TARANAKI COUNTY COUNCIL.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 May 1919, Page 6

TARANAKI COUNTY COUNCIL.

MONTHLY MEETING. '. The monthly meeting of the Taranaki County Council was held yesterday, when there were present Crs. I. S. Connett (chairman), J. Andrews, G. Capper, A. Morton, C. Andrews, J. Wooldridge, J. B. Simpson, A. E. Laurence and P. McAllum. The chairman's report on sundry matters referred to him at last meeting of the Council was received and approved. INSPECTOR'S REPORT. The inspector <Mr. K Branch) submmed report for the month:—Flam. The crasE plant completed the Korlto depot ™ the 12 h Inst and Is now at the Kent road ~Jt hivuur crushed 914 yards for the month. T& total Crushed at the Korlto depot was mb varda allocated as follows: Korlto road 311 yardt. Ken? road 434 yards, Kent road from the Kent road depot 270 yards, dumped for on the Albert road 20 yards. The balance of stoSe at the Kent road depot will go on the Junction road, between Marsh's and Z Kent road. Shortage of labor Is delaying th Th C e rU No U |dump truck la now with the plant and is doing very good work. Driver Olson Is also with the plant, and is carting the screento The plant will go to the Baker road when completed at Kent road. The metalling on Hursthouse road from Pitt's pit •»*«««»; Dieted, 348 yards being put on. This road is Sow in good order though It will need attention for a time until the gravel becomes set. The No 1 truck did the whole of the carting. The Dig roller has been under sllghtrepals and has now joined the crushing plant. The small roller is now working on the Devon line stortine at Big Jim's Hill. The water cart with fie large roller has been put in good repairs. Driver Olsen's team is working with the plant Drivers Jury and Julian are still carting beach shingle and boulders at the Walwakaiho. Moa Biding -Foreman Laurence is now gettin? stone a't the Tarikl pit The Mangaone ailing and metalling is completed. So far I Save been unable to procure railway rails for Ihe Zig Zag repairs. The drains in Potrozs estate are now being attended to. Satisfactory arrangements were made by Cr. Laurence and myself with Mr. Goodwin re drain on the Ta Ma^eo«l d ßiding.-The foremen In this riding a «Sged with the Plant. A depot site has been selected on the Junction road a few chains on the New Plymouth side of the Manrarei factory Mr. Jordan has yet to give his Sent for a few feet of this land, to enable us'to build a leading bank. Waiters Riding.—The ftreraen In this length have been engaged in the metalling of Hursthouse anS Henwood roads, from Pitt's pit The metal bin has been erected in the Sentry Hill pit and the hand-broken stone will be carted out within the next week or so. At the present time I am using the truck for caring the hot tar to the sprayer. The Devon old is In a very rough state "t the present time This I will try and Improve while the J„ t Tin this riding. The alterations at Se Wa waSalho depot are under way. Pqsts 5 fence In the reserve have been secured, and m workw 11 be put in hand. The grader ,» still doing good work on the clay roads In th Oma d ta De ßidlng.-Gencral road work has been carried out in this riding. Foreman Eva has Sen unable to secure horses and drays to strip the Frankley road pit. If no better arraneements can be made r will have to take one of our hired teams for the work. Foreman Seamark has carted the boulders from the Tapaue river to the crushing site on Mr. Victor's property. Foreman Seamark is now on wth the top dressing of the tar sealed portion of the South road. Satisfactory arrangements were made with the borough engineer for their tjir-sDraver tanks, etc. ~ Okato Klding.-One hundred chains of grading and formation on the Pltone road ,has been Jompleid at a cost of £ll7 17s Bd. This work has been weU carried out under Foreman Meredith The entrance to Tlmaru has been well improved as recommended. This roatt Is also being knocked into shape. The grading on Surrey Hill road Is well under way and very good work is being done. Contractor Hill is pushing on well with the Pltone road boulder contract. Foreman Hayes Is with the bridge gang. The roads generally In this riding are in very good order. I would recommend sending the grader on to the Plymouth road. The settlers are willing to find the horses and free labor to carry out the work.

ROAD SURFACING. In a supplementary report the inspector furnished estimates for tar-sealing main roads, which, to compare with what was being done in other counties, would cost about £6 per chain for a 12ft wide road. The chairman said the question of what they were going to do with their main road surfa'ces would have to be decided. It could not be done out of ordinary revenue. To do the South Koad, from the toll gate to the present atrin of tarred road, a distance of about li miles, would cost over £BOOO for tarring, without allowing for deviations and regradlng of hills He thought it was out of the question for the county to entertain the idea of cohere* roads. For one thing the material available !n the country was not suitable. He remarked that serhaps a system of surface hardening with Belmont metal, as had been used with success in the southern portions of the nrovince might be of advantage. If it was SeSd to go in for tar-seallng he thought they should be able to do the whole of the] country main roads in about five years, there being about 60 miles to cover. He thought they could first go in for the tar-seallng, by means of a loan, repayable, in about 10 or 15 years, and then perhaps they might consider concrete and there might be then some cheaper method Cr C. Andrews said one of their great difficulties would be the diverting of traffic for doing concrete work, as all fillings and cuttings would require to be widened. If concrete roads were put down it would be necessary to keep traffic off it for three weeks after completion Cr Laurence thought the question of roads should be dealt with in a county loan rather than by riding loans. The chairman said If the tar-sealing was adopted the aim should be to do about 10 miles er so each year. A big supply of metal, however would be necessary right over the county, and this was a matter of some concern. The Inspector had failed to find anything like adeouate quantities of beach shingle even for the South Koad, and it looked at present as though a special crusher plant would be necessary for ' 'cr W Morton said he did not think there would by anything like enough shingle on the beaches or in the rivers and he was of opinion that a special crusher plant would be necessary. Cr Simpson said there were large quantities of shingle in the Moa riding, but he thought the cost of haulage to other ridings would make It of little use. Cr Morton asked what the length of main road' was in each riding in relation to the valuation, as that aspect of the question might affect the decision to make it either a county or riding loan. The chairman stated that the approximate lengths of roads and valuations were as follow: Moa 24 miles, value £800.000; Waitara, 15 miles', £5B4,00(I; Mangorei, 6% miles, £237,000; Omata, 3% miles. £60,000; Okato, 17% miles, £371,000. Continuing, the chairman said that if tar-seallng was to be the policy, the tar plant and necessary buildings would undoubtedly be a county loan. ■ Cr. Morton thought tbey might well consider whether,ofr.rioi-there should be two. loans—a county, loan for the plant, etc, and riding loans for doing the work.It was eventually resolved to refer the matter to the committee already setup to furnish a report on the question of road formation.

BRIDGE CAKPENTER'S ,REPOBT. The bridge carpenter (Mr. Clare) reported on the following bridge works for .the month of as follows:—Mutton.Track culvert: All gear, whares, etc., have been transferred to this work, all the concrete foundations are: completed,, and the boxing and relnforolhgi'js now being placed in position. ..'■■ V ; Steel and Kelly road the repairs have been completed to both these bridges. I had to obtain another 600 feet of decking for the Kelly road and renew fwo joints! The docking on this bridge now is, with the exception of a few planks, all new. Waitara West bridges: All repairs have been completed to the two cross road bridges and one bridge on the York road.-Carrlngton-Stony Blver Bridge.—l have Inspected this bridge and the structure requires one of the main truss braces renewing, a few new decking planks and the truss and diagonal rods require screwing up, and all timber and steel works require cleaning and painting. Klhthl Bridge, Oxford road: I have also Inspected this bridge, and found the same to be in good state of repair with the exception nf two top hand rails and some of the decking requires renewing. I would recommend that the steel girders In this bridge be scraped and painted, which also applies to the timber work. The concrete and stone protection wall, which runs up the river from the bridge for ft distance of 60 feet is undermined and In danger of collapsing. 1 would recommend that an apron of stones be placed under the will and along the front and cemented over. I would suggest that painting and repairs to the above named bridges on this road be carried out In the dry season. Saunders-Carrlngton road bridges.—The foundations for both these bridges have been completed and all boxing and reinforcing is In position, to the top of deck of No. 1 bridge and the piers are completed. It was decided 11-it. the necessary repairs be etTected to the Carrlngton road bridge over th'e Stony River, and the Kalhlhi bridge, Oxford road; that the repairs on the Baker road bridge be carried out at a cost of £3O; and that Ihe fridge carpenter be requested to report on bridges in the Waitara riding lequlring re- - ' construction. CORRESPONDENCE. S. Guscott, Lower Mangorei, wrote In regard to the "deplorable state of the Albert road" in the vicinity of his property. About ten yards of the road was undor water every time there was rain. A culver' was promised about 12 months a*o, and the iriter stated that the pipes •S* this £ t»t /■"■ ** *• MM Mtn w« uwr*

The road was badly crushed by the borough council's heavy truffle traction engine, teams, etc, and as the winter is approaching it was hoped something would he done Immediately. It was decided to inform the writer that the work would be attended to as soon as the foreman could conveniently do It. The Patea County Council wrote asking for support to a resolulion urging that the various local bodies in Taranaki and the Auckland Electric League be asked to combine to urge that a hydro-electric scheme for the North island should be evolved, and favoring the Awapuni site on the Waikato River as being the best available for Taranaki, and that '.lie members of Parliament be asked to support such resolution.—Referred to the Taranaki Hydro-Electric League for consideration. An intimation was received from the county solicitor, in reply to the Council's enquiry, that the Council could sell metal, or any other material for road-making, without respect to the purpose for which such material is to be used. The general question of supplying metal and other supplies to outside enquirers was referred to the same committee as set up to report on the question of road formation, and a report will be presented to next meeting of the Council.

GENERAL. The Moa Road Board wrote to the effect that the Council's letters In regard to metal dumped on the Tarlkl road had come before the Board, and It'had been decided that they should lie on the table. The clerk of the Thames County Council wrote expressing the thanks of his Council and staff for the courtesy shown their representatives while visiting Taranaki recently. The Minister of Public Works wrote stating that he was having a report prepared on the matter of the Momona bridge, Carrington road, for which the Council had asked a further grant of £2OO. The State Advances Department notified that the sum of £IOOO had been remitted, to be lodged at the bauk, on behalf of the Lower i Pltone Road Loan. The Public Works Department wrote in regard to the question of supplies of motor lorries released from war service, stating that the officer commanding the administration of the New Zealand Expeditionary Forces, London, had advised that the makers of vohiclos were arranging with the War Office for the return of all vehicles on demobilisation. It was further stated that the second-hand vehicles would be nearly aa expensive as new ones, and as their disposal is now a matter in the ordinary course of trade, it would be better for local bodies to make their own arrangements if they desire to purchase.

A letter was Teceived from the Public Works Department engineer-ln-chief (Mr. R. W. Holmes) In reply to the Council's representations regarding the erection of the weir at the Waiwakaiho bridge, stating that the Department saw n» reason to depart from the original plan. The engineer stated he had been informed by the Railway Department that the lovel of the river had been lowered by over five feet, while the construction of the weir would raise the water less than that amount. Therefore there was no occasion for auxiety on the part of the Ceunty or the Borough. it was decided to inform Mr. Benonl White that owing to pressure of work the inspector had not been able to go into'the matter of the work on the Lower Maiigorei. In reply to an enquiry by the Council regarding tlie ownership of Native lands abutting on the Mangaone stream, near Egmont road, alone the railway lino, on account of the stream being infested with willows, and the Council being desirous to serve the proper owners with the requisite notice, the Public Trust Office wrote that the only way for the Council was to sue for the amount if the Natives would not do the work themselves or pay for It being done. The office supplied some names, but was unable to give the names of the successors to any of the deceased Native owners.

The Inspector was instructed to furnish the settlers concerned with an estimate of the cosl of the work proposed to be done on the Hurfonj road.

Accounts were passed for payment as follows: Geieral expenses £604 18s 6d, Moa riding £IBB 7s 2d, Mangorei £431 4s Id, Waitara £293 Is 9d, Omata £62 3s Od, Okato £485 10s lOd; total £2071 83 lOd.