EGMONT COUNTY COUNCIL

Taranaki Daily News, 13 December 1916, Page 7

EGMONT COUNTY COUNCIL

MONTHLY MEETING. The adjourned annua! meeting and the ordinary monthly meeting of the turnout County Council took place at Opunukc on Tuesday, when there were present: Crs. M. Fleming, W. C. Dudley, T. Harvey, Jns. Young, M. J. Meßcyr.olds, W. R. Wright, S. Campbell, snd R. J. McNeill. ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN When the clerk called for nominations fo' chairman, Cr. Harvey moved that Cr. Fleming be re-elected, as he would like to sec Cr. Fleming finish out the ' term of the present council, which espiied next November. Cr. Mcßeynolds, in seconding, stated that when approached to stand, by ratepayers who were dissatisfied with the previous council, he agreed conditionally : on the five riding members being voted for as a combination. It was understood . that Cr, Fleming would be elected chairman, c Cr. Campbell considered that they should have a change, and that a member of the Oeo riding should be appointed for this year, but he could see that it was useless. . Cr W. C: Dudley supported the motion. Cr. W. R. Wright, while believing that tile chairmanship should go round, thought it was in the interests of the Council that the-chairman should hold office for more than one year. The motion was then carried unanimously. The chairman thanked the council for the honor conferred on him, and also for the candid discussion. He was rather anxious to occupy the chair this time,because he wanted the Council to justify its existence. He was.hopeful that at the end of their term ratepayers would b4 well satisfied with the .work of the council. Later, on the motion of Crs. Young and McNeill, it was resolved to ■>ote the clipirmnn an honorarium of £3O. The chairman considered that £2i> was sufficient to meet his out of pocket, expenses. He always, endeavored to do justice to the position, but he felt that In' was unable to afford the time to get about the county as much as he would like. An honorarium of £SO would make him feel as if he were working for the council. Cr. McKeynolds remarked that any surplus could be donated by the chairman to the Egmont Nursing Association. FOREMEN'S REPORTS. The various foremen submitted their reports as follow: Oeo. Riding (northern division). —The stall' have been employed at general surface work, repairing and widening cutlings, cleaning outlets, and spreading metal, etc., on the Eltliam, Oeo, and Watiiia roads. H. Munro had completed his contracts for the delivery of 700 yards of crushed boulder stone, also the 400 yards extension authorised by the/council, and the 200 yards of boulder stone on the Eltliam road. He then commenced the delivery of 100 yards of crushed boulder stone for Foreman Clifford.

Geo Riding (southern division). —The bunds had been employed at general surface work, carting out gravel and clay, spreading blinding on the roughest portions of the Main South road, also clearin;.' water-tables and patching. Mr. G. Kehely had commenced his contract on Oeo road, and the new pit was turning out good gravel so far. Contract No. 2!;3, Patiki road, the crushing plant was ready to start on Monday," 11th inst. He recommended extending'this contract by 200 yards, which would enable him to complete a very bad section of tin. road, providing the contractor was agreeable at the same price. He asked permission to keep the roller throe days after the completion of this contract, in order to scarify the Wntino ronrt, which meant n great saving in picking up the old road.

Kahotu Riding (southern) and Opu nakc Riding.—The staff had been engaged at Water-tabling, raking loose stones, blinding, and minor .bridge rtpiiir!, on Main South and/Eltham roads. Pipe making and tar cooking'had been in progress. Before shifting the crusher f'ni, Taimgatara, 100 yards of boulder, had been crushed for' maintenance on Eltliam road.

Rahotu Riding (northern division).— The. staff'were constantly employed on the filling and, dismantling of the Kapoaiaia bridge, south of Pungareliu. 'Cut-' tings approaching the bridge had been widened, and the material removed from these cuttings utilised in 'widening the approaches to the new ferro-cen'crete biidge. The contractors were making good progress with the hauling cut of boulder stone throughout this riding, M. Coll'ey having completed the hauling of stone on k> two first contracts and nearly finished the third.

Report, on crushing plant and road rclier.—The new elevator came to hand on November 14, and a start was made ciushing on Saturday, November 18. The ncv-' elevators were a big improvement on the old ones. The contracts on tliu Oeo northern, also 100 yards for the Rol.otu southern, were finished. The total for 15 days' crushing was 1200 yards of metal and ISG yards of screenings, making a total iii all of 1380 yards. The average per day was about 921 yards. Up till November 14 the roller was working in the Oeo southern riding, rclimg and scarifying. From November If it has been rolling and scarifying and grading in the Oeo northern riding. Bridge foreman's report—The timbe and bridge gear has been moved from Kapaiaia bridge to bridge No. 22. This bridge was progressing satisfactorily and piers were under erection. He asked tin council for an increase of wages of 10s per week. He also asked permission to pay a suitable man for the timber work 12s or 13s per day, as this would be very little extra cost on the erection of a bridge and expedite the work. ROAD ROLLER. The chairman stated that he. and Cr. Wright had .visited Waitara and had irj. spected the Austin motor road roller, and were perfectly satisfied that it was what they required. Before finally deciding ho suggested that,the council should obtain particular. l , from the CookCounty Council, which had been -using on (! for 21 years. A fact that appealed to him was its economical working, only using benzine when in work. Cr. Wright said he had very little faith in anything American, but .he muss admit that he was surprised at its stiength. It resolved itself in his mind to a question of patriotism. Were they going to support American or local manufacture V He moved that the whole council should journey to Waitara and see the roller in action. Cr. McNeill favored a committee of the council being set up. On the ' motion of the chairman, it was resolved that a committee consisting, of Crs. McNeill, Dudley, and Young

!'';'• appointed to-inspect the engine, and :>' the inspection and the reply from iiie "ook County Council are satisfactt: ' machine be ordered at once. A LEGAL CLAIM. A. G. Bennett, solicitor, Maim'a, notified that at the bearing of :'io cad" Stohr v. County Council, be w:> :ble to get the plaintiff non-suited wii. .£4 (js (Id costs to the council. He also submitted bill of costs therewith, £l7 ,14s 7d. This was in connection with a claim for motor hire of £2O 7s, made by Iv B. Stohr and certified to by the council's late engineer (Mr. Opie). A 'councillor remarked that it would have been better to have paid the claim Cr. McNeill said the money should have been paid, as the council was mor'ally jf not legally liable. The chairman said he would personally have been better pleased to vote £2O to a public institute than pay the account, which he thought wtis an imposition on the council, which had given no one authority to employ the motor' It was certainly rather hard on Mr. Stohr, but if the account had been rendered monthly it would not have gone on longei than one month. Cr. Dudley drew attention to Mr. Marshall having acted for the council after :> resolution bad been passed that he should not be engaged on the council's work. The clerk pointed out that these cases were in his hands before the resolution was passed. After a 'little further discussion the matter dropped. OIFIUNAKE MAIN- STREET, Cr. Dudley, referring to the tarring of the Main Street, Opunake, stated that he considered the estimate .would be considerably exceeded. He thought the work Bhould be stopped until the County obtained a vsprayer. He also considered that it would pay the Council to. send the man in charge for a day to the Eltliam County to view the spraying operations there, and see whether the present machine could be converted into a sprayer. He moved to vhis effect. This was seconded by Cr. McNeill, and carried. Later, Cr. Dudley said that sooner or later they would have to. face the question of tar-sealing their roads. Cr. Wrifrht: That would mean a loan! The Cl.-'rman was not much in favor nf tar-sealing yet. TAUNGATARA BRIDGE. Cr. -McNeill reported that the Taunga- ' vara bridge, Mnin South Road, was in a dangerous state. With Cr. Campbell, he had inspected the bridge that moraing. After the luncheon adjournment : .Councillors visited the site, and expressed surprise at the state of the bridge, which is an overhead truss 1 structure. One of the stringers is practically rotten through. Temporary sirp--5 ports had.been erected, but only two ' now remained, and these were swinging loose from the bridge. | The bridge overseer reported that It J would cost £25 to repair the bridge. J He recommended that it be. rebuilt in ferro-couevcte. The Clerk stated that the timber had " been ordered some time ago for the two Taimgatara bridges, and the Punehu ' bridge on' the Eltliam Road, and as soon as it arrived the bridge foreman would attend to the bridge. ' DOG-TAX COLLECTION. Tenders for the supply of dog collars > were received as follows:—J. Milden- . hall (Opunake), Is; C. McGregor (Rai ho'tu), Is Id. Only one application for '. the position of dog-tax collector' was uceived, viz., J. Geary. Sporting dog 3, i Is; all other dogs, od. I It was stated that the net return to i the Council last year was £3l 13s fld. i After discussion, it was resolved to ■ appoint Mr. Geary, and to accept the s lowest tender for dog collars. GENERAL. The Commissioner of Crown Lands notified that 8s (thirds) accruing to a side street at Te Kiri would be . the final payment. It would be advisable ; for the County to formally submit a proposal for its expenditure.—The foreman was authorised to spend the money on necessary work in Weka Street. The Eltliam County Council forwarded particulars of travelling whare for sale at £3s.—Crs, McNeill and Campbell were appointed a committee to inspect, with power to act. The matter of deviation of water in Weka Street, Tc Kiri, was referred to Crs. Campbell and McNeill and the foreman, who will arrange to meet a representative of the Reserves Agent on the site. Mr. H. Catchpole wrote, inquiring what the Council proposed doing relative to the bad state of the Auroa Road from the factory. Mr: Coombe wrote, agreeing to allow the Council to deviate the Wiremu Road through his property near the Oaonui River, subject to the Council securely fencing the deviation.—The overseer is to be instructed to do the work. The Clerk reported that 88 ratepayers on properties fronting County roads had been notified to cut down ail gorse and blackberry on the road frontage. The 200 yards of metal asked for to complete the Patiki Road was granted. A 'ort discussion took place relative the damage to small bridges, em! was resolved that the clerk look up I by-lawsnon the question. The Clerk was authorised to draw up an agreement with Mrs. Layman relative to the suggested exchange of piece of land at a dangerous corner near Pungarchu. Special rates to cover special loan! were struck as follow:—Carrington Road, 3-13 d; Oeo No. 1, 1-od; Oeo No. 3, 3-s<l The Clerk stated that notification had been received from the Reserves Agent that Native rates amounting to £lO2 2s had been placed to the [!ouncil's credit.—The Council considered this ury satisfactory. It was resolved that Cr. McNeill endeavor to procure a roller from the Waimate County Council for the Oeo Road. The procuring of iron for the bridges near Opua Road was referred to the chairman. It was resolved to exempt from rating four acres of the Convent property that was used for school purposes, but the balance, about one acre, attached to the presbytery, will not be exempt. It was resolved to close the office for; the holidays from December 23 to I j-January (i, and the next monthly meet-ing-will be held on January 16. It was resolved to advertise that all ' unpaid rates will be sued for, if not paid by January 20. ' .. Accounts amounting to '£1242 14s 8d (general) and £54 18s 9d (bridge loan) were .passed'for payment.