ELTHAM COUNTY COUNCIL.

Taranaki Daily News, 10 July 1916, Page 7

ELTHAM COUNTY COUNCIL.

tIOX-THLY MEETING. The ordinary meeting of th.. Eltham (. aunty. Council was )„.I<l at t;-„> county "tlice, Kltham. on Saturday. when therwere present: Crs. A. C. 'ftii* (chairman), A. h. Campbell, D. Bla;'; C. K. MeWuincss, A. 'fait, A. MjVVilliams J Granville and Gifford. An apology was receive! ,'rom Cr. Belcher. ENGINEER'S REPORT. The county engineer (Mr T »' Bishami •eported a, follows:- ' M " 1 " 1 i>atea bridge.-Thc new pier is comft L f " a 5 Uis P 0 to take *■ When thoroughly set the pier will be connected with beam, of }m<l»South riding.-Ceneral maiutc.une,. ■as been carried out, and roads patched where required. ' Te Roti road.-On the west of the railway there i 8 an approximar,e d'stance or 28 chains unmetalled road, one half chain wide. The alterations earned out by the Public Work, Departwent m connection with the station .vards substituted fivr chains of earth road for live chains of fairly ..nod met il led road. The road is dead'level with no drainage. There are several clumps ot boxthorn that require removing At I'resent they arc blocking half the" road lo make any effective improvement, tlie raod requires metalling from the new railway crossing to the Skeet road. Cost about £270. Kltham riding—A start lias been made on the new culvert in the Mam'amingi Valley, and it will be completed m about ten days. No further work has been done on the cleaning of the Mnngaimngi creek. Portions of the Rawhitiroa road have been tar-sprayed and patched. Omona riding.-The luctalliii" l,as been completed. Mangatoki riding.—Portions of the Eitham, Hunter, and Hastings roads have been tar-sprayed. Concrete retaining walls have been put to the .small undgo on the upper Stuart road. The drain alnog the Kltham road at .Uaiigatoki has been deepened. The tilling on the Palmer road will be raised as soon as weather permits. Kaponga riding.—The Elthani road from the Kaponga Town Board boundary to Mr. .John's section has been patched with tar and shingle. Neill road.—Re expenditure of the J-70 authorised, the best value will he obtained by putting a culvert and filling at the low-lying portion of the road, where at present there is a water course across the road. Any balance of the money would be best spent in grading. The log culvert is quite safe at present. Tar plant and supply—l propose inspecting the boilers next week. Sample of pitch received is unite satisfactory. The report was adopted. In connection with the Te Roti road, the engineer was authorised to interview the Kail'way Department to see if the Government would contribute to the cost. THE RATES. Rates were struck for the ensuing year as follows:—South riding, general rate l\M; Mangatoki, general %d, separate, %d: Omona, general l%d, separate Vl-d; Kaponga, general Id, separate %d; Elthani, general'l'/ 2 d.

MOTOR AMBULANCE. On behalf of Hie Eltham Friemllv Societies. Messrs J\ C Stanners and 11. Butcher waited on the council, and asked for then support in urging on the Hawera Hospital Board the necessity for obtaining ? motor ambulance. Thev stated that there were lotlu lodge nienil)ers in the Hawera hospital district who belonged to the hospital association, and if thc\ or their wives and families used the hospital their accounts were guaranteed by the association. The present ambulance was out of date. One motor ambulance stationed at Hawera would be sufficient. The council passed a resolution strongly supporting the proposal. THE MANGAMINGI CREEK. Cr. Granville referred to the state of the Maugamingi creek. He stated thai, eight weeks ago a resolution had been passed asking the settlers to* open the creek or that the council would do the work itself The engineer stated the settlers had started the work, and would continue it as soon as the depth of water permitted. Cr. Granville expressed dissatisfaction with the work done. lie was tired of the procrastination ovei the matter, which was cansiii!.' loss to settlers above. Hi- himself bad lost several sheep through the water backing up on to hipropeity. At Cr. Granville's request the chairman promised tu visit the locality. GENERAL. Transfers of shumhter-houso licenses were -ranted from Wickhain Bros, to 1.. Wiekham, and from M. Belli to 1!. E. Williams. .Mr. E. .1. Gibson, Stuart road, asked to have a wafer course cleaned below his property.—The adjoining owner will be given notice to clear the water course. The matter of a culvert applied for by Mr. A. T. Burke. Eltham road, was left 'it! the bands of (be engineer. Mr. Chatterlon wrote complaining of the bad state of the Te Kofi ioad.Dealt with in the engineer'* report. The Taranaki County Council wrote expressing its appreciation of the generous action of Mr. Basham in offering his services to the council in a professional capacity during the absence of the Taranaki County Council's engineer (Mr. Fisher) who is going away as artillery captain with the 20th Reinforcements. The War.ganui Restar Company wrote stating that 110,003 gallons of tar had been earmarked for the council for next season. The Taranaki Motor Transport Company notified that they had warned all their drivers against fast driving of lorries, and were al-o lilting governors to their eimines to prevent this. A councillor remarked.that there had been a considerable improvement since last meeting. The Department of Agriculture notified that with the object of encouraging tree planting it was prepared to sell and supply trees to farmers. The chairman said while all recognised the necessity of planting suitable trees, it was generally a ease of putting the matter off to a more convenient time—The letter was favorably received. Two employers of the council were granted an extra 2s per day, while working in the water. Settlers on the boundary raod near Kapum are to be' as,ked to remove overhanging treea» I

I , ~■ ' Messrs Ilutriek and Co. asked that the engineer should inspect the hrhli<e over the Mangatoromiro stream, which was in a very dangerous state. The engineer said he had the matter in hand. ■He considered it was necessary something should lie done, hut it was a large structure. A committee, consisting of the chairman, ('is. lielchcr and VivVVilliiijn were appointed (o meet Mr. Hutrick at the site. The chairman suggested that a conference of county councils interested in toll gates should he called, so as to he 1 rejiiired in case the Aholition of Tolls Bill came before the House this session. The chairman was authorised to arrange tor a conference, and t'rs. Mclitiinncss, I a it, Belcher and tile chairman were appointed a committee to attend the conference if held.