CLIFTON COUNTY COUNCIL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 81859, 6 October 1906, Page 3

CLIFTON COUNTY COUNCIL.

The Clifton Omntv I'otincil held Us ordinary mon.hlv nceting ,-n 1 ~ day. I'irs.Mit . fi'v |. |( |- ,„,,„ (chairman!. Ma-Vn/ie. W tight. O'Sullivan. Jol', Hisho,,, -in! GaV' Ltd. STONE CONTRACT. The chanm.in's . .-,i„„ i n lening the contract Mr Mum supple to I'.oii and H.'lli.'i, .it 3 1, a vaid.' w,i. ;,pP'ovcd. on Air motion ol (','■-. W tight and O'Suliivan. giving acci-.ss. Mr J. ( . l?,v. of Cr-mii. acting 101 Mr I. K.'ly. the G un, il m giant i.; s for [,ll n -,g. 1,111 n ng. -, m l Rtss-ing poiiion of the Wai-Hi road. to give aicess to the latt.-i « s-own. —Granted. Cr. O'Sullivan to atrange. AHANGA ROAD. !iot:lf,. on iln- Ahaiiga ioa.l a-kc-d fei n'psiis t., the road and culvcii. In . a--..| a..id-nt. due to tin , uivorl. wlmh was in a .bug-ious Male ilicy would h.,,,1 the Conneii icponsilile. - ,Ci. Ma.kn/ic s ;4u l iop a j ls we,i' Iv.di> nwd»d. .-, mob of catt'e having broken away the sides.—Lett 111 the engineer s hands. NOXIOUS WEEDS.

Ml R. Rowan. Inspector, stated that Mr Crockett would attend to the niat.ei ot having noxious weds cleared Horn tn. Mam .South toad, I'tcnui iuh. It tin ownns „f the section* had been indi\iduali-od there would be no dithculiy. Cr. O'Sullivan said that h 0 ;m> | Mr Crotk.lt. lnspcclm. had seen ihe Public I'iumcc s agent, Mr l-'i>her, on this matter, and he had stated he had no power. lie had threatened 10 10sumc Maori lands on which the weeds were allowed to spiead unchecked, but this had apparently not been favourably received at headquarters. He was awaiting- further instructions from Wellington. The Chairman stated the Noxious Weeds Act gave power tu inspectors wita regard to Europeans' land, but no. to Native lands, the Government being more kind to them. Cr. Wright: And we pay for the kindness.

The Chairman : We've done that a'l and we're not at the end of it yet. METAL AT MANGAROA.

Mr T. Burd, district road engineer at T'e Kuiti, reported having found good gravel in the Messrs Williams' and Bruce's property, in the vicinity of the Mangaroa stream, the only drawback being the large amount of stripping to be done before the bulk of the metal can be taken out. He

lias had a passage for the water cut through a narrow neck of land which will let off the whole of the water in the Mangaroa and dry the old bed of the stream for several chains, out of which a considerable quantity of metal can be obtained with very litllc •tripping. RECREATION RESERVE. The Commissioner of Crown Lands asked the consent of the Council in changing the purpose of section 8, block 3, U aicara, to that of recreation. Portion of ihe adjoining section 102, fronting the Onaero stream, had been reserved for scenic purposes, and it was hoped that portion of an adjoining section now owned by natives might aNo be obtained.

The chairman said he had ascertained that there could be no expense to the Council. The land would not be placed under the Council's control unless so desired by them. Cr. 0 Sullivan said this section was a favourite picnic re>ort.—The Councils approval was given. MATARO ROAD.

Mr G. T. Murray, district road engineer, asked if anything were being done towards raising the local quota necessary to earn the Government subsidy of .£3OO for widening the Mataro road. In the event of the Council deciding to proceed with the work it would be advisable to do so as soon as possible. In answer to the chairman, the clcrk Paid they were simply wailing for the Treasury to forward the money. Everything else was in order. The chairman urged the necessity for calling tenders for the work immediately. On ihe motion of Cr. Wright, seconded by Cr. Gaustad, it was decided to ca'l tenders for the first mil?, in two half-mile contracts. THE GRADER. The Waitara Borough Council declined to accept the Counei s olfcr of jC'4.2 10 for its share in the grader, and asked the Council to place the county share under offer on similar terms, £■/ 10. beiow cost. The chairman reiterated his previous argument that the grader was worth £45 to this Council. He would like the negotiations re-opened, and moved that the offer made at last meeting, of £42 10/ for the shed and ha'f share of grader, be amended to £■s.—Seconded by Cr. MackenzieAfter discussion the motion was lost. the chairman and Crs. Gaustad and Mackenzie supporting it. Theposition now isthal ihe borough can call upon the county to dissolve thi- partnership existing between the two bodies. HEAVY TRAFFIC.

In acknowledging the Council's letter giving reasons for the imposition of a toll on heavy traftio on the Main North road, the chief engineer in the Department of Roads wrote that as the traffic did serious damage to the road, and as none but the Traction Engine Importers, Owners, and Users' Association had complained of the toll, the Association had been informed that the Government cou'd not set its way to recommend His Excellency the Governor to interfere in the action «f the Council at the present time.—Received. The county solicitor. Mr J. 1!. Roy, 'submitted a draft copy of the agreement between the Council and Mr Black for the payment of per annum in quarterly payments of £ls in advance, in lieu of tolls for his traction engine on the Main Nonh road. Ml Black to take ordinary care, and to drive at a speed of not more than five mi'es on the roads and two miles an hour across bridges. On the motion of Cr. Wright, seconded by Cr. Mackenzie, the Counc.l approved tie t.-rms of the agrecmmt submitted, and the chairman v.„s authorised to execute the deed and affix the Council's seal. ENGINEER'S REPORT.

The engineer. Mr C. F. Dim sett, reported for th,. month of Se^U'inher: —Waihi riding : Marsh Jiios. had carted out a further t-'o yards of broken stone, covering 5J chains of the Main N'oith road. ioS chains of th,' Waiau road had b<<-n graded. 2<. I "I ■Aide .it a cu-t of 2 I, per chain: al-o. formation, in part oide, ot No i hainio ft" t wide at S,'d per chain. If' r«TiU«—t<;d authority to gel out about ioo yards of boulders for reroating portion lx-'twecn Syme's and the Ona.y,> •'.« tore, co-ting />,' 13 '4. 'l'ikorangi riding : Cdhiract for supply of -ton'- had b' on l"t conditionally Hi Mc-rs l'aul and ll<-l!i.- r . Sidetracks ..ad fj*'<-n formed by the grader front the county boundary to tie' school-hou-e at an average' eo.-t of i; jj.-r I'h.iin: and ii"in -, huolliou- 1 ' t" 1 reamery at an av'i.ig,; cost of 1 per chain. Ngaumartt nding; 'I lie i'.,ads in thi- riding had diied up sufficiently 10 start work and airangcnent- had be. n made li> commence operation- wiu-ii suttici'-iii laboui could be obtained. I'rcniii riding: Widening t;,e I'iku i<ud had b-en 'laid ..(T. and left v.ith (r. Wright to deal .i-tii. Clearing bush and slips, corduroying and {"lining up .11 12 teet wide on the Kaipakaii roads had be' 11 itt. out of "thirds." Mokau riding : Uilc-by was making v.-t y s!..w pt"ijiiM v.ith his maintenance inotal. '«!n,.:, could haw lieen (misled if it iiad le«n more vig"tou-ly pushed on. 11* had vi-ited tilt "Id pit and found Cciesliy ijiiairying grave! from th.u . - de oi'the pt which the late contractors bad not been allowed to work. H.-opci. acting under instructions 'o ■.-.■'■ive "ill.- -'rvicoabe gravel, had <i. elined to' receive many loads of al-liio-t pure sand, which Colesby claimd lie v.ou'd reptile the Co,im il t" ai.e.pt. '1 In: surfacemen wtl' engaged in p:"par,ng the site for the rfitcn of a ihute, the contractor L.'ing Mr \V. J. Clare, price £ls. A -aii-factory job had been made of the impairs to the Mangamach" bridge. Falcon, 1 had cmpVted his Fniti p.ad widening contract. The fas--1 ill's 0,1 Murray's late contract on the Main road were now uncomfortably conspicuous for wheel traffic. It

would be noccssare to put al least i: 111.-l ll i-alill Oil .li.s. to i, width ciio l.i-i, for bedding the metal. 110 icqucstcd atilhorilv to proceed witn Ibis by il.iy lalxiui-.' lo co>t about £i«. Mi' expected ill'' Parriiinihi tuniu'l to l>. ni'.iiiv completed this muiilh. Hi- «•<<« -ml.'.) spending /:.,., on the widening ol tin- Clifton road, and a-kc.l .ni.ln'iilv to call tin'dcis for tin- .,>•, I,on ol a Mivl K.i-.1.-r bridge n.-a, Muil.-t v.

Ilmli iln- I'li.iiiinan and tin- cnghi-i.-l w1.11.-.l CI.II till' (lovi-lllllli-llt intended lo mike provision for mclal line iln' ii-.nl lii-iuivn Ciuli and Ml. M-'.i'K'-i.

Tlic I '.Mini il i l i-.ciis-..-(l I In- slow pro-.m.-i ol Cna-liv's i'onlr.ii-is. and il «.,- do. uli'.l that In- lie given till the loth Niuvnilii'i to nHiipl'ii- ill" Okokc ,oad. till ,c-l January to complete ihe Mimi-Miikan metalling, and 27th Octobci f"i inainli'iianee metal. The engineers i<-pon was adopted, and his 1 <■< <Mnm>iulati.'iis will lx' given ellcd I". STONI-'.-ItRKAKING. Tlii' ihaitman suggested that duiilH tin" -nnmi'-i monilis mine inot.d slum d be put on tin: Main N"i;tn road as lar as tin- W'uiau hi'l. The road was now being supported by the tolls, as well as the rato. Cr. JoH agreed. 11 might, however, "cost more to force the pace." Cr. O'Sullivan suggested getting a

lot of melal out for the stone-crusher instead of breaking by hand. Cr. Mackenzie thought the Council ought to have a stone-crusher of its own. The Council could not go on putting this gravel on the road. Cr. O'Sullivan was of the. same opinion. There was fine blue rock near Jones' that would be cheap at 0, a vard. The engineer doubted whether the work could be done at that price. If it could, it would be a good investment. Cr. Mackenzie said stone-crushing for local bodies seemed very lucraI tive, so surely a crusher would pay iho Council. LOAN WANTED. Cr. O'Sullivan reported the result of his interview with the Commissioner for Crown Lands on the application of Messrs Wells and Elwin to raise a loan for metalling die road On the north side of the Pukcaruhe hil/, through the police reserve. Mr Simpson said there would probably be no objection raised. But the matter was in the hands of the District Road Engineer.—Particulars to be obtained for next meeting. Cr. Gaustad moved that the Coun-

cil take the necessary steps to raise a loan of ,£IOOO for the purpose of metalling the Oapua road. The formal application would be sent in to the Council n ext week. Cr. Bishell seconded, and the motion was carried. TIKORANGI ROAD. Mr H. H. Jury waited on the Council and asked that a bad hill on the T'ikorangi road be metalied. He would do the necessary earthwork himself. Even after this fine weather he could hardly get his cart up tho hill with .icwt of milk. —To be kept in view, and further considered at next meeting. POISONED GRAIN. Messrs Teed and Co., New Plymouth, brought und'.'r the notice of the Council their specially prepared poisoned grain, similar to that supplied to the Moa Road Board fur a long time past.—Received. (jr. Jo'l said the poisoned grain thai he had purchased was useless, except for feeding fowls. Cr. Gaustad said he was perfectly satisfied with it. It had killed every bird on his place. Cr. Joll: My birds must have had stronger constitutions. The chairman said the grain had not proved satisfactory in general. MANGAHIA ROAD. On the motion of Cr. O'Sullivan. seconded by Cr. Joll, it was decided to put in hand at once the n pairs necessary on the Mangahia road. Accounts amounting to ,£243 were passed for payment.