PIAKO COUNTY COUNCIL,

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 264, 16 May 1888, Page 2

PIAKO COUNTY COUNCIL,

Tins ordinary monthly meeting of tho above Council was held on Saturday last ntrJ Mrtn > insvillo.---Pn i sout, Cra. Glieptno]], (Chiiinnnn), Gonlu, Dibble, Williams, -Ilofuu'y, r Jjn;\vniui<, Bnm&kill, Min ; |)liy .}ind Mills. Two Special Mrot.iutfs. were, first vcml mil tbe Bpociul Onlcrs co,ufii"n\e<l r handing ov?r the con

trol of that portion of the main coaftty rbad within To Arohu Town District, lo TeAioha Town- Board to be by them maintained and levying a special rate of 1-4 2 th of Id. in tbo £ over Patetere "Riding to' meet, (ho annual payment with lespoct to ihec£] 500 toai\ for new road works. When the matter of confirming the levying of this special cato was 1 brought forward Or lleany moved as an amendment, that the matter stand .adjourned till next meeting, as Mr .Rich, manager ' of tho Thames Valley Land Company had asked him td request that the matter be adjourned to enable him to enquire into what benefit would result from the making of this road. The amendment was however lost. Considerable discussion however took place on the subject ; and a3 to how the portion between the Wai were falls through Mnimata towards Te Papa was going to be mnde. Or Mnrphy urged that the special order 1)8 fonOnned and tho road mado, I communication with Te Aroha. Or Williams Maid, Mr J. 0. Firth was at once going to work 'to open up his hot springs at Matamata, in fact tenders \rero already invited for work: in connection therewith. The Chairman said, he thought it would be foolish to expend the money unless all the road could be made, as it had come, out at last mooting that this portion through Matamata had not been provided for. Cr Dibble promised to confer with the Mata Mata Road Board on the subject, and ascertain and report at next meeting whether they would undertake to ninko that portion of the road within their district ot not. Cr Mnrphy said if tint portion of the road within Patctere JRidMig were made, by going round a couple of miles there would be direct communication with To Aroha by crossing the river by the bridge at Mr Firth s hot springs, even though the road was not completed. Day and Place of Meeting : — Crs Murphy stated it would suit him better to attend the county meetings on Wcdnopdnys in future, and tried hard supported by Cr Mills to have the day of meeting changed to Wednesday. ResoUel on the motion of Cr Gould That tho next ordinary meeting of Council be held on Friday, .Juno 15th, and the regular monthly meetings every fourth lAiday from that date. Correspondence : Over Valued : — From W. A. Mutiny piotcsting that he ■was over rated ; to which the olfrk replied stating the valuation vsa* that of the Property Tax Commisaioner and Council had no control over it. Cambridge - Taupo Hoad: — From Gn'ornment consenting to hand over foi expenditure under Council'" direction an unexpended balance of £4G, for Camb:i<! tee-Tun po io*id. Thames TL n rbom Bonrd ii — Telegram from lion, Minister of Marino and letter from Chnuman Ohinermm County Council (similar to thow sent Te Aroha Town Board and lately published in those, columns.) ] he Chairman said it appeared to him impossible for Government to constitute n River Board, without it. was petitioned for by tho ratepayers. If a River Board were constitute.], it wms the Waitoa Road Board -who should be represented for the Wai toa district, but fheyappeared to have, been overlooked in the matter altogether Mr Tuck, County Clerk, said he was speaking with Mr J.B. Whyte, M.H.K. on Tuesday previous, and he disapproved of the proposal to constitute a River Board, all he considered necessary was tho rcscindingof the Proclamation, granting the Thames Harbour Board control over the up courtry districts. | Several Crs spoke on the subject: and it was ultimately resolved on the motion of Cr Brunskill, That this Council approve of the suggestion of the Chairman of Ohinemnri County Council as to the first meeting of delegates, but declines to be bound by any decision that may be arrived at by said delegates ; and that this Council appoint their Chairman, or his appointee, to represent them in the matter. Bridge at Murphy's Landing . — Mr PavHt, County Engineer, reported that a bridge to cross the Waihou river near Murphys landing would be 3 84 feet long including approaches, and that an ordinary cart bridge with 4. spans of 25ft each besides tho approaches would cost £500 to complete. The water in its deepest part where it was proposed to construct the bridge was sft Gin at present, and tho banks 12 feet above present water level. Cr Gould said if some arrangement could be come to for constructing the proposed bridge it would prove a great convenience. 1 Cr Murphy said tho young man who worked the punt (his son) hnd reqnested him to give notice that unless Council decided to build a bridge ho should discontinue tho punt in one month from date, but would continue to work the pnnt for six months if a bridge would be built within that time. Ifc was stated C. Murphy received a subsidy of £36 a year from Council, and charged Gd for each hoi so and 3d for each foot passenger crossing the punt Or Murphy not having authority in writing from C. Murphy giving notice of intention to cease keeping on tbe punt, no action was taken. Cam bridg-e- Oxford Road : -Or Brunskill asked that Council put on a surface man for six months to assist the Taotoaroa Road Board in keeping this road in repair. » , , , Considerable .discussion ensued respecting this application, anil 'as part of this iroad i3,'nl«i>in Mnta Matu and Patctere, if assistance J wero grnnLid Taotojuoix the other local bodies con-

corned would make similar applications, it was refused. . ' * ~' : i 1"i 1 " /On the application of Or Dibble permission was granted Mala Mala Ro*d Board to repair that portion of. the Cambridge-Oxford road within their boundaries. ' , " Permission was likewise granted "Taotoaroa Road Board, On the application' of Or Brunskill to repair their portion of said road till next meeting of Council. .Balance Sheet: — A telegram was read from the Auditor General, Wellington, stating the accounts had been certified to as correct, The cleric stated he had not received back the balance sheet. Resolved that a special meeting of Council be held at* Morrinsville on Thursday, May 24th to receive and adopt balance sheet. Paletero .-£l5OO Loan ;-^-The questien of the expenditure of this loan was deferred, the Clerk; meantime to write • Mata Mata Road Board asking if they would -undertake to construct the portion within their district (being unprovided for in the loan), J Tramway Horses: — The Chairman reported having interviewed Mr Adams re this matter, who now offered £50 for the four horses. Resolved that this offer be accepted. Valuation Roll : — The usual notices having been given, it was resolved that certain alterations be made in the valuation roll, Rout, Cannell applied to have his name placed on the valuation roll in lieu of Oddfellows.HalljCommittee, he having purchased the property. Chas. Rogers made similar applicntion with respect to a cottage at Morrinsville formerly owned by John Barber. / > Walter Hunter applied on behalf of the proprietors of the Lockerbie estate, Morrinsville to have his name placed on the valuation roll. George Winstone made a similar applicntion on behalf of the Bank of New Zealand, Te Aroha. The Clerk was instructed to take the necessary steps towards having these applications complied with. Road fiom Murphy's Landing, Te Aroha : — The petition from Waiorongomfii residents nnd ratepayers to have the road leading from Murphy's landing metalled (adjourned from last meeting) was again considered. Cr Murphey said, if the proposed bridge were made, part of the road would have to be cut down. Resolved that the petition be not irrnnted at present. Standing Ordeis : —On the motion 'of Cr Gould, seconded by Cr Williams, it was resolved that the lecently adopted Rules and Stnndinsr Orders be abolished. Tender" : — The following tenders were opened and dealt with :-— J. Shines tender of ,£B3, and £2 10, for repairing mid metalling" the Upper Hill Track, I and making a track for convenience of miner's and others connecting the tramway with the Upper Track, weer accepted ( fnll list, of tenders received were published in last Saturday's News). Accounts :— Accounts amounting to £108 8s were passed for payment. Rate of Wildes :- -One of the accounts passed for payment was for wotk (lone by Bernard Montague, 17 days labour on Te Aroha-Wairongomai road from Stoney Creek to Waiorongomai corner, at *?. per day. One of the Cr's asked why this man was paid 8s per day, when no other man employed by the Council received such high wages ? was it that he was an exceptionally good workman ? Cr Murphy said, himself and Cr Mills had instructed the Engineer to pay this man 8s a day. Cr Gould asked if the man who had been working as surface man for a long time previously, (R. Michael) had received 8s a day. Cr Murphy said the man "previously employed for the ronds only received 7s a day ; but it was the Engineer who had taken on himself to reduce the rate of wages from Bs. which was what it had been originally fixed at by the Council, and himself and Cr Mills went to the Engineer and told him to raise the wages to Bs, He was a working man himself, and had a lot of friends on the field. Cr Mills referring to the action of the Engineer in reducing the rate of wages for a long time past to 7s, said it was the duty of the Council to regulate the rate of wages and not of any of its servants. Cr Gould said he thought Council should pay the highest rate of wages for ordinary labour going, and that he believed was 6s a day. He himself paid 5s a day, and had first-class men working for that. He did not believe the men themselves expected to got 8s a day these times. * t Cr Brunskill said, in his district they had really first-class workmen, who were willing to work on the roads whenever called upon to do so at 5s per day ; and he asked what farmer was clearing 8s a clay out of his land ? Cr Gould, moved : That the rate of wages paid by the Council in future be 6s per day ; the motion was duly seconded. Cr Murphy moved as an amendment : That the To Aroha Riding be left at 1 8s. Seconded by Cr Mills. " Cr Murphy said they might pull down the wages in the other Ridings as much as they liked so long as they did not interefere with Te Aroha. Tho Chairman: I see no reason why any difference shonld be made with regard' to the rate of wages paid mon for doing ordinary road work, in Te Aroha because it is a go3dfield, „, It was quite a different, matter with regard to miners and skilled labour. Consider the differ enco in the, cost of liviiisfVriow- and several ycai;s ago, when Council fixed the rate of wages at Bs. , -

,0| Brunslcill said he- considered' si>& <% >,P.vf > pearly ' : a9 good as^'Ss {uW ; years back;- w y hen /tfte cost of Jiving tiieif and now wa'& 'talcen' into consideration., Then beef \vas-«8d per pound; "now £d. There were ,lots of farmers, at "the pre-, sent time who would 1 , gladly ( give up their own work to earn Bs^a day. Or Goulds proposition "fixing the rate of wages at ;6s a day was carried, only Crs Murphy and Mills voting against it. This concluded the business. .' -