WHANGAMOMONA COUNTY COUNCIL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXX, Issue 31, 23 September 1914, Page 6

WHANGAMOMONA COUNTY COUNCIL.

The monthly meeting of the Whangt momona County Council "was hel 1 o l Tuesday, there being present: .O s A. Meredith (chairman), W. A f McOutehan, W. Bacon, E. B. Roberton, R T. Mounsey, A. Coyne, Jos. McCluggage, and N. R. Cleland. ENGINEER'S REPORT. The Engineer (Mr E. C. Robinson; reported:—Okara Road: As instruct ied I have made an inspection of five miles of this road, and estimate th-t it will "cost £2OOO to form same to d»ay road width, and a further £3OH.' t' metal it. Road Grader: This hai been ordered, delivery to be taken when it is required by tho Council Mangarewa Road: Contract*. No. 55 and 56 On this road have been com ukted. Kohi Road: Contracts No ! jI P.nd 58 on this road are well in hand good progress having been made during the recent fine weather. Whangasriomona No. 1 bridge: The renewal of this is being pushed ahead steadily, and the work is nearing completion A* instructed, I have gone into th \ qurstion of the comparative costs <•! renewing Whaiigamomona No. 2 l-idge in hafdwood or reinforced conc ete. The following schedule sets out the position over a period y< trs (rather more than the period of loan and rather less than the lif ■• of the major portion of the tiidge): Cost of renewal in hardwood £600; cost of renewing deck etc three times during period £240, cost of painting, cleaning, and tarring (four times) £BO, tdtal £920. Cost of renewal in reinforced concrete £9OO, naintenance of roadway at 10s per armim £2l, total £921. The above -represents the actual cash outlay in each case. Assuming, however, that th j renewal is carried out in hardv«ood, and that the extra £3OO (representing'the difference in the costs of the two types of renewals) were rased and invested at 5 per cent, compound interest it would at the termination of the 42-year period have incieased to £2400, an amount repro- < ehtirig between two and three times the cost of renewal, together with maintenance charges. The above consecration, is however, largely theoretical, for the reason that the extra Mioiiht is never actually raised and put out at interest, consequently I takf it that the actual cash outlay is tin' determining factor. Maintenance: The phenomenal spell of fine weather a; ibis time of the year has had tho effect of very greatly assisting the ordinary maintenance woim in tho Orunty, and full advantage has been taken of the various roads being trimmed up and water-tabled for the summer traffic at a much earlier date than is usually possible. Kohuratahi surfaceman's whare: The timbor and fiti tings have been ordered for this and the work will be put in hand .orthwith.

Discussing the Engineer's proposal regarding the concreto bridge, Cr. Bacon said he greatly favored coneratc bridges. The only possible hnubl- wbuld be the danger of the ■i>'i iiii!' being altered. He moved (,!>• ' i concrete bridge he erected over the '■( or.:1 crossing, and that the En-o-i•■.(• be autliorised to prepare plans. - Ci JcCluggage seconded.—Crltobpi to'! Mi -light the wooden bridge v otiltl turn out the cheaper.—Cr. C'.-'vr- thought the proposed course ■■ ■■ n"-.vise in view of the possibility ■■' i-h «' fio've'—'-nent taking over eon- |. V (■' the n; ii;i toads.-—ln answer to ;\ r'i'« 'h'o'i the Engineer said the ! ridge bad bad to he strung up to t;lv ::ictr.l i:\\3te, hut this Ira Hie hi '

jarred it. The bridge might be safe for twelve mouths.—After further discussion, the motion was withdrawn, to enable enquiries to be made as to t\e possible effect of the war on loans and as to whether the Local Government Act was .to be dealt with vAis session. It will also be ascertained whether the Council is bound ,'bv its agreement with the Government to erect both bridges. REPAIRS TO OHURA ROAD.

The Minister for Public Works wrote as follows under date August 28th:— lour wire of yesterday's date is to hid. The road past Whangamo-n-.ona referred to by you as being in BU'Ji a bad state is in the control of -■Mir Council. I agreed to contribute towards the repair of six miles thereof the sum of £3OOO on the basis of 30; to 20s, and your Council undertook the expenditure thereof. I am informed that you let a contract for the whole six miles, but the weather last year was so bad that onl\ on»i and a-half miles has been completed. lam still prepared to painty contribution as .the contractor completes the work to the satisfaction of my Engineer, but I am not prepared to do work for tho benefit of the contractor. Moreover, the District Engineer informs me that .m,- work done at present on said toad would simply mean a waste of r:.oney, without resulting in any material improvement. As far as lies in my power I will help the dairy farmers in the Whcmgamomona dis-1-ict by carrying their milk free each morning and evening from Koliurat'Av railway station to the dairy faclory and back again till such time as the road is in better order. Cr. McCutchan said the letter was not correct in some particulars. The Minister should have known that the metalling was not stopped through bad weather, but through lack of railway trucks, and that the work asked for was in the vicipity where the Government was making deviations.—On the motion of Cr. Coyne, f.Aconded by Cr. Mounsey, it was deeded to bring these facts before the Minister; also to convey the Council's'' thanks for the concession granted on the railway.

Cr. McCutchan said a large amount ■ f the County's trouble had been c.used through carting for the railway going on over their roads, the County failing to properly protect it---.df. If the County had seen that th-- road had been declared a Government road they would have been f> 'ly protected. TRUCKS FOR METAL,

The district traffic manager of railwsys wrote: Yours of 11th inst re .■ucks for road metal is to hand. I f hall be glad if you will advise me how many cubic yards of metal you ca load per day, also the exact date O'l which you can commence loading. G." receipt of your reply I will advise you what arrangements can be made. I may say, however, that I cm not undertake to keep up a full supply of trucks during tho busy season, which will commence in about two months' time.—The clerk reported that he had supplied the information asked for. ALLOCATION OF RATES.

Cr. Coyne moved that the by-roads en Ohura, and Brewer roads contribute lit of their rate to the main roads. - Cr. Mounsey seconded.—The Chairmar moved as an amendment that t lit* allocation be s tKe same as last year, including Jd from the Brewer road and its by-roads to the Ohura t-cfcd.—Cr. McCluggage seconded pro f.vma.—Cr. Bacon said the Riding had to maintain all its roads and the proposed allocations made not a straw of difference.—lt was only a matter of,book-keeping.—Cr. McCutcl.an said Cr. Coyne's proposal was tl'e fairer.—The amendment was lost aufl the motion carried.—On Cr. Paeon's motion it was decided to allocate id of rates from by-roads running into the Whangamomona road ..nd from Okara. road to Whangamon.tna road.—No allocation was made in respect of Tahora and Pohokura ladings. PLEA FOR CROWN TENANTS.

Cr. McCluggage brought up the question of the failure of the Government to give compensation to Crown tenants for land taken for public «.orks purposes.—The Chairman said '.hat the Department invariably replied to representations on the matter that the value arising from the railnay was worth more than the compensation which would bo given.—Cr. McCluggage moved, and Cr. Bacon seconded, that the Department be recuested to reconsider its attitude regit! ding compensation t» Crown tena> ts, who should be treated on the Kino basis as freeholders.—Cr. McCtchan said that the Government could not claim to have put the railway through—the real credit was due t(. the pioneer settlers in the district. - The motion was carried. JULIAN'S CONTRACT. The Council had an interview with their solicitor, Mr Rutherfurd, regarding Julian's contract, the Councillors desiring information tegardiiig wages claims and tlie amount th« Council should retain.—Cr. Bacon n oved that the money of Julian's in hand (380) shoul dbe* retained by the Council.—Cr. McCluggage moved a» an amendment that £IOO of tho amount lie paid to Julian.—The Chairman seconded pro forma, —The cine-ndment was lost, and the motion carried, only Crs. McCluggage and Meredith voting against it. A workman who made an application for wages under Julian's contract is to be informed that his claim had been made too late and could not be entettained. GENERAL.

The State Advances Office notified Hint owing to the present condition of financial affairs, the appUc: linn for a

loan of £IOOO to metal Whangamomona Itoacl could not be entertained. It was decided to grant compensa tion of £l2 to J. D. Oliphant for lepairs -to a fence injured during work on the road.

It was decided to take steps to have sections in Huiakama township vested in the Council.

It was decided to request the Public Works Department to renew a bridge at Pohokura in hardwood instead of rirau as proposed. A copy of the Impounding Act is to be supplied to the Central Riding poundkeeper and the notice "board at the pound is to he re-painted.

On Cr. Bacon's motion it was decided that the Engineer confer with the •Public Works Department regarding a request to have Whangamomoria roac. fixed up to enable timber to be carted for the hridge to Okara Road. The Engineer was instructed, when getting metal for Ohura Road, to get sufficient to metal portions of the Kui Road, which was breaking up. Steps are to be taken to procure at once the road-grader, the purchase of which was recently authorised. The Engineer said that if the weather did not break much work could be done at present with the grader. A building near Kohuratahi H.i'.l was, at a previous meeting, ordered to be removed. Cr. Cleland reported that the building had not yet been removed, and it was decided that it 1)6 now removed at the owner's expense. Some discussion took place on the question of impounding,'difficulty being experienced in getting anybody to do the work. A suggestion was made that a number oi Counties should unite, to pay a ranger a salary, but no action was taken.

Mr Aylward waited on the Council regarding access to the Marangae block, and stated that the settler-; were anxious that any money available should be spent on metalling the road west of the Tangarakau river. He saia that on one occasion he had had *o send three men to clear the track to enable him to get his gis out.—lt was decided to request the Department In divert available funds as desired by the settlers; and Mr Alyward said he would forward to the Minister a petition setting out the desires of the settlers. In reply to Cr. Boberton, the Engineer said he had written to the surfaceman at Tahora instructing him to personally carry out the fencing of ins section.—Cr. Cleland said the surfaceman would have ample time to do th? work, he (the surfaceman) having stated that his roads were in, good order and he had not ver\ much to do —The Engineer said the dry weather was a great factor in keeping the roads in good condition.