ELTHAM COUNTY COUNCIL.

Taranaki Daily News, 12 February 1917, Page 3

ELTHAM COUNTY COUNCIL.

MONTHLY MEETING. The Elthain County Council met on Saturday. 'Present: " Crs. C. J. Belcher (chairman!, A. C. (Vase, A- L. Campbell, D. Black, A. M. Mcssana, C. McGuinness, J. Granville, E. G. Gilford, A. McWiiliam. PURCHASE OF METAL SITE. Mr. A. M. Revcll wrote asking for a leposit in connection with the area of and he had sold to the Council. The ■'oniicil had purchased (1 1 /, acres of land ;iear the Waingongoro bridge. In the Area is a deposit of metal from which the Council obtains its supply, and by tin acquisition of the land tin' Council expects to save royalty and to obtain, £IOO per year in revenue. It was decided to inform Mr. Revell that the money will be paid as soon as the legal formalities arc complied with, ! ' DAMAGE AT OMOANA. The resident engineer of the Public Works Department estimated that a sum of £2ll would be required to 'repair the damage to roads under the control of the Department, and £1330 would be required for the followim.' ? county roads:—RawUitiroo road, from \ I'Patea bridge to. junction with Moe-wa- j I tea Valley road, £ 1020; Mataiwhitu j road, from Omoana boundary of section I j3, Education Reserve, £160; Karewal [road, £75; Waitiri road, £75. The! Minister for Public Works stated that ' on the Council giving an outline of the works to be carried out on the county roads submitted to the resident engineer and approved by him, authority for £00.", ( £ for £) would bo issued. The Minister regretted he was unable to j piovide labor and suggested that the j settlers help themselves by undertaking the work. Cr. McWiiliam said the letter from the Public Works Department was very Satisfactory. The Council felt very grateful to the Public Works Department for their prompt offer of help. Ho added that the De.parlment had never left the Council in the lurch. It was resolved to accept the offer and thank the Department. EATING OF RAILWAY LAND. Messrs Halliwell, Spratt- and Thompson, Hawera, wrote regarding an account 'for ratps, charged to Mr. G. C. G. Willis, on about eight acres which had been legally taken over by the Government for railway purposes. Mr. R. P. Shaw, Kapuni, wrote stating that be had been rated on land, part of which had been taken over by the Government for the Opnnake railway. The clerk said he had written to the correspondents, and had pointed out that the position was that the Council could make no alteration till the Valuation Department had readjusted the assessments. The Council resolved to urge the Department to readjust the assessments. GOVERNMENT GRANTS. Correspondence was received from the VVniapu County Council inviting the Council's co-operation in an endeavor to bring about the abolition of the system of Government grants, and to have substituted for it something more acceptable. Other suggestions for improved local government were forwarded. _ The Council decided that, the suggestions were matters for the Counties' Conference to consider. It was resolved to write to the Waiapu Council to this'effect. MANGAMINGI ROAD. Cr. McWiiliam drew attention to the state of Mangamingi Vallev road in the Eltham rbliag, The road was very bad. There were cups and knobs in it 'which were a constant danger to springs. If the Council deliberately allowed the road to remain as it 'was ho was not sure whether the Council would not be liable for accidents. The .wool driver had threatened to increase the cartage by Is Od per bale owing to the stretch of road in the Eltham county. The chairman said'he was afraid tie roads were so good in Eltham that people were inclined to complain unreasonably. There was a serious shorta.<r e 0 f

labor, and ratepayers should recognise this. The engineer said there was no doubt the road referred to by Mr. McWiiliam was rough. The best thing to do was to wait until, the winter, when a light roller could be placed on the road. The shortage of labor was the main difficulty at the present time. Further discussion took place regarding tho roads, and the chairman said that his policy would be to conduct the business of the Council with'the strictest economy .during the war. Cr. McGuirincss pointed out that tho wages had increased from £3OO to £SOO in three montlis. The damage at Omoana would affect this to a degree, still the increase was heavy. ROADS AT MOEROA. Cr. McWiiliam asked the engineer whether steps were being taken to open up the roads in the Moeroa district. Mr. Basham said men were working there now. Cr. McWiiliam said it was his ambition to see the whole of the backblocks roads opened, and he would keep on pegging away until this was accomplished. ENGINEER'S REPORT. The county engineer (Mr, F. Basham) reported to the Council as follows: j Kaponga Riding.—Tarring on the Ma--1 naia and Eltham roads within the town j area is completed, with the exception j of a few chains on Eltham road, held up j pending arrival of the balance of tar, I On the Neill road about 30 chains has I been graded and formed. I propose i using the broken Btone lying on the Lower Mana road to metal the worst places. Mangatoki Riding.—No work has been done in this riding during the month. I hope to commence tarring on the I Hastings and Duthie. roads in the course lof a few days. I have discussed the question of repairs to the Waingongoro bridge with the Works Committee of the Eltham Borough Council, and we agreed that as it would cost as much as the cost of the whole bridge to carry out such work as would make the bridge absolutely safe from future floods, it would be better to only spend a small sum in precautionary measures. I propose hauling large boulders over to the" ■western bank to prevent further erosion. South Riding.—Tho metalling on the Boylan road is completed and tarring sufficiently advanced to allow the ic-acX being opened for traffic. In the event of any quantity of new work of this nature being undertaken, serious consideration should be given to procurong a hot asphalt mixer, as by using these machines better and more economical work can he done. Eltham Riding.—General mainteance has boon done. The cottage at the iPatea, river is practically completed, and will bo ready for occupation in 11 few days. \ Omoana Riding.—A dray road is opened to Moeroa, and men are now owninw ; the road to the Whenuakura, Valley The contract for the widening of the 'lvarewa road has been let to Mr. C. Hodge at £4 per chain for earthwork and 3s Cd per foot for culverts. The report was adopted. GENERAL. The toll-gate keeper at Riverlea was given a ten per cent, increase on his wages.