CLIFTON COUNTY COUNCIL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 60, 7 September 1907, Page 5

CLIFTON COUNTY COUNCIL.

At the ordinary monthly meeting of the Clifton County Council there were present: Crs J. W. Foreman (chairunn), O'Sullivan, Wright, Joll, Bishell, and Gadstad. j TOLL-GATE TROUBLES. ' T. W. Prosser, in charge of the Waibi, toll-gate, informed the engineer that l ' a party of Maoris hart burst open the gate.—The chairman said the Council could only report the matter to Con-' stable Price. FLAX ROYALTIES. j - Mr J. B. .lack (Reserves agent) wrote' in reference to the question r.iised at a previous meeting ro the payment of rates out of royalties collected for i!aX| cut from Maori land at Mimi. He, pointed out that according to the news-,; paper reports the impression was '.on- , vcyed that some official had received l ( the royalties under false pretences :-.nd

• perhaps mis ippropriatcrt. He explained ,' that the lands from which the llax was cut belonged to large numbers of l.alives, but wore occupied by only a few of the owners, who paid no rent to Iho others. In order to prevent an injustice to those owners who dirt not occupy the. lands his predecessor had collected the royalties for Die purpose of dividing the amounts among all the owners after rates had been pi id. There were some dillicultii's in the way of a speedy distribution of the money, and the matter coulrt not he completed before his' predecessor left the district; hence <he delay that hart occurred. However, he, hoped to lix the whole matter up dui(inif his visit to Urenui in September.' In the meantime he asked to he infor- 1 feed of the amounts of rates owing on! the respective lands in question. j The chairman snirt it hart never been! suggested that the Reserves Agent had exceeded his duty. I Cr. O'Sullivan, who brought the matter forward, said he had had no inlen-, tion of creating such an impression. Tile chairman said that the only} statement made, at the Council table was that 10s per ton royalty had been rtertucteil from a native.' The exphna-i. tion was that it was collected for the! purpose of paying rates, hut at the.| date of the last meeting the money had ' not been piid to tho Council.—Tlie Ict-i' ter will be acknowledged. TO BE CONSIDERED. '

The Chief Engineer of Roads acknowledged requests for provision on Hie Estimates for various road works in the county, and promised careful consideration. The application for the

widening of Kaka road during the coming summer would be considered.

MATARO ROAD. Mr G. T. Murray, District Road Engineer, in reierence to the Council's suggestion that the authority of .CAi should bu altered from XI to £1 «ulisidy to an unconditional grant, urjte| tliat the chief engineer had informed! him that this couid not he done. It would therefore be necessary to raise . the local quota. After discussion, it was decided that the clerk should write to the Minister! for Public Works asking for a further subsidy of £ for £ on the balance of the Mataro road loan. TANGITU-URLTI ROAD.

The District Road Engineer will be written to suggesting a survey, with the Council's engineer, of the TangituL'ruti road with a view to its deviation through section 4, block 6, Upper Waitara. y | OTAAROA ROAD DEVIATION. Tho Council's solicitor (Mr J. B. Roy) submitted a deed of agreement between the Council and the landowners concerned in the proposed deviation of the Otaoroa road. This agreement had been prepared after conference between representatives of the Council and tho settlers.—The Council's seal will be allixed to the agreement. NATIVE RATES. It was decided to instruct the County solicitor to sue for rates unpaid in; Maori lands. ENGINEER'S REPORT. | The engineer (Mr C. F. Dows;;tt)j. sillmiittod his usual monthly report on contracts and other works in course of i progress. A meeting had been held dur-' ing the month on the Otaraoa road, when all persons interested in the deviation were, present. The proposed route wis fully inspected, and with a view of conserving watt rights and the prevention of cutting paddocks' into areas disadvantageous to present ; occupiers, a slight alteration was sug-j posted. This would be effected where, permanent grades would not sufferj therein-, He requested authority to' call "tenders to close at next meeting, 1 for the usual 500 yds of maintenance metal for the. Junction road. The qi-i plic-atfpii was poniewhat earlier than I usual from a two-fold cause, namely,' the. limited supply of visible shingle! without heavy stripping and the scarcity of teams. |

-Mr .Limes Perry had been np]iointcd|i imundkeeper at the new I'renui ])oiitul, ' and was prepared to take permanent'] office provided he could use his own discretion in ranging, and received all : driving and poundage fees. The engi-| : neer recommended ihe acceptance of 1 these tertns, as Mr Perry fully under- ,' stood the Council's sentiments'concern-' 1 ing habitual delinquents and others. j 1 Mr Cnxhcad had coninienced lopping ] his trees which were abiding the road.: 1 No tenders were received for the' supply of teams for the grader, or op- i plications for the position of surfaceman in the Uruti district. The, matter of arranging for >:ho' pounilkeeper was referred to the chair-! I man. The engineer will make enquiries | from other local bodies as to cost of : travelling whares for the use of county' workmen when away from home. | Cr. Joll recommended that the Conn-J cil's reserve of a quarter-acre at Ure-j nui should be offered for lease, at an upset of 5s per annum, for a term of five years.—Adopted, Cr Wright second- 1 ™g- j it was decided to raise surfacemen's wages to eight shillings per day. j 'Hie engineer will prospect for stona in the Mimi-Mokau riding near Pukea- 1 mho. ■ ■" ; | Mr Ganstad mentioned that tile Moa \ Road Hoard desired to imake arrange-' iincnls for the hire of the Conn-il'* when in the Ngntimaru riding, 1 >: and to use it on the Motukawa and j other roads in the vicinity of Tarata. I —The Council was favorable to hiring i, out the machine, and will further disl, cuss the matter at the October meet- ,! ing. ■I Accounts amounting to £4.30 4s 5d J were passed for payment. ■j DOMAIN BOARD. [i The Council resolved into a moetin* '; of th„ Clifton Domain Board.—Mr .101 l '', reported that there were several furze < brakes on the Pukearube reserve, ;.nd ': he considered the offer of Mr D-tvis to ', lease it and clear off the furze at Is an 3 | acre for seven years was a reasonable '-, one. Mr Davis had, he said, agreed to '| clear the furze off in two years. J: It was decided to invite 'tenders for ', the lease of the reserve of 28 acres, '■■ under these conditions. 1 The chairman read from the nnniri] '• statement of accounts that the Hoard's assets were cash in the bank C.'W lis It was pointed out that (he bank charges were gradually eating up <]v credit balance, and Cr. O'Suliivnn sag gested depositing the money in the Pisl ,'. Office Savings Bank.—To be cons.idercc h at next meeting.