TARANAKI COUNTY COUNCIL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIII, Issue 91, 7 May 1901, Page 2

TARANAKI COUNTY COUNCIL.

Thr first me ting of the newly elected Ccinty Council Messrs. Okey, Warehnnf, McDonaald, Brawn, Hopson, Gray, Tato, and Lepper, mat on Monday. The cl rk, M-. C. T. Mills, announced the return made as to members el-cted, and ca'led for nominations for '.ha office of Ch-u'i rain.

Mr. McDonald, in moving that Mr. Okey be appointed Chairman, ramark'jd that the result of the recent elctions showed that Mr. Okny »vidont'y prssessed the eemfidene. of the ratepayers. The motion was sfcondeJ by Mr. Lepper and carried uraniraou9ly. On taking the chair, Mr. Okey expressed his thanks to the membsrs for the confidence reposed in him. He (trusted that the new Council would I pull well together.

The Ohairmaa then announced that the C r st business was in relation to patching up work of the late Council ii the d'rect ; on of reinstating the Inglevrol north gite. He moved i lint t v >e tolls ba C'llected at that gate. Mr. McD .n Id seconded the motion.

Mr. Lepp?r obj ctid on the ground th:t the f-m ill air unt v ceived (about £3) dil not justify tho oxp:nse of colle:ton. Mr. Hop ' n ask- J ft r information as to what (he tolls reali oil. The C a'iman sii.l ai ofl'er of £5 10a (6f mo ith hal bipn mid-, b'lt t e question was er tin amount reo v ed for that Rat», as the < n the oth >r gates. It had b ien tnk n oft' once bsfora but had to be rts'oved. Mr. Tate thought the matter was one more for the Riding members than lh >othe'S, but in vhw of the injurious <tfett on the other gate >t Inglewoed, he was in favour of continuing the collection of tol's. Tho motion was thea carried with one dissentient,

The Chairman read the existing rule b for the conduot of business, and urgrd the members to adhere thereto. He ieque*tecl that members having qustions to ask should put the same in writing, and hind them in before or e o'doc b> so that during the luncheon inWal ' ne subject matters might be lo Ite 0 " "P aQ d the queslions answered in the afternoon. Mr. Tate was appointed to sign cheques with the Chairman, and also any documents that require dexecuting. It, w as decided that the Council meet jatlla.m-

The Moa Foreman reported that the drain nor the Primitive Methol'at Church a"! loglewooJ would cost £i instead of £2 as previously estimated, that an accident hal happened to O. Ejvoits, a temporary employee, whereby he had lost the first join l ; of a little nn?»r, a n d he inquired if the man was entail, d to accident insurance benefit. The M'■u.n'ain roa d| near Mr, Tarry'*, required abaut 50 yards more metal to coropMe repairs. O. Heorickson bad been employed ploughing up pirt of the Junction ro >d at 3s per chain. The result was no * altogether sat'Vactory as when ploughing deeply the foundation W8 injured and boulders were turnel up, necessitating ex'ra expense in breaking i better eucoeis' had been I obtained by skimming the surface. lie alto reported tn »* the log'ewood South toll gote and f«nee, t>g*th>r with part o' the board, bad been destroyed, and requ : red replacing. That an error of 1100 hid been m^ 6 in cilcuUting quan

•iti of metal re<l u,re d ou the contract toNoifo'k road, but tha matter had been adjured on two othfr contracts. It was decidsd that if th <> Inglswood 'lJiwn Board con tent to Dear half tnß extra cost of the "iVrb the work be pooeeded with '? n&k c - Evette not heine on the p3roj.ar.eLt staff was not -n'itied to nick P a v or accident insurntice. That t he extra 50 yards of mo'al requirad f° r the Mountain road, n-ar Mr. Tarry' B . oe granted. In relation t0 the metal on the Jirction road E ast contract, Mr. Hopsin Fa'd the drp tn - of metal wa s insuffici nt and the quality inferior. He contended that a fc leaßfc 9 inches was required Mr. Brown un^ o '' B * 'hat tne I f.and« Office were willing to have the greyer dopth of me ta l P ut on - The D'strict La nds Overseer (Mr Murray) no'ifitd the terms of the agreement for ppend' n g -£IOSO on the Juration road met allin s* work. A further htfer was that the »ran n". of nrn y ava : ' al> ' e cou, d n °t «nffice for the 350 chain ß i! ntracted for, °nl would only nllow of an average of 80 ya'ds per chain. It was therefore that the bidty worn parts should be repaired and t he good ports omitted. In -e'ati 011 fe ° the coating wi'h screenings and rolling in of same it was presumed the) Council would pay for that work which though beneficial was not ind : sp ens ib e. Mr, Hopson doubted if they could fiid a good part to le"*™ oat and |thnu?hfc it would be bctte r to attempt le«s and do it properly. H° moved that the depth of metal should be a*, least nine inches and th a t. a copy ef tlr's reiol.ition be sent to l he Government Overseer. Mr. Brown seconded ths motion and co-s'dqrcd that the metal would no' last the winter as the roid was being mde too flat. The metaf from the Dm ham ro d was good but the carting was do : ng damage to that road thereby causing considerable hardship o i tie so'tiers who had raisrd a special loan for metalling the road.. The d.mage was estimated at £l2O a* leut •nd he urge! that the County should ' repiir the dam«gf>,

The Chairman indica'el that the best plan would be <o wait until the contract was comple'ed before repairing the daraige to the Durham road.

It wa* d cHrd on the motion of Mr. BrownJ seconded by Mr. Phillips that i a bar be'put up instead of a gate a he Inglewool South toll and that the fence lr> repaired. Tlie Omata Foreman repotted that the i-iwd require! r pairs, a d that fu./.i was very bid in places. Metal vas airhorisel for the work, and notice

•ns ord-red to be soit to the ownew in faul*.

Tho Piirihaka Forpman repor l el tha' t'-ere wei' fi .o or six miles < f had read m v'h of P.iniho Rate for which mor "of, 1 was rcqu'ivd. He also asked fo' 100 foot of timber for reputing t.h' docking of Wherekino bridge. Both •oii'i sts »■ era acceded to.

i Mr, Wa" hi?m nvA there vas <* nasty ,drop at tho Tapuhae and Tiraaru bridges and it was decided to call the Foreman's attention to it.

I The Paribaka Foreman also reported lon the condition of the OpunakeEltham Road.

Mr. Poillips said he understood the road was very bad and that there was good gravel to be had in the locality. The Chairman pointed out that there was a movement to cut off that part of the county to form a separate county so that it was hardly right to spend much on the road.

Mr. Gray advised doing what was necessiry.

The Chairman moved and Mr. Cray seconded, that 200 yards of metal be authorised in addition to the present contract.

M'. Brown protested against the m ichine metal being used owing to its largely consisting of dust. The resolution was carried. Ii was also derided that culvert pipes ba put in across the footpath at the Opunnke Post Office. A claim of 7s 6d for bury'ng a horse ifonu 1 oa the roid was referred to the Stack Department. .

The Waitara foreman was authoris 'd to procure requisite t'raber for deckp'anking of bridge?. Mv. Tate b-ought up the question o? widening the road at Fitzroy, pointing out that there was now an opportunity of acquiring the land late Hendry's, and he moved that the mat'er be refe'red to the chairman and himso'f,

Tbe Chairman explaine! the position as being that the improvement was need- d, and tint if the owners were i oas mabla the property would be acqu'ied, but if exorbitant prices wer<) asked tbe improvement would be de--1 iyed.

Mr. Or.iy profited against neg Alating iu pitche*, and he move! tint no fur hw front* gei hj) acquire i until the whole we e nader offer.

The motion was seconded by Mr, Brown,

The Chairman intimated that a deputation \vo\ill wv.it on the Council in the afternoon on t v e matter.

Mr. Lepp r said he had purchased

Hendry's prop rty, but was unwilling to sell the front a'rip a- tho price originally fixe', as th • prperty h\d gone up in value, an I he dil not fed inclined to bo alwajs ad iptiig the/wo bono publico principle He off re i to eell at £75, being an •.dvans* of £25. Several Councillors express d • n opinion that as a mein'er rf the C u • cil, Mr. L'pper shoud s t an exttnple and fix a reasonab'e prei. Subsequently, Mr. Tate iu ri'uced a deputation from the Fi'a-oy district, consisting of Mes rs. bYoto (*pok s man), Jackson, Bimso.i, White, an I Eirland, who asked that the Courcil should take step* to widen the main road and fix the lev. Is, A numb rof settlers werd building oi their sec ions adjoining the road, aid wished ti have the matter set'led. The Chairman s*id that if the roid was widened the present levtlswuild be maintained. The Council wps willing to ca ry out the work, and h d already passed a resolution dial ng svith the matter; but it was hoped owners of lands to be acquired.would s.'s. the Council. At'present fne owner wis asking a price which seme"! exo s ive. Mr. Lepper siid the price Lo a ked was a reasonable one, aid he wa-i el to kcew if the Council would take t*e bnd at that price, as the property was now under offer to a pu.clns r, -rid he could not hold the offer to th > Council open any longer. Mr, Qray was averse to tikiug action; the whole of th' 1 nis ro quired should be obtained in < ne lot. Mr, Tate thought Mr. L'pper's pieo riiould be acquired at the pive asked. If not, the a ; d of the Pu lie Works Act would have to be i vok .1, and ttois would be an expensive tro cefs.

Mr. Phil'ips agreed that, t : e W j>er the matter was held over the nvwwould have to bs p>id for the Im <! when'.he widening woik was ram-it out:.

No action was taken. Mr. Phillips asked if anything wag being done in connection with the evasion <f tola. He not'ced >lmt por sons were still evading at one of the ga^es.

The Chairman said arm •lution had been passed to sue a certain paity; but owing to the electio s the dark had been tw busy to attend to the nutter.

Mr. Lepper though*; that until it was 'seen whether the Magis'nte would give a verdict on the caso it would u'eli s? to spend the ratf>pavrrA' money on summonses. He suggested the resolution should be rescinded.

The Chairman point* d out that the

• Council had been fleeted to cany out I an expressed de'erminitioa to keop , tol'gate-i on until the County finance* were in a settled condition. Mr. McDona'd thought tha Council should carry out its resolution. If , persacs evaded tha tolls tbty hhould be treated accordingly. Mr. Gi ay suggested a conference between mtmbets of ih > Council aiH thofe who had a grievance against tolls. Ttie Chiirman siid it was no', for the Council to suggest a conferome. At present it must ddal wi'h these pe plus law breaker?/ Mr. Tate agreed with the Chiirman that the Council was dieted ti miintiin tell g'tes until thi finances w. re in a belt r position. Those who wer.the tolls were undoubt dly breaking the law, and the Council should do its duty. The matter then dropped. A circular from the Smthland County Council, containing suggrstel imondments in the Lo:al A'ltiiiritis Bill, was h Id over. Dr. Good, Waitira, reported two ■ases of diptheiia at Leppenon. A letter from Mr. Fishe', nativ reservos agon 1 , in re'erence to metal taken from rei-rve?, was lof-rred to the coatr.icSor. A provisi >t al licence, under th« p o visions of Slaughtering and Inspection Act, 1900, was granf(d to tSc Inglewood Btcn FdC'ory C mpany. It was docidrd to iequ st iln H imama toll gate ke p r to pay np irr ms of rent. j C Tipp will t'o reij'ies'cd to pxplai 'lis action in taking grav 1 from the C mnty pit a v > *h» Ch <in lni t<>o. Tho r.quist of the To»n School ' Ojinmitttie to put a drain in ri\ ] ei' trough the Wes 1 Infant School ground was ref r.ol tof-e F r^mir. Tho tnders of H. K'.ndall for carting metal in the Omata Riding were

accepted, as follows : Contract N< 8d per yard ; Nob. 2 and 3, B£d, 9s 6d per day for team and man blinding. W. Fortnnn's tender contract No. 4, at 8d and 10s ret itively, w»s nho accepted. Dog collectors for the various I Districts in the County were appoit Mr. Tate gave notice to mow next meeting, That a new stone-to ling p'ant be obtained.

Sever. 1 other routine matters 1 iog been considered, the Council journed. .