SHANNON BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Shannon News, 20 September 1929, Page 3

SHANNON BOROUGH COUNCIL.

' FORTNIGHTLY MEETING,

The above meeting whs held in the • Council Chambers on Tuesday evening. Present: The Mayor (Mr E. -Butt), and Crs. A. E, Hyde, R. Downes, T. C. Thwaites, Jas. Curran, jun., S. Ander- ' son, Jas Curran, sen, and R. Hook. CORRESPONDENCE Prom the Levin Borough Council for--1 warding account for expenses in connection with , the Palmerston North Hospital. Board election; viz., £1 Is. K. O. Olsen wrote, with reference to a communication he had received from the Town Clerk that a cowshed erected by him was’ on a borough ■ street, pointing out that at the time of erection he was under the impression that the building was on His property. He asked the Council for permission to leave the -shed in its present position during the Council’s pleasure.* The road in question, he stated, is' used only by himself. —It was de- . cided that under the circumstances he •be allowed to leave his cowshed on the present site during the pleasure of the Council. . , i ... . A request from A. H. Richards that he be allowed to graze cattle on the Domain for two weeks was not granted, as it Was considered unwise to allow cattle to be grazed there. ROADMAN’S REPORT.

/ The Borough foreman reported that 64$ yards of metal was carted to Stout, Clapham, Margaret and Julyan Streets. The water pipes for extension to mains are to hand and the work of preparing the trenches ready for the pipes ig in progress. Fifty-eight chains of watertables have been cleaned eut.” • Adopted.

MOTION TO PERMANENT SURFACE' MAIN HIGHWAY DEFEATED. . , At a previous meeting of the Borough Council Cr.'Hyde gave the following notice of ,motion, “That the Council take immediate step 3 to put in hand the work, of permanent surfacing the main highway in thp borough.’* Cr. Hyde, in moving the motion, said he would not go into the question of figures. The position was, he stated, that-the metal on the main road was getting thinner and they were going to be faced with more expense. There was -no question • that the cost of maintenance of permanent surfaced roads was going to be lower. They would admit that the scheme would mean a saving of money to ratepayers and give the town a better appearance. It Would be a lasting job and do away with makeshift work. The only argument* against the scheme was that by waiting they might get a higher subsidy. On present appearances that chance was not great. If they, waited four or five years; more then the difference would be gone in maintenance charges. There was no need to go into details until the Council had decided to go on with the work. Continuing, he said, ho doubt they 'had all fully considered the motion, therefore he did not want them to calmly and collectively vote against the motion without discussing it. If they could show that the scheme was going to be a detriment and burden he wanted them to show him where he was wrong. As one of the biggest ratepayerf he could assure them he had ne desire to Taise the rates, but he certainly wanted Value for his money. Cr. Thwaites, in seconding the motion, said that if given serious consideration it would be seen that it must be a favourable proposal. If the present cost of maintenance was cap italised it would pay for the borough's share. It would improve the town and obviate the dust nuisance. In respect to the latter he was not only thinking of those within the business area but residents further back. They fully realised that most people wanted it done, but did not want to pay for itj being afraid of,extra rates. However, he felt sure that what they were paying now in maintenance would pay the Council’s share of the work. Cr. Downes asked, if in the event of ia resolution being carried that, night, what length of time, would they make the loan for. Cr. Hyde, said he, understood the usual time was 36 years. In reply to Cr. Downes as to whether the figures previously quoted, by him ■were based on. that term, Cr. Hyde replied in the affirmative. Cr. Downes asked if there was any guarantee that the work would last. 36 years. At present, he said, they only had experimental roads, pointing out that he knew of roads put down only two or three years ago which had become wavy. What was going to be the Council’s position if they found in three or four, years a similar occurrence. In many parts of New Zealand bitumen had proved a failure. Cr. Hyde: You evidently haven’t studied the Inotice of motion, as it , does not mention bitumen or any other class of road. The motion reads that immediate steps be taken tc- put in hand the work of permanent surfacing the main highways in the borough. Cr. Downes: I, understand your figures are based on bitumen. If that is right you hive got nothing to back up your motion. Ur. Anderson said he was in the dark regarding what had been done. He asked if the Council had ever had any plan before them also had any width of road been considered. The Mayor said the estimate received some time ago by the Council provided for permanent surfacing the full width Of the road from the Police Station to the Albion Hotel. It had been shown that a road 18 feet wide would meet requirements. Cr. Anderson did not, think the rate,payerg should be burdened with the extra width of road when 18 feet would do. He was quite in favour of permanent surfacing the main highway and would support’ a concrete road if it eould be managed. , Cr. Hyde: Ypu seem to have me wropg. My motion was brought for-

qmgn&’r <ST~ ward to ascertain whether the Council were going to have a permanent surfaced road, not as to whether it should be bitumen or concrete or anything else., After we have decided to take steps then we'can call ia an engineer to advise us. The Council will then decide the class of road and width. Cr. Anderson: After hearing Cr. Hyde’s explanation -1 am satisfied lie has worded his motion wrong.

Cr. Hyde; Not at all. First we have got to put it in hand. ! Cr. Hook said there was no one keener to see the work done if carried out on proper methods than himself. Travelling ~to Wellington he had noticed bitumen broken in several places. The Council should be careful. He could not see that the Council had anything to work on and they were going to be put to a lot of expense if the motion was carried. Cr. Curran, jun., said he would like to see the job done if it could be carried out at the same cost as the present maintenance. The Town Clerk estimated that the scost of maintenance of the Leviu-Pal-merston North main highway through the borough for the year would be £324. A £2 for £1 subsidy.from the Main Highway Board would be- £216 but as the Board’s limit to subsidy is only . £167, unless the amount is increased by the Board this year, the cost to the Council- would be in the vicinity of £157. On the recent estimate received for the permanent surfacing of the main highway on a £1 for £1 subsidy the Council's share would be £2908 and on a £2 far £1 £1939. Replying to a- question from Cr. Hyde regarding the £2 far £1 subsidy, he said that this-amount had not been granted for the whole work, but only fov widening and construction of Sheehan Street. The subsidy for construction work is £1 for £l, but'special cases would be dealt with by the Board. 1 Cr. Downes pointed out that all the figures referred to were for a bitumen surface. He stated ; there was a bitumen road near Shannon that had become wavy and would ultimately have to be taken up. This class of work was in its experimental stages. Shannon was not in a position to carry a loan. He said that while a concrete road- was of a permanent nature, the cost was prohibitive to Shannon. In his opinion it would be a big mistake for the Council to attempt a bitumen road. They had no guarantee of it not, becoming wavy or that it was going to live out the life of the loan. The -position was that the. rates would jump up so high that they would be prohibitive. We have, he said, a reasonably good road .at present which is not costing as much for' maintenance as roads nearby. „ T , Cr. Hyde: Why doesn’t Cr. Downes stress what might occur.. Cr..Downes: I am pointing out eases where it has already occurred, viz., Masterton. . . V Cr. Hyde: Why not mention instances where xoads have been down ten, or twelve years. The wavy .troubles referred to by Cr. Downes are probably due to local conditions. If there is a solid surface, faulty workmanship has caused the trouble. In passing judgment it is only fair to look on the other side of the picture, as there are roads just as good to-day as when pUt down. ' , Cr. Downes said he doubted Cr. Hyde’s ability to point one out. He also 'doubted if there was any road that had been down ten or twelve years that was carrying the amount ot traffic there is through Shannon. ICr. < Hyde quoted' Taranaki roads which he believed were tar-sealed. Continuing, he said, the question was for them to get an engineer to come and explain the different methods and advise them. Local bodies throughout the Dominion, he said, were not going to spend tens of thousands to be a burden on ratepayers. The Mayor said they would all like to see the road permanent surfaced. He appreciated the different views expressed . ivhich showed they all were watching the interests of the ratepayers and he did not think anyone wanted to see the borough overburdened. He felt sure the time was coming when it was going to pay them to do the work. The whole question was what method to adopt. ■ Cr. Hook said that in the event of the motion being carried, he presumed it was going to cost the borough £lO9 for plans, specifications and advice. It was pointed out that this cost would be absorbed in the estimate. Cr. iCurran, sen: If it is put to the ratepayers they will turn it down. It i a of no advantage to them. They do not want their rates increased. Cr. Downes stated that according to the Press, engineers could not agree over the permanency of bitumen roads. Cr. Curran, sen., said that it had been proved in Sydney that only con Crete roads will stand heavy traffic ? On the vote being taken Cr. Hyde s motion was lost, the voting being.--' For: Crs Hyde and Thwaites and the Mayor. Against: Crs Downes, Hook, Curran, jun., S. Anderson and Curran sen.