STRATFORD COUNTY COUNCIL.

Taranaki Daily News, 21 October 1915, Page 3

STRATFORD COUNTY COUNCIL.

MONTHLY MEETING. S (From Our Own Correspondent.) 1 Stratford, Yesterday. The monthly meeting of the above j Council was held yesterday. iPresent: ( Cr. W. Hathaway (chairman), Crs. Baskin, "Walter, Were, Coleman, Christoffel, ] Anderson, Smith, and H. Worthington. Mr. H. Bredin, of Tariki, waited on the Council and asked if they would raise a loan on behalf of the settlers living on the Mangaotea road. He pointed out that ; part of the road was in the Moa Road , District, and if a loan was raised it would j have to be a joint one. The chairman j said he had been over the road, ] and he had never seen a worse sur- ' veyed road in the county. The bridges on this road were not too strong, and it j might be necessary to-replace them with , ferro-concrete if a loan was raised for , the road. The old loan was raised in , 1896, and will run out in about sixty-two , years. I In reply to Mr. Walter, the chairman stated that there was nothing provided ; in this year's estimates for the road. j The engineer said the track laid out by the surveyors at the time was of the , roughest country, whereas, if they had , deviated a little, they would have been \ able to get practically a flat road. In the present surveyed road it would be , almost impossible to even make a bridle , track. ' , The Council decided to raise a loan pro- • viding the necessary documents were de- , posited with the clerk. Cr. Smith drew attention to the need : of metalling the Brecon Road. It badly , wanted doing, and the metal was on the spot. Cr. Baskin again drew attention to the fact that nothing had been done to the Kaiapoi Road, near Mr. Walker's. There was metal to be put on the bridge, but nothing had been done, and M*. Walker could not get his milk out. The engineer said that it was impossible to do all this work at present, and as Mr. Walker was not prepared to spread the metal it was not worth while sending a man seven miles to spread two yards of metal. Cr. Baskin: It is not seven miles! The Engineer: If you take the distance from the crusher where the man is working and back it is seven miles. Messrs Skidgevill (chairman), Hogg, and Kleeman, representing the Midhirst Dairy Co., waited on the Council, and asked if it was possible for the Council to make a rebate on three suppliers to their factory, who would be using the toll gate every day. It was important to the company, as if the suppliers had to pay toll fees they might take their milk to the cheese factory. Cr. Walter: It seems to me that the suppliers should come here themselves and make the application. It looks as i' the company want the exemption, and the suppliers do not care which way it goes. Mr. Kleeman, said it was probably his fault that the suppliers were not there. He advised them that it was no use too many going to the Council —hence their absence. Cr. Christoffel said he would like to let them off, but the trouble was that the law would not allow it. The chairman said no provision had been made for charging for carts carrying cream for the creameries. He admitted that the schedule was drawn up rather hurriedly, but he saw no reason why carts carrying cream should not be reduced to threepence per same as a cart carrying milk or whey. The 'Council decided that carts conveying cream should be allowed to pass through the gate at the rate of 3d per horse. Mr. Skidgewcll asked if the company could pay their account every month. The chairman said there would be no difficulty in that. It was decided to draw the Lowgarth Dairy Company's attention to suppliers using carts with narrow tyres on the Finnerty Eoad. The chairman reported that, witli Cr. Christoffel and the engineer, he had visited Eltham and inspected the tarspraying plants, and was impressed with the tarred roads in Eltham. In conversation with the borough 'engineer, lie was surprised to learn the low cost of maintenance, and he felt sure the Council were doing right in going in for tarred roads.' Cr. Walter said he would like to se» a piece of road put down in concrete as an experiment with' a bitumen dressing. It was finally decided that the engineer should report at next meeting on the cost of tarred macadam, tarred sealed, and concrete roads. Cr. Were moved that the engineer call tenders for the metalling of the Ahuroa Road west.—Carried. The chairman reported that there were 16 applications for the position of toll gate keeper, and that Mr. Martin had been appointed. TENDERS. The Council then went into committee to consider tenders. On resuming, it was reported that business had been accepted:—Pembroke Road—Chard and Hartigan; Beaconsfield Road—Chard and Hartigan: Palmer Road—F. W. Green; Monmouth Road —H. Gray; Mountain Road—Grinuner and Chamberlain; Finnerty Road—Grimmer and Chamberlain; Skinner Road —W. Stock; Robson Road —Grimmer and Chamberlain; Lower Cheal Road—Grimmer and Chamberlain; Skinner Road—W. Stock; Standish Road—J. Neilson; Opunake Road No. l 3—W. E. Hills; Brooks Road—Chard and I Hartigan; Climie Road —F. W. Green; Tlastie Road —Chard and Hartigan; Cardiff Waingongoro—H. Gray; Finnerty 'Road—Grimmer and Chamberlain; Manaia Road—F. W. Green. CORRESPONDENCE. Hon. A. L. Herduian, Minister in - Charge of the Discharged Soldiers' Information Department, informed the Council that a new department had been established, and asked the co-operation of the Council. It was decided to write and thank the Minister for his letter and inform him that they would keep the matter in view in case of employment suitable to a returned trooper. W. R. King, secretary of the Board of Agriculture, asked permission to allow school children to collect grasses on the roadsides and waste places during the coming summer. Cr. Anderson moved that the request be granted.—Seconded by Cr. Christoffel. Cr. Smith said it was only making work for the Weeds Inspector. Nothing required greater care in selecting than grass seeds. He was surprised at the Board of Agriculture and Farmers' Union supporting such a scheme. The motion was carried. Inspector of Noxious Weeds, enclosing specimens of "goats' rue" that had been added to the Noxious Weeds Act, and informing the Council that he did not know of any growing in Stratford County. From Commissioner of Crown Lands, i 'informing the Council that the Crown will [tj claim 3d per yard royalty for metal n taken from pit leased to Mr. Johnston.

The following Government grants are available—Puriwhaku flood damage £350; McCore's bridge, repairing bridge £100; Waitara Road Bridge £100; Stanley Road new bridge £250; Pembroke Road metalling £250; York Road metalling £IOO, Autawa Road, widening £IOO. G. T. Murray, resident engineer, informed Council that the Minister had approved of the issue by way of £ for £ subsidy for the following ronds:— Brewer-Taliore £SO, Douglas North £l5O, Manga £250, Mangaehu North £625, Mangaehu South £IOO, Ohura £IOO. S. H. James enclosed cheque for £37 17s for rates on section Kaitoke Eoad, pointing out that he had no access to it, and asking Council to assist in making a track part of the way so that he can get in to put in grass seed.— The work to be done. G. T. Murray, resident engineer, wrote in regard to the new toll-gate at Waipuku as follows: —"The Sovereign is, at common law, not liable to tolls, and the exception extends also to servants and vehicles Of the Crown employed upon public service." —Received. W.' S. Short, Acting-Under-Secretary, Public Works Department, wrote that in regard to votes provided upon the Public Works Appropriations for roads, etc., they will not be available for expenditure until such time as satisfactory arrangements have been made for the raising of the necessary loan for public works purposes, and it has been decided to what extent the funds then available will be sufficient to justify the prosecution of new works. The ietter concluded:—"The Department at* the present time regrets that it is unable to offer the Council any such monies for expenditure." The Moa Road Board wrote asking the Council if it was in favor of a joint loan of £9OO for Mangaotea Road The Board stated it had received a petition from three of the ratepayers asking it to confer with the Council in the matter. S. J. Baker wrote notifying the Council that he intended to claim 3d per cubic yard royalty on all boulders taken out of the Te Popo River by the Council between the properties of Mrs. Sehumacker and himself. ENGINEER'S REPORT. The engineer (Mr. W. J. Lopdell) presented the following monthly report:— During the month good work has been done throughout the County with the clearing of slips and general surface work. North Riding.—The stone-crush-er has been engaged during the month on the Stanlay, Cross and Croydon Roads (238 yards), Auckland Road (G4 yards), Radnor Road (58 yards), and is now completing the Beaconsfield Road, after .which the engineer proposed sending it to the York Road. The tunnel on the Salisbury Road might collapse at ' any time, so he ordered eleven 2ft. pipes to he in readiness. The cemetery culvert has a curve in it, also a break in it about 12 feet from the upstream end, which prevents the water from having a clean course. The only course is to replace the existing 9in. pipes with 12in. South Riding.—Work is progressing steadily in this riding, and the Cheal Road Bridge is well under way. Considerable difficulty was experienced in obtaining foundations. However, he was satisfied they were sufficiently good to carry the weight of the structure. The fencing of the Waihapa Road is completed, and a satisfactory job has been made. A small bridge on the Oru Road collapsed and had been replaced with eight 2ft. pipes. East Riding.— Good work has been done in this riding. Finehain's corner lias been widened on the Ohura Road. About 3 chains of road between the saleyard and the Toko station have been completed. Huiroa Riding.—Foreman Atkins is proceeding very satisfactorily with the slips on the Douglas North. Three hundred yards of metal was sent to Huiroa from Midhirst. Douglas Riding.—All the slips are practically cleared off and general surface work is being done. Mangaehu Riding. Good progress has been made in the riding with the clearing of slips, etc. The Mangaehu South is now open for traffic. The big wash-out is being filled . and the tunnel opened up. An overflow cut lias also been put in. The work is proceeding along the Main Road. The ; wash-out at Dons is being filled and a cut put in. West Riding.—General sur- [ face work is proceeding well. The ap- [ proaches to the Patea Bridge are completed. An cvtra man has been employ- > ed to help to catch up the work before , the contract season opens. General.— The toll-gate cottage and gates are now ■ erected- and ready for occupation with , the exception of lighting, which will be in readiness before the required date. Accounts amounting to £1685 were I passed for payment.