TARANAKI COUNTY COUNCIL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIII, Issue 204, 3 September 1901, Page 2

TARANAKI COUNTY COUNCIL.

The monthly meeting of the T*ra« naki County Council wag held on won'day. Present: Messrs Okey (Chairman) Wttr;ham, McDonad, Brown, Fop ton, Phillips, Gray, Tate, at.d L'epper.; , • , , y Of. Gray asked if the order; of the' Council to sue for a'l oiltatandinjj ion account* h-id horn carried out. The C'erk said several of those in arrears had been to him, and expressed their willingness to pay, but it was advisible to have the whole of tbeaocounts correctly made out, and he had been unable to obtain Mr. Morris'book.

Cr. Qtdf wisb'Sd dome fleifnfytf tnktoti iaken, and 110 one allowed to §i through without paving. He tm» tended that if Mr. MoCullum was allowod (o go' through without piying created dissatisfaction with others'. , Cr. order of the Council not being ca&lra Cr. Gray moved that Mr, sureti<-8 b°i ca'|ed upon to give, up tIM toll bo ik and to j>iy up arrears. , The Chairman raportad mittee appd'nted fdr that fmrpowj has. accepted Mr. Mace's tender of Ml ftof mnptl] for the Omata crate, and a tell* der of 417 per month Heimama m.% approved sureties being obtained in each case.

In reply to Or. Phillip?, thecb*ira»a said stone was s ill being removed from the Waiwakaiho, and that an aotum against the contractors wm pending in the Supreme Court. The C erk repsrted that there «at a diecrepincy as to the amount of tinber delivered by the Swh and Door Compiim On the mo* Jon of Or. Gray, it was df tided thot tbe Corftpafty be asked to send a representative ttf mfet fbt county foreman, and measure up ber delivered.

The Moa foreman reported on the necessity of several culverts in the rid* ing, and he suggested concrete.

Or. McDonald moved that new culverts ba put in under the supervision of the foreman or bridge carpenter. Or. Brown was in favour of baring the work done by contract instead of fagf i&f fabonf: Tie'OfctfriW-.tf printed rtrttfeatlbi Council h d found from eipeftett* that febis kind of work wig better dotrti the supervision of the foreman. The foremm further repirtod oa tbo work done during the month. He askedfor 30 of stone for repaira at Tariki. - Agreed to. With reference tn the payment of ll per day extra to J. Bonis, the foreman tiplained bow this arose. The Ohairman stated that be (ootid on a recent visit along the Janctionroad that Ennis was putting down metal without picking up the rood, and that; he hid told Kennedy not to further employ the man, who waa not one of the Onurcil's hands, but WM [employed by Kennedy. A l'<t f er of explanation was rtad from Eonis, in which he stited that on the occasion in question he mi trying |to explain co the chairman how matters wnro, but the latter wai in A heic of temper and would no* listen. Or. Phillips considered the chairman was quite right in his aotion. The si me disgraceful atate of affairs mi going on elsewhere. Or. Gray siid he understood that fn compliance with the foreman's request an extra, man waa employed by him to spread metal and that the matter referral baok to the foreman waa as to the time spent during a month of 23 wetdiys. He moved that the ahairman's action in having Bnnis diacharged be confirmed. The Ohairman mentioned that atoM up to 4ewt was being brought out by tbe'eon'raetors to be cracked, and ha oonsideied tb*t it was unreasonable to expect old men to crack such larga sto-e. Or. Lepper considered the time had arrived to dispense with Mr. Kennedy'* services Or. Hopsfa said he hid heard that there w«s some little difference between Or. Lepper and Kennedy, but th-re was nothing agrinst Kennedy. He maintained that Kennedy waa a very good foreman. Or. Lepper protested against the ineiouaMon that there wai anything personal between himself and the foreman and he dupreoited such an element being introduced in f o the discussion. Or. B-own w«s of opinion that the Moa Riding with 40 miles of road to look after was too large for one man to look after. Or. Tate took the s*me view and hj« considered that the woik in that riding had not be«n executed in the bum good way that was the case in other ridings. He mentioned especially the excellent work dma by the Waitara foreman (Mr. Holme*).

, Or. Brown pointed out (he large Amount of bridge repairing that the Mo* foreman had to do as compared with the Waitara foreman and this wrrk prevented his doing juitiee to the roid work. The mo'ion to confirm the chairman's action in having Eonis dismissed wa* confirmed.

The Waitora foreman reported that some new planks were tequired for the Waiw&kaiho bridge. Tho Omita foreman suggested calling IV ter d»rs for 400 yards of stone. He also reported that repairs were required to r.he Tipuha* bridge. The Chairman suggested taking no action c.s to tenders' f<r stone until matters wele settled with the Harbour Bond.

Authority was given for the execution of tepairs f o tlie Tapuhne bridge. It: was decided ti a* riotica be given to Mei-srs Gye nr d Billing to cue gorse on Hioir frontages. The P.uihnka foreimn reported ha hi"! a-cepttd Mr. Julian's tender of £0 for shining tho crusher to Warea. Or. Gray drew attention to the number of rntn who ware employed on the cru=hor, nnd ho drew attention to the small amouut of work done as comlured with tho VVaitura Rding. He .suggested the foreman's attention sh 'iild b» called to the matter. Tho Chairman pointed out that the work was of a special nature. Or. 'Gray moved tlmt the foreman bo requested so do with a less number of hands —Oarriod. J. O-fddy, in charge of the Junctionroad East mntnlling, reported that the grant was now absorbed. Or. Ilop'ou stated that in parts black sand hid bnon used for blinding mot a], inKteid of screenings. He mentioned t hut he had sent a petition for signature by the settlers at Tarata in support of the chairman's action as to the ziy-i'g, and tho petition bad been signed by G'J eot.tleri. He had also wrifHii t? Messrs Synjes and McGuiret M 'sII.TI., <?n tho matter. Mr. J. W. Wosldridgi wrote culling attention to the approach to the Honl road beyond Stony river, and the necesjeity for a culvert. I Or. Gray explained the position of tho ditch and urged that culvert pipe*

be supplied. On the motion of Cr. McDonald it was decided to call the foreman's attention to the matter. TKe Valti t 0 neral wrote acknowledging receipt of th£ Council's offer of One-fourth of charges for valuation. Xhe Ctaitminstated that the Di-tric v . Valuer would w.it on the Ccu ;ci> in ' the afternoon, when probably a settlement would be arrive J »t. > secretary of the Etrbour Board wrote stating the fesohrtioo passed relative to the supply of stoue in cb'snection with taking over the Breftwater road. Cr Gray considered that it was the duty of the Council to accep* the Board's terms, rather than to continue to inflict jpain on the travelling public, fie' tfrged that the present Council fchould take what It cottld get, and leave the feet to ha Arranged by succeeding t&rancib. 6r Tate pointed out that t&er6 was ajt present hardly any s'one available. He could only see one way out of the difficulty," and that was for the Boird to 3tdi* its pride for delivery of the stone, and if bdth bodies' agrf u d as to the price, there would be no frifiti6& in future. The Cbairran snggestod an offer being,, iqade to the Board of 2s'a yard for SvW yards, delivered At the Brtakwatet. , Cr Phillips moved that the Oormdl take over the road on the Board agreeing to deliver 5000 yards of suitable ■tone at the root it the Breakwater, at ( a cost not exceeding 2s per yard. Any . cost of making over the road to be j borne by the Board.—Catried. The attention of the foreman is t > be called to raking in ruts in newly medalled road near the Oaonui factory. Mr. S. Hill, representing the Valuer-Qenera], waited on the Council In reference to valuation ch irges, The offer made by the Council could not be entertained. The charges for revision of valuations amounted to .£149 Is. ' The Department would now offer to 1 accept £IOO in payment of the account, i Cr. Gray moved the acceptanca of < this offer. Seconded by Cr. Lepper, and carried. 1 An account from the Postal Depart- 1 meet for aobsidy for telephone bureau WM referred bank. [ The Native Reserves Agent notified - that do more metal would be allowed I to be taken from reserve*, owing to < difficulty in getting particulars *>f the metal Mean, to that the money accruing aiy be divided among the natives. Cr. Gray moved that the foreman be instructed to report amount of metal taken and the o»nere of the pits. Baeoodad by Cr. Phillip*, and carried. Mr. MeGuire, wrote for- ( warding copy of a reply from the Min- j Jeter for Land*, stating that a sum of j .£1550, asked for by the Council for the Junction-road, wou'd be considered , when the estimates were prepared. , A similar letter was received from Mr. Symrs, M.H.R. Cr. Hopron brought up his notice of motion to have a competent overseer appointed to take charge of all works in the County. At present the foremen in the varioaa riding did not aeem to have any responsibility, and there was no system of management. Cr. Gray thought the app»intm«nt of an additional foreman in the Mot and Bmhaka ridings would meet the 1 case. Past experience had not shown ft general overseer to be a success. Cr. Tate agreed, and moved an 1 amendment tut the services of an , engine® be obtained when required to ' draw up specifications for new works, and that applications be etlled for an additional foreman in each of the Moa •nd Parihaka ridings.—Seconded by Cr. Phillips. Or. Brown supported the requirement of a competent overseer, and seconded Cr. Tail's motion. Cr. McDonald agreed with On. Tait and Gray. Or. Tate's amendment was then put and carried. Cr. Brown drew attention to the f-ict that the Durham-road had been damaged by County contractor, and he asked that some metal be voted to make the damage good.—A sum of JEIO was voted to cover the cost. Cr. Gray referred to a request by Mr. Murphy, cf Warra, for mrticuh's of some ra»es due by him.—The matter was referred to the clerk, with power to deal with it. The Council then went into consideration of several oflers received of stonebreaking machines. On the motion of Cr. McDonald, Ore. Tate, B'own and the Chairman were appointed a committee to inquire and obtain information n stone crushas, and to report at next meeting. Accounts were passeJ, and the meeting adjonrnnd.