TARANAKI COUNTY COUNCIL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIII, Issue 281, 28 November 1901, Page 2

TARANAKI COUNTY COUNCIL.

ANNUAL MKETING. The annual meeting of the County Council was held on Wednesday. Present; : Mr. Okey (chairman), Org. Wareham, M;Dowld, H jpsoo, Gray, Tate, Ij I'per and Brown. Tib Ohairann tesit] his annual repor , whin I '' w s 'is fi Iluws : In repov iug on this, the c!os3 of my fifth year's ti rra us c'oairmttn of the County, I ; sh to draw brief nttention toft few >.f the principal matters that i may be of interest to the members of ' tiin Oou'cil.

Valuations.—The present valuation figure of the County stand as follows : Riding Cipital value Rateable value. £ £ Moa 650,584 644,736 Waitara 432,171 407,554 Omata . 385,036 371,461 Parihaka 516,541 436,217 Total £1,984,332 £1,859,968 The 1898 assessment shows the following figure?: £ £ Moa 487,769 484,116 Waitara 307,045 284,397 Ooatn 312,690 298,845 Pa'ihika 404,522 304.457 Total £1,512,026 £1,371,815 being an iactease of £407,306 in the capital value, and an increase of £488,153 in the rateable value. Tee r-itiS payable in the different ridings for the turrent year are as Mows:—Moa, £2016 Is 3d; Waitari, £1278 18s 3d; Omata, £ll6O 6s lOd ; Parihaka, £1363 14s Bd. Total, £5819 Is Od. Allocations.—The wholo of the ridings have overdrawn tho allocations made for this year; some to a very great extent, as will be seen from the following table:

SPENT. at 2J> * £ 3- a £ -a 2 «■ ff • ffl !* Sff-a' m a to .a. a a £££ £ £ £ Moa 1791 1498 534 223 316 781 Waitara 1575 746 16 170 692 49 Omata 861 651 80 12S 450 444 Parih-ika 1089 1620 52 256 436 1275 Total £2649 There will, however, be a credit to enter up on acccunt of the increased valuation p-oducing more rates than estimated when the allocations were made, which will somewhat improve tbe position. Piant.—A new taction engine has been added to the Council's plant, and ordor has been given for a scarifier and new crusher, both of which may be expected to arrive shortly from the makers. It will be necessary for the Council to consider what work the new plant will be put to do when it arrives. Works.—The Council has alr«ady spent over £SOOO this year on roads I and bridges irrespective of Government I grants, and has considerable liabilities | yet to mett for work in hand. Tho Government grant of £1250 to--1 wards repair of the Junction-road, east of Inglowood, has been spent, together with a fairly large sum of county funds, and it is necessary that a further substantial sum should be voted by tbe Government for the work as is is impossible for the ceunty to repair the remainiag portion of this piece of road without assistance. Leading as i". does to the back country the Junction-ro'.d is of preat importance, and settlers both on the rind and those beyond Tarata should agitate for more Govet nmentasbis'anc?, otherwise access to the back country will be difficult in the winter months.

During the year steps have been taken to widen the toad between .New Plymouth and Fitzroy. Arrangements have been made for the purchase of required land, and the riding will mow have to face the cost of making th« road. The completion of this will be a good piece of necessary work on account of the excessive traffic which with the road in its present state is to) cramped for convenience to the travelling public. It is well for the Council to meet the ratepayers in the suburbs of New Plymouth in a fair spirit, as the valuations near town have very much increased on account of the improvements going on, and I consider it will pay the Council to retain them as county ratepayers, which can be done by providing good road accommodation. The Harbourroad has been taken over by the county, and the matter of putting the road in repair will be attended to this sevon.

General.—The passing into law of the Egmont County Bill means that the bulk of the Parihaka riding will be separated from tha Taranaki couuty, and tho balance of the riding will require adjusting, probably by adding it cu to the Omafca riding. While dealing with the Parihaka riding it will be eem, on referenda to the financial state of ridings, that Parihaka is overdrawn to the extent of £1275, which ia accounted for by the heavy expenditure on road work during the hst two yotrs. In 1899 contracts for \ 8035 yards ot' gravel and stoue were [supplied, and in last year's contracts 6930 y&rds of broken metal have been pliced on tho roada ; in addition to I i which the present contract at Stony I river makes another 960 yards. It | was considered advisable to do as much I as possible in tha way of maintaining ithe road while tho stone-crushing plant | | was iu the district; and adjustment of I accounts will require attention when the new county comes into force. In! conclusion, I have to thank the council-! lors for the attention they have paid to j ; county matters generally, and for the I assistance given to me in carrying out j my duties as chairman. j He explained that tha difference ba-1 tween tho capital value and the rate- j able arose from the existence of native '. reserves, which were not rated. Cr. Tate said that as an old msmber of the Council he bad much pleasure in moving a hearty vote of thanks to the chairman for the able manner in which hj« had performed the duties of tbo office and for the excellent report presented to the Council. The motion was carried unanimously. An honorarium of £35 was votad to the chairman, who Buitably acknowledged the same and vscated the, chair. The Clerk then presided over the meeting, and c.illod for nominations for the chairmanship for the year en- j suing, Or. G<ay eul'igieed Mr. Okey's past services, and moved th*t he be reelected chairman.

Seconded by Or. Hopson, and carried unanimously. Oa resuming the chair, Mr. Okey thanked the members for the honour a,s»aia conferred on him, and trusted the Council's busiuess would be carried on io the future in the same good spirit as during the last few months. He had no doubt it would be necessary to go to the ratepayers for mora

money, and possibly the formation of 1 Egmont County would necessitate a fresh election fjr the Omata Riding. The following members were elected to represent the Council on the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board : Crs. Lepper, Gray, and McDonald. This concluded the special business. OKDINARY MEETING. \ After luncheon *ije Cmncil decided ( to proceed with ordinary business instead of meeting in the UjUbl way, on Monday next. If, was n solved that Ors Lepper and Tate in conjunction with the chairI man be a committee to pass and p»y | accounts,

A letter was read from the Road Surveyor agreeing to the Council's suggestion as to carrying out the Break water-road repairs under the supervision of Foreman Everts.

It was decided to apply to the Government for the subsidy placed on the estimates for work on the Junctionroad eass.

The auditor wrote drawing attention to the absence of saveral voucher?. The clerk explained that these were in respect of small amounts ssnt to people in the country and the vouchers not sent.

After some discussion it was decided that small amounts must either be applied for personally or by an authoris-td agent. An amendment by Or Hopson authorising payment of such accounts by the riding foremen lapsed for want of a seconder. The Chairman stated that summonses had been issued in respect of all arrears of ra'es. A letter was read from the Henui Road Board relative to forming and kerbing footpaths at Fitzroy and asking the Council to form footpaths on both sides as som as possible. Cr. Hop-on said he understood that a petition had bem sent in by Fitzroy residents asking for only one footpath. Or. Tate cons : dert:d that at present the settlers considered one footfath sufficient, but at some future time two might be ntce-sary. A discussion eusued as to the probability of Fitzroy being before long included in the borough; also as to whether the borough was the authority to move in the matter, or the settlers. Eventually it was decided to obtain the solicitor's opinion ou tho point, as the Council was spending a considerab'e sum in that lceility. The Railway Department acknowledged rectipt of the Council's complaint relative to the crossing at Wai-tara-road. The Commissioner cf Crown Linds wrote stating that the gravel reserve at the chain bridge would bo inspected by the Ranger, and the result considered Cr. Hopson complained qf culverts being made too krgd and it was decided to draw Mr. Penwardeu's attention to the matter. Messrs. Oliver aud KendeU's offer to supply 100 yards of beach s'avel delivered on to trucks at tho breakwater at 2s 6d per yard was accepted. Messrs. Haddley and Compiny wrote acknowledging order for s 1 one-crusher. Cr. Gray advocated the grant of sufficient gravel to put the road in ordsr from the Weiekiuo bridgn to Puniho, He said that in visw of the new county this work would be the last act in the drama.—L'jft to the chairman to deal with. The Waimate Road Board wrote requesting that a block of blackberry on the Eltham-road should be cleirei. — Referred to the Stock Inspector. Or. Hopson mentioned that several heaps of stone belonging to the County on the Mountain-road were being enclosed by the railway fence. The foreman is to ba instructed to remove sune at once.

Cr. Hopson also reported that the finger post recently erected on the Tnglewood-Tarati-road had been bnken and ha suggested a reward should be offered for conviction of the offenders. It was decided on Mr Gray's motion to rfpair the sign-post, and take proceedings in case of further damage being done to it. Or Wareham drew attention to the dangerous approach to the Timatu bridge, and urged that a protective fence should be put up. Agreed to. Or Brown brought up tha question of screwing up bridges at intervals. Some discussion ensued, but no action was taken. The Council rose.