PIAKO COUNTY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING, Re the County Road within Te Aroha Town District.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 431, 25 December 1889, Page 2

PIAKO COUNTY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING, Re the County Road within Te Aroha Town District.

A special meeting of the above Council was held at the Council offices, Cambridge, on Saturday last, at 11 am.; for the purpose of considering a proposal to be made by Cr Murphy re the main road within the Town District. Present: Crs W. P. Chepmell (chairman), N. 1. Hunt, J. Horrell, E W. Hanmer, C, M. Brnnskill, W. L. C. Williams, D. Murphy, and J. Mills. In accordance with notice given at last monthly meeting Cr Murphy moved •' That this Council do now byspecial order, rescind the special order made on April 12th, 1888, and confirmed on May 12th, 1888 (whereby, in accordance with piovisions of Section 20 of the Public Works Act, 1882, Amendment Act, 1887, that portion of the County road from Ohinemuri^ County boundary going towards. Waiorongomai, which lies within the Town District of Te Aiohn, shnl' be placed under the control of the Te Aroha Town Board ; and directing that Iheoost of constructing and maintaining such road shall be borne by Te Aroha Town Board) ; ami that this .special order come into force on a dtiy to be now fixed by the Council," seconded by Cr Mills. The proposer and seconder spoke briefly in support of the proposition, nnd a ma-joiity of the Council against it. The Chairman having put the resolution, only three member-* voted in favour of it, viz.: Crs ll.nmer, Murphy and Mills; as it was plainly seen the resolution could not be earned Cr Murphy at this stage (before the i; noes " had been recorded, asked permission to withdraw himotion, and this having been acoonled, promptly withdrew it. Some of the Crs who expressed themselves ,as opposed to the moiion, pointed on. that all the funds had been allocated for the current financial year ; and if the question wa-< to be considered at ull, the proper time would be before the general allocation of estimated receipts for the ensuing financial yejir. This concluded the business of the special meeting.

ORDINARY MEETING!-. The ordinary monthly meeting of the Council then commenced; the same Coun"Mors being present, "nutes of the annual meeting and also Cl - " • meeting, held on Nov. 27th, were I m ' ( >n firmed. read and u SnC ° was next read and dealfc .Oorresponu ~,. oire Ht q . ' W1 n'rf 1W At ' Co " AucW A stat: It, n r T PP k °* ucation from the Prom L. D. Nathan anu * cc £ c-o 0 to the JF-iIVF ? t0 a c r mUu a g° od roa <* Clerk, that tney would gitararu \ e Lichif they formed and' made . * o t^e 01, Oxford to OkoEoire, and ©■ to * t^ from \roba road.;, as it would be k field-To * Oioroire property, hol'dlerß. 'a. interest of u- ""takd: tftat the guarantee- p*oletter further t. on tha presumptiozx : at mised was based im havfng. the work there would be no dt. proceeded with. -« of the Chair.Kesolved on the tnotiou , q - That Mr man, seconded by Cr Willian. neff canNathan bb informed that the Co.i. «, f cr not complete the necessary form. „ r _ obtaining the proposed loan under a c. tain length of time, and asking him if his promised guarantee of £200 would hold good, provided all reasonable expedition was used by the Council in the matter. Obstruction to Koad : From Wm. MacGregor Hay, solicitor, as follows :—: — In answer to your letter of 4th December, I beg to say that I am of opinion that as Mr Murray no doubt erected the fence under the boua fide impressiou that he was erecting the same on his boundary, it will not be possible to secure a conviction under Section 100, Public Works Act, 1882, for " wilfully " encroaching on the road. The proper course appenrs to be for the Council to inform Mr Murray that the fence erected by him is on the roadway, and demand that he will remove the obstruction within a certain period. If Mr Murray fails to so remove the fence then he will be liable to tin penalties under the Section montioned, and the Council can remove the fence and recover the costs of bo doing from Mr Murray. Re&olved, on the motion of the Chairman, seconded by Cr Hanmer, That Mr W. S. Allen, the present owner of the property which encroaches on the public road, be informed that the portion of the fence referred to and some young trees are upon the public road, giving him leave to remove same, nn<l that ho be allowed reasonable time to do so in order that the trees may be removed at the fitting season. Flax on the Waihou Chain Reserve : From Robt. P. CHbbona, of the Junction Saw Mills, Paeroa, who some time back purchased the sole right to cut flax on the chain reserve alonpf the Waihou river bank within the County, requesting Council to grant him permission to sell or exchange some of the ilax leased from Council on the chain reserve above Te Aroha ; and stating his reason for making this lequest was that he was freighting flax down river a distance of 40 or 50 miles whilst others weie freighting it up stream, so that by g? aciously granting his reque «*• Council would save him some expense without it being any loss whatever to the Council. Kei-olved that the application be £>idnt,ed. 'Gallagher's Punt on Waihou Ejver ai'Te Aroha: Vrom Robt, P. Gibbons,askin» Council to request Mr Edw. Gallagher, of Te Aioßa> to reuioyo his punt q, little out of ihe oaaqner

above the bri Ige, as the master of the writer's steam launch informed him it was almost impossible to come clown the river without running foul of this punt; and is afraid damage would be done both to the steamer and punt —if it was nofc shifted. 1 Also stating Gallagher's punt rope was too tight, so tight in fact that his barge nearly rested 'on it once in coming over. ' '.'^Resolved.:* That the Engineer f or To, Aroha.i Riding be instructed to tnnke the necessary enquiries us to whether Mr Gjbbon3' barge- is likely- to cause injury to the bridges O r banks, nnd to report at the noxt.meeting of Council, nnd also to report at Bame time as to the position occupied by Gallagher's punt in the river. - Proposed Road Deviation near Gordon Settlement : (Through Education Reserve, Sectiop 7A Block XI, Wairere Survey District) From Geo . Gapes, Waiorongomai, as follows :—: — Some four or five months ago I wrote you re deviating and making the upper portion of the Gordon Settlement road to connect the two sections of the Te Aroha-Lichfield main road when, on that occasion your Council agreed to do the work as soon a* Mr Sandea had reported as to his Section in the Matamata Biding. I believe he has by this time been over there and Bhould be able to inform the Council as to whether he can deviate hia portion to meet the pint arranged by Mr Pavitt at this end. I am new about to pufc up a fence alone my boundary, which will cut off the only crossing on the Wairere creek. I have delayed as long as I possibly oould, the erection of tnu fence to allcw the public the right of crossing, but I cannot wait longer, 10 I hope you will see your way clear at once to proceed with this work, or if it is not to be done where arranged, make the road passable through mine and the upper section, as when the fence is up it will be impossible to get through anywhere. I am sure if the deviation is undertaken at once it will be done cheaper than if you wait another month. Hoping you will, etc. Resolved that the Engineer be instructed to inspect and report upon the desirability of making the deviation proposed . ■ Engineer's Report : Roads in Matamata Riding x From T. G. Sandes, Engineer, reporting as follows :— '] hhea * c altered the LichfieidTe Aroha road, as instructed, from the Man<?anui creek crossing to the Wairere, and tenders will be called for the construction of the same by the Matamata Road Boar J. I would call atten* *4 on to the fact that when the Matamata Koad Board have completed theu' work, including the erection of a 30 feet bridge over the Wairere, the balance of the road from tae creek to join the Gordon Settlement will not be passable, there being about 14 or 15 chains of heavy siding require'!, and a small swamp to cross near tiie bridge. Indeed, supposing the bridge approaches complete on both sides, the roa<! would nob be passage even for horsemen until the swamp waa made good. Also reporting on roads in Patetere Riding, on various road deviations, etc.. ate. lleport received. The Engineer was instructed to prepare specifications, and call for tendon for repairing the bridge at Brookside, Patetere Hiding. Several alterations with respect to names on the vahntion roll were authorised, no objections to the proposed alterations having bee-i received Hospital nnd CharitHbJa Aid Board • From the Str-taiy of tke Waiknto Hospital an<4 Charitable Aid Board, requesting that the sum of £215, bil.mce of '•ontrilmtion due by Council to the Board for the current financial yeas-, be paid Resolved that £100 on account of this claim bo paid forthwith. The Chairman repor-ted having sold the old timber on the Thames- VVaikato road to Mr Pavitt. Resolve 1 that the Chairman's action be confirmed. Dog Registration Fees': Resolved that the registration fees for dogs for the ensuing year be as follows : Sheep dogs, 2s 6d each ; all other breeds, 7a 6d each. From F. D. Rich, making application to Council to either make or contribute to the making of a road from the Okeroire Hotel to join the Te Aroho-Lichfield road, and stating if necessary he would be prepared to contribute towards cost. Resident Engineer : In accordance with notice given by him at the previous monthly meeting : Cr Branskill moved : That a resident Engineer, at a fixed salary to include all travelling expenses, be appointed to do all the engineering work mired by Council, and that tenders be * &>* the position j seconded by Cr : Eimer hle discUBBion ensued with ree- | Coarifenu fion ; A statement O f the Ipecttottifenot the En S lnee . r ! *>7 the 'amounts paid to * yea ? e , ndm S ?? e Pj Council for the- tin*. lftd ' ■ J?}™*'^ 1 tember 30th last wa* *. nOU "* \% £s £? tiorvey thus paid- away to" »u ' * o *(! |via\, T. G. Sandes;. *«.. , . p;; ilt »48 2d). hei »f Cr Brin"* 8 '^ 1 ' cx PreSBedP reS8 ed himßel£ as I strongly in f*V* ltr °f} ] } & P^P 0^ 1 ' ****- grounds that it *^»\ d be more advahfa- . geous to the Coun/'K" 1 mjnV ways.The Chairman said M& d >d not see the matter at all in the same Herht: To him it was very doubtful indeed if tlib Council would be acting judiciously by altering the existing arrangements with respect' to Engineers, and he should certainly vole against the proposition . The expenditure in Patetere Riding dcring the past year or so was exceptionally heavy,- and in the future the Engineer's fees were likely to average considerably less instead of more than for the past three years, when a great deal of loan money had been expended making new roads. Cr Hunt said : It would be very difficult to fix what the salary for a resident A nginei-r should bp, i£ it were decided to appoint one ; and he agreed with the Chair man — the Engineer's expenses during 1 the past three years were in excess of what they were likely to bo in the future. On being put to the Council the following voted for the motion : — Crs Hanmer, Biunskill, Murphy and Mills ; against, the Chairman, Crs Hunt and Ilorrell. (Cr Williams was absent at the time the votp Was taiien, but came in directly afterwards.) The Chairman declare! the resnlutkn carried. On the motion of Cr Brunekill, seconded by Cr Williams, it was resolved that the Council go into Committee for the purpose of: discussing and fixing salary to be paid to the resident Engines r. After being in Committee for about half-an-hour the meeting was again declared open, and the Chairman "moved : That the leso'lution moved by Cr Bninskill, seconded by Cr Hanmer, and carried, with lespect to the appointment of a resident engineer, he revoked ; seconded by Ci" Williams, and cunriod unanimously, ' Mode q£ Publication of B.ihinoe -Sheet ; lEi-qih His Expediency the Governor, stat>

ing that whereas it had bo.en mad) lo appear to hun that tlie publication of: Mm annual balance sheet of the Pialcb Coun-cil,-in the manner provided by law is unnecessarily expensive^' tho powers vested in him by "/Che Local' Bodies Audit Act, 1888," he has prescribed tnat if H notice be published in a newspiperlcirculatine; in the County r stating that the;balance>boH<, would be open "'for inspection at the oCioo v oi the Council during Sspecified!bours no-l fof'a specified .period—^not being less th»u thirty, days— ftie BalanoSTShSet would ho deemed to have been duly published.— Received. Balance Sheet;: From the Audit Ofileo returning the half-yearly balance-she I, -is correct for the time being, but not corfified o to_in s the usual^mannevwhen passed ,hy the Auditor ; the~reasQa for adopting this unusual course being given in' an acroin-' panying letter, re'qnesting'that the Balanoe-T sheet be drawn up in a different manner, that Sections 145 and 146 of the Counties" Act were practically unworkable, and should be discouraged, etc., etc., etc. ; A long discussion took place with respect to this letter and other correspondence re the way in which the balance-sheet had been drawn up. The Chairman referred to a circular issued by the Department giving instructions with respect thereto, which he stated greatly differ ad frpm thoso now issued ■; and said he did not see that Clauses 345— 164 of the Counties Act were unworkable, they had not found them unworkub'o m that Council ; and to him it appeared i strange thing for the Audit Department lo discourage the carrying out of the lav,- aa it stands. The Council generally disapproved 06 the request being made to re-write the balance-sheet on a different system when it was acknowledged to be correct. < It was ultimately resolved on the motio a of Cr Hanmer : That if the Chairman and Clerk were satisfied that the Balance-sheet had been prepared in accordance with low, that any attempt made on the part of tlie Audit Department to have the Balancesheet reconstructed (so as to be not in accordance with law) be resisted. Comment whb made on the Balance-sheet having been returned from the Audit Officewith one corner cut off, the assumption being that it had been passed as correct and stamped accordingly, and then pressed on to some other officials, the stamped portion cut off (or, as Cr Hanmer f.-'oe-teously remarked the Balance-sheet ear marked), and the request uaade to have it re-written.

Ueo. Walker junr, Cambridge* raurun^a Eond 0 IS 0 0. McOube, Te Arohu-Lichfield R ™<* 6 0 0 Do. Thames-Waikato Road 8 15 0 R. Michael, Te Aroha-Lichfield Road 3 18 0 Do., Roads, Wainrongomai, 018 0 S. H. Davey, Te Aroha-Lichfield T Koild > 310 0 H. Ro-s, Thames- Waikato Road, 0 18 0 M. Phelan, „ „ ... 25 0 Q Oreo.Jecklin, Cambridge Oxford Koad, 14 0 Geo. A'alker, Canibridge-Tan-ninga load (Walker's DeviationConti act, 1 st progress w P f| y'»ent) 50 0 0 1. Or. fcJandes, Engineer's ConiT ™j, Bs ion, 24 12 0 das. Mills, Travelling Expenses, attending (wo meetings @ 29s each meeting ... 218 0 D. Murphy, Do, Do., 218 0 G. M. Brunskill, 3 meetings© 10/6 1 11 6 CTunk, Salary and Commission, 18 10 9 T, Wells, Rent of Office, 3 15 0 F. Rose, Rent of Store, 10 0 Waikato Hospital and Charitable Aid Board, on account 100 0 0 Total £256 6 3

Accounts : The following 1 accounts wore passed for payment :— £ 8 . J