CLIFTON COUNTY COUNCIL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 353, 2 April 1910, Page 7

CLIFTON COUNTY COUNCIL.

MONTHLY MEETING,

The usual monthly meeting of th» Clifton County Council was held at Waitara yesterday. There were present: Crs. Ivennington, Julian, McKcnzie, O'Sullivan and .Sander. CHAIRMAN. Owing to the absence of Cr. J. vV. Foreman through illness Cr. E. Julian

was elected to the chair. i MORI ROAD. A letter was received from J. A. McEldowney stating that the Moki road was' bloeked with slips and fallen trees. The settlers were waiting to get grass-seed and stores in, and the , condition of things was serious. The' Government Engineer had written them to the effect that the road had been handed over to the local body, and possibly some thirds might be available for clearing formed portion and also a 6ft. track. He asked the Council to consider the matter. The chairman said they should disclaim liability in the matter, and refer the question to the Government. Mr Dowsett. engineer, stated that when Mr Murray sent the notice in to have the road gazetted a county road it was in good order, but in the meanwhile slips came down before the Gazette notice reached there. There was ;

1 mile 49 chains of the widened portion gazetted, but the six-foot track was not. The Department, however, seemed to consider all roads were county roads without any announcement. The settlers had written to the Department, but had been referred back again. It seemed to be a continual case of dodging back between the Council and the Department.

The members of the Council were ■unanimously of opinion that as tke road was not gazetted they should disclaim all liability, and a motion to uiis effect was carried. PROPOSED COUNTIES CONFERENCE. A letter was received from the secretary of the N.Z. Counties Association stating that it was proposed to hold a conference during the first fortnight of this forthcoming session to discuss the ''Local Government Bill" that the Premier had stated would he brought down this' session. He also asked the Council to appoint a delegate to the conference. It was stated that Cr. Foreman was ilready the Council's delegate, having )een appointed some time ago. Consideration of the Council's remits do the conference was hold over pending receipt of a copy of the proposed Bill, when a special meeting will be held. The Clerk was also instructed to forward the information asked for in connection with the Employers' Liability let.

NOXIOUS WEEDS,

The Inspector of Noxious Weeds' drew the Council's attention to the blackberries on the Council's land nearTarat* bridge, and aiso, ou the corner of Okoke and North roads. The surfacf-' man is' to be instructed to attend to this.

J. B. Jack.. Native Reserves Agent, asked the Council to specify the lands specially referred to as being "a menace to the district." He knew soma lands' were badly infested with weeds, but would liKe to know if others were too.—Cr. O'Sullivan is to supply the information. The chairman said that if the Reserves Agent cleared the noxious weed he knew of, the Council could tell better by what was lett what he did not know of. Cr. O'Sullivan stated that he had noticed a lot of blackberry being cut at present, s'o evidently Mr Jack was •'shaking them up."

PURANUI-MATAU TELEPHONE. The supprintendcnt of electric lines forwarded a statement of receipts an! expenditure in connection with the Pu-rangi-Matau telephone guarantee. The expenditure amounted to £44 <>3. Th* included maintenance, stationery and salaries'. The receipts were: Purangl £l2 Is 4d. and Matau £ll 17s 3d, leaving a deficiency of £23 18s< 3d.

The chairman stated they had nothing else to do hut pay the difference.

ENGINEER'S REPORT.

The engineer (Mr C. F. Dowsett) reported as under: — Waihi Riding.—The grader has bee» forming up various roads' in this riding under the supervision of Cr. MeKenzie.

Tikorangi Riding.—The work of impairs to the Tikorangi suspension bridge is proceeding. The temporary pipes have been driven. The rimu timber is already on the site, and the hard -wood is expected shortly from Wellington. Ngatimaru Riding. Anderson and Crozier have completed their metalling contract on the junction road, having put out 520 yards in all.—Langman is proceeding verv slowly with his breaking on the Oapui road, but espteMl shortly to command more labour. —W. F. Bowman has stoned his contract lor erection of cottage at Purangi. All necessary materials required have been ordered, and the work is in progress W. V. Pennington hn.s' about thirty yards to complete his m?talling contract at Purangi. and other minor details *•• attend to—On the S. Matau road Rolf* has instructions in connection with widening points and fencing o*T steep nlaee* under Government grant —The timber camps on the N. Matan road were inspected, and the requisite quantity trill shortly be cut out. The bracing put on this bridge to prevent collapse ha* suffered damage by recent rains and the girders should be at once ordered, and everything placed upon the site for immediate requirement if necessary. On the Ngatoto road the work proposed to be done under Government grant was inspected, and alternative suggestions will be laid before the resident road engineer.

Trenui Hiding.—'Colman has' bee* troubled with numerous heavy slips i» the Okoke pit. Consequently the output of slips Ims been heavy and the output of metal small. Piko Road.—Ekdahl and TTenwood report having finished their formation contract, and claims for s'ame have !•«■,}* spnt forward for .payment. Siirveys were made and plans and estimates •prepared for the erection of two bridges renuired on this road—one rhove *?kdnhl's house and one over the Bull creek. These are suhmitte.d and will be forwarded for approval. On tli* Okoke Toad Firipi has signed his metalline contract and will proceed forthwith, the formation hnv'ng been dnpp iprevinnslv bv th n =nr f^ceman. Mokau Ttiding.—On the Mangamaeho rond Barker reports bavin? renewed the decks on all the upper bridges and performed certain earthworks in connection therewith.—Jordan has put out to

dato Sos yard.-' of maintenance metal and a couple of line days should complete the work.—Schmidt reports t hat 1 the formation and sanding on the Pu'tiki and Okau roads under lust vyar's 1 grants are completed, also about eleven chains of work under this year's grant. —On the Pukearuhe road Paul has sufficient metal stacked, and is awaiting the arrival of the crusher from I'niti. —Bellslmw i> reported to have ilie whole of his papa burnt, and will ';>? carting it out almost immediately. ,- It is reported tiiat a further deviation is contemplated at Wai-i-ti; finality is evidently not yet reached. | Cadet.—Ernest H. Stoddart has joined me as a cadet, and is engaged upon making copies of plans, etc.. required for contractors and others. He gives ■promise of being a useful assistant in the future. The report was adopted. ! Cr. McKenzic stated stated that the grading in the Waihi riding was not working very satisfactorily, and it was decided to cease operations immediatslv the work now in hand is completed. EXPENDITURE OF ROAD GRANTS. In reply to a letter that the County Council could not see its way to undertake the spending of available balances on certain roads, the Under Secretary of the Public Works Department stated that the Minister was agreeable to some of the more urgent road works being undertaken Try the Department, and the district engineer had been communicated with to that effect. PUKEARUHE DEVIATION.

A deputation, consisting of Messrs A. Davis, Parsons. Wells' and Goodinagh. representing the Puke-aruhe settlers waited on the Council in connection with the ,-CGOO loan on this ro.-.d, and as'kea that the Wai-iti deviation on this road should be gone on with at once. They were anxious to know if the Council intended to keep faith with them. Mr Davis said the matter had been

hanging on for some time now, and no j plans had yet been prepared. I The engineer stated that he'had made | out an estimate of- the work biitficic.it | to enable the loan money to be -applied I for. It was no vise going to the ex-1 pense of getting out plana and sped-1 flcations until the loan was granted, I and from what he had heard he thought there were diiliculties in the way ot getting it. i Mr Parsons' stated that they had difficulty in getting the petition signed. because the settlers were not satisfied fixe deviation would be gone on with. They believed objections were being | placed in the way. I Mr Wells said that a.a tenders had i been accepted for the metalling, why ; could not tenders have been called for the deviation as well? T'.ie chairman reiterated the met that the money was not yet available. The question was then brought up that an extra £4OO would be required I to complete the work. < The deputation suggested that the ] work could be cut down a little by not forming a road to the beach, and also by Shifting the present road fence .n----stead of erecting a new one. The engineer stated that a good road would -have to be made. His estimate was not excessive. Mr Parsons said there would be difficulty in getting signatures for the extra. £4OO required. Alter some further desultory discussion the deputation departed with the assurance that the Council would proceed with the deviation as soon as the noney was' available. MOKAU FOREMAN.

Seven applications were received for the position of working foreman in the Mokan riding. Nothing definite was done in the matter.

GENERAL. A. 0. Dowman, iiatau. was granted permission to place his fence close to the road.

Messrs Cain and Walters were granted metal at a total cost of 50s in front of their store at Uremii on condition that they pay half the cost of same. The offer of W. Hcnwood, of Okoke to cut and deliver rimu at the Piko road ■bridge for 20s per 100 was referred to the engineer. It was decided to ypend £5 in cutting down a bad hill on the Pukearuhe road near Mr Davis.

Accounts amounting to £llß7 2s Sd were passed for payment.