ELTHAM COUNTY COUNCIL.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 February 1920, Page 2

ELTHAM COUNTY COUNCIL.

MONTHLY MEETING, The monthly meeting of the Eltham County Council was held on' Saturday. Present: The chairman (Mr. C. J. Belcher) and Councillors E. J. Gilford, C. E. McGulnness, \V. E. Carter, \Y. M. Baker, A. Messana and A. McWUlla'm. Apologies for absence were received from Crs. Campbell and JBardwlck-Suilth. ENGINEER'S REPORT. The engineer, Mr. R. D. Tosswlll, reported:— South Riding.—On the Stent road holes In tlio metal have been patched, and a 3liort length of oue and a-half chains has been refaced. Metal on tlie Campbell road has- been blinded with clay, water tables have been cleaned, and a sharp bend'has been eased )>y cutting back tho point about four feet. Clay blinding and water tabling was also done on Hotokare anil Boylan roads, and the hanking up of the newly laid metal on the latter road was also completed. Mangatokl Biding.—The work of top dressing with tar and sand has been completed on the vpper Hunter road (12,100 square yards), on ilie upper Dutlile (8100 square yards), on tne Hastings (30,650 square yards), and on the Iltham road, between Palmer road and Duthle loads, (13,000 square yards), the total length of roads treated being 892 chains. It has lean noticed that a considerable amount of ragwort Is now -In bloom on the upper Stuart and Finnerty roads. Omona Riding.—The usual maintenance work, consisting of. the removal of Blips and fallen trees, water tabling, and the filling in of ruts has been carried out on theßawhltlroa, Matotvhetu, Waltlri, Karewa and Matalmaroke roads. Tho metal on the Omona Hill has been patched sud about 140 cubic yards of shell rock has Keen quarried for use as maintenance metal im this portion of tho road. Repairs to the Whenuakura River bridge have been completed, consisting of the renewal of tho end joists and of about half the decking. As Instructed, an inspection was made of the light suspension Irldge over the, same, river, giving access from the Whenuakura Valley road to section 4, block XI., and It Is estimated that the necessary lepalrs, consisting of practically new towers slid slight repairs to the! suspended portion, will cost about £SO. A. Major, foreman of .this riding. Is vacating the position at the end of the month, and J. A. Mortland nas been appointed to fill his place. Kaponga Riding.—The Eltham road, from (he Kaponga town boundary to Palmer road, has been top-dressed with tar ahd sand (5000 square yards), and the whole of the sand' required for top-dressing this road from Awatuna <0 Kaponga has now been delivered and an' extra 70 yards has been dumped at Rlverloa toll gate. The necessary sand required for tar work on the Auroa road has also been delivered. Tho Ailing In of the approaches to the Mangawheroltl bridge was continued, and the erection of the bridge was progressing most satisfactorily, all work being completed up to the upper side of tho dock, when, as tho result of an extraordinary flood In the river, on January 24, the scaffolding supporting the beams was carried oway, and the beams themselves, the concrete In which was still quite soft, collapsed. The obstruction of the water caused a heavy scour under .the western abutment, which became considerably undermined. Much of the debris has already been cleared away, and the damage to the foundation mads good, and it Is hoped that it will be possible to salve most of the steel used for reinforcing. Further supplies of gravel and cement have been arranged for. A subsidy of £1 for £1 on the estimated amount of damago has been promised by the Government, and an Inspection to that- effect has been made by the District Engineer. Considerable difficulty Is being experienced In obtaining sufficient labor to keep this Job going satisfactorily. The same flood caused soma slight damage to a culvert on Eltliam road, through the outlet on Section U2 being choked with willow roots and silted up. The damage has now been repaired and the outlet. cleaned, by the Council's staff, the occupier having been repeatedly requested to carry out this work and having failed to do ta.

Eltham Riding.—On Tirlmoana road ridges were chipped off and ruts filled in and water tables were cleaned. Similar work was done 011 the unmetalled part of Wlngrovo road and now handrails were supplied for the Mangamlngl stream bridge on the same road. The remaining 274 yards of shell rock from Barnard's pit has been delivered on Rawhltlroa road and 36%. yards were hand-napped. Seventy cubic yards havo been supplied from Jackson's pit and have been delivered at the top of the ridge for repairing the western slda of same, and four points along the tarred portion of this road have been cut back, considerably easing the bonds and Improving the, view for approaching vehicles. Overhanging scrub on tho metalled portion of the Mangawhero road, beyond Maata road, has been cut hack and the work of repairing flood damage from the ond of the metal to the Ararata stream Is now in hand. The design for a small bridge over this stream has, with minor additions, been approved by the District. Engineer, and the necessary materials required for the construction of same will be ordered forthwith. General. —Some delay in tarring operations has been occasioned by the necesjlty for repairs to Ihe sprayer, which Involved the entire dismantling of tho machine, the resenimn of valves, repairs to the pumps, etc. These repairs have now been completed and the sprayer is again working satisfactorily. The "older of the, two tar boilers has i<!so been a source of constant trouble, the walking constantly required giving only temporary benefit, and new leaks occurring constantly, shortly after the necessary heat Is applied. During the month engineers from Walpawa and Kairanga Counties visited Eltham to tnspect' this Council's roads and plant, and wero supplied with information as to costs' and other details. The chairman reported that he and tho engineer (Mr. Tosswlll) had recently interviewed the Minister of Public Works In Wellington, and had plltced tho position regarding the Mangawluroltl bridge before him, and as a result of thfclr representations the £1 for £1 subsidy had been promised. The Omona loan had also been promised by the State Advances Department. MOUNT EGMONT QUARRY. The Public Works Department, Stratford, ivrote relative to the re-openlng of the Mt. Egmont quarry, and Inquiring as to quantity of metal required. The county engineer reported that he had aeen tlie district engineer, who had told him that he believed that there was sufficient backing from the local bodies to Justify going on with the quarry.

The clerk read a copy of a letter sent by the engineer to tho Public Works Department, gating that tho approximate amount which the council would tako annually tvould be 8000 cubic yards, and asking for particulars, as soon as possible, as to the' estimated cost the metal per cubic yard. The action of the engineer was endorsed. CORRESPONDENCE, Tlie Under Secretary for Public Works wrote stating that the item of £2OO (£2 for £1) taken ou the Public Works Estimates for the Rotokara Lake road would bo Issued for expenditure directly detailed plans,. specifications and estlmales of cost wero submitted to the district engineer at Stratford and passed by that officer.—The engineer reported that the necessary particulars had been supplied. Mr: D. J. Hughes wrote relative to Ohura coal.—lt was decided to accept a quantity: for a trial. Messrs Collis and Southey, Awatuna, wrote risking for permission. to stack not unoro than ten cords of firewood at ona time, on the side of tha S<ra.tf«rd-Opunaka road.—Permission was granted subject to the council Being Indemnified against accident. The superintendent of the National Provident Fund wrote forwarding particulars of tho superannuation scheme for local bodies—lt was decided to hold the matter Over till the next meeting. The ranger ■of the Kaponga riding reported having impounded 53 animals found straying on the roads. The Klwltea County Council wrote asking co-operation In urging on the Government the aeslrablenoss of having the import duty removed from dump trucks purchased by local bodies for tho purpose of rond-maklng or road maintenance. —It was decided to endorse the recommendation. GENERAL. It was decided to ask tho Eltham Borough Council to remove tho lamp on the Walngopgora bridge from Its. present site to the eastern corner, and also that notices be placed on the bridge limiting the speed- and notifying dauger. Cr. Gilford was appointed, to wait on the Borough Council and explain the position..