EGMONT COUNTY COUNCIL.

Taranaki Daily News, 10 December 1919, Page 3

EGMONT COUNTY COUNCIL.

MONTHLY MEETING. The ordinary meeting of the Egmont County Council was held at Opunake yesterday, when there were present:— Crs. W. R. Wright (chairman), A. B. Coffin, J. Young, T. H. H. Sinclair, W. C. Green, M. O'Brien, P. S. Watson, and S. Campbell.

WORKERS' HOMES.' The State Advances Department noti-1 Qed that the maximum sum for which application could be made to the Depa-t nient for workers' homes during the current financial year wa9 £SOOO. The chairman asked how much the Council would apply for. They were now committed to £SOO for one house. Cr. O'Brien favored applying for asmuch as they could get Cr. Campbell suggested that, they should borrow sufficient to house the foreman in each riding Cr. Sinclair said that the engine driver and all permanent hands should be included. * Some doubt was expressed as to whether all the men would come within the limit as regarded wages. On the motion of Crs. Sinclair and O'Brien, it was resolved to apply for £SOOO. ENGINEER AND CHAIRMAN.

After the luncheon adjournment, a le ter was read from the chairman to tn County Clerk prior to the last meeting complaining about various matters whicn he considered, curtailed the engineer' usefulness, and asking that the clerl •write to the engineer, asking him to tak into consideration the advisability o sending in his resignation. In explana tion, he stated that this was an unpleas ant duty, but he eould assure them tha it was not a question between the engi neer and himself. As chairman of th Council, he was acting in the best inter ests of the ratepayers. It was an abso lute matter of indifference to hin whether the councillors accepted or to jeeted the resignation. He, however, fel that he could not do otherwise. Had h svished to hurt the engineer he wqul< tave suspended him. If councillor :hought he was taking too much on hi: )wu shoulders, they made a mistake. A: •hairman, he had to take the blame fo •aising the overdraft to £16,000, and h vas not prepared to take the blame un ess he got a free hand. He cited threi lases of alleged lack of supervision, on if which was a case at Rahotu, where th >lant had been delayed a week througl >reakdown, and as the stone contracto vas threatening to throw up the con ract, he (the chairman) had arranged t' ;et the carting out by special moto vagon, and asked the engine-driver t itop and put it in. The driver repliei ;hat he would put it in if it arrived he ore 5 p.m. He, therefore, told the drive le would do it, or else hand in his timi Dhe driver said that he would hand ii lis time, and had done so, but had lato jeen re-engaged by the engineer. Ii •oncluding, the chairman said he had th atepayers at his back. A long discussion ensued, durirg whic; :ouncillors expressed the opinion that i vould hare been better had the chairraai mspended the engineer, had he though t necessary, pending enquiry. It H'a ilso considered that the chairman shouli lot have to take the blame for the in Teased overdraft, as this was due to th ncreased cost of work, and to the fac hat the Tate had not been increased ae ordingly. The engineer also should b riven full control over the men, anhen, if not fr ml capable, they shor.h fet another. Some of the councillor onsidered that the engineer should no lave re-engaged the driver after he h.ii landed in his resignation to the chair nan. The engineer asked that th iriver should be heard'on the subject. It was finally resolved tltat the Counil lias faith in the engineer, and that th.: iriver be asked to wait on the Council ,t next meeting.

DOG TAX. Tenders for dog collars were dealt with as follows:—T. J. Jduldenhall (Opunake) Is (accepted); O. F. McGregor (Rahotul Is Od. Two application* were received for the position of registrar, and V. J. Young (Oaonni) was appointed, at a fee of fid for cattle dogs, and Is for sporting dogs. Cr. Green considered that the Council should raise the fee for cattle dogs to 3s, seeing that the cost of collars and collection had increased. It was, however, stated that the Act would not permit this. The fee was then fixed at 2s 6d for cattle dogs, and lfls for all others.

ENGINEER'S REPORT. Mr. Reave (cnslneer) reported:— 000 Riding (Northern) .—We have completed the erection of .a new wooden bridgo on the Wiretnu Road, and raised the decking about 2ft Bin above tile old grade, which has considerably improved the bridge and tho approaches thereto. Tho Our! bridge on the Rlthain Road has been rodoclted with 2in. planking which was Mtoroughly tarred before being laid down. Afterwards the decking was given a coat of tar and sand with No Road Board tar. A new lino of 12-inch pipes has been laid across the Oeo Road to replace a wooden culvert which had collapsed- Towards the end of the month we commenecd and finished the laying on of 1!IG cubic yards of pit imMal on the Watino Road. This had to tako the place of 250 yards previously allowed for which was later cut down by the comraitteo which visited the roads on tho 17th of last month. The motal used was put en at the rate of 78 yards per chain, covering 2li chains at a cost of £74 15s or £3 14s !ld per chain, with a cost for labor of slightly under 2s Id per cubic yard. On tho completion of the above work the sumo contractor commenced work on tho Kiri Road on a reduced rontract, the cost of which will be given next month. I would respectfully suggest that It is not advantageous to the roads to repair them Willi a minimum quantity of pit metal, especially during dry weather. Pit metal does hot lend itself to the use of iwater for setting and unless a thick coat can bo rolled In with its natural quarry dampness it is more or less liable to tear up in the wheel tracks under the traffic of naTrow-whseled milk carts. The sooner the Council can see its way to provide at. least one three-ton motor dump lorry to cart crushed metal to the byroads the sooner will we have a road capable of carrying ordinary local traffic. A crushed metalled road on most of our by-roads would probably last seven or eight years, whereas a pit gravel road is subject, to betas churned up under narrow wheel traffic in two or three years The committee appointed to go over the Oeo Riding roads In connection with the expenditure on the same visited these on the 17th. ult., and Instructed me as to the amounts of metal to be used on each contract. Thoy also oxamined the house at Te Kiri which is on offer to the Council for purchase and decided to accept the vendors' offer The riding foreman has received an Imperative notice to quit his present residence on tho 291 h. inst. Oeo Riding (Southern).—Some little water tabling has been done on the Main South Road, also on the Skeet Road, and the two hills, at the Oeo River on the Skeet Road have had a little attention, but nothing further could bo dona to this particular piece of road pending the Commissions decision re cessation. Tho Main South Road from Mr. A. Allan's gate to Puketapu creek has been scarified, reformed, and re-rolled In without any new metal for a distance of 54 chains, costing £52 18s «d or just over 19s 7d per chain. The Patlkl I Road has received similar treatment for 32 chains, between Hone Road and the Maori pah, ~al the cost of £1 2s 4d per chain. The contractor for the new works In the northern 'MHt RWifWn division* at t,hl« fclrUtut feu

commenced the work of cetttnu out boulder stone. Opua Biding (South). A considerable amount of clay binding has been done on different, sections of the Main South and £l- - Roads. The Jfangahume bridge on the Main South Boad has been tightened and pinned, the decking on the Mangahume bridge I on the Eltham Boad has been repaired. Several 1 chains of drain on the Ihala lload have been cleaned out and sereral days patching done to the surface. The Waitelka Boad has required aoveral days attention for patching work and several days have been put In the work of concrete pipe making. The Ihala Boad for the distance of a mile past the boundary of the Town Board is In a shocking condition and will be almost impassable during wet weather. It Is unfortunate that there Is absolutely no nt pit metal available for repairs, tho whole of the pits workable are of too sandy a nature and the material will not bind, so that it is a waste of good money to continue repairing the road with 'aything but crushed metal.

Opua Biding (North) .—Contract work has been done on the Opua yards of stone was crushed and put down on 21 chains of the road near the factory. At the bottom end of the road we crushed 118 yards of stone supplied by i. Hlckey; which Is part of au old contract with the late Parihaka Boad Board, and 212 yards of boulder Bione supplied by H. Munro, a recent contract witlt the 'Council, covering about 10 chains of the road. At this crushing site the contractor delivered 472 yards of crushed metal and 7C yards of screenings on 'o the Main South Boad, and from here the plant was removed to the Oaonui river, where the remainder of the stone will be crushed and delivered on to the Main South Boad, as far as the Oaonui river. This piece of road be.ween the Opua Boad and tho Arawhata Boad has a bad formation, and although nothing was allowed for it In the estlmatea for the year It Is absolutely essential that at least on tho eastern side of the road, the read should be banked by means of ploughing uj> the sides and throwing the material towards the metal. This when set will make, a good side track for a considerable time.' I have examined the Arawhata Boad above the wlremn Boad, leading to Mr. Bradford's section and And that there is no track for a distance of about 64 chains, 45 chains of which is felled but not stumped, and the remainder Is virgin bush with iwo swamps, which will take a considerable amount of draining. I estimate tho cost of | forming a cattle track to Bradford's section at about £3OO, therefore the only feasible plan | o adr.tf Is for Iho various section owners ; to go in for a consent loan, and cut a track i.p -to tho last two sections on either sldo or the road.

Opunake Rlding.-The contractor lias got Ti cf to ", e „ Te « ullre 'l to the repair of the Main South Road in this riding, and is prepared to have tho metal crushed immediately in the New Year Bahotu Riding (South).-A considerable amount of clay binding has been done to the Main «oad, south of the Itahotn dairy factory The southern approach to the Oaoiti bridge has been backed up and lowered and slight repairs done to tho bridge decking. Patcung has been done to the entire length of the Opourapa Road. About twenty chams ot the llpoka Road lias been clay blinded J)urn,? :^ e 1 , mo " tl i-, we h "o had deputations rrom tho Taihapo Borough, V/aitaki County Couucll oho representing the Walraato County Counc.l and tho TJawa County win the objtct of ascertaining the methods ot , U au t£nstructlon in Taranaki generally, and more particularly to see this Council's plant at work Rahotu Hiding (North) .-The Bayly Road lias J lie Warea Road has been patched practically for its whole length and this work has been SK tmUr9 l6ngth cf &e Nowil " j Bridgos.~-Foreman A. R Whlto has not un- ; lertakcn the work of erecting the Walteka ! -ttidgo on tho JEltham Road. Therefore as :somvas Foreman. Wattrldgo returns from'the : Old Country about the first week In January , I propose to build tho Taungatara, the Wr 1- ■ teika, and tho Mangahume bridges practically at one time. Cr. Young suggested that Mr. Bradford be informed that the Council will take the necessary steps to raise a loan tf he forwards a petition. The engineer was authorised to have a side track formed for the Opua to to Arawhata Roads.

PUOTHO ROAD. F. Sole, Spotswood, notified that tJie nettlers on tiie Upper Piraiho Road would apply to raise a loan to metal it portion of the road that was at prosent unmetalled. The Taranaki County engineer, lie stated, was willing to meet the Egraont County engineer and arrange about the amount necessary to ' complete the work. | During the discussion, it was pointed j out the road was a boundary one ! and a joint loan would be necessary, j It was decided on the motion of Cr* jflreen and Young to ask Mr. ■ Sole to forward signatures consenting to the loan, after which tho necessary steps, will be taken.

GENERAL. The committee set up to report on the Parihaka Road Dictricfc balances, reported that the assets handed ovc showed a credit of £1852. The roan balances showed debits £057 and credits SlS4'2; It was recommended that the road debits be increased by 10 per cent., and that £IOOO be apportioned to the roads in credit.

This was agreed to. A copy of the proposed uniform by- ' Jaws comprising 84 folios, together with a lengthy covering letter, was received from Messrs. Syme and Weir. Thoy were discussed by the Council after the meeting. The Taranoki County Council forwarded an account for £6 Ss for work on the Carrington-Saunders Road during October and November. The account was passed for payment, and. will be mado a riding rharge. Cr- Green brought up the question of effecting some, improvements at the fUhotu School frontage.—Deferred for the present. Cr. Green also asked when the tar sealing at Rahotu township was to be carried out. The engineer stated that, given line weather, the work would be carried out next week. It was resolved to communicate with a financial agent in Wellington, asking on what terms he could raise a loan of £BO,OOO for the Council. Cr. Green considered that the Council must take steps to raise the loan for tar-sealing purposes. Unless tnoy did something they would be having a portion of the County receding to Taranaki, which was going in for tar-seal-ing.

The chairman agreed that steps should be taken to have a poll on the proposal, so that the Conpcil would be in a position to take up any money that was offering under favorable terms. The clerk of the Eltham County Council notified that the Council would receive the deputation from the Fgmont County Council re the Anroa Road on Saturday, Dec. 13th.

Discussion took place on the state of the various bridges, and it was resolved to j call tenders for the Onoiti and Taungata (Eltham Road) bridges, plans to be submitted by the engineer. The chairman was voted an honorarium of £IOO, to include all expenses incurred during the year. Cr. Young, mover of the resolution, paid a tribute to the time devoted to and the interest taken in the work of the county by the chairman. Councillors were'granted £1 Is per meeting. The. clerk stated that the various riding accounts showed debit balances as follows: Oeo £5947 Bs, Opunake £2OB 0s lid, Optta £3505 4s Od, Rahotu £5748 0s Od. Accounts amounting to £2302 9s 9d (general) and £6 fls Od (bridge) were passed for payment.