TARANAKI COUNTY COUNCIL

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 203, 7 May 1912, Page 7

TARANAKI COUNTY COUNCIL

, MONTHLY MEETING. The Taranaki County Council met yes- ' terday morning. The members present Jwere: The chairman (Mr. J. Brown), [and Councillors R. Stevens, C. Billing, | D. McAllum, C. Andrews, J. R. Hill, and M. Hopson. PROPOSED NEW RIDING. A deputation waited on the council with regard to the proposal to form a new and separate rid;.'./ of the Waiwakaiho and Mangorei mad districts, which have just been mergvd into the county. The deputation comprised Messrs. Wills and Herbert (representing the Mangorei district) and Messrs Mor- j ton and Houlahan (representing Waiwakaiho). | According to Mr. Morton, the districts at present comprised' a portion of the Moa riding. The deputation had no objection, he explained, to a portion of the Hurworth riding forming part of the new riding. In contending that it could not be said that all the bridges in the two districts had been constructed and that they had thus nothing more to do, the spokesman pointed out that in the Wniwakaiho district alone there were seven bridges, some of which would have to be reconstructed before very long, and the others later. Concluding, he said that no injustice would be done to any portion of the Moa riding by the secession of the two districts from its jurisdiction. On the motion of Cr. McAllum, the county council decided to hold a special meeting on May 15 to consider the matter, the chairman pointing out that the Omata and Okato Tidings also needed rearm nging. At a formal special meeting it was decided that the Waiwakailro road district be dissolved, and that the area be merged in the county as from June 3, 1012. Subsequently, at an ordinary meeting, the council confirmed this resolution. ANOTHER DEPUTATION. A deputaion of two (Messrs. Colson and Lock) as.ked the council to metal Colson road, stating that in that case the settlers would undertake the formation work. It was resolved to grant one hundred yards of metal for the purpose. The work will have to be carried out to the satisfaction of the foreman. PETITIONS. Fourteen ratepayers of Tarurutangi drew the council's attention, by petition, to the dangerous state of the Awai bridge, on Hursthouse road, part of which had already fallen into the river, and also "to the very great inconvenience and loss caused to settlers" on this account. The petitioners trusted that the council would at once take steps to have a good concrete bridge erected, sufficiently strong to carry any weight that might be required of it. The matter was referred to the fore- | man. | Another petition was read from seven settlers, residing and owning land ad- ! joining the Te Kirihau road. They asked the council to take the necessary steps to procure a subsidy of £ for £ in connection with the Te Kirihau bridge loan of £6OO, for the purpose of ! forming, grading, and metalling the Te I Kirihau road. The communication was referred to I the foreman for report. ; UPPER CARRINGTON ROAD. I As a result of an inspection of the [Upper Carrington road contract, Messrs. | Sladden and Palmer, engineers and surveyors, stated that they did not feel justified in recommending the council to allow any more metalling to be done this season, as they felt sure that the money would not be well spent. They suggested that they should notify the contractor that he must not put down any more metal until instructed by the pounc'l. and that in future all ti".'.;.i ii.jai. be broken to the 2 1 / a -inch gauge. The engineers were instructed to stop the work until they deemed it necessary to recommence operations. VARIOUS COMPLAINTS. Mr. IT. Dempsey wrote drawing the attention of the council to the condition of that part of the Old Hospital road taken over by the council from the Fitzroy Town Board. During the recent wet weather the road, had .become worn, through in several places. The road was so narrow that it was almost impossible to escape the numerous holes, thus greatly impeding traffic. It was decided to remedy matters. Complaint was made by F. W. McGregor of the present state of Koru road. He suggested that, with the more modern methods and up-to-date appliances at the county's disposal, than were at the resources cf the late controlling body (the Oalmra Road Board), the highway could be put in very good order without causing it much trouble. The writer also pointed out that the road at present had a credit balance of £3O. The foreman is to furnish a report a* to what is required to be done. Several dangerouspplansc n s along the Oakura road were made the subject of a letter by P. Wood, Oakura.—The letter was referred to the foreman. Attention was drawn by Mr. J. Wallace to the growth of gorse and blackberry on the Frankley road, opposite the property occupied by Mr. R. Todd. The foreman was instructed to look into the matter.' Adverting to the matter of the condition of the road at Cross-roads, Mangorei, to which the coun-il's attention was drawn by the writer a J the last two meetings, Mr. B. White submitted and commended to the' councillo- s' attention an attached cutting from the Taranaki Daily News. The letter was merely received. WAITARA ROAD BOARD MERGING. With regard to the suggested merging of the Waitara West Road Board, the clerk of that .body wrote asking the chairman of the county council to furnish the ratepayers of the district with particulars of the advantages tai be obtained by taking that step, as regards saving in cost of administration, and upkeep of roads, etc.; and also as to the subsidy payable by the Govern- j ment on the general rates if the district j was merged in the county. To this end j he would like to see Mr. Brown in at- i tendance at the annual meeting of ratepayers of the board, to be held on Tues- i day. May 7. I GENERAL. i A claim for £7 7s Od compensation was submitted by Mr. J. Spence, Carring- j ton road, for surface damage said to i have been caused through carting stone through his property. The writer complained that he had previously written to the council on the same subject, but hi? appeal had been treated with contempt. If his request was not granted now. he intended to take proceedings for the recovery of the sum in question. The matter was referred to Cr. Billing for report. Two copies of by-laws, which they trusted would meet the requirements of' the council, were forwarded by Messrs. [ Govett and Qnilliam, Solicitors to the council. ' The council Tesolved to consider the I by-laws at a special meeting to be held ! on May 1 n. I J. T. Collins wrote resigning his posi- ' tion as surfaceman in the Okato riding, J and Mr. T. Sefton was appointed to the : vacancy. On the motion of the chairman, it was

decided to request the Sash and Door i Co. to discontinue carting more than ' 1000 ft of timber per waggon over the county roads during the winter months. Foreman Seamark was allotted 100 yds of boulders for Allan's Hill, South road, and 100 yards for Hurworth riding, while the bridge foreman was asked to report 1 on the matter of a concrete culvert near : Oakura dairy factory, j Upon the matter being reported, it was decided to request the Okato-Puniho i Dairy Company to discontinue allowing water to overflow on the County road, failing which the council would take action. The action of Cr. McAllum in accepting Rowan 1 and' Thomason's tender, at £95, '■ for 500 yards of metal at Omata, was unanimously confirmed. The Moa Road Board wrote to the effect that it would take over the roadway over the Waiongona bridge, on the Hursthouse road, when the metalling was completed. A copy of a resolution, deferring consideration of the proposed electric tramway between New Plymouth and Opunake, was received from the clerk of the Egnvont County Council. The Valuation Department notified that part of the county, in the shape of the Moa and Okato ridings, were at present being re-valued. } Various small matters were dealt with as follows:—That Foreman J. Holmes be granted bridge-decking as requested; that Mr. Malley be requested to cut back tress 'overhanging the Hurford road; that Foreman Harvey be supplied with metal and bridge timber as requested. The following accounts were passed for payment:—Administration, £285 8s Id; Moa riding, £O7 Is; Waitara riding, £129 lis Cd; Omata. riding, £320 7s; Okato riding, £3Bl 9s 3d; Hurworth riding, £lll 4s 8d; Moa bridge loan account, £364 15s Id; Upper Carrington road loan account, £100; total, £1765 18s 7d. BRIDGE FOREMAN'S REPORT. Reporting to the council, the bridge foreman (Mr. R. W. Bond) stated that since last meeting the Ngatoro bridge had been completed, and the plant rei moved to the Maketawa bridge, the arch \of which, was now finished. This left the retaining and parapet walls to be completed.- He had arranged to get shingle out of the Mongonui river for the Mongotea bridge. FOREMEN'S REPORTS. G. Walker reported that he had nearly finished the earthwork on the Inglewood side of the Henui bridge, and had laid down about eight chains of metal. They [ had not been able to get on very quickly with the work owing to the bad weather. Assistant Foreman J. Holmes, jun. ' (Waitara), reported that, acting under instructions from the chairman, he had i proceeded to the Waiongona bridge, on the Hursthouse road, and completed I widening out the filling on each side of [ the road. It was also necessary to spread 20 yards more metal, and they had fenced each side of the filling to' protect it and make it safe for traffic. Foreman Jones (Tariki) reported that the Mountain and Tariki roads were in fair order, but were breaking slightly owing to continuous wet weather. While working near Inglewood, a plank gave ; way in the Mangatea bridge. Tariki road, ■ and this had been replaced. His time had been taken up during the month in patching, raking up and banking up the metal on the Tariki and Mountain roads. Foreman Bennett (Moa riding) reported that he had repaired fences on the ZiYZag, done water-tabling, and j cleaned out drains and filled in ruts 'on I Tariki road. The rest of his time had been taken up in patching on Junction ' road. | Foreman John Holmes (Waitara ridj ing) reported that during the month he had received 308 yards of metal from W. Cartwright, and some of the I worst places on the road had been re- ! retailed. The rain during the month started breaking up the roads badly in places. He had completed the widening of the filling at Big Jim's Hill. The rest of his time had been occupied in clearing out. water-tables and letting water off the road. Some deck planks were required as soon as possible for the Waiongona bridge at Lepperton. Foreman Fred Holmes (Waitara West) reported -that during the month he had been doing general road work, cleaning out water-tables and drains. The wet 'weather had commenced to break up the roads/ Foreman Seamark (Omata) reported I that the roads under his control were all in fair order, excepting the Hurford road, which was badly cut tip through the carting of cement and shingle for the bridge. His time during the month had been taken up spreading and breaking metal on Barrett and Waireka roads, raking loose' metal on Spotswood road, laying down new metal on Main South road, cleaning water-tables, etc. He also recommended the council to instruct E. George to make better progress with his contract for carting broken metal. Main South road, and that Messrs. Sole and Oliver he asked to finish their contract at once.—The recommendations were adopted. Foreman Brosnan (Okato) reported that for the past, month his time had been taken up in general road work. The thin parts of the road were breaking up, and he was constantly at work patching and filling in the holes. To keep the roads in repair this winter would be expensive. Foreman Eva (Carrington Road) reported that the roads were breaking up considerably owing to the wet weather, and would require a good deal of attention. His time for the month had been occupied in re-blinding metal at the top end of Carrington road, spreading metal, cleaning water-tables, and general. Foreman Norris (Frankley road) reported that the roads were in very fair order. During the month he had been engaged in re-forming 30 chains on the Cowling road. Mr. Grant did the ploughing free ,; of charge. Foreman Harvey (Junction road) reported that the roads were in good condition from Mangorei to Lepper road. The Henui Hill was cutting up very much, and there was no metal for repairing. He had been cleaning watertables, backing up metal, and opening up outlets. Some of the decking on the Chain bridge wa« getting bad on the ends, and there was no timber for repairing.