STRATFORD COUNTY COUNCIL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIII, Issue 44, 21 October 1915, Page 2

STRATFORD COUNTY COUNCIL.

MONTHLY MEETING. Ike monthly meeting oi the Strut lord County Council ivas field yester day, when there were present:—Or j Hathuway (chairman). I i-, Raskin, I Wortkington, Walter, Were, Cole-i man, Smith, Christoirel, ami Auder- j sou. I ENGINEER'S UEI'OKT.

The engineer's (Air \Y. J. Lopdell , report was as follows: During tin i month good work has been done ; throughout the County with the clearing of slips and general surface work. North Riding: The stone crusher has i been engaged during the month on the Cross and Croydon (238 c yards), Ack- • land Mil c yards), Radnor lioad (58 c yards), and is "on completing the Beaconsfield Road, alter which the engineer proposes sending il to the York Road. The tunnel on the Salisbury Road might collapse at any time, so he ordered JI 2tt. pipes to be

in readiness. The cemeierj culvert has a curve in it, also a break about 12ft. from the upstream end, which prevents the water from having a clear course. The only cure is to replace the existing Din. pipe; with 12iu. South Riding: Work i, progressing steadily in this riding, and the Cheal '.Road Bridge is well under way. Considerable difficulty was experienced in obtaining foundations, however, I am satisfied they are sufficiently good to carry the weight of the structure. The fencing of the Waihapa Road is completed, and a satisfactory job has [been made. A small bridge on the Oru Road collapsed, and h?s been replaced. East Riding: Good work has been done in this riding, Finchain's corner has been widened on the Ohura Road. About three chains of road between the sale yards and the .(Toko station has been replaced has j been replaced with .shingle. The big 'culvert on the' Toko Road east has [been completed. Huiroa Riding: 'Foreman Atkins is proceeding very' j satisfactorily with the slips on the ; Douglas Road north. Thirty cubic! yards of metal was sent to H.uiroa from Midhirst. Douglas Riding: All! the slips are practically cleared off, ! and genera] surface work is being:! done. Mangaehu Riding: Good progress has been made in this riding | with the clearing of slips etc. The : Mangaehu south is now open for, traffic. The big washout is being fill- j ed, and the tunnel opened up, an , |overflow cut has also been put in.. I The* work is proceeding along the I Main Road. The washout at Don's is. i being filled, and a cut put in. West. Riding: General surface work" is pro-1 cecding well. The approaches to the Patea Bridge are com pic led. An extra man has been employed to help .upon the work before the contract season opens' General: The toll- * gate cottage and gates are now erect- j ed and ready for occupation, with til© exception of the lighting, which will | be in readiness before the required I date.—Adopted. ' I ! The engineer was authorised to clean the blockage in a culvert on iGambria Street, Denmark Terrace, j I Midhirst. The Chairman stated that sixteen applications had been received for the | position of toll-gate keeper at Waipuku j 'and Mr A. S. Martin had been appointed, 1 Cr Christoffel said in future lie | hoped that when repairs were beiug effected to bridges, and the road were | blocked for traffic, the work should j 'not be proceeded with o.n sale days' unless absolutely necessary. The j speaker also asked that the fact of the road ftfeing blocked be advertised, j The Engineer said he had given instructions for a Ras plant to be erected at the Waipuku toll-gate cottage. I The cost would be £l2, and provision would be made to light three rooms. In twelve months time he was sure it would prove far cheaper than kerosene.( j J it {was toiorted' that two cows, whicfi weiwto.Weak to be driven to the pound. g werl;-straying on a certain road. The chairman said that if one of the animal ; died and happened to be on the road at night, it ■would be dangerous. It was decided to give notice to the owner to I remove . them,' of herw ise the ('ouneil [to destroy them at the owner's expense. . TENDERS. The Council went into committee jto consider the contracts, and reported that the following tenders had been accepted,!—Pembroke Road (1200 c yards) Chard and Hartigan, Beacons--1 field Road (1200 yards) Chard and Hartigan; Palmer Road Q 650 yards) P. W. Green; Monmouth Road (360) H. Gray; Mountain Road (200) Grimmer and'Chamberlain; Finnerty Road (100) Grimmer and Chamberlain; Upper Skinner 1 Road (250) VV. Stocks; Robson Road (100) Grimmer and Chamberlain; Lower Cheal Road (200) Grimmer and Chamberlain; Skinner Road (100) W. Stocks; Standish Road (500) J. Neilson; Opunake Road. No. HI (500) W. E. Hills; Opunake No. 11l (360) W. E. Hills; Brooks Road (200) Chard and Hartigan; Hastie Road (100) Chard and Hartigan; Climie Road (100) F. W, Green; Car-diff-Waingongoro (575) H. Gray; Finnerty Road (100) Grimmer and Chamberlain; Manilla Road (500) P. W. Green. —Adopted.

Or. Were moved ''that the Engineer be authorised to call tenders for the metalling of the Ahuroa Road west. Seconded by Cr Walter ond carried.

CORRESPONDENCE. O'. T, Mu nay, resident engineer. Public Works Department, wrote in regard to the new toll-gate at Waipuku as lollows; ‘Thy Sovereign is at common law not liable to tolls, and the exemption extends also to servants and vehicles of the Crown employed upon Public Service.”—.Received.

W. S. Short, acting Under-Secre-tary, Public Works Department. Wellington, wrote that in regard to votes provided upon the Public Works Appropriations for roads etc., the money wil] not be available for expendituie until such time as satisfactory arrangements have been made for the raising of the necessary loan for Public Works purposes, and it had been decided to what extent the funds. when available, will be sufficient, to justify the prosecution of new wonts. The letter concluded: The Department at the present time regrets that it is unable to offer the Council any such monies for expenditure.— Received.

The Moa Road board wrote asking if the CounVil had any money available for the Mangaotea Road, as it wished to let the contracts for the metal required for the coming year.— Attended to. The Moa Road Board wrote asking the Council if it was in favour of a joint loan of £9OO for the Mangaotea Road. The Board stated it had received a petition from three oi the ratepayers asking it to confer with the Council on the matter.—Received.

S. J. Baker wrote notifying the Council that he intended To ,claim threepence per cubic yard royalty on all boulders taken out of the Te Popo River by the Cduncil between the properties of Mrs Schumacher's and his own.—Received.

The Hon. A. L. Herdman, Minister in.charge of the Discharged Soldiers Information Department, wrote, stating that a new Department had been established, and asking the co-opera-tion of the Council.—Jt was decided to thank the Department for its information, and state tha*t,the Council would keep the matter of giving employment to returned soldiers in hand. On O Walter's motion, it was decided to add a clause asking the Government to give preference to returned soldiers in the Public Service.,

W. P. King, secretary of the Board of Agriculture, wrote asking the Council's permission to allow school children to collect grass seed on roadsides and waste Jlaces during the coming summer. Oin the motion of Cr Anderson, it was' decided that the request be granted. Seconded by Cr Christolfel" Cr Smith said he would not oppose the request, but at the same time it was going to give to Weeds Inspectors a great deal of work. Cr Smith said he had grown grass seed ever since h e arrived in Stratford, and it took great care to keen it clean. Even putting it through a grass-seed cleaner would not take out the foreign seeds, as the grass seed is so very small. The Inspector of Weeds wrote enclosing a specimen of goats rue, and .stating that it had been added to the Noxious. Weeds' Act.—Received. tin A letter was received froth the Commissioner of Crown Lands j informing ctHe Council that -the Crown would claim 3d per 'yard royalty lor metal taken from the pit leased to Mr Johnston.—Received. , '

•!G T Murrav, resident engineer, wroA bating that the Minister had approved of the £ for £ subsidy on the following roads: Brewer-Taihyu-Douolas Road £l5O, Maugaehu £2oo, Mangaehu north £625. Mangaehu south £IOO, Ohuroa £IOO,-- Received. S H James wrote enclosing cheque for '£37 8s 7d for rates on the property situated on the Kaitohe Road, and "asking the Council to give him aecOSS to same. He stated lie would j ike the work to be. completed before the coming summer so that he conld rret to his grass seed paddock. It was decided to inform the writer thao the Council would carry out the work as far as the money was available. The following Government grants are available: Puniwhakau flood damage £350, McCool's bridge £IOO, Waitara Road bridge £IOO, Stanley Road new bridge £250, Pembroke Road metalling £250. York Road metalling £IOO, Autawa Road widening £loo. Received. . GENERAL.

The special loans as advertised in the "Stratford Evening' Post" were authorised. Mr H Bretlin waited on the Council and asked if it would raise a loan on behalf of the settlers living on the Mangaotea Road. He .said par the road was in the Moa Road Board district, and if the loan was raised it won!,! have to be a joint

The chairman said he had heen over the road, and in his opinion., it was one 0 f the worst .surveyed roads in the County. The bridges on the road we re not strong, and it nnght be neLaarv to replace them by terro eon(,,ltc structures if a loan was ra.sed fM the road. The old loan was raised'in ISOG, and will inn out in about 6i In 6 wpW to Cr Walter, the Chairmall stated there was nothmg provided on this year's estimates toi tlie l °Tl," e Engineer said the track laid ont bv the surveyors at the time was ovel . the roughest country, whereas it thev had diverted a little, they could hav€ constructed practically a nai '"the Council decided that a I<>»'! l,e raised, providing the necessary documents were deposited with the clerk. Cr Baskin said nothing had been done to tho bridge on the Kaiapoi

Road, near Mr Walker's property

There was metal to be put on the bridge, but nothing had been done, and in consequence, Mr Walker could not get his milk out to the factory. The Engineer said be could not put the work in hand at the present time as Mr Walker was not prepared to spread the metal, and it was not worth sending a man out socially to do it.

Cr Anderson said it was the Lowgarth residents own fault that their roads were being broken up. The other day he saw a cart with 21inch tyres, carrying about two toils oi cheese. It was not a fair deal. He presumed that when the waggon was being driven back, it would be loaded with cement.

It was decided to draw the attention of the Lorgarth .Dairy Company to the matter of suppliers using carts with narrow tyres.

The Chairman reported on the Works Committee's visit to Eltham, when the tar-sealing plain was inspected. The members of the .:ommittee saw the work in progress, and it was very educational. In conversation with the Borough. Engineer, he was surprised at the low figure mentioned as the cost of the upkeep of the road which was 50ft. wide. The speaker said if the County constructed a similar road to those of Eltham. it would be on a "good wicket.". The Chairman said he, would like to see four or five chains laid down in concrete as an experiment.

Cr Christoffel: It would not stand. The Chairman said he-was going by the Government reports.

Cr Walter said he would like to see the Engineer instructed to construct a few chains of road in concrete with bitumen dressing as an experiment. It was decided that the Engineer be instructed to bring down a report to the next Council meeting on constructing roads of tarred macadum. tar sealed, and concrete. Accounts amounting to £1685 were passed for payment.