County Council

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVI, Issue 285, 6 December 1904, Page 4

County Council

The ordinary monthly meeting of the Taranaki County, Council was held on Monday. There were present : Crs. H. Okey (chairman), McDonald, Brown, Hopson, Hill, and Andrews. The Chairman apologised for the absence of Cr. Hill. —Bad Road.— Cr. McDonald moved "that the attention of the borough, council be drawn to the dangerous state of the Mangorei Road on the town side of the bridge at the Meeting of the Waters, and that it be informed that it will be held responsible for any damage arising therefrom." —Foremen's Reports.— Mr John Orr, Inglewood foreman, reported that the Junction Road required more attention than he was able to give it, though most of the past month had been spent in patching and levelling holes. He was at present engaged on the Mangahore Bridge, the piers being found to be totally rotten. The piers will be placed inside the old ones, thus shortening the span by about three feet. The decking can be completed in about three days, the total cost being estimated at £l6. He recommended that a contract be let for boulders for the road between Kaimate Road and Manganui bridge. Messrs Jones and Simmons, sawmillers, Tariki Road, asked for permission to lay, at their own expense, 4x12x3 planks across the full length of the Manganui bridge to take the run of their timber waggon. On the motion ;of the chairman, seconded by Cr. Hopson, it was decided to take steps to do the work on the Kaimate-Manganui Road. Cr. Hopson asked when the Manganui bridge would be re-built, but councillors declined to commit themselves, the general opinion being that application should be made on account of this work directly the bridge now in hand is completed. Mr G. Walker, Moa riding, stated that 100 yards of metal will keep the road between Waiongona and Inglewood patched up for twelve months, at a total cost for boulders of £41 13s 4d. He would postpone the holidays granted him till after Christmas. Mr Thos. Urry, engine driver, reported that Mr Lambert has finished the contract for concrete buttresses at the Ngationui bridge. New guard rails will have been placed on the Waiongona bridge at Inglewood. It was decided to put in a claim against the Sash and Door Company for the cost of these repairs, as the damage was caused by one of their teams.

Mr John Holmes, foreman of the Waitara riding, in his report, said some of the deck planks in the long bridge at Sentry Hill and some in the bridges on the main road have been replaced. The land pier on the east end of the Waiwakaiho bridge required protection, as the removal of boulders had lowered the bed of the stream some two feet. Two cul-

verts which broke in had been repaired during the month, one on the Devon Road, near Mr Sampson's, and the other on the Mountain Road near Sentry Hill. Side roads have been made up, grass lowered from the side of the metal; and watertables cleaned out. The question of the pier was left in the foreman's hands to deal with. Mr W. Evitt, Omata foreman, reported that with the exception of a few of the hills, most of the roads were in fair order. The worst portions of the Omata and Oakura hills have been blinded. The foremen's reports were adopted. —Waipuku Bridge.— The Chairman of the Stratford County Council wrote in reference to the, charge of £34 0s 9d for that body's contribution towards the cost of the approaches to the new Waipuku bridge. It was considered as the Taranaki council had had carte blanche as regards site and everything else connected with the bridge, that the whole work, including approaches, should be regarded as one, and the whole cost equally divided between the two authorities concerned. The Stratford body was prepared to hand over the old bridge unconditionally if this course was agreed to. Cr. Brown questioned whether the

Taranaki council could legally expend money in the Stratford county. Cr. McDonald said the approaches were part of the bridge work. In reply to Cr. Brown the chairman said the engineers had agreed for each to do his own approaches, but the contractor had done the work throughout. On the motion of the chairman, seconded by Cr. Hill, it was decided to agree to the suggestion of the Stratford authorities. —Waireka Road.— The Omata Road Board wrote calling the council's attention to she [sic] damage done, to the Waireka Road by storm water carried by the drain running east from the Omata church, requesting that the drain be continued as a culvert arross [sic] the Waireka Road. The matter was referred to the foreman —Junction Road Grant.— The District Engineer of Roads notified the council that the sum of £300 had been placed on the estimates for the Junction Road. He also wrote that he was endeavouring to come to some finality in reference to drifting sand on the Breakwater Road. The Chief Engineer of Roads wrote that the supplementary estimates had been considered prior to the receipt of the council's application for a further grant of £300 for the Junction Road (Inglewood to Tarata). —Complaint.— Mr J. C. Montefiore wrote inreference to statements made at the September meeting, alleging interference with the duties of the county foreman. He pointed out that since that date sufficient evidence had been brought forward to show these statements to be groundless. He asked that the imputation be removed. The Chairman said he could not be responsible for what appeared in the public print. He said that at the next meeting it had been stated that tho order for crushing the stone at Stony River had come from the office. Cr. Andrews said the council had been under a misapprehension. —Adjustment of Accounts.— The town clerk, Waitara, notified that his Worship the Mayor of Waitara and Mr A. G. V. Tate had been appointed to meet the council's representatives to adjust accounts. —Assessment Court.— The Valuer-General forwarded a circular letter in reference to the constitution of the Assessment Courts under the Government Valuation of Land Act, 1900, asking, the opinion of the council on a proposal that the county or borough council or road board whose district is under valuation should elect one assessor. The Chairman moved "That the Taranaki County Council considers the constitution of the Assessment Court would give greater confidence

to landowners if the local authorities were empowered to nominate

one of the assessors. In the past the council has not been composed of persons in the local knowledge of values one of them being always brought from an adjoining district, who, with the S.M. and one local resident, comprises the court, and objectors coming before the court feel that they do not get justice, especially in not getting credit for improvements made, the great tendency being to raise the unimproved value The council also considers that there would be no difficulty in making a selection which would give general satisfaction, also as to fixing the values for lending purposes the tendency would be in the direction of having fair values imposed, and not inflated values as have been made in many cases, this giving greater confidence to the different lending departments."

—General.— Cr. Hopson brought up the ques-

tion of traffic licenses, stating that certain coach-drivers and others who took out licenses in Clifton county used twelve miles of Taranaki county roads, and four miles of Clifton roads. Some system of arranging the quota of fees should be devised. He moved "That all foremen be requested to report as soon as possible on persons using the county roads for heavy traffic." This motion, seconded by Cr. Brown, was carried. Accounts amounting to £193 6s 1d were passed for payment, made up as follows : Administration £77 18s 2d, Moa riding £65 7s 8d, Waitara £30 15s 6d, Omata £149 4s 9d. Cr. Hopson maintained that steps should be taken against riders of bicycles and traps travelling without lights. It was decided to keep this in view when drawing up bye-laws. It was also decided to take steps against defaulters in regard to the dog tax. The next meeting was fixed for Monday, January 9th, 1905. The specifications prepared by Mr J. S. Skinner for the concrete Bridge over the Warekino River were read and approved. The electric light licenses between the County and the New Plymouth and Inglewood Borough Councils were received from Mr Roy (Roy and Wilson) and re-executed. The treasurer reported that during the month the receipts had been £427 19s 3d. The question of overdue rates was discussed, the clerk being instructed to bring forward a list of those summoned for such. SPECIAL MEETING. A special meeting of the council was held at 2 p.m. for the purpose of confirming the special order made at last meeting, levying a special rate of l-86th of a penny in the £ to cover the bridge loan. This was duly confirmed.