TARANAKI COUNTY COUNCIL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 8023, 9 January 1906, Page 2

TARANAKI COUNTY COUNCIL.

Tlie monthly meeting ot the Turnnali County Council was held at the Council ollircs on Monday, and was attended by the Chairman (Mr (I. V. Tate), and Crs. Adlam, Hill, llopson, Brown, Stevens, Julian, awl C. Andrews. The iiiiimtos of last ordinary and special meetings we.v read and eonlinued. okkickiis' lIKI'OIITS. Mr W. d. Clare reported <m bridge work :■ —During I)e ■ culler two culverts were put in at Leppcr's' Hill from timber out of Snake bridge' Waipuku bridge has been dismaiiHcd, anil limber and ironwork has bccyl stacked. About 7il!)ort of the timlyr" has been stacked, and i« available for new work. The decking of the new steel bridge at Sentry Hill should be tarred and sanded, cost about £2 ss. The cost of strengthening <-fhe .bridge at Sentry Kill mill wfUi ironbark which Council has oiUiand would be about £ls, including imvitin-j and tarring throughout, • Miin;,orei bridge lias been repaired, The contractor considered this bridge unsafe for heavy ttaffic, all ti'ubc: being much decayed, and estimated the life of the bridge at about Ito ye\rs. Kelly's bridge, Henwood i .d, wo ild be repaired as soon as tim--1 ni. \c.<.—Kesolvcd that recommendation re new steel bridge be confirmed, and that Mr Clare be authorised to repair Ma.igorei bridge, cost noi to exceed £45. Moa Hiding foreman. —Inter alia, Foreman Lord's report stated that Mr Parkinson, Midhirst, has a baker's cart on the roads three limes weekly without a license. With regard to £IOO Gjvcrnmcit grant for Tariki road, there are about 120 chains of drains between Tariki creamery and the sawmill that require cleaning out at cost of about 3s 6il \kv chain. About 1100 ft of timber at post of ;C7 Ids is required for a large culvert. Expenditure of balance of money was recommended as follows : Distributing metal between Mr Barton's and the llatapiko School. —Resolved that tenders be called for cleaning out watercourses on Tariki road. Foremau E. Bjnnctt, who was recently, incapacitated with a broken arm, notified that he expected to be ablo to supervise the work on Horrock'sHillhy tl o time the contract was comnieucud. Meantime W. Bennett is doing work that is most necessary.— Heceived.

Waitara Hiding. Foreman J. Holmes reported:—Timber for repairs to Mangaraka bridge on Kenwood road had been ordered. At deviation at new Sentry Hill bridge six-inch pipes luul been put in by mutual arrangement between Waitara AVcst Uoiul Board and Council. llcinainder of time during December had been occupied making up side roads and clearing out water tables. Mr Wills' contract for carting boulders at Waiwakaiho was completed.—Kesolved that half cost of pipes used at bridge deviation bo refunded to Waitara West Itoad Board. Omata Hiding.—Foreman Evctts reported roads in fair order, with excoption of parts under repair. F. Kendall has supplied 810 yards of metal, and contract is Hearing completion. Regarding contract No. i, ,7. Monteliore had carted 150 yards of stone and had arranged with W. George to complete the contract. He suggested that the engineer should be asked to pnl in permanent level pegs for footpaths at Okato, so that kerbhigs might be placed in proper position ; also that I lie road should be graded through the township before the footpath is completed. He recommended the contractor for Tapuae bridge bo requested to push on work at. end near Allen's Hill, so as to be clear of metal contract. About five chains of road towards Oakura should he lowered before re-metalling, Harford road and Plymouth road bridges required over-hauling, for which timber from Tapuac bridge could he used.—Received.

Crusher Driver's Report.—J. Urry, engine-driver, reported that crusher worked 10J days during December, dealing with 81,(5 yards of metal. Crushing in connection with Kendall's ■ontract was commenced on December tli.—llcport received, and it was resolved to procure some appliances required for the crusher.

ENGINEERS REPORT. The engineer, Mr .1. Skinner, reported that the contractor for Tapuae Hill re-formation is progressing slowly with his contract, the continuous wet weather being the roason given. The tunnel contract is being pushed on more rapidly, and the work is in good country. The contractor is entitled to a progress payment on first contract of £SO, making £175, and on the tunnel contract of £75, making a total of £l5O, The contractors for the Oakura Hill formation have not started their contract, and have reported that Mr Morris has refuaod them permission to go over ground said to be leased by him.—lt was resolved that the eontractors at Tapuao be paid £125 progress payment, On the motion of Crs, Stevens and Brown, it was resolved that the chairman be empowered to assess Mr Morris' interest in land at Oakura district through which the deviation passes, and make Mr Morris an offer and instruct the Council's solicitor to take all necessary steps to acquire the laud under " Tin; Public Works Act, 11)05,"

The Cliiirman reported that Mr Morris wii;i asking altogether too much for the use of roadway through his property to the beach, from which the Council his let a contract for carting 20U0 yards of metal. It was resolved that the Council give Mr Morris 2-1 hours' notice of its intention to proceed through his properly to get the necessary stone off the bench, and that steps be taken to acquire the road through Mr Morris' property lo the beach, provided the Harbour Board has no objection to the Council removing stone from the beach at this particular locality at any time. It was also decide I that a committee consisting of the Chairman and Crs. Andrews, Adlam and Julian wait ou the Harbour Board in connection with the removal of stone from the beach at the above locality the mouth of the Tanuae.

, KI.TIIAM ROAD SPKCTAL lIATK. Mr W. Coombridgc, on behalf of the ratepayers in the " Klthaiu lioad r Special Rating Area," wrote that the , ratepayers have resolved to test jtlie County's right to eolleet this rate until ! the matter lias been placed on a satis- . faetory foutiiif;. They feel, he states, that it is unjust in the extreme to eolleet it from one portion of the ratepayers and allow another to go free. They understand that all those who have come into oeeupation since the loan was carried are legally exempt, and although the County has struck the rate on the total rateable value, the whole of the interest (after this year's interest is collected) will fall on the shoulders of the settlers who. held land when I he loan was raised. The great ■lduccmonl held out by those who proi ited this loan was the great rcduc,:,n 'iat must take place in rates \vi\cn the whole of this area became occupied and rateable. They asked, in tli.' event of the County taking legal steps to recover interest, that they be allowed to appoint one of the ratepayers in the area whom the County could sue, the ease to be a lest one. Under later date Mr Coombridgc wrote that since writing previously he had heard that Mr Cross holds' For himself and other occupiers since the Loan was granted, legal advice eontrary to the Board's claim, lie therefore suggested that the Council take proceedings against one c ;::,.., 1.-. Ie piers' liability " : A Tier s-iiii • discussion it wasresulved In hid met tiie Board's solicitor to take action against three of the above defaulters. JV.NTTION JIOAH. The Department, of [toads wrote with reference to the grant of £11)0 for that portion of the Junction-road between Ingle.vood and Tarata. In reply to the Council's objection about (he smallness of the amount, it was stated that there is no record of any promise by tho Government to gran

£3OO annually for this work. Th Depart mental estimate made in June 1900 was £2050 for putting the road in repair. Since April 11)00 the sum of £1950 has been paid over to the Council for the work. At present the Council lii-lil an unexpended authority of .£IOO, mid a further authority for £IOO was now forwarded.—Deceived.

A petition signed by a largo number of ratepayers was presented, asking the Council to consider the matter of a deviation in the Junction Bond at Slippery Hill at once. It was pointed out that the present road is in a dangerous slate and a deviation can be effected that will reduce the present grade and also the length of tho road, and that the metal at present on the road would lie more than sufficient to metal the proposed new road.—lt was resolved that an engineer be sent out to report as to the best route for the deviation at Slin;i>ry Ifiil and the probable cost.

T.IUIKI ROAD RATE ARREARS. The Secretary to the Treasury, in reply to the Council's application'for a list of tho sections, area, and blocks of properties in the Tariki-road Special Loan area, wrote that the Council took a poll of the ratepayers in what was ealleit the Tariki District on 11th September, 1885, to raise the sura of £37 10s per annum in respect to works on (he Tariki-road, estinialcd to cost £ISOO, and in respect to which a rate of three farthings in the £ was to be levied. It appears from a certificate by the County Chairman that by a resolution of the Council passed on tho Ith June, 188.1, Tariki-road district was defined to be a special rating district for the loan. On 2nd December, 1885, the Council struck a rate of thrco farthings in the £ over the whole of the Tariki Special District, to produce the sum of £37 10s per annum upon a iolal rateable valuation of £9431. With reference to this rating area the Clerk of the Moa Road Boardwrote in reply to the "Council's appli. cation that the Board had never collected the rate on tho above loan as it was raised by the County. Ho could not, therefore, inform the County as to tho extent of the rating area, but he did not think it went beyond the Manganui Bridge." It appears that the special rate on the Tariki-road loan, which has about six years yet to run, has not bcon collected since 1891, tho interest in the mcantimo having been paid out of general account. The Council has now decided to collect the rate, but has been at a loss to got the rating area correctly defined, it having been found impossible to get a tracing of the area, with exactitude, after the lapso of years. Eventually it was decided to authorise the Clerk to levy a special rato sufficient to cover the interest on tho Tariki-road special loan. GENERAL. In reply to the General Manager for Railways, etc., metal from Mount Egmont, the clerk was instructed to inquire as to the cost of the metal delivered at various stations in the county. The Stratford County Council drew the Council's attention to dangerous stnto of the approach to the old Waipnku bridge.—Attended to. J. H Colesby offered to supply about 8u yards baud broken metal at 8s fid per cubic yard.—Resolved to offer '/s per yard for the metal ileivered on tho Avenue road The Health Inspector, Mr F. B. Gardner, reported one case of scarlet fever having occurred at Omata, and all necessary precautions were taken.— Received. The Secretary Moa Farmers' Cooperative Dairy Company enolosed cheque for £3 10s, half year license for Kaimata cream waggon (class 6), — Received. Mr F. E. Wilson, for the Borough Council, again waited on the Council with reference to dog tax, and intimated that the Borough had struck the tax at the same rate as the County. It was resolved to invite tenders for the collection of dog tax for year 1908 alternately for whole County, and for separate ridings, at rate of 2s (id for cattle dogs, and 10s for other than bona ilde cattle dogs.

TKNDKRS. The following tenders were received; —2ooyds metal at Ttipiine, F. Kendall, (is 9d ]>er yard; J. H. Colesby, (is lid ; J. C. Montefiore, 5s Id; Pickett and Wilkie, 5s (id; Daily and Sole, 4s 2d (accepted), COO yards metal delivered at Mangorei depot ;—J. H. Colesby, (is 9d i Pikettand Wilkie, 5s lid; Baily and Sole, os 3d (accepted). 400 yards delivered at Chain Bridge:—J, H. Colesby, 7s 6d per yurd; Pikett and Wilkie, (is Od; Baily and, Sole, fis »d (accepted). Breaking 300 yards Tarikiroad: —Willham and Son, 3s per yard, (accepted). 300 yards boulders Tarikiroad:—A Kerr, 3s 2d per yard j J. Tarry, 3s j F, Zimmcrinauu, 2s !)d (accoplod). 270, yards boulders, Inglewood to ltu'gby-road:—J. Tarry, 3s per yard (acueptcd). No tenders were received for the supply of 200 yards of boulders on Mountain-road between lnglcwood and Waiongoua, nor for the metalling of Morrock's Hill, Kahnata.