finished and four new stringers put. in the Kura bridge. Several new planks had been pat re. 1 li<■ Waikuwa. l bridge. .Metal had also Imen put <Tv,m

where r.eees.- ary on '.lie fnl'-iw m, m o! . —Arawhata Road, I’.twkh'y Road i mi, Buckley Road Weal, Barber-V Bead. Bimeox Road, and on tlio long hill, to Shannon. The Western Kawm !■- !, nd had been formed for a boot mx elm ns. Koputaroa Drainage.

The Chairman moved Ihe -c" (lie foreman’s i"■ |*or 1 and slnled ilial during tb<> inonl ihe had in assoeia ion with Councillors Bioadi -dl and Jt'. : n

ness held h\o men: eg..; .a ro".a-< .on wit!? ihaioage hr the Knpularoi if«*!i. In the Kopgßroa East scheme a tain amount of money v. a',, in hand and the County had decided to supplement this to the extent of £l7 provided the settlers affected would make up a further £IOO between them. This amount had now been practically all subscribed and a start: had been made with opening the lower end of the drain. In connection with the Aratangata drainage scheme it was decided to take levels over the area affected. This had now been done and it was found that from the flood gates to the road, a distance of 100 chains the fall amounted to only Ift. 4in. He had also visited had visited during the month, he had found to have several bad breaks in the pipes in places, and he would recommend that these be re-piped. "When the scheme was started the country had probably been timbered, and blasting stumps or some such cause had caused breaks which had resulted in

considerable erosion in places. On the motion of the Chairman it was decided to put in 40ft. of 15-inch pipe/P in Best’s property at Te Horo, where the deviation was made. \ Otaki Bridge. Councillor Ryder brought up the question of the Otaki bridge. The Chairman explained that the Engineer was away and that nothing could' be done until he returned. In answer to a question by Councillor Harkness he said that the Council intended to keep to its promise to consult the ratepayers before proceeding with the work, and a meeting would be culled as soon as convenient. Riding Matters. In the absence of the Engineer, the Chairman called on Councillors for their reports. Councillor Whyte reported that tv. o sets of pipes were required on the Kingston Road. One was completely broken in and unless attended to immediately would cause trouble. On motion of the Chairman it was agreed that two in is of pipes be put in. the Kara bridge when four new stringers had been put in and found tie bridge now in i-aI i; factory condition. The Hautere water scheme, which lie Councillor Whyte said that the planking on the Tokornaru bridge required attention in places. If some timber was sent up the surfaee-nien could effiet tiie necessary repairs. This was agreed to.

Councillor Harkness said that as Hr as the Wirokino Riding was concerned the foreman lmd done every thug that could be expected. In regard o the tarring of the Settlement Road, L.e work was well done, and an interesting thing in connection with it was t! at the pot-holes which had been filled : u were standing as well as any other part of the road. The Council would ham: to consider putting on a third coat of tar which the foreman thought would be necessary to make an effective job. Councillor McLcavey said that something should be done in connection with the leaking pipes in Mr Gappor’s property. He suggested that an inspection of the property be made for the purpose of deciding what should be done. —Agreed to. Koputaroa Drainage.

In connection with the Koputaroa East drainage scheme, Councillor Ilarlcness said that one thing the Council would have to watch was that the money be spent over the whole area affected. As the body responsible for the spending of this money they should see that each farmer got direct benefit from the scheme. The Chairman said that the Committee was composed of men from dibevent parts of the drainage area who could be trusted to look after their own interests. With regard'to i'- Aravungata drainage scheme, he do! not tl..:ik that much would come ot il a the Metiers were not pulling' together. 11.•.’re seemed to be some idea that the County Council was not doing ail it could to help <,ui too scheme. This was an unjust accusation. The duty of the Council was to do all hi its power to assist but it was not fair to expect the Riding to be rated for the benefit ui L*..*e

pa i i a eon: set lid's. Councillor Bryant sa : d Unit ino

bridge in f>oiil oL JSichoh-on s rety.'-t ed attention.

Councillor Ryder tool lie had recently been down the ov, amp noad at re Horo, and found it in veiy bad co. dition. Another road badly in need of attention was what was known as Doctor's Road. The Chairman said that these roads would be attended to as soon as possible. The policy of the County hud been to defer this work until the no cessary plant was available, but it hoped to get this work in hand before long. The County Ranger’s report that <>•> head of stock had been impounded during the month was read and adopted. In connection with the extra v(U ' developing on the staff m connection with work done by the Council for the Power Board, it was decided to make prints as follows: County Clerk £<>o, «, s t assistat £4O j second mMo**** The Power Board pays tlio Comoil a year for this work.