A DISPUTED CHARGE.

Shannon News, 18 November 1927, Page 4

A DISPUTED CHARGE.

POWER BOARD PRESSES CLAIM ON WORKS DEPARTMENT.

A long-standing charge to the Public Works Department respecting the Otaki Sanatorium was brought to the notice of the Horowhema Power Board on Tuesday, by ' its ' secretary, Mr P. \V. Goldsmith, who stated that Avhen- the Board's staff carried out the installation of electricity at that institution the office charged 10 per cent, on the cost to the Board of the material installed. Other departments, s-neh as .the Central Development Farm, were quite fcatisfied with that rate. At the. Sanatorium, the Board's engineer, foreman, and inspector spent a great deal of timt and did practically all the engineering that was required there; and for those services the Board charged the Government 5 per cent, oh the'eost. When the account was sent in, the Public. Works Department would not pay the 10 per cent on materials, but only +he 5 per cent, oh wages. The amount owing* was £l4 0s lid, and this had been shown on successive bills as "balance of account rendered." Lately the Medical Superintendent had written asking what the item meant, and the Board's secretary replied with an explanation in the terms stated above. Mr Seifert remarked that the Department would ha\e had to pay engineers to do the work if it had not been done by tho Board's staff. The-Secretary: They got a cheap job.

In answer to questions by Mr Vincent, the secretary stated :hat the Department had been charged 10 per cent, on the material supplied and 5 per-cent. on the supervision of the whole work. The latter charge was a flea-bit-3 compared with what the Board had spent \on. the supervision. On ihe motion of Ihe chairman (Mr Monk), seconded by Mr Bavbev, it was resolved that the action of the secretary in making the claim for the 10 j)er cent, charge be endorsed. The chairman commented that the claim was a just one.

gested site for metal supply in the fokomaru riding, with power to act. The first clause was adopted without discussion. CLASSIFICATION OF R'OA£S. On the seconil clause, Cr. Ryder said this might be left open in respect of the subsidiaiy roads. The Chairman: That won't affect it. Cr. Barber: You were inclined to think there were no roads they might take over sand do as supplementary roads. If you cut out the good that may accrue to the ratepayers on these side roads, is that the right way to treat them? The Chairman: The idea of ths Act, as far as I can understand, is that 25 per cent, of the money in the Bill before Parliament will be used for the purpose of assisting the maintenance of 3000 miles more of subsidiary highways. They will have no difficulty in getting those 3000 miles, without going on to district roads such as ours. If a road is a highway, it must be -i road that .goes from somewhere to somewhere. The longest road in, this riding would be the one to the sawmill, Gladstone Road. It'would be a stretch of the imagination to call that a highway. Cr. Barber suggested Hume's Road; but the Chairman said that this could not. be considered at present, because the Rangitane bridge was a private bridge; the road was not a public road. The Highways Board must have a road that was coming from somewhere and had a destination —not a road running into a hill, or one that had a blind ?nd like Hume's Road. Cr. Barber: It is classified No. 3 here. The Chairman: The classification can be altered. There are a good many of our subsidiary highways to-day that can be classified as No. 3. The new road through Makerua, eventually going to Rangitane, might later be brought in as a subsidiary highway. Cr. Kilsby: The Koputaroa-Foxton road is almost a subsidiary road; it leads somewhere.

The Chairman: It might be the case if the traffic warranted it; but generally speaking, our county is unique according to the officers of the Public Works Department. Cr. Barber: It avoids a very big deviation. .'

The Chairman: I don't think the classification will make any difference. You may have a very weak road that is a main highway and have to classify it No. 3. Th™ classification will not affect the situation one iota —the fact of a road being a weak' road. We have classed No. 50 Highway—to the Shannon-Manawatu bridge—as No 1. Well it is not that by a wide stretch ef imagination, at present. We hope that the new road will be of that class, when constructed. It is rsally only a Class 3 road to-day; but still, it is a highway. That will not affect the position. The whole of that road through into Foxton is not more than a Class 2 road. The classification- has to be'published, submitted io the Minister of Public Works for approval, and published again. The clause was adopted, as also was the clause following it. ARAPAEPAE CORNER, With regard to Clause 4 of the report, the Chairman stated that this referred to the piece at the corner of Arapaepae Road. Cr. Jensen: That was a matter for a report to this meeting, Cr. Barber: I think that that report should be referred to the Works Committee.

The clause was amended as suggested by Cr. Barber, and in that form was adopted.

TENDERS

The recommendations as to tenders for earthwork and bitumen were adopted. The Chairman s*>ated that, unfortunately, bitumen was dearer this year, but the Council was rot bavins so much. v °

The remaining recommendations of the eomjriitt- were adopted.