STRATFORD COUNTY COUNCIL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVI, Issue 37, 19 June 1913, Page 7

STRATFORD COUNTY COUNCIL.

MONTHLY MEETING. I The monthly ■ meeting of the Ct.un-( oil was hold yesterday morning, thoco'l being present:— Councillors Hathaway (chairman), Were, Walter, Young, Rogers, Christoffl, Anderson and' Smith. ENGINEER’S REPORT, j Ihe Engineer (Mr E. C. Robinson; siuninuecl tne following report:— I IHe seasons' crushing operations 'have been brought to a close with the 'completion of tne re-metalling and' I maintenance work on Lower and Upper Pembroke; and on Monmouth Roads. 'J ho plant has been brought .back to Stratlord and housed in the I new engine-shed. About 1$ miles of 1 Pembroke Road have been renietalJed at a comparatively small cost, and 'when the rolling is completed, the result should prove satisfactory and be an indication of what is possible on other roads now a proper j road-making plant is in the possession of the Council. As the roller was required on Pembrokv ' Road for scarifying during the remetaiiing operations, it was not possible to comIplete tlio rolling of the new metal on jYork, Denbigh, and Radnor roads, but those will be attended to later. The (Gentle Annie bridge on Cardiff road has lioeii re-decked and tarred. The concrete culvert on, Beaconskcld road to replace the old bridge has been'commenced. The completion of, the metalling contract on Manga elm road has been suspended until next) 'season. About 14) chains remain" to be done. It was not found practicable to continue the carting out of the shell rock pit at a price anywhere within reasonable limits', and recent'broken wea:her has pufthe proposition out of the question until next spring. The contract for supply of shellrook on roads in Mangaehu riding is proceeding slowly. The erection .of roadnan’s cottage on Manaia road is in progress. Re obtaining metal from Sentry Hill.—l have visited the dis:rict railway engineer at Wanganui and discussed the matter with him. Asi a result I (have to report that there seems no'likelihood of being able to rail material right from the pit. No existing line can he used, and the cost of a siding would put the project out of the question. It therefqr© becomes a matter of carting to* Sentry Hill railway station. Two ooUtsesnappear to be open to tho Council— (1) To undertake the crushing and carting itself, ;or (2) to let such workday contract. The estimates iiv connection with expenditure on' roads! for the? forthcoming year, have been prepared unbare,before you. Pressure, of work n coinfection with this ham prevented my .attention to a; few minor in)afters, s) ut. these.uvUill bb'iseeiuftoi.forthwith. r fegffc repM£&|’ North Riding (West).—Mountain Road : This has beep patched and repaired...at. spiitlp, .Xot'k-.lßp^d: i’he crushing is finished on this road, out all the rolling is,not yet completed, : S Radnor.,so%d: Thq,.yipishing is also,, competed) on this fl rqfd, ,about Jprty chains f bcifl,g re-metajiffh .Monaoptf Road,: portion. of this road jas been, rQ-ine,tailed, and nvpjutpnance uetal supplied,., i Upper, Pembroke Road;, This, has,,, been supplied. with maintenance metal. Lower. Pembroke Road: About 1 mile 2(> chains of this •oad has been re-me,tailed. Barclay Road: This is out of repair witlx firevood carting, and will probably want i little maintenance metal later on. All roads which require attention will iow .be trimmed, up.

North Riding: (East) .—All my roads vro in fair order. I have patched Beaconsfield, Kakami,-Gross and Salismry roads; put in a set of pipes on Jeaconsfield road; .removed slips on Ackland and Stanley road cast, also .'eared water-tables and extended mead on Salisbury,j;pad north, about one ■ha in, to reach ' Mr Skedgwell’s property.

South Riding.—During ■ the month general repairs, and road improvements lave been carried out. The approach to Climie road bridge has been fenced. Vs timber is becoming scarce,,. I think t would be advisable to plant the new Fences with barberry. The creeks runiing through Mr Treweek’s, property ire badly blocked, and it is impossible ,o keep the culverts open. :: < : - East Ridin g i (Toko). —(The roads unler’my control are in fair Order,, The work on Sangstcr’s Hill is now. finish'd. The month has been occupied ■hicily in water-tabling and patching. •Inch work is now in hand on Ahuroa •oad east, and will be continued on Wawiri road.

East Riding (Douglas).—My roads are in fair order. Me have been clearing slips, patching and doing general road work on Ohura and Ohura-Man-rraelm roads, also put in six 9-inch pipes on the latter road and nine flinch pipes on Mangaotukn road. East Riding (Huiroa).— During the month general road work lias been carried out on Makuri west, Makuri east, Douglas, Mohakau and Akama roads,! and the Mohakau road drain has been cleared out. The roads under my control are in fair order with the exception of the clay part of Makuri west road, which is/cutting up badly with the heavy traffic; 1 would ask that the County Ranger visit this rid-

ing more frequently, as it is unfair to any workman to have the hatter nf tin* roads continually broken down

into the water-tables..-West Riding.—The roads under my control are in fair order for this time or the vear. Water-tables, etc., have been trimmed up. The finger-post at Cardiff wants re-lettering. 1 regret to report that .Mr Lofroth is leaving the road at the end of the month.

Mangaehu . <s Riding.—During the month f have been spreading metal,

clearing water-tables,

hanking metal

and putting in pipes on McPhee’s contract. The recent heavy rain has given us a good deal of extra work with water-tables, small slips and blocking culverts. All the roads are in fair order except tlio Mangaehu south, and Tututawa track, which have a few slips which will be cleared in a few days. MOTIONS.

It was decided to serve notice to have the creeks oh Mr Troweek’s property kept clean.— The Ranger is to be informed of the large number of stray cattle on the roads of the County, especially in tho East Rid-ing.—Re-lettering of tlio Cardiff fingerpost was authorised.—Mr Lofroth’s resignation was accepted with regret, Cr. Smith mentioning that lie had been employed by the County for tho past eighteen years.—Maintenance metal for Barclay road will be procured near the road and broken on the spot, to save the cost of cartage. RATES.

Notice was given to move at next meeting that the following separate rates ho struck :—Cardiff-Waingongoro ■Jd, Brooks-Brccon Jd, Hastings jd, Rowan Jd, Wawiri Jd, Gordon Jd, Toko west Jd, York Jd, Radnor Id, West Monmouth Jd, Stanley, Cross, and Croydon Jd, Denbigh Id, Salisbury 3d, Mountain and Bcaconsfield Jd. Notice was given to move tho striking of tho following general lates: — North Riding 2Jd, East 2-Jd, West 2Jd, South IJd, Mangaehu 3d. INSURING WORKMEN. The secretary of the Counties Association wrote, seating unit in viev of the heavy premiums paid by local bodies for insuring woriunen tne executive committee Had suggested tiiat local bodies would be better served it they were empowered either singly or comoined to lorm funds for tiie purpose.

The Clerk said the Council paid £BOO in premiums last year, and received £IOO for compensation. On the motion of Cr. Walter, it was decided to endorse the principle of insurance funds, MIDHIRST MATTERS.

The Under-Secretary of Lands and Survey Department wrote that the Midhirst Cemetery contained an area of one acre, the title was vested in the Crown and it had been managed hy trustees since 1882. The Department had no knowledge of land purchased by the Mangauui Dead Board for cemetery purposes. The Department was willing to vest the Crown portion of the cemetery in the County Council, which body could be compelled to provide cemetery accommodation if' necessary.

The Chainnaipsaid. no trace could he found of another acre which it was ! thought had been set 1 asfde as a ceme-.-jj ■ ■ voa/T r-/M. ! ' •

The matter was left! in the hands' County Solicitor, with power to act. The question of the deeds in connection with the Midhirst Public Hall was also left to the Riding 'members and tho solicitor. REMITS TO CONFEREIVCE. i

,Tlji©, Secretary of Counties’ Association notified that a conference would be .held late ia July or early.in August, and asking the County to forward any remits it desired to have considered. The Chairman moved that it he a recommendation to tho Government to grant a graduated subsidy on the

rates collected. Some counties struck a rate of only a,farthing, while 3d was struck in Stratford, though in each case the amount collected earned tho same subsidy. In Taranaki a great industry was going on, and it' could not go on without roads; and there' was no doubt that Taranaki contributed more to the general revenue of the country than did land which merely carried sheep. Other remits moved by the chairman were:—That the Government be recommended to license motor cars according to their horse-power, the money so collected to be granted as a subsidy to local bodies in proportion to the amount of road in their district ; that the Government be requested to reduce the duty on hardwood timber; that the Government should grant a subsidy on all rates collected, with the exception of special rates levied to pay for loans; that local bodies be given the option ol imposing a tax up to two guineas on all' sluts. GENERAL.

It was decided to make fresh application for a loan for the formation of Regan Street west. It was decided to call for tenders for 6000 yards of crushed metal delivered at Sentry Bill railway station.

R. Burke wrote, stating that he desired to purchase some old bridge timber on Finnerty road, near Lowgarth.—Referred to the Engineer.

The estimates for the coming year were gone through, the total estimated expenditure being £12,333 12s (kl. The total >n each riding was as follows': — Xorth £3136, South £1193 12s 6d,

East £4063, West £2621 10s, Mangaohu £1320.

The. Eltharn Dairy Co. asked for permission to remove a hank on Skinner road for the purpose of making an approach to their Cheal Road factory. Request granted, work to ho done to the satisfaction of the foreman. S. Long, Mahoe, asked that shingle royalties duo to him lie paid. He said ho had received no payments since the County took over the site.—Received.

The. Under-Secretary of the Public Works Department wrote that the Council’s representations regarding clearing slips on Manga road would bo inquired into, and the C ouncil would he communicated with at a later date.—Received.

W. Blennerhassett asked for remission of penalty on rates in respect,of sections in the Huiroa ,5.1). 3 payment of rates having been overlooked in the business of transferring the sections. —Reqnest refused.

The ’ Secretary %f the'Midhirst Dairy Co. asked that the crusher in Pembroke Road supply the, company, with ten or twelve yards of crushed metal. --The Engineer’s, action in granting the request was confirmed. J M. Boyd, Huinga, asked for permission to erect a protection for a live fence on Raupuha road. He also complained of cattle grazing on the ro&ds. The cattle did not belong to local settlers. On a recent day he count ed 38 ou the road.—Request for fence granted.