STRATFORD COUNTY COUNCIL

Taranaki Daily News, 19 May 1919, Page 7

STRATFORD COUNTY COUNCIL

MONTHLY MEETING. The monthly meeting of the Stratford County Council was held on Saturday. Present: Mr. E. Walker (chairman) and Crs. 1. Uaskln, It. Worthlngton, J. O'Neill, T. E. Coleman. E. W. Hancock. E. J. Mackay, T. P.. Aadei'3ou and W. H. Were. In reply to Cr. Baskln, the chairman said that there was no special fund for contractors' deposits, which were, paid into the ordinary account. The chairman stated that the efforts to obtain the services of a bridge foreman had so far been unsuccessful, and it was decided to advertise further. The engineer Intimated that he had not yet secured a roller for the South Riding. He had made inquiries about the working of the Garrett roller, and In a reply from the engineer for the Christchurch Tramways Board it was stated that the board had found oae roller so satisfactory that it was about to procure a second one. ENGINEER'S REPORT. The engineer reported as follows: North Riding (East).—One hundred and three cubic yards of maintenance metal have been crushed on the Ackland Road and 100 yards on the Croydon Road. Two hundred and thirty yards of shell rock, have been crushed and placed on the Stanley Road. The balance of shellroek In contract No. 27, which will not require crushing, is being placed on the road. The teams are being used for this purpose, while some small repairs are being made to the crushing plant. Two hundred and fourteen yards of boulders have been crushed on the Salisbury Road, and the metal used for re•facing. The roller was used on the Stanley and Salisbury Roads, but the work done was not so satisfactory as it would have been had water been available. This applied particularly to Stanley Road, when putting down shellroek. North Riding (West) .—General surface work haa been done on the Mountain, Cardiff, York, flint and Rutland Roads. The bridge on the .Rutland Road has been repaired. Bridges on the Derby Road have also received attention. The crushing, refaclng and rolling of a portion of fork Road is almost completed. Sooth Riding.—A considerable amount of banking up has been done on the formation of tbe Mountain Road. The dralna on the Upper Bird Road have been cleaned out Eighty yards ef boulders have been crashed, and the Hiatal placed on Brooks Road. Sixty-four yards hare been crushed on the Mountain Road, and deposited on side of road for maintenance purposes. Tbe decking of two bridges on Clim'e and ef one on the Mnnerty Road have been tar-tbtessed. West Riding.—During the month the stone on Opnittte Ma 1 has bees crushed and used to ndace a ponton of this road. The stone <m Brooks Road has also been crushed, and about 50 chains of tids road has been refaced. About a chain of metai has been placed on the road BoHag op with the South Riding, leaving a gap of about 6 chains of unformed road. The corner at the junction of Brooks and Brecon Roads has been rounded off, and tho pipe line across the road extended. Two new stringers and fifteen deck planks have been renewed in the Kanpokonul No. 1 bridge. Thirty chains of the Upper Rowan Road are in a very weak condition to stand the winter traffic Watertabling work on the Cllmie, Eastings, Palmer, ttanaJa, and Ofoaaiae Roads has been carded oat

East Riding <HMroa>).—General road workshare been carried out on the Mobatau, Makurl East, Bouetas North, Makurl WV»t, Autowa and Tuhupo Boads. Several bridges In this riding require attention. Akawa Road baUge requires new stringers and decking, b the Waltaia suspension bridge two new cross beams and a quantity of decking are necessary. The ember for the tatter, which reqn&es feaßMdtato attention, has been ordered. ;

Bast Siding (Toko*.—The, eruaMiie; of bouiders [tor ths Saupahu has been Safahed, sod the > metal placed en the, ned from thejonetiw of Bausete. tad lefee Ksaib. The klbdlae «ad

rolling will bo put In hand as soon as the crushing of shellroek on Waiwlri Road has been completed. About 35 yards of pit maintenance metal was crushed white the plant was set up. Several new 12in. pipes were inserted In the road near Mr. Thorn's residence. About two miles of tills road has been water-tabled. On the Ohura Road the clay portion of the road has been crowned up, and the scrub removed from sides. A guard fence of about 1% chains, has been erected at the eastern end of Kahourl bridge, and other fences have been repaired. A portion of the Waiwlri Road has been widened, water tables attended to, and a length of pipes put in in Standlsh Road. An old wooden culvert has been replaced with 18-inch concrete pipes.

East Riding (Douglas) .—General road work has been done on the Gordon Road. Drainage on tho Hulakama Road and the Ohura Road has received attention.

Mangaehu Riding—Besides ordinary road work, the Mangaehu Road has been widened at Mr. Ward's, and 12 18-lnch concrete pipes have been put In on this road. A portion of tin decking of the suspension bridge (Hodders) required renewing. The Tututawa bridge Is getting into a bad state, and I would suggest that the over truss on tho downstream side be renewed. This will only require a small amount of new timber, and will not involve a great deal of labor. This should Insure the safety of the bridge until the new bridge is erected. General.—Motor Driver C. Davis haa given notice of his intention to leave the employ of the council at the end of the present month, I would ask the council's direction as to filling the position with, if possible, a motor mechanic capable of undertaking ropairs. Cr. O'Neill asked why only 04 yards of metal had been put down on tho Mountain Road, and why the engineer did not wait for tho roller. Tho engineer said the foreman had asked for some maintenance metal. The roller was l not available. He admitted that it was not a payable proposition to shift the crusher for small jobs, but the circumstances were exceptional. It was decided to enforce the heavy-traffic by-laws during the winter months at tho discretion of the engineer.

The engineer was authorised to repair tli9 Aukawa Road and Waltaia suspension midges. Authority was l'urthor given for the renewal of Hodder's suspension bridge, and for repairs to the Tututawa bridge. On tho motion of Cr. Were it was resolved that certain property owners who had failed to clean out drains at Toko be Informed that if the work Is not done by them it will bo done by the council at their expense. In response to a question asked by Cr. O'Neill, the engineer undertook to place a statement before the next meeting showing the amount expended in tar-sealing Cheal Road.

It was decided to pay only £2 per day for teams till an explanation of higher charges had been given by the engineer. CORRESPONDENCE.

The council was asked by the Patca County Council to support a resolution having for its object a hydro-eleetrlc scheme for the North Island, and especially urging the Awapuni slto, on the Waikato P.iver, as being the best available for Taranakl.

The chairman said he thought they could support the resolution. .Whatever Taranakl got It would get from Awapuni. Cr. Anderson, in moving that the resolution be endorsed, said they could not move too quickly In the direction of getting electric power. The motion was carried.

The Pahnerston North Chamber of Commerce forwarded resolutions urging the desirability of the Government taking over the control, of the main arterial roads of the Dominion, with a view to the formation of permanent highways.

The chairman said the matter had been before the council already several times, and they had not gone further than receive the letters Cr. Mackay said the question would no doubt come before the counties conference. He did not favor the Government taking over main arterial roads, but would like to see the Bubsidy placed Upon a graduated scale. On the motion of Cr. Mackay the letter was received, and it was decided that the matter be brought before the counties conference by remit. Mr. C. Gooding, of Otakl, wrote stating that he would not accept under £3O for section 7, block m, Hulroa township, on the corner of Tocker Street and tho Makurl Road.—The site was required for a building for the foreman. The price named was accepted by the council. The Minister of Railways wrote lnti"ut<mt that he was having a report prepared on th» desirability of running an early morning iruin from Whangamomona, preferably on a Monday. —The chairman said that what was asked was very necessary to the back settlers who to con' ncct with tho trains on the main line had to come into Stratford the night previous. The Bottlers were pressing the matter very strongly. The Tourist Department asked the council to appoint a representative for the current trlennium on the Egmont National Park Board. —Cr. Anderson was appointed, and In thanking him the chairman said tho body was by no means a live one, and considering tho line asset they had much greater interest should be taken In the meetings of the board. The Wawa County Council wrote asking for particulars of the system of unimproved rating adopted by the Stratford County Council.— Information to be sent. The district engineer for tho N.Z. Railways wrote asking for Information In respect to the mcthodi adopted for killing willow stumps in beds of slreams by tho connell. Cr. Were: "Pull them out with a traction engine." The chairman: "This council has had no experience." It was decided to reply stating that the council was not In a position to supply auy Information.

The secretary to the New Zealand Counties' Association advised that a meeting of the executive committee woald be held on the 22nd inst, for the purpose, among other things, of fixing the date of 'the forthcoming conference. The names of the council's delegates and.remits were requested.—The chairman and Cr. Anderson were appointed delegates. With regard to remits, Cr. Were said the principal ones should deal with main roads, noxious weeds and soldiers' settlements. A brief discussion took place on the need for some measures which would ensure seeds being free from the seeds of noxious weeds.

Cr. Mackay said he knew that some merchants deliberately sold seed, knowing it to be unclean. The better class of merchants, he believed, endeavored to procure clean seed. The chairman said he took the feeling of the meeting to be tbat the inspectors should have tuoro power to enforco the Act. Little could be done by the inspectors at present without reference to hedaquaiters. It was decided, on the motion of Cr. Were, to forward a remit to tho conference to the effect that the Agricultural Department should take more drastic measures to check the spread of noxious weeds.

In respect to the upkeep of main roads, tho chairman morod that the council forward to the I conference a remit that councils receive subsidies on the whole of the rates struck. This county received 5s In the £, but smaller counties, like Eltham, received a much larger amount. The motion was seconded by Cr. Coleman, and carried.

Speaking of soldiers' settlements, the chairman said they had lost a lot of rates in Tututawa. As matters stood the failure of some to pay rates on special loans meant heavier responsibilities for the remainder of tho settlers In the loan area. Any losses duo to returned soldiers should bo regarded as national, and should be spread over tho whole community. The Government should be responsible for the soldiers' rates, for at least five years. They could not recover from a soldier who gave up his section, even if he had been two years on It, and In one case a soldier, when applied to, laughed and said he had not flveponce In the World. It Was decided to frame a remit that tbe Government should be responsible for soldiers' Bates for foe years from the data of occupation.

Mr. I. Cuthbert, chairman of the Pembroke School Committee, applied for permission to have some earth removed from the road near the school gate, with a view to making the entrance safer.—Left to the engineer. Booth, Macdonald and Co. forwarded quotations for an Austin road roller as follows: 8ton differential gear, £1530; 10-ton differential gear, £1830; attached scarifier, 3275. These prices were- doty paid, delivered at New Plymouth, A committee consisting of the chairman and Crs. Anderson and Were was appointed, with power to purchase a roller. The Obinemuri County Council forwarded a copy of letter sent to the Minister of Railways, complaining about the shortage of rolling stock, and asking that a sum be placed on the estimates sufficient to meet all requirements—On the motion of Cr. Were, who said the position was; tho same here as in Obinemuri, it was <io--elded to endorse the action of the Ohinemurl -©aunty Council. lab ohairman said the estimates were not quite ruady yet, but would be placid before the neit aeatlng.