STRATFORD COUNTY COUNCIL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 164, 17 December 1914, Page 8

STRATFORD COUNTY COUNCIL.

MONTHLY MEETING, The usual monthly meeting of the r Stratford County Council was held yes- I tcrday. .Present: Crs. J. Hatha way J' (chairman) ,T. K. Coleman, J. ChristollVl, t j Anderson, J. Smith, Were, E. Walter, H. ,1 Worth ington, and 'Baskin. e On the motion of Cr. Walter, it was decided that the matter of Mr. dray's i drain at Midliirst be referred to- the i Riding members, to see that it is cleaned < out. ! ENGINEER'S REPORT*** ' 1 The County Engineer, Mr. W. J Lop- J dell, reported:—Good progress had been ! made on the various works. The roller - had been kept going full time, and was now working in the North Riding. H. Julian had completed 40 chains of refacing on the Denbigh road, and was now engaged on Kent terrace, after which a portion of the Mountain road noar Midliirst would be refaced. Green and j Chard had completed 1350 yards boulderstone contract at Cardiff, and were now remetalling the Beaconsiield road. Bennett and Julian were busy on their Hastings road contract. Grimmer and Chamberlain were also busy in the South Riding. He had inspected Cambria street, Midliirst, and submitted an estimate of cost for proposed work. He had also gone carefully into the Pembroke road contract, and considered it would take £SOO to make a creditable job of it. The up-stream wing on a smali bridge on the. Croydon road had been washed out this week by flood, but repairs were being effected. The West Riding forejnan was engaged at reducing grades and making up. There were a few bends on the Opunake road, which would be greatly improved by a few feet being re. moved. He visited the filling on the Manga road, and found the timber in the tunnel was going fast. iMr. McPhee, j Toko, had offered to quarry shell rock at the pit on Waiwiri road at 5s per yard, royalty paid He recommended acceptance of the offer, A STRIP OF HAND. Cr, Smith detailed the action lie Had taken relative to a piece of land on the Opunake road, possession of which was, he considered, very desirable for regrading purposes. He stated that the . owner was willing to sell the land for [ £lO, and he moved that the County acquire the strip of land from Mr. Mason for £lO. Cr. Anderson protested against paying an excessive price for every strip of land that was required for regrading purposes, and he advocated taking the land under the Public Works Act. The engineer said the corner in question was one of the most awkward on the road, and it was very desirable to •acquire the laud. Cr. ChristollVl was absolutely opposed to doing business in the manner proposed. After further discussion it was de.. cided to defer consideration of the matter for a month, in the meantime the engineer to interview Mr. Mason relative to the-sale of earth. A BAD ROAD. On the motion of Cr. 'Wortliington, it was decided to inform the Minister of Public Works of the state of the Manga B road, with a view to it being put in proper order before being taken over by the County. i METALLING. The recommendation of the engineer ;- to accept the offer of Mr. MePliee to 2 quarry shell rock on Waiwiri road at 5s per yard was adopted. !t Some discussion took place on the matter of payemnfc for stone delivered ~ The engineer explained that the only satisfactory method was to pay by dray measurement, giving 75 per cent, for Sj stone delivered, and the remaining 25 " .per cent, when the stone was crushed. Cr. Christoffel contended thai the . stone should be dumped. The chairman pointed out that the dumping would cost Is a yard extra It was decided that the engineer be . empowered to inform the foremen that they are allowed to permit stone to be dumped on the road at their discretion, j MISCELLANEOUS. Tiie question of the blocking of a creek 1 on Mr. Johnson's property at Skinner e road was referred to tho engineer and I Riding members to report upon, Cr. _ Coleman pointing out that the place was at a low spot, and something needed a to be done. Cr. Baskin brought up the .question of the rough metal at the approaches to the two railway crossings at Midliirst,, and he moved that the attention of the Department be called thereto.—The chairman said that the metal put down was certainly the coarsest that he had seen.—l The motion was carried. - Cr. Baskin called attention to the bad state of the Mountain road where it joins the Beaconsfield road at the railway, and he moved that the engineer be authorised to effect the necessary re. pairs.—(After some discussion it was decided that the engineer report on the matter. FLOOD-WATER. Mr. Bredow waited on the Council with reference to a notice given to him to clear out the Makuri Creek on his property. He contended that to do the work required by the Council would be of no benefit, and would not be worth the expense. If anything was done, it should be in the direction of deepening the old cut. Cr, Walter pointed out that the resolution of the Council was that Messrs C. Bayly and Bredow be called upon to'do what was necessary. The engineer said that there was a good fall, and he recommended deepening and widening the cuts, the largest of which was 20 chains. Cr. Walter said the creek drained a very large area, and was subject to floods, which sometimes rose lift, or Bft. It was this flood-water that caused the trouble, and the object in view was to get that water away as quickly as possible. By spending £SO the creek could be considerably shortened, and the flood, water taken away thereby. He advocated one cut of I'/.. chains, and another of three chains. Apart from that, the creek should be cleaned out by the pro-perty-owners. Tie urged that' the cngiI neer should be asked to report on the J matter. On the motion of the chairman, the I engineer was instructed to inspect and report on the matter. TEN PER CENT. ON RATES. On the motion of Cr, Smith, it was decided to advertise the date on which I the ten per cent, additional on unpaid rates would become due RANGER'S REPORT. : The ranger reported having impounded 1 8 bullocks, 7 horses, 2 heifers, 7 cows and , !4 mobs of calves. " ". '

Cr. Baskin considered the report was not sufficiently full. He quoted several cases which were not mentioned iu the report. STRAYING STOCK. J. Cubbon wrote drawing attention to the danger caused by stock on the Bird 7 road, and mentioning that his son was knocked off his bicycle last week and had hurt las arm. Ho stated that after ' this notice he would hold the Council responsible for any damage through t stock on the road. j Cr. Smith considered that the present £ impounding arrangements were not sat- '. isi'actory, as the area was too large for 1 one man to attend to. lie advocated the i appointment of an additional ranger, 1 dividing the County into two parts, so I as to ensure the more satisfactory per- 1 formance of the duties. He also consul- I ored that the collection of the dog tax ■' be combined with duties of ranger. Cr. Wortliington considered that it would be more effective to prosecute the owners of cattle found straying on the roads. Cr. Smith moved that the County be divided into two portions, and appliea. tions be called for the position of ranger for each portion. Tho motion was carried, Cr. Wortliington urged that for a second offence a prosecution be instituted. Cr. Anderson contended that the only way to obtain satisfactory results was to pay the ranger a salary, the revenue to belong to the County. He moved that , applicants be notified to state the salary 1 they required, the fees to be paid to the \ County. . rriie. motion was carried. \ CORRESPONDENCE. 5 The Now Plymouth Borough Council . wrote, consenting, provided the tenant , agreed, to the fence of the Borough Reserve being shifted back 15 feet at the j corner of Ohura and Standish roads. j The engineer was instructed to interview the tenant, Mr. Fincham, relative .' to the matter. r Cr. Anderson said there was another I piece of land at Kapuni that he considered should be acquired. Mr. Hooper had offered the land frc». It was decided to accept the offer. A letter was read from the Secretary ■\ of the Belgium Christmas Gift Fund, aske ing for the assistance of the Council, — * Received '.' Mr. t! C. Fookes, on behalf of Mrs. e Shcumacher, of Midliirst, wrote with rer ferenco to the action of the Council in :- taking stone from the river between her n property and that of Mrs. Baker. He stated that his client absolutely objected ij to the County taking any further stone j without her consent, and that she de. •_ elined to accept less than 3d. per yard a royalty. ROYALTY ON METAL. II Correspondence between the engineer 0 and the Lands and Survey Office was read on the question of ownership of ,( ' boulders in streams and rivers. '" Cr. Smith also read the opinion of the Solicitor-General on the same subject, to >- the effect that riparian owners were ent" titled to the beds of streams. 10 Cr. Walter considered that the l ' opinions quoted clearly indicated that the riparian owners were entitled to the boulders in a stream. Ho favored coming to terms with the owners, or taking the property under the Public Works Act, '* so as to avoid payment of excessive " royalties. ;a The engineer explained that if taken 1 under the Public Works Act the property y would only be the subject of reasonable compensation. The engineer reported that Mrs. Baker had refused to accept the 3d. a yard ■r passed at the last meeting of the Coun;o oil for royalty, claiming Gd. per yard for is shingle and 4d. for boulders. After a protracted discussion it was ic decided to pay the claims of Mrs. Baker I. and Mrs. Schumacher for stone already y taken out, but that for all shingle and ,y boulders required in the future notice be >r given to take the stone under the Public !5 Works Act, unless satisfactory arrangements can be made with the riparian le owners. It was also resolved that fid. he the basic royal\, but that exceptional ic cases be specially considered. Permission was given to Mr. Goodwin >e to erect a fence 3 feet on the roadway at it his property, Kent terrace, to be reie moved at the pleasure of the Council. 'LOANS. " A formal resolution was passed, k authorising the raising of £7OO for the ;r Ahuroa road, and £SOO for grading and d metalling Croydon road, r. '.<.'. PROPOSED -NEW BRIDGE. (l Cr. Smith, pursuant to notice, moved that the engineer prepare plans and 11 estimates for rebuilding the North Car--0 did road bridge over the Patea river He » stated that there was £250 on the esti. e mates for the work, and urged -that the 0 work should be proceeded with. He did 11 not know how the money was to be 11 raised, but the Council must do the best it could. If the bridge failed, the "■' settlers would have to go four miles round. He proposed that tho North Riding should pay £125 to the cost, 0 and the West Riding a similar amount. The chairman considered that any " money paid by the Council towards the c bridge would be a gift to the Waimate Plains settlers. Cr. Anderson said the alternative was. 1 to close the road, and lie would not be 1 averse to that course, s 'After further discussion, in which it c was stated that the bridge would not l> cost £SOO, the motion was carried, on 1 the understanding that the North Ridt ing's share should be limited to £ 100. GENERAL. The question of erecting a concrete ■ culvert at Gambria street, Midliirst, at a > cost of £3l os, was deferred till next year's estimates were framed. Authority was given for fencing the ■ Council's stock reserve at Mangaehu c with a sheep-proof fence. Sanction was given for the foreman to • supply 10 yards of earth to the Ngaere 1 dairy factory. Holidays for the working staff were ' fixed, namely, Christmas Day, Boxing 1 Day, and New Year's Day. Accounts amounting to £IOB7 were ' passed for payment. I