STRATFORD COUNTY COUNCIL

Taranaki Daily News, 19 January 1920, Page 2

STRATFORD COUNTY COUNCIL

MONTHLY MEETING. The monthly meeting of the Stratford County Council was held on Saturday. Present: Councillors Walter (chairman), McKay, Baskln, Were, Worthlngton, Anderson, O'Neill, Hancock and Coleman. Cr. McKay moved, and C'r. Coleman seconded, that, conditional on the money being available from the Government, a house a.t Midliirst with 1% aero of land be purchased for Foreman Carter at a cost of £435, and the foreman to pay a. deposit of £2O and a rental equal to 7 per cent on the balance towards interest and the extinction of the debt. —Carried. ENGINEER'S REPORT. Tlie engineer (Mr. J. W. Spence) roported as follows: North Riding (East).—General maintenance work in the way of wnter-tabfing, clay blinding and banking up has been carried out. on the Salisbury, Croydon west and Manganul roads. A set of pipes has been put in on the Croydon Road, opposite Mr. Agent's property; portions of this road have been banked up where necessary. The decking and stringers of the Stanley Road steel bridge are in a bad condition; n considerable aimount of patching has been done to keep it open for traffic. It will be necessary to renew most of the longitudinal stringers and the greater part of the decking as soon as possible. North Riding (West).—General surface work has been done on the upper and lower Pembroke roads. The Monmouth Road has In parts received a coat of blinding. The fence on the railway reserve, above the Mtdhlrat township, has been attended to. further supplies of boulders have been taken out of the To Popo stream and placed on the proposed crushing site on Denmark Terrace, Mldhlret. Seventy yards of sand have been railed to Gordon Road and Douglas i all way stations.

South Riding.—A very considerable amount of clay blinding has been placed on the various roads, particularly on the Mountain Road south, but owing to the heavy dry winds it has been difficult to hold the metal In place. Tho original Rukengahu Road metalling contract has been practically completed. A further length of albout 11 chains to complete the whole road will be put In hand a.s soon as lorries, which are at present under repair, are available.

East Biding (Toko) .—About two chains of fence have been erected on a dangerous bend on the Waiwlri Road near Mr, Griffins' gate. The fence on the County section has been strengthened by the addition of several posts. A Mart was made to repair the clay portion of the Makurl Road, but owing to the necessity of carrying out blinding work In the dry weather this work was temporarily abandoned. On the Ohura Road, where necessary, the loose stones have been raked off. Thß work of clearing drains on this road Ins been attended to. Portions of the Standlsn KonO have been clay blinded and other repairs carried out.

Inst Riding (Hulroa).—The erection of the cottage on the Council's property has been completed and the cottage Is flow occupied by the newly appointed foreman, who took up his duties at the beginning of the present month..' Water-tabling, banking and blinding have been carried out on the Makurl Road. The Douglas North and South roads hare also received attention.

last Riding (Douglas)— The wholo of the month has been occupied} in repairs ana banking up the Ohura Road. About threequarters of a mile of this road has been tarred between Gordon Road and New Road Junctions; also a stretch of about 10 chains between the Douglas railway crossing and the Douglas corner. West Riding.—During the month 546 yards of stone, taken from the Kaupokonul stream, have been crushed. Of this quantity 344 yards have been used for refaclng a portion of the Opunake No. 3 road, the balance being distributed in various places for maintenance purposes. A start has been made to procure boulders from tha Mangatokl stream for maintenance metal. The Opuanke Nos. 1, 2, and 3, Cardiff, Walngongoro and Manala roads, hare received. clay dressing where necessary. Mangaehu Riding.—General maintenance work has been carried out in this riding. Several culverts on the new Mangu Road are reported to be In a bad state and a considerable amount of work will be necosary to olear the slips on this road. An Inspection of this and the Brewer-Tahorn roads will be made next week. On the motion of Cr. O'Neill It was decided to apply for a further 10 per cent on the orifinal Pukengahu Road loan. The report was adopted.

CORRESPONDENCE. Mr. D. J. Hughes wrote stating that he was arranging with the Ohura people to have a few tons of their coal sent to different users In the several parts of the province for a trial for steaming purposes. It was pointed out that cheap coal would be of Immense benefit to the district and the Council was asked to give It a trial. When the different trials took place the gentlemen concerned intended to try and be present. All the coal In the Ohura belonged to the State. On the motion of Cr. Anderson and Cr. McKay It was decided to forward a favorable reply. The district health officer reported on the Insanitary conditions of a house In Oros9 Road, In which a case of influenza had occurred A copy of the report was sent to tne owner. Mr. W. J. Tristram notified that a meeting of the Taranakl Counties conference would be held at Eltham on January 26.—Councillors Were and O'Neill were appointed delegates. Mr. Tristram, manager for the Taranakl Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance Association, wrote In reference to the New Zealand Counties' Association's proposal to establish an employees' insurance and fidelity guarantee fund, and pointing out that the Council already had in the Farmers' Mutual all the necessary machinery for mutual Insurance. The chairman said they had already committed themselves to the County scheme, but if nothing came of this scheme they could consider tho terms offered by the Farmers' Mutual Association. It was decided to inform Mr. Tristram to this effect, and to state also that If any Insurances fell duo in the meantime the risk would be covered with his office. The Department of Internal Affairs forwarded a copy of a clause In the Native Lands Amendment and Native Land Claims Adjustment Act, 1919, the effect of which was that the Dogs Registration Act now applies to the registration of Maori dogs as well as European dogs.—Received. The resident engineer for the Public Works Department wrote in reference to the re-open-ins of the Mt. Egmont quarry. Before anything definite could be decided as to the cost of the metal when ready for delivery, or whether the opening up of the quarry at all would be justified, a definite statement, would be required as to the amount of crushed metal which the local body would guarantee to purchase from the Department. It must be understood that it would not be possible to supply the ,annual quantity during just a few months of the summer. The local bodies must be prepared to purchase the metal In fairly continuous quantities for, say nine months of the year, and If during that time they are unable to cart it out they must arrange to store it. It would be impossible to store In large quantities at Mt. Egmont, though bins to hold about a week's supply Were projected. This would simply enable them to get over fluctuation lu the quarry production due to bad weather. No doubt, wlien all the requirements of the different bodies were tabulated, It would be found possible tt> supply different local bodies during different months rather than a dribbling supply to a large number of local bodies at tho same time. The Council was asked to state what quantity of metal it was prepared to purchase annually, and tt was pointed out that tho cost would largely depend on the output. If tho quarry was worked to its designed capacity (60,000 cubic yards per annum) the price would be very reasonable, but if only half this is used the price would be Increased over 60 per cent., and If only a quarter tile capacity Is utilised the price Would be 2% times the minimum. The engineer stated that the quantity required would depend partly on the amount of loan money available. The letter gave no Idea' of cost, and the Council would be in a better position to state the quantity that could be taken if they knew the price of the maximum output. They would then be able to determine whether it would be more profitable to obtain the metal from tho mountain or from present sources. Cr. McKay considered that the Dopartment should quote an aporoxiraate price on a 60,000 yards output He moved that they be asked to do this. Tho motion was carried. Mr. Vestey, who had taken a section In a block of land settled by returned soldiers, waited on the Council and stated (hat last year he had been rated at £2l 13s sd, and this year there had been an adjustment so that the rates wero reduced to £l4 2s. last year, it was explained, the rates had been filed over the whole area, and bis section, which was poorer than the others, had to bear an equal share. Now that tho rate had been fixed on the Individual holdings on a proper basis he desired to obtain a refund of the £7 he was over-charged the first year. The chairman stated that the Council, while recognising that Mr. Vestey had suffered an injustice, were not responsible, and could do nothing to remedy the matter. On the motion of the chairman, It was Tesolved that steps be taken to raise a loan of £750 to complete the metalling of Stanley Road. TENDERS. Messrs Swlndlehurst and Benefleld's tender Tor the delivery of 400 cubic yards of boulders on the Walngongorc Road was accepted, a* alic was Mr. H. K'orthlmrtcn's Under for 4t*

livery of 400 cubic yards 6f boufders on tlie Victoria Road. Mr. A. Ferguson's offer to Bupply 400 cubic yards of shell rock for Makaurl Road and metal from the Gordon Road pit was accepted, tho contractor to pay all royalties. Accounts totalling £4,805 2s 5d were passed for payment.