Piako County Council

Te Aroha News, Volume XVI, Issue 22214, 17 March 1900, Page 2

Piako County Council

The monthly meeting of the Council was held at Morrinsville on. Friday, when there were- present Crs Chepmeil (chairmen), Cox,. Harrison,. MeOaw, Hii g, Farnrer, Jackson, Brady, Shaftesbury Bridge.:—Council decided to request the Engineer (Mr Metcalfe) to instruct the contractor to put in a culvert (21 inch.pipes) through the east hank, of the river, at the bridge ombankmoat. Foreman. Wat tank was authorised to continue to act as Inspector of Work,, till further ordered. Contract No. 11 (Thomson’s Track). —P. Collins, who w-as the successful tenderer fer this .work, wrote asking for a refund of his deposit, as he had tendered for the job under the iuipression that it was contract No. 12, a contract in- the same locality. Through not having the specifications beside him, he had put the wrong number on his tender.. The Council being; fled that a mistake had occurred, decided to refund the deposit.. Thistles on Hoad.—A. paragraph having appeared iu .print urging the Council to instruct that Canadian thistles on the Kar.ipiro Huad should be cut down, Ci\ Rueklar.cb reported that it would be useless to do so„ Past experience had showu that it was. impossible to eradicate them, and evert if they were cut down on the road there was any quantity growing inside the fences on. settlers’ lands. Drain at Gordon,— Mr Ji D. Brooks wrote asking the Council to clean out the drain opposite his section at Gordon, and stating that he would pay half the cost; The ■Council deckled to do the work on that understanding.

Brain, at. W.aitoa.—Mr John Borrie wrote stating that lie proposed.cleaning and deeponiDg, 'Waiwera Creek from the railway to the Cwun'y outfall, andasked the Council to contribute £.l towards the cost. The Council decided that as the proposed work was of no benefit to the County they were not justified in spending, the money* and the request was accordingly declined. Trucks.—The engineer of the Ohinemuri County Council wrote asking if the Council -would hire 12. or 15/tram trucks for about three months, ns that, body was constructing a road across the Waitoa swamp. As. there were only some three or. four trucks, the Council decided; it was not worth while doing any thing, in the.matter, Cambridge Bridge. —The AYnipa County Council forwarded, a., request for paj’mont of £2O 12s Id, being 15 por ceut. on the total cost of the maintenance of the bridge till 31st December, 1899. A cheque was passed for the amount.. Goldfields Revenue.—The Warden ’s office, Thames, forwarded £l 1« 81, being.the revenue from this source for the period, ending December. 30, 1899. Pokaiwhena Bridge :: CnmbridgeWaotu Road. Foreman Mahood reported that this bridge was in a dangerous condition.for. heavy traffic,, tlie sills having rotted away and some of tho-piles gone. He was accordingly instructed to put up a notice warning the public, that the bridge was-was unsafe for heavy' traffic. Gravelling Ta itaoroa Hills.—Foreman Mahood was instructed to put on a.couple of extra drays and have this work done before the wet weather sets

Thompson’s Track. —Foreman Wattain reported that after completion of existing contracts there would be an unexpended balance of about £6 from the Government grant, given for repairs. He suggested that this money’ bo spent' in effecting some minor repairs to the track at places above the present jobs. Council agreed to this. Thames - Waikato Hoad.—Wattam reportod that he had had a piece- of, this- road—from railway crossing to Brennan’s corner— ploughed and levelled! and- reoommended that it now wanted- sanding. As it was an import ant piece of road, it should bo attended to at once.—Council-authorised tho carrying out of this work. Traction. Engine Traffic. —Wattam reported lliat iu going from To Aroha to Wtiihou* the Assets Beard’s .engine had done considerable damage to somo of the swampy parts o£the road, lie considered that 1£ miles of. the road would require on an average four y-ards of sand per chaiD. He estimated the cos' - - of putting the road in order at £45 to £SO, £25 worth of dnmago being directly, attributable to tho engine.—Tho Chairman and Crs Farmer and McGaw agreed to-inspect the road with a. view to a possible claim for share'- of repairs being: made on the As-ets Board'; Contracts No.- M. and 15..-—As those contr cts had not been started; tlie Clerk was i;istructed to.rnfoi-m tho contractor that the time penalty was now running. Tramway’.—The following report was presented by the* Clerk on the financial condition of this property, based on-a ten month’s record..

Revenue. From Mr Hardy for haulage,. LI 2-1 8s ;: from, others, L3O l-6s Qd ; total, Llosr 4s Gdl. Expenditure’ LlB9 148 9d-; showing, a deficiency’ of L 34 lOs 3d for the periodAguinst this,, however, the gold l duty received, has been L 25 13s 9d„ and. Goldfield’s Revenue L 57 5s 2d,, amounting, in all to LB2 15s l.ld, which,, af-er deducting an expenditure on: goldfield: tracks of LlO 13s Gd; leav> s-a not credit balance from this-source-of. L 7.2 5s 5d..

Mi- Hardy forwarded a note of the gold recovered by him at Wai O’ongpmai dining the same p -riod, and' as there was a serious discrep .my between, his total, and the money re-

ceived from the Treasury, the Clerk was instructed to write the Department enquiring the cause.. As: regards Mr Hardy’s complaint that the charge for haulage (3s 2d per truck) was excessive,, the Council decided that the number of trucks run for him per week would not justify any -reduction of charges at present.. Accounts.—The following accounts were passed, for payment:: W.. Fi Peperill L 8 1-8 s ; G..Mahood £ll 10s; L. Callaghan. 8s; R Stembridge L 4. os;. E. Barrett L 3 12s; A Stanley L 6 ;• R Craig L 7 4s ; E Parr Lo'; J, Read L 6 12s ;W Brumby 24s ; SH Davey L 3 ;• Fbrsman L 3 18*; McLeod and. Walker L 25 ; J O Brooks 2os ; J Orr "L 42 1-Os 9d ;• O- McCabe L 57. 3s; G. Watt am Ll 1 ; F Walker L2 ;. S Hamilton. Llo ; 3? Mordarty L 25 ; James Bros LiOO;- Waipa County Council L2O 12s Id; P. Gilchrist L 37. 10s ; Waikato Argus L 4 3s ;. Te Aeoua News L 4. lOs ;. Molndoe and Hill L2 l : 2s 6d; C C Buckland L 3 ; J McCaw L 4;. W C'Ring L2 ; : M Harrison L 4 12s; H F Cox Lo; J Brady LA; J Jackson L 3 15s ;. A J Farmer Lo ; W P Chepraell L2 12s ; D McWallace 10s ; S L Bygrave Jl4s ; A Layboum 16s 9d; Tramway wages Ll 64s ;.R. Williamson LltlGs 9d..