PIAKO COUNTY COUNCIL.

Te Aroha News, Volume III, Issue 138, 23 January 1886, Page 2

PIAKO COUNTY COUNCIL.

The usual monthly meeting of the above was held on Thursday, .January 14th. The only members present were Cvs Williams (chairman), J. C. Firth, Chepmell, and Murphy. There being- no quorum, an informal meeting was held, at which the following business was disposed of, subject to the approval of the council at its next ordinary meeting ;—; — Road Works, To Aroha.— Mr Pavitt, engineer for Te Aroha Hiding, submitted his monthly report. He had inspected the road running through Mr Roches land, where so "much damage had been done by the construction of the ditch or d am. He was of opinion that the crossing place should be made on the present line of road. He would recommend the construction of a small bridge and embankment. As to Clarkes drain, he felt sure the Council would be satisfied with what he had done, notwithstanding complaints from certain quarters. He asked permission to have some repairs made to the Shaftesbnry road at the approaches to all the culyorts and bridges. Some of the streets in both townships were in need of repair. It was agreed that the matter of repairs as referred to by Mr Pavitt be left to the Chairman to deal with. Tracks on Goldßeld.— Or Firth referred to the fact that owing to the present scarcity of water the battery had to c«ase working. The tramway would also have to knock off, and as a number of men would thus be thrown out of employment, the best thing the council could do would be to let whatever contracts they could in the way of m.iking the new tiacks. At the previous meeting a resolution ha 1 been passed to the eltect that these works should noi be imdeikakeu until t.ie plans, &0., li»iu been submitted to the council. Through dome uvei sight there plans had not been forwarded. He thought that under the circumstances the best thing they could I do would be to leave the matter in the hands of the Chairman and Cr Murphy, and instruct Mr MoLiver to call foi tenders immediately. Cr Murphy entirely agreed with Or Firth. \\ hen he had brought forward the lesolution which was pajsed at the previous iiuetun,', he did not forsee these circumstances, which, in this case, altered the -pect of affairs. It was vnr> desirable, .i< w that the batteiy an. l fc.it> tiainuay hud eetisi?d operations, that the men should be kept employed at some tiling. Ci Chepmell w.13 opposed to Ci Firth's suggestion on t-he gronnr" that he did not believe in passing a resolution at one meeting and over- riding it at the next meeting. After some further discussion. Cr Firth's suggestion was adopted. Conservator of Forests. — The Hon. J. Ballance, Commissioner of State Forests, forwarded a coj)y of " The New Zealand State Fores te Act, 1885," and asked the chairman of the Council to allow himself be nominated, as chairman of the County of Pinko, for appointment as a conservator for that county. Cv L (l iit.i thought this was a step in the light direction, and they were very fortunate in having a ciiairnnn who knew sonwthing about foi«Mtn . Tin duties "I the vi.ice would l>e mvat, iin> would lequire n lot 01 attention. The Chairman in con>eutiny to be no uinated, s.ud it nas very necessan I Hat simiet dug should be done to con serve the natural forests of theountiy. and lieing an enthusiast in this matter lie \lonld therefore acceps t no position. lioad to ttiutfie&Uiry. — Mr E. \. Cox wrote aoking if any person was told off to attend to small repairs on the road between Te Arolm an . Sliaftesbnry. Then' were several things requiring attention. This matter was left to the chairman. Te Aroha Tramway. — The following is the manager's monthly report : — Tho Chairman, &c, — The repairs necessary to Butler's Spur, as mentioned in my last report, are now completed, and everything is in readiness fora start, but on account of scarcity of water the battery cannot work, and as soon as the hopper* are filled — unless rain intervenes—we shall have to stop work until tho stampers are started. Should the dry weather compel the tramway to cease work for any length of time, I would respectfully suggest — it the matter is at all practicable — that the tramway employees might be engaged at the proposed new ro-id on the east side of the Bunk reef from the ptesent Werahiko terminus. Several other matteis of no public interest were also referred to. It was agreed to ash Messrs Morrin and Co., and Messrs Porter and Co. for prices of wire ropes required for tho tramway. It was also agreed to call for tenders for chaff supply, and to pay Thomas Hill £1 a week for every week since the time of his accideut till next council meeting. Punt at Waiorongomai. — Cornelius Murphy wrote stating that bis punt on the river at Waiorongomai was not paying, and he intended taking it off. It iiad cost him £100, and he would sell it to the council for £50. He would continue to woik it if tue council ga\e him a subsidy of 2s per day.

On (be motion of Or Firth it was asfref'l to pay a lay, sis as cf»(l fnr. Kih-onr Street.— Or lVLuqx.y strongly recomu en l«>d that Kil^om htreet from the swam > at the west of J msen's «aie to the Wiiiomii!»omui Hotel should be formed. This work war. badly w.inieil;, it' it were done now it would be woll con«;.)li lateil Ix^foro il»c whiter. It. \va«. afi^rei'd tlmt tho on^inopr be rcqiicsle I to call for tenders for s* radium and forming the part of Kili>-our street vefenod to. "Road to Gord m Settlement — It was agreed that Mr Pavitt be in^tiucted to prepare plans and call foi tenders for making the main Shafteshnry road. Or Murphy urged the immediate dairying out of the work, and pointed out. that the Gordon Special Settlement would yet be one of the most flourishing spots in the country. This was all the business.