HOROWHENUA COUNTY

Shannon News, 15 May 1928, Page 3

HOROWHENUA COUNTY

MAY MEETING OF COUNCIL. The monthly meeting of the Horowlienua County Council was held 111 the County Chambers on Saturday, there being present: —Mr G. A. Monk (ehairraan), Crs Barber, Whyte, Ryder, Bryant, Kilsby, McLeavey, Catley and Jensen, Mr J. T. M. Brewster (Engineer) and Mr F. H. Hudson (County Clerk). COUNTY ASSESSOR REQUIRED. The Valuer-General wrote stating that, as an Assessment Court might be required to hear objections to valuatious in this district, an assessor should be appointed by the Council. The Chairman remarked that the regulations had become a litcle cumbersome, and as far as the Council was concerned, any modification of them should be eminently satisfactory The Department had come to tue conclusion that some form of election was necessary where there was more than one nomination for the position of Assessor, in which event the County Clerk had to call a meeting and have a ballot taken. , ■lt was resolved, on the motion or the Chairman,, seconded by Cr McLeavey, that the clei-jt be authorised to call for nominations of persons for the position of assessor for the county. INSURANCE OF YVORKMEN ON

MAUN JliUrii vv ai o. Advice was received from the Main Highways Board-that, at its last meeting, it was decided that in future any payments made by local authorities as premiums on accident inshrance policics covering workmen and other risks in connection with any work on Main Highways would be regarded as part of the cost of the work* and would be subsidised by the Board on the basis ruling for each work. Local bodies not effecting insurances would be presumed to be carrying their own risks entirely. 1 The Chairman stated that the Council had felt for some time that this would be a jiist change. He was sorry that the matter was not made somewhat retrospective, bat it was going to be of assistance in regard to future work. The risk had been part of the cost of the construction of the highway, and this recognition by the Board was another step towards meeting the Council’s desires. He . moved that the letter be received, and this \ias carried. REGARDING GRANTS FOR ROAD WORKS. A circular was received from the Public Works Department containing instructions ‘as to the method to be followed in making applications for grants for road works. The letter was referred to the Works Committee. TUWHAKATAPUA ROADING. Mr Hugh Akers, Rangiotu, wrote to confirm suggestions made to Crs Whyte and Barber and the acting-engineer during their recent, inspection of the roads which he had undertaken to make in the Tuvvhakatapua Block. The Works Committee reported that an inspection was made, on April 18th, of roads and culverts put down by Mr Akers and others in Makerua and the Tuwhakatapua Block. The work was found to haVe been faithfully cairied out, and the Cdmmittee was of opinion that the dedication of the roads could be safely accepted. On the motion of the chairman the letter was received and the report adopted. It was also resolved that Mr Akers be asked to deposit £362 11s 6d iMtli the Council, to be spent on the maintenance of the roads in the block, and that' the Council requires the fencing of the roads to be completed. _ Messrs Park and Adams, solicitors, forwarded five transfers of land m connection with roading m the luwhakatapua Block. It was resolved that the plan ot subdivision be approved, and the common seal attacked. • KARA BRIDGE DETOUR ROAD. With regard to the detour road in connection with the erection of the Kara stream bridge, ine Restrict Engineer wrote stating that the I- -ghways Board would subsidise on a £ for £ basis only on the'extra maintenance required over and above tnc ordinary maintenance on the proposed detour road. This applied to maintenance of the formation only and did not include renewal of culverts or construction work of any nature. Maintenance would be paid from tae day the old bridge was dismantled until one week after the expiry date c£ the contract, when the approaches shov'd be completed and the new bridge opened for traffic.

The letter was received, Mr J. Bowler, Tokomaru, wrote applying for a box culvert on tne Buckley Road leading to h’s property. The application was referred to the councillors for the Riding, with the Engineer. OKUKU ROAD. Mr C. H. Speirs, Shannon, wrote stating that the Okulcu Road was still in a very weak and unsatisfactory condition, and traffic was increasing. He asked that, when the estimates were being considered, this road would be remembered. It was cecided to aide the councillors for the Riding, w.. i tee Engineer, to go into the matter when the estimates are being framed.

CLAIM FOR DAMAGE TO TREES

BY FIRE,

Mr G. H. StUes, Palmerston North, wrote stating that, on Apr’' 4th, a fire, alleged to have been started by a roadman, destroyed a valuable line of shelter trees on the Main Road, about five ebains, and hurt for the assistance rendered by neighbours, his house and outbuildings would also have been burned. Eo asked that a representative of the Qouricil be appointed to meet him and go into the matter nf damages. Crs. Whyte and- Barher, with the Engineer, were appointed to interview Mr Stiles on the ground, and it

decided that the roadman be asked for an explanation. > TRAM-LINE ON ROAD. The Motuiti Flax Co., Ltd., wrote applying for permission to leave their tram-line on the side of the MakeruaTane Road, lately taken over by the Council. They also desa.ed permission to cross the road at four places, in oi- t der to get at some blocks of flax on the opposite side. They hauled on an average 480 tons of flax per week over the line, and if they did not have an} tramway it would have to be brought by motor lorries, which would materially increase the maintenance charges for this road. The chairman said he thought that the request was a reasonable one, taking everything rdto consideration. The Council, however, could only give the desired permission for five years. Aftoi that the application could be renewed. The Council decided io grant the application, with the conditions that the company give an indemnity for. an} claim that may arise through accident caused by the presence of the tiam, and that the tramway be kept in such good order and condition as is specified by the County Engineer. OIL COMPANY'S TRAMWAY. Messrs Park and Adams forwarded a deed of covenant, signed by the Vacuum Oil Co., for execution by the Council, to allow the company to iun, a tramway across Cambridge Street, Levin, to the railway line. —A resolution was passed authorising . the common seal to be attached to the document. DIVERSION OF WATER RACE.

An application was received fro.ni Mr C. W. Foster for permission to divert a water-race on his property. The chairman stated that Mr Foster, as a surveyor, had taken the levels, and the change Would affect no one but himself. “If everyone who wants a' deviation would do likewise, it would be very 11100,” he added. The application was granted, subject to the work bebig carried out to the satisfaction of the Engineer. CULVERT AT KUKU. Mr W. Wehipeihana wrote calling' attention to the need for a culvert at. the entrance to the Native meetinghouse at Kuku, and offering to. do the work if the Council would supply the culvert. He pointed out that the formation of the road caused a lot of water to accumulate during the wet weather. Cr. McLeavey stated that the writer of the letter had interviewed him on the matter. The making of the main highway had left an awkward entrance. He moved that a box culvert be supplied, subject in the applicants carrying out the work to the satisfaction of the Engineer. The motion was carried., HEIGHTS ROAD.

Mr Wm. v Carlyle wrote offering to clean the water-tables and culverts on Heights Road for 1/- per chain, under conditions stipulated by Cr. Catley. - It was explained by Cr. Catley that when he vicited the .ocality the work of repairing the road had practically been finished, but he noted that the water tables could be cleaned out. The conditions which lie bad laid down were that the water table was to be thoroughly cleaned, the mouths of the culverts opened, and outlets cut wheie the water does not get away. On the motion of the chairman the matter was referred to Cr. Catley with power to act. , ■ Cr. Cat’ey added that the road had improved 100 per cent, through the work recently done, and if the water could be kept uff the road it would not be difficult to maintain it iu good order. HOKIO-W AIT ARE R E RO AI) ; Cr. Kilsby presented a petition from eight ratepayers in the v'diutyr'of the now bridge over tbe Hokio, on the Hokio-Waitarcre Road, requesting the Council to grade and widen the portion of the road from the bridge to the top. of the bill—approximately two chains. They pc’nted out that at present the sand was loose and they were unable to negotiate the steep hill with a lorry and it was net enough to take a drill or bay-rake. IV aen the desired ' nprovemeets had been made, they proposed to spread some, gravel .011 this ' port ton of the road themselves. The chairman suggested that the request be referred to the councillors for the riding to take into consideration when framing the estimates. The job was not a very expensive one. Cr. McLeavey moved that the work be done. It was decided to grant, the request, and authorise expenditure up to £ls. COMPENSATION FOR ACCIDENT. The Council decided, on the motion of Cr. Whyte, seconded by Cr. Barber, to pay £2O 5s to Mr D. J. McClure, of Tokomaru, as compensation for an accident which he sustained during the Ashlea-Te Mukanui road contract. WAITARERE BEACH ROAD. The chairman moved that application be made to the Local Bodies Loans Board for sanction to raise a loan of £1250 for the formation of the Waitarere Beach (Hyderabad) Eoad. He added that, so far, there had been no objection to the proposal. Cr. Kilsby stated that this was going to be a very difficult road to maintain both before and after the metalling, owing to the sand drift. As far as lie could see, a special rate for maintenance was the best way to get over the difficulty. The Chairman: It seems impracticable unless adequate provision is made for the maintenance of a sand road. I presume that the Board will take into consideration that, this is. a road on that class of country and will want to know something about that. It will be evident, from their point of view, that if the security is there, they are not very much concerned, but, ip some cases they have held proposals up because sufficient provision has not been made. I am submitting this formally to the Council in accordance with the advertisement appearing in the paper during the past month. There have, been no outside objections, but that does not prevent anyone inside the Council from! objecting.

Cr. Kilsby: I don't want anything

to hold it up in any way, but the Council should provide against any maintenance work in connection with it till the road is finally completed by those people. This is oniy a partial completion, and L may be years before it is completed and handed over to the Council. We should have some means to collect money from that special rating area. The Chairman: We should make this application subject to their agreeing to that. ' 1

Cr. Kilsby: I don't want to see the Council spend money to maintain that road when it is only partially completed. They have agreed io put the road in order. If they form it and leave it for three or four years before they metal it, it is absolutely useless having anything to do- with it. Cr. Catley: Are we going to make any distinction' between this and other roads for which dedication is being applied for ? The Chaiimen: ’They are not the same. In other cases the people have entered into an agreement whereby they should complete the work in a certain time. We have accepted dedication of this road subject to the cost of construction and maintenance being on this district, but with no specified time for completion. I agree with Cr. Kilsby that 1 there is a very great danger in that sand country. If they contend that there will be no maintenance, there will be nothing to collect. It was resolved that, subject to the ratepayers in the kpedial area agreeing to a separate maintenance rate being levied over their properties, application be made to the. Loans Board for the loan. The Council also decided that , the chairman and Crs. Catley and Kilsby sign the memorial to the GovernorGeneral praying that the necessary land be taken and declared for a public road. * ARATANGATA DRAIN.

On the motion of Cr. Catley, seconded by Cr. McLeavey, it was resolved that, subject to Mr F. F. Newman un-' deftaking to be personaby responsible for a contribution of £53 from the settler interested in the cleaning of the Aratangata drain, the tender of Messrs McDonald and Giivecrona for cleaning at 18s per chain be accepted; and, further, that this Council do not absolve the settlers from any future contribution towards the maintenance of the drain, in coming to this decision. WORKS COMMITTEE. Recommendations by the Works Committee were : dealt with as follows: — County Cottages.—That a, committee, consisting, of Crs., Catley and Kilsby, with the Engineer, be authorised to engage such labour as they consider necessary to effect repairs to County cottages generally. The Chairman stated that they had , found it very difficult to arrive at any . arrangement whereby a contract could be let, and it was thought that there might be one or two men about whe could carry out the repairs by day work.

The recommendation was adopted.

. Lawlor's Road.—That this matter be referred to the County solicitors for an opinion as to the steps the Council may take in respect to Mi’ G. Bryan's request. —Adopted. Sale of Screenings.—Your-committee do not consider it is advisable to dis pose of the screenings on the Muhunoa East Road at present. - The chairman said he though tha J the recommendation was meant to include any screenings. Cr. Catley: That was what was meant. .

The Chairman: I suppose we will use this as a precedent elsewhere. The recommendation was adopted.

Levin Co-operative Dairy Co., Ltd. That the account rendered to the Company for work done be amended to delete* the cost of concrete pipe and wooden culverts amounting to £2,165, Which your committee consider should be supplied free of "cost; otherwise the account to stand as rendered. The chairman stated that this resolution was not the unanimous opinion of the committee, but of the majority. The Council adopted the'recommendation.

That the Engineer’s report be adopted with the following recommendations: —

Tokomaru Valley Road. —That the Councillors for the Tokomaru Riding with the Engineer be authorised to engage a surfaceman for thc/maintenace of this road on such terms and conditions as they deem necessary. —Adopted.

Ohau West Road,—That _ arrangements considered necessary in respect to the maintenance metal for the Ohau West Road be referred to'Cr. Catley and the Engineer with power to act. —Adopted. ANNUAL MEETING AND ESTIMATES. The chairman stated that the estimates would not be ready in time for the annual meeting. . The date set down for that meeting was Wednesday, May. 23rd, but it would probably not be held until the day of the next monthly meeting, on June 9th. A special meeting would be required for dealing with the estimates.