EGMONT COUNTY COUNCIL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 313, 12 June 1915, Page 7

EGMONT COUNTY COUNCIL.

I ORDINARY MEETING. The ordinary meeting of the Egmonti . County Council was held at Opunakc yes. 1 tenlay, wlien there wore present: Councillors M. Fleming (chairman) M J ; Meßeynolds, James young, T. Harvey, J 1 W. C. Dudley, H. Raweliffe, R. ,1. McNeill, S. Campbell and W. R. Wright. FOREMEN'S REPORTS. low''-!™" 0 " 8 foremcn "Ported as fol*™T S di " g Kortllern ---On the Watine Road, the gravel contract was comnlet overhauled, and was now in fair order Various work had been done on te Auroa and Opunake-Stratford Roads As pract.cally no contract work had teen done in the division during the i past season, and tho hands had been pnndpally engaged in bridge loan work ™«J A^ a( l s required MMideraMe recoating. About 900 yards of metal was required on the MQmm Road, but if the council considered that it was too late to work the plant lie suggest ed getting out a. few hundred yard* of maintenance metal to save the life of some of the roads. In addition, the fol- ; towing was urgently required: Oeo Road 200 yards, Opunake-Stratford West 200 yards Auroa Road 100 yards and El- , tham Road 100 yards. Oeo Riding Southern.—The hands, had been engaged on contracts in progress, winch were now completed. Tho Main fcouth Road was now in fair order, with the exception of about thirty chains between Watino .Road and Pihama factory, which would be scarified and refaced with hand broken metal as soon as the roller was available. (Carting out metal on Skeet Road was now in progress. ' _ R'ahotu Southern and Opunake llid-ings.-C. Vickery had completed his contract on the Main South Road. Twenty chains of rough worn road on the Main South Road had been scarified and re* faced. Water pipes had been laid to the shed, and he recommended getting tiie suitable pipes, etc., for uso in washing out the boilers and making pipes. Rahotu Northern Riding.—The staff had been engaged in general maintenance work, and. the riding was in fairly good order. He suggested that he lie . given another man with a horse and dray to cart out boulder stone in heaps of 50 to 'IOO yards on the roadside. Th ' crusher and road-roller could then b utilised simultaneously. By scarifying the road and adding a, few yards o,

stone to the chain, a good job could Ik done cheaply, at a total cost of 5s pel yard. He considered that the rollci could do the crushing and searifvin" a< well ' ' " PATIKI .ROAD. Mr. J. X. Twomey drew attention to the dangerous state 0 f the Upper Patiki Road, where there were about ten chains of unformed road between two •rood metalled pieces. This could lie made good for a very little expenditure. Their property, he considered, was '' between the devil and the deep blue sea," as they either had to traverse this unformed portion, or go over the whole length of the Lower Patiki Road, which was in a bad condition. It was, he said, preposterous to exact rates on property facing highways which arc not even formed. He said that they only asked that it should be made passable. It was resolved to expend the money available in grading and forming the road. This will also include replacing the culvert with pipes. THE KERI ROAD. Councillor Eawcliffe referred to tho Bate o ftlaO<eriEoad,whicMe,on s Iced, was absolutely disgraced Ihere was plenty of metafalonlid" he road, and a week's work should place the road in order. The manager o tl e and iiothmg had been done to the road He was quite willing to go on paying! but would not do so unless he was at md S()I " 0thi " g w<)uW bo don « to the it + tc(l «' at «>c road was tt> m in debt at present; £2O Ms had been spent in the past six months. Councillor McNeill thought that conclusive evidence could be brought that the money had not been spent on the road. The chairman sonsidcred that the money was often spent on a road without the Settlers recognising the value of the work done. ' Councillor Dudley referred to the unsatisfactory position in regard to the royalty. It was finally decided to invite the saWimllcrs interested to meet the council at the next meeting. WORKIXO FOREMEN. The council at last meeting decided to . ppoint two working foremen in plaet, of an engineer. When applications were received yesterday the position was again discussed. It was considered that the county Was too large to subdivide into two. It was pointed out that there were seventy-eight miles of road in the county. After some discussion, it was decided lo appoint four foremen with districts as at present. Councillor Dudley considered that it would be better to appoint one overseer, who would ride about all the time, than give four men the opportunity of riding about. Foremen were then appointed as follow:—Rahotu, R. Newport; Opunake, A." K Clifford; Geo Northern, M. Harris, and Geo Southern, W. Harris. The new foremen were instructed to discharge all the present road hands, and re-engage the best labor available, the present staff being eligible for reinstatement. STU'AiTFORD-OPUXAKH ROAD. 'Messrs. 11. Munro and Rowe waited on the council in reference to the state of the KlTatford-Opimako West Road, and said that they had been compelled to knock off milking last season owing to the state of the road, and they wanted to be able to start again, especially as cheese was lOos-per cwt. It was stated that the metal was completely worn out. Twelve, months ago the road was £BO in credit. There was about one mile and a half of metal to attend to. The Punehu River also required bridging. It was a dangerous river, and they asked if it were not possible to include this in the bridge loan. Mr. Rowe required an outlet towards the. Oco Road. Councillor Dudley said that they had applied to the Government on several occasions for a grant to build this bridge. Mr. Munro said that the settlers had offered to place the metal on the road at Is less than the contract price. Reference to the. books showed that the road was £27 in debt, and that £-1-28 had been expended on the road in the last four years. Mr. iMunro said that no tenders had been called for any road in the northern division, Oeo Riding, during the past two years. He urgently required <some. work done, and was willing to assist hy providing teams to cart gravel at 5s hUs 'than the schedule price, or he would tip broken metal on I he road Tor 7s per vard. It' was finally decided to expend up to £2O in gravel for ihe road, the fpra-

man to divide-the money between, thi two ends of the road. | GRAVEL ROYALTY. The Harbor Board notified that th( board had passed a resolution, agreeing i to charge the council <kl per yard foJ 3000 yards, and provided that tin council slope off the banks and throw in the surface heaps to the satisfaction of the board the board would refund •Id per yard to the council. Councillor Young stated that he had interviewed the Harbor Board, and hod offered to pay the board 3d per yard royalty and fence the pit. After some discussion, the council decided to view the locality, and the matter was held over meantime. WATER SUPPLY. The Farmers' Co-operative Organisation Society notified that it was now prepared to supply the council with water for its engine, provided a ball cock was suppJied,, at £5 per annum. It was pointed out that the water pipes were now laid to Stohrt Hotel, and that 30ft. of pipe would connect with the council's tank.—No action was taken at present WATTNO ROAD. Mr. J. Ncilson referred to the state of this road near his property. He said that a culvert was too small and caused the imetal to wash away at flood time. He offered the council any gravel required from his pit free of charge. He also asked permission to 1 erect a guard fence to protect his hedge. —Referred to the foreman. THE OAONUT DEVIATION. In reply to the council's request that the old road at the Oaonui bridge do'-. viation should be vested in the council, the Commissioner of Crown Lands notified that the matter was now c'osed, as the land had been transferred to the Public Trustee, from whom the present | road was taken, essentially aa an exchange. The Lard Board had previously communicated with the council on the matter, but had received no definite reply. The members were of opinion that the old bridge site should be removed for a gravel reserve and to give the council access to the river for gravel and the settlers the right to a watering place for stock, 'ine clerk is to writ to the Department to this effect, anforward a copy of the correspondence tc g-ether jyith explanatory note to Hi

; C. G. Wilkinson, M.P., 'to assist them ; in their endeavor to obtain their object. [ GATES OX WIRENUI ROAD. At last mooting a letter was received in reference to the gates on the Wire- '< nui Road, and jt was stated that if Mr. Coomhc removed his gate it would he necessary for him to fence, and he would thereby block the road, as the present road line would not permit of the Oaoimi River being crossed without" a bridge owing to steep banks. The matter -was referred to Mr. G. T, Murray, resident road engineer, who considered that Mr. Coombe should erect a fence temporarily along the present track. He could not close the tracK,l as Government money had been spent thereon, and the ford on the present line was not safe. Besides, a bridge would one day be necessary, and it would be unwise to destroy the present banks. 'A copy of the letter will be forwarded to Mr. Coombes. TENDERS. Tenders were accepted as follow:—300 yards of gravel on Nopera Road R. E. Davidson, 4s 2d; 300 yards of gravel on tower Oeo Road, R. E. Davidson, 4s. THE PATE. The question of rate to be struck for the ensuing year was discussed. The chairman stated that He would, with the clerk, go into the matter, and bring down a statement at the next meeting. He considered that a higher rate would havo to be struck. It was also decided that each forman should forward an estimate of the cost of keeping the roads in order for the next twelve months. GENERAL. Mr. W. J.Neilson was granted permission to remove some logs lying alongside the Carrington Road, which had recently been metalled. Mr. E. Read notified that he was prepared to place 20 or 30 yarns of metal on the road at 3s 6d per yard.—The offer was accepted. The stone to be stacked to the satisfaction of the foreman. The Farmers' Co-operative Society notified that at the request of the engineer it had secured 20 tons- of cement for the council at £5 per ton delivered. Of this amount, 12% tons was available for the council. As- the council did not know anything of the matter, and had already secured a supply from the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Company, it .was decided that the council could not take delivery. Mr. G. T. Murray, resident engineer, returned plans of proposed work on YVirenui Road in connection with expenditure of present grant for slight alteration. He suggested deferring calling tenders for work in such wet country until October. Mr. C. A. Wilkinson, M.P., notified that he would be pleased to assist the council to obtain the grants required from the Government. Messrs. W. H. Dudley, Opunake:. A. Thornlcy, Pihama, and A. Baker, Rahotu, were granted renewals of slaugh-ter-house licenses^ Mr. K B. iStohr forwarded account for £2O 17s on account of motor hire by the late engineer.—The council decided to accept no responsibility.