PIAKO COUNTY COUNCIL.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 210, 9 July 1887, Page 2

PIAKO COUNTY COUNCIL.

The nsual'monthly meeting oP the above council was held in the Hamilton Borough Chambers on Saturday. Present: Or 3 W. L. 0. Willianxs (chajrman), E. Mclean, W. T. Firth, Branskill, Cheptriell and Gould. The Proposed Itiver District. — Or Chepmell reported that he had asked Mr Brenmer tp, undertake the doty of getting signatures to the petition against the action oF the Thames Harbour Board's proposal to include the rivers in their district, and in favour of

conililuling {ho cftWftly n ri\er disfri<(. Mr Bremn< r had outlined, as; lie did ;not think In* would; bo able to git, f c required number of signatures. Cr Chepmell farther said it would ' not be legal, to pay a canvasser. Cr Gonld remarked that he was not inclined lo put his hand in Ins pocket. The niatler then dropped. Thompsons Tragic. — The Under- ' Soovi'trtiy for Tultlic Wtukw wrote, «1«t linn 1 that ilk 1 con icil'b request I'or a furIher grant woujd have to stan i ovei un1 til l.cxl ses-ion. Regulation Grade for Tracks. — The .Clerk repoiled that he had written to Mr J. B. Whyfce, asking him lo use his influence in gel ting the balance of sub sidy i'or tracks, withheld on account of the regulation .is to grades not having been complied uith. Mr Why to had replied that he had brought the nutter under the notice of the Government and hoped for a favourable reply. Itoiid to Gordon Settlement. — The Secretary of the Settlement wrote, ask ing the Council to complete the load to the Settlement. Cr Gould remarked that a new secretary had been appointed, the former one ha\ing cleared. These people were \'nvy rough on '* land sharks," but when they got half t\ chance they became land shaiks themselves. His impiession was that the settlers took up the laud only for what they could make out of it. The poiti)ii of ro id referred to had not been included in the original contract, and there wore no funds to complete it. The ro.ul wus not wanted by the settlers except to improve the value of lhi % ir lam!, in order fiat they might sell it. They were making no eitoit to imp ove the land. One nun had put in five acres of oats and an acre o\ potatoes, and ns he had got nothing oft taoni he cleared out. Cr C.iepme 1 s:ii i the settlement was not occupied. Cr Maclean said the settlers wanted a load made to Waharoa station. Cr Gould : Merely for the pivpose of improving tiio selling value ol thoir lauds. The matter was then allowed to drop. Leasing of the ''Vamway. — Some correspondence on this subject was read. It appears that in the original draft lea.so, as proposed by the chairman and Cr Chepmell no provision was made for "fair \Ae.ir and tear;" the auctioneer had inserted the condition provisionally, and the chairman had instructed the solicitor accordingly, and the question now before the council was whether the action of the chairman should be endorsed. The Chairman said he considered the provision a reasonable one, and saw no reason why it should not be inserted. Cr Gould said if a provision for fair w.arand tear were acted upon the whole concern wonl 1 be gone in ten years. Cr Chepmell explained that he had made a draft of the conditions of the lease which ha 1 been accepted by the council, Out alterations had afterwards been male, with which he ought to have been made acquainted. There was certainly no provision for wear an 1 tear, lit? coiw loruJ that he should certainly have seen the lease before the traimvay was put up for sale. Theio were one or two of the conditions that, ke- 4 won Id not have passed. ha I * seen Mr Hay withj>jfe,rauce So the wear an 1 tenr clause (Mr Hay) had said that t'.ie Chairman ha 1 authorised it. Jle certainly would never have ngrfee i to ifc ; they might as well give the \tramwny away. The very essence of the lease was that the tramway should be handed back to the council in good repair. With that provision they would be handing over to the lessees property of the value of £18,000 at a rental which repiesented'about five-ninths of a £ per cent, and nt the end of the term the work would be useless. If this clause were inserted it would upset the whole thing, everything would be considered fair wear and tear. The small amount "of rental would never repay for the great cost of the tramway. They would remeuber that one of the inducements .held out by Mr Firth had been that though the tramway was now comparatively new it would in time require to be repaired, which, in case of its being* leased, would fall on the lessees. Now, ifc seemed as though they wanted to back out of ifc. Cr Cherniell said without doubt every sleeper would have to be renewed before ten years. Cr Gould said the buyer had of course taken the thing as it stood. Cr Chepmell said' it was clearly most necessary that the company should be bound to return the tramway in good order. He should object to the words " wear and tear" being" included. The Chairman could not go with Cr Chepmell in that. The Council would have to decide whether those or any similar words should be included. Cr Chepmell pointed out the desirability oE altering the clause dealing with the question of carriage. It would be necessary ta provide against the com pany monopolising it altogether to the exclusion of other goods. The system j adopted by which the lessee would keep ! a book of all applications, and givo precedence according to date of application, I' was open to abuse. It would be easy to fill in, a lot of applications which w mid h exclude outsiders. He thought the , company should be bound to allow a certain time fou other traffic ; supposing there was a demand for such service. Mr. Hay, who was present, gave some particulars as to the ordinary meaning of the words wear and tear. He Buggested a conference between the committee and Mr Firth. The Chairman thought a little give and take would effect a compromise.

The conditions mis?! it be toned (I<mvu. Or Chi?p,mell — It you tone iL down yuU 101 l the whole tiling. The Ohainnan thought not ; they only wanted it back in good condition. After some further discussion Or Oould moved and Cr Maclean secoude I, That the mailer be brought up at next meeting 1 ; the committee to see the lessee and try and ai range matters, it being an instruction to the committee that thu tramway lian led back is to he in no way infenoi to tlyit handed ovt r. Carried. lioad to Waioroiii^wiiai. — The following letter was received from a number of residents : — The subscribers, being ratepayers, call your attention, to the .impassable condition ol KiLrour- afreet, Waiorougomai, more especially from the corner of the main county road to the corner of tho Waiovongomni Hotel". Within t>wo months hence fully 200 lons oE dead weight will pass over this road, and tho persons who put their hands in 1 their pockets previously to contribute a moiety nre not now disposed to assist in making the county roads otherwise than by being compelled to do so by paying rates. We urge immediate attention. In the absence of any infoimation regarding the probable cost of the woik, it was decided to postpone consideration of the application until next meeting. Mr Vat"! wrote, drawing attention to the state of the track to Quartzville, and this matter was also deferred. Tramway Manager's Report. — The Tramway Manny er icpoited that during tho pa>t thiee weeks they h id sent about twenty trucks per day to the battery. This did not keep them fully employed, but plenty of woik had b»*cn found in the spare time by attending to a number of slips on the line caused by tho late rains. There were oulj two blips that had do'ie any damage, being on tho branch line going to Murray's claim. These slips having taken place underneath the lino, the rails were suspended, and the line lcndcred impassable for the present. No quaitz wn«, however, coming from that end of the line at present, ami it would be repaired before it was wanted, the cost of the repairs not ex ceding £5. The revenue for the three weeks was £80 llh, and the expenditure (including eveiything) had been £72 14s, leaving a credit balance of £8 ss. Tho report was received. After passing some accounts, the Council rose. — (Waikato Times and News;.