EGMONT COUNTY COUNCIL.

Taranaki Daily News, 14 January 1920, Page 7

EGMONT COUNTY COUNCIL.

MONTHLY MEETING, The ordinary meeting of the Egmont County Council was held at Opunaka yesterday, when there were present Crs. W, R. Wright (chairman), A. B. Coffin, J. Toting, T. H. H. ISlnelilr, \V. C. Green, S. Forsyth, H. O'Brien, V. C. Watson, S. Campbell. ENGINEER'S REPORT. The engineer reported:— Oeo Riding (Northern). —In the .early part of the month the men, in this riding were engaged on work in connection with Contract No. ; 351. The total amount of metal used was ; 118 cubic yards, which cost 3s 3%d per yard, including the cost of metal. After the above work was completed the men were engaged water-tabling, on the Klri and Eltham. Rdads, -day bllndlnp on the Eltham Road and patching on the Eltham and Oeo Roads up to about tile 20th of the month, when- the Acme crusher was taken out to contract 352 at the Punehu bridge. Repairs have been done to the parapet of Oeo bridge. An offer has been Biade by R the contractor of contract 352 A on ♦t»e Oeo Road, north of the Eltham Road, to ..Mtend his contract from 70 yards to about 500 yards tfhich would take the re-facing of the road from the present good metalled portion as far as the Ourt Bridge, with about seven yards per chain, the contractor agreeing to wait twelve months for payment if a low rnte of Interest Is paid him. I understand that .the settlers in his road are agreeable to go: further than this, and spend £4OO on tilt rMB and undertake to pay off the amount with interest by special rates in about three years' time. If the Council is willing to find the money.

Oeo Riding (Southern).—Men in this ridings havo been engaged on .general surface Wjfff for the greater portion of the month. JBflßfl Riding (Southern).—Clay blinding has wea proceeded with at several places on the Main South and Eltham Roads, the Taungatara bridge on the Main South Road Opua Riding (Northern) .—The men in this riding have been engaged all tho month in connection with contract 348 on the Main South Rogd, part of contract 346 on the Arawhata Road, and banking up the newly metalled portion of the Main South Road at odd places between Opua Road and Oaonul bridge. In all about 145 chains of road were refaced with a coat varying from 3%' yards to 9 yards per chain, or an average of 68 yards per chain over t A'^ ta . ifln £ h at a total coat 'aid down of £1034 lis Bd, or £7 2s 8d per chain, incmdlng the cost of screenings for blinding. ! T™' ahor on this contract comes out at about 4s 9d per cubic yard for the laying down of the crushed metal on the road. The high price of laying down during fine weather Is caused br having to spread the metal so thin as from three to four yards for about 70 chains, which cannot be called road making. • It will be easily understood that the cost of laying down a road properly with, say, 15 yards per chain, will be much cheaper per cubic yard,' and a greater length of life In proportion to the cost.

In- about- a week's time the plapt will be ready to crush the metal for contract 347 ori-'ihe Math South Road between Allison Street and Te Namu bridge. h u .1 tar s<m,ed length of the road uSn i, IS?"J s ln a Ter J bad condition u win be advisable to call tenders for tondressing material for this length. •Rahotu Biding (Southern) —The Main South f®;,. front o| the Oaonul store has been scarified tip and coated with 18 yards of crushed metal and two yards of screenings w!n. » f üblM the junction of Klna Road and tho Main South Road hare been banked with clay. About 00 chains of ™> d , has been clay blinded and the jpetalttrfc banked up ln places where required, whilst a few days have been spent on w, work of water-tabling. Rahotu Riding (Northern).—About fifty chains of the Main South Road has been trc&ted with clay blinding at the northern end, towards Puniho, and the sides have been banked up ln several places where low A considerable amount of patching has been done to the Warea i>nd Upper Newall Roads, and some . little work has been done on the Carrington Road.

Bridges.—l beg to submit to you plana for tne re-erection In reinforced concrete of the Taungatara and Waiteika bridges on the Eltnam Road and the Onoatl bridge on the Main South Road. lam afraid It win be useless to call for tenders for these works as it is impossible to get a quotation for cement at tho present time.

General —A motor ion? load of various sized concrete pipes has been delivered/ to the ttlremu lioad at its junction with Kabul Road, and another lorry load will be taken up tho Warea and Newall Roads to-day;-.' I hare secured the services of two men to commence work on tha road, and am taking them up tomorrow to start on the Kahui Road end I Su a ° •tatcrvjew .on the 7th. with Mr. Campbell, the district engineer, re work and wares on the above road, and am expecting a reply any Moment. I understand that he is endeavoring to get Same work done at the eastern end of the road . towards Te Kir! The settlers on the Puniho Road are proposine ping in for a loan for metalling tho road, and I have arranged to meet the Taranakl County engineer on the site on Thursday next. At the next (meeting of the Council I propose to submit the names of all occupiers of lan 4 who have had notice to cut down blackberries and have not complied with the same, gr, that the Council ma? Institute proceeds against them, and if necessary enforce a penalty of £1 9er day from the date of the eiplration of the notices. A horse and dray is very much needed in the Oeo Hiding I northern), the by-roads here are In an IndifTerent condition., and require a lot of patching, and It Li a difficult matter to obtain a horse and dray Just when wanted, irtthout having to wait nntil some settler ha 9 returned from tho factory I would again respectfully draw the attention of the Council to the absolute necessity of purchasing 4. light motor loi;ry, it is needed for quick transport of metal for tho by'roads especially, as well as the mala roam, ana for the carting or coal, cement, timber for bridges, and decking, etc. The want of such n machine Is dally felt, and in procuration would do away with tile weakest point in the Council's plant

NEW VALUATION REQUIRED. C 1", ,701 considered that it was time they should aak the Valuer-General for a new valuation, as It was over six years since they hdq a valuation. Cr. Campbell thought they should leave well alone. He would not untfid a valuation for County purposes, but there was the question 1 of taxation. Cr. Sinclair seconded. Cr. Green said that Egmont had been one « v S , Tall,ed : aml »e did not think It would he wine to have a re-Valuation until some of the other counties had been falued LXffw * #uW ,i lot *>"» into force ! wiL i»! y cou lf ®e®es«aty, sttike * hlWef Mite neit year. Ho would like to Me the resolution held over. «f» < ?\s™ oUn S B ? !a thnt he kno,v °f land that Value ° n t>Br cent - bolovr Its Th» motion was lost,only Crs. Young, Sinclair, and Watson voting in its favor. WAREA ROAD. Mr. H. Donald, Wsrea, notified that the settlers on the Warea Road were prepared to go on with the loan proposals. The amount renuired was £2fso, not £547$ as stated The chairman stated that £2750 was for remetalling only, and he did not think the Government would lend money for that parpose They would lend money for remetAlllnir, tarring, and widening. He suggested that the clerk write to Mr. Donald to that effect, and also point out that the item of £5470 was the engineer' 3 estimate for the completed work. OKEHU ROAD. Mr. Barns, local agent of the Public Trust. Office, ut H»wera, notified that the TuMfc Trustee could not assist in connection with the .Okehu - Rond, evon if he-had moneys In hand, which he had not. He'pointed out . "l e se ''" ons in tile Ngatikaypoto Mock, Which fronted on the Olcehu Road; served by the Kahul Road, whilst the Sections in the Parlhaka block except one were held under terminable lease, and that one fronted the Newall Road. RtfAKEU ROAD. Mr. \V. Tifvoll waited on the Council on behalf of the settlors on the Ruakeu Road, and asked that the metalline on the road should bo extended. The engineer "Stated that he had made an estimate for the work, which would cost £BIO. The clerk pointed out that the Council was already committed to more than the loan money available for the year. Members eipresesd surprise that the yearly limit had not Increased since the merging' of the road district. Steps will be taken to raise a loan of £BSO. AI'KOA ROAD. t CM.- Fqrfiyth, Green, Watson, and lite'ehalr- ' 'Bah, the fommlttee set up to meet the Bltham County Council over the AWoa. Road, reported. that they ha#, met the Bttham Count# '-Council and had a lull discussion, when the following facts .were; established: That. El'thiim Goiintv Council Sent its engineer to estimate file cost of new metal-for the whole road, and the Joint loan raised in accordance with his estimate fell far short of completing the work; that tho Egfflont loan was raised for metalling, no authority being either asked for or given for tarring, and Kgmont's consent-to pay onehalf of the upkeep was obtained on condition that the Whole foad would-be metalled out of loan Without any reference to lar. These conditions have not been fulfilled, Egmonf tietng called on to pay not only for new metalling but alio lot tar; Ui»t tbi syitia of kny.

Jng separate road accounts preclude Egmont from advancing money to a by-road, at)d there la no riding fund that cnn be drawn on such as Egmont has got. It must be ■ manifest that • Egmont cannot permit that Toad to have the luxury of tar at the expense of other roads, and owing to the small amount of rates, being £6O at %d, owing to it, there was no prospect, of tho present debit balance being wiped off without considering the prospects of a large immediate outlay on tar. The committee felt that, while everything possible must be done to help settlers, yet the Council had to be just before It was generous, and that Eltham be informed that raising Insufficient money to metal and tar was entirely the fault of the Council, and that Egmont will hand over all the road rates, flz., i£d in the £, accruing to this road less cost of collection, and that the settlors will see that they are getting all they are entitled to. A vast amount of trouble to both Councils would have been saved had a loan been raised when It was first proposed. Cr. Green said that he had been told by the Chairman of the Eltham County Council that Egmont was absolutely wrong in saying that there was only £6O available to the Auroa Boad, and he wanted to be clear on tho matter. The chairman stated that £(JO was the amount of the rate that had been allocated as the by-road's share.

It was resolved to obtain legal opinion as to whether the Council was liable for its share of tarring the road.

GENERAL. Tho Inspector of Noxious Weeds, New Pis'mouth, asked the Council to clear up the piece of ground at tile corner of Pungarehu and South Roads, also notifying that an adjoining owner wished to lease ressrvo at Punlho, and would clear the same. It was pointed out that the Council did not own tho piece referred to at Pungarelm, and that the section at Puniho was already leased.

The Council decided to support the scheme suggested by the New Zealand Counties' Association for the establishment of an Employers' Insurance and Fidelity Guarantee Fund. The Council decided to take steps lo prosecute settlers who have not compiled with the notice lo clear noxious weeds from the frontages of their properties. Tenders-were opened in committee, and were accepted as follows: No. 372, ,1. IJickey, 7s 6d; No. 373., ,T. Hickey, 7s; No. 339, M. Hill 8s fid; No. 301, M. Hill, 8s; No. 302, M.'Hill, 12s; No. 303, M. Hill, 13s. Two engine-drivers in the employ of the Council applied for a rise of 2s per day. The chairman agreed that the cost of living was rising out of all reason, but he favored paying a bonus over the six summer months. . It was resolved to hold the matter over pending a meeting of the Comity Conference at Eltham. The chairman was appointed to attend the conference. Accounts amounting (o £lOOl 17s 5d were passed for payment.