Piako County Council.

Te Aroha News, Volume XIV, Issue 2079, 19 February 1898, Page 3

Piako County Council .

The usual monthly meeting of the Council was held at Morrinsville on

Thuisday.lffth inst., when there were present—Councillors W. T. Chop me! 1 . (in the chair), Guvin, Hunt, McCaw, Farmer, King and Aiken.

Audit Fee.— The Audit Insppctor notified the Council ta tue charge for half-yearly audit of accounts would he £% - Bank The Clerk reported the overdraft at 1 the Bank to be £137 2s lOd.

'Railway Culvert, Waitoa.— ln v reply to a complaint made by the Council/ Mr Biss, District Engineer' wrote that he would visit the locality and report on the matter as soon as possible. C. Katikati Track.— Mr Buckworth wrote asking the Council to remove ■'<jthe notice boards warning travellers not to use the track, as it was dangerous. The writer considered that the track was now in fairly good order, and the boards were misleading. Council, after consideration, decided to leave the boards undisturbed, as, from reports which had reached them, the track was still dangerous in some ■'parts. . /\- ( - 7 • ' WaiorongomaiTramway.—Council at last meeting to call tended for a hew bridge and re : pairs to brake-frames on this .property, . Cr Gavin, who was appointed to deal with the. tenders, reported that the lowest tender exceeded the amount the Council had available for the purpose (which included a Government subsidy). * The Council decided to alter, the specifications so that totara could be used for foundation work, instead of kauri, as originally specified, and to call for fresh tenders. The usual arrangement whereby the Aroha Gold Mines Ltd. have the use of, and are responsible for, this tramway was renewed for another month. Gordon-Wabaroa Road Works. .—The Engineer (Mr W. H. Johnston)' sent in his final report on these works.; He reported that he had passed Thomson’s and Finnerty’s contracts for ballasting, and that the only 5 contract outstanding was; ;that of 0. ! Tonge. As Tonge evidently refuses to * complete his contract, he (the Engineer) suggested the Council. should relieve the contractor of his contract, and * pay him such an amount as they think '' he is entitled to. They could do this and finish the work at the contractor’s expense, or fine him to ' the value of, the work left undone, charging same against his overtime forfeit. The various omissions ori this job amounted to £7 12s'6d: Mr Johnston having now completed his work, forwarded 1 his account, £B9 3s 4d, which was remitted to Councillors Gavin and Herries to examine and pay- f. Council decided to fine Tonge to the extent of the value of the work left undone. It was remitted to Cr. Gavin and the Clerk to settle the various claims against Tonge for wages and goods ~ supplied. The Engineer rep >rted that in order to complete the work thoroughly, several small contracts should be left, amounting in all to about, £ 100. Council decided.... that they could not spend any more money on this road; and the Clerk should write to the .Gordon Settlement Associa ion to that effect. - Council further decided to suggest to them that they should contribute part, and approach the Assets Board (who own land in the neighbourhood); and the. Matamata Road Board for contributions. These, with a subsidy from the ... Government would pot them in possession of sufficient funds to complete the work. Advertising,— Council having invited both the Te Aroha papers to quote a price of twelve .months’ advertising in Te Aroha, at per inch, the following tenders were received :—Te News, 2sper inch; ‘Te Aroha Times,’ lOd per inch. The tender of the ‘ Te Aroha Times ’ was accepted. Waitoa and Waihou Drains.— —The Secretary of the Te Aroha Jockey Club asked the Council to have the drain running through Lovegrove’s, Dillon’s, and Gallagher’s sections, cleaned out to the mouth as it was the main drain from the race course. Mr Lovegrove also wrote complaining that the outlet for the main drain on his ... property in the same locality was not sufficiently large to carry off all the water, from, the main drain. As the drain in question ran through a number of properties the Council decided to write the Railway Department,. and all other parties interested, to contribute towards the cost of, getting the. work done. Mr J. H Flatt asked Council to put a bridge-crossing over the County 'v road drain at its junction with a bye "road on the west side of his section (sec 3 block XI ). If the Council would supply the timber, he would put up the bridge. —Counoil decided to reply that they could not see their way to make culverts from the County roads to unopened district roads. Foremen’s Reports.— Wattam and Mahood, the Council’s foremen, reported on the condition 1 of the roads in their districts, and the progress of-the -various contracts. In accordance with a suggestion from Mahood, the Coun/ oil decided to call tenders for gravelling 65 chains of recently formed road near Tirau, and instructed him to prepare specifications for the work with as estimate of the cost. Mahood was

also instructed to procure and use rimu limber for she aching several culverts. Wattam repi rt id ; that in accordance with instructions given at last meeting he had inspected McLeod’s drains at Gordon, butV aid find no obstruction in them fartl e than a few weeds. He drew C-'unc ’s attention to the fact, that th-Gordon bottlers were in the habit of dragging their firewood along the road in large logs, thereby doing considerable damage to the roads. Council decided to write the Settler’s Association requesting them to stop this practice. Tenders. The following tenders were dealt with by the Council : Contract No. 77, 82 chains formation Tirau-Matamata Road : D. Lockley, 39 9d per chain; G. Giles, 3s 6d ; T. C. Barker, 3s sd; W. Stanley, 3s 4d (accepted). v (Contract No. 78, carting 400 yards gravel at Wairakau : W. Thomson, 2s lid per yard; Robt. Mackie, 2s4d; John Hanks, Is lid; B. Montague, Is 7d (accepted). ./ Contract No. 79, 35 chains sanding at Shaftesbury ;'?John Hanks, Is 3d per chain ; Wm, Thomson, Is 2d ; B. Montague, llf-d (accepted). [ Contract No. 80, carting 400 yards sand at McCarthy’s, Waihou : D. Me Carthy, 2s 3d per yard ; John Hanks, 2s 4d ; Wm. Thomson, 2s sd; A. Bossons, Is lid; Reuben Parr, Is 6d (accepted).) Contract 81, claying 40 chains, and sanding 70 yards near W. S. Allen's, Waitoa : D McCarthy, Is 5d ; John Hanks, Is 10d ; O. McCabe and Co., Is 3£d ;A. Bossons, Is 3d; C. Crouch, Is 2d; Reuben PSrr, Is (accepted). Contract No. 82, carting 600 yards gravel near Morrinsville : W. Stanley, 3s 6dper yard ; A. J. Forrest, 3s sd; John Hanks, 3s 4d; O. McCabe and Co., 2 v ojd ; C, Crouch, 2s 5d (accepted). Accounts.— The following accounts were passed for payment : J. Orr, L 9 6s 3d; J. Read, L 6 12s; J; McLeod, Ll 5 ; S. Hamilton, Ll ; S. H. Davey, L4"ls; F. Walker, L 8 12s ; G. Wattam, Lll; J. Wattam, L 7 “Is; P Baino, Ll; E- Summers, L 6; W. S. Allen, L 6 Is 6d ; D. McCarthy, L 7 18s 9d; C. McGuire, Ll2; W. Bellamy, L 7 3s 9d ; A. J. Forrest, L 26 0s 10d ; A. Thackeray, Ll 15s; J Finnerty, Ll 6 5s ; W. Thomson, L2l 18s 3d; H.~ and J. Clifford L 4 5s 5d ; T. Barker, L 4 18s ; W. Weir, Ll 16s ; W. McLoughlin, L 4 4s; W. Armstrong, L 6 18s ; G. Mahood, Lll 10s; ‘Te Aroha Times,’ Ll 13s; Public account, Ll 13s 4d ; F. Marshall, L2 18s 4d ; petty cash,,Ls. Total, L 213 6s sd.