TARANAKI COUNTY COUNCIL.
MONTHLY MEETING. The Taranaki County Council met yesterday. Present: Crs. J. S. Connett (chairman), J. Andrews, J. Wooldridge, S. Vickers, and A. Morton. ENGINEER'S REPORT. The monthly report submitted by the engineer (Mr. R. D. Climie) was as follows: Mangorei Riding.—Foremen have been employed only on maintenance works during the month . Most of the roads in this riding are in very fair orderForeman Spencer resigns from the service of the Council this coming month in order to go farming. He has recommended Mr. J. Moyle to fill his position-, and I suggest that Mr. Moyle be appointed. Mr. Southcombe has dumped 200 cubic yards of shingle at Mangorei, and as opportunity offers this will be carted by motor lorry on to the side of the road in readiiiess for tar-sealing ; work. I am pleased to say that the timber for repairs to Alfredjtoad bridge came to hand this week, and this work will be gone on with this month. Waitara Riding.—Fair progress lias been made with work on the Mountain Road. The total quantity of metal spread is 1128 cubic yards, and I estimate that g. further 750 to 800 cubic ya'rds will be required to complete repairs to the weak portion of the Main Road. If it can possibly be done I urge that the Manutahi Road from the railway crossing to Lepperton should also be attended to. If done now this work will cost approximately £275, but if left for any length of time this road will completely goi to pieces, and it, will cost a great deal more to put in order agam. As l instructed I have prepared the following estimate for metalling the Cross Road between Te Arei and Kelly Roads. The total distance unmet,ailed is 51% chains, and this will take 830 cubic yards of metal. The nearest supply of stone is in the Waiongona River, and this should be crushed and put on the road for approximately 13s a yard. An allowance of say 50 cubic yards will have to be made for repairs to roads carted over, as it has been proved that the roads in this! district are not solid enough to stand the motor lorries. The approximate total cost of this work will be then £560. The small groyne authorised to be built near the Tannery Company's boundary is practically completed. The groyne on the County aide of the river at the weir has settled considerably, and I will discontinue completion of it for a week or two until this settlement has stopped. Twjo loads of metal chips were obtained from , Mr. Kyngdon, and , this has been treated with tar in readiness to make repairs to asphalt roads at Omata. Omata Riding.—The total length required to be metalled on the Vcale Road is 17$ chains. The approximate cost of metalling this length will be £175. Metal from Frankley Road Pit to be used. No work excepting ordinary routine .maintenance has been done in this riding during the month. Regarding the request made by Mr. Tweedale I found that he wanted the Council to cut back embankment of Ngamotu Road, work involving tlio removal of about 2000 yards of material. Okato Riding;.—The small roller is still employed on the main road. For a greater part of the Month this roller could not be worked, as a new 'gear wheel had to be fitted. From now on much better progress should be made. The work of repairing Sacnders Road bridges is completed, and under tllie circumstances a very satisfactory job made. Repairs to Oakura Bridge have' also been completed, and in my opinion this bridge is now safe for any load within reason: Foreman Meredith is now working on the Pitone Road, and all culverts and water-ways are receiving his attention. Foreman Jury completed hauling at Kaihihi early in tho month and shifted to the Stoney River. He has now hauled 1500 cubic yards of stone at the Kaihihi, also about 350 yards shingle, and at Stoney River about 450 yards of shingle. This week he is shifting back to Oakura, and will complete hauling stone for Surrey Hill Road and will also save any shingle from the Oakura Beach. It was resolved that the recommendations of the engineer in regard to the Waitara Riding be given effect to subject to -arrangementsT Teg&rding finance being made. ROADING WORK. NineTatepayers. of the Richmond Road petitioned asking for a loan to metal the unfinished portion of the road from T. Paul's property to the boundary of the Moa County. The Council was also asked to endeavor to get a £ for £ subsidy from the Government. The matter was referred to the engineer. Eleven ratepayers of the Upper Saunders Road requested the Council to take the necessary steps to raise a special loan for re-grading and metalling work, and asked 'that the engineer be sent out as soon as possible to prepare an estimate.—The engineer was delegated to prepare estimates of the contract. Mrs. A. E. Aish directed attention to the state of Albion Road, of which about twenty chains needed metalling.—Decided that the applicant be informed the Council is not prepared to spend any money on the construction referred to. H H. Watson waited on the Council, urging that matters be pushed on regarding the proposed deviation on the Plymouth Road. It was agreed that the chairman, Cr. Wooldridge. and the engineer meet the settlers interested at the site on the 13th inst. Corbett Road settlers wrote, asking that a special loan be raised for metalling the road The engineer was authorised to prepare an estimate. INSPECTION OF MEAT. The Waimate West County Council solicited the Council's co-operation in urging on the Government the necessity of making provision for the inspection of meat intended for human consumption killed at all slayghter-houses throughout the Dominion. The Council considered this measure necessary to safeguard country residents.—On the motion of Crs. Vickers and Morton it was decided to support the proposal. MONEY FOR EDUCATION, The Nelson City Council wrote, asking the Council to support a resolution informing the Minister of Education "that the Council does not consider it is in the province of local bodies to provide funds for technical education, and that owing to this being a matter of national importance, the Government should undertake the whole of the expense of education, on a libt*r •' scale." The i;liairman remarked the Council had already made fiiig-" year's contribution, but the principle-'war one which they might well endor^ Cr. Vickers thought it was a arwarieui
position for technical colleges to have to depend on money which might or might not he voted by local bodies,, On the motion of Crs. Morton and Vickers, it was resolved to support 'the resolution, FINANCE. The chairman reported that after the month,'s accounts had been passed the overdraft would amount to £19,197. As there would be no incoming rates before January, some arrangement would have to be made with the Council's bankers. The work of the County could not be held up. Replying to the chairman, the clerk estimated that about £SOOO would be needed to carry on till the rates were due. Cr. Andrews inquired if the Government was doing anything towards assisting the Council. The chairman repliei} that the matter was under consideration by Cabinet. It was hard to convince the authorities, however, that the Council's position was more acute than in the case of other counties. The ehairman was delegated, to interview the bank authorities on the matter of the overdraft. WORKMEN'S COTTAGES. The matter of building two workmen's cottages was before the Council, preparatory steps having already been taken to raise a loan tof £2OOO to cover the cost of houses and land. It was decided that the cottages be erected in concrete, and that, providing the estimate is satisfactory, the work be proceeded with at once. GENERAL. The engineer reported that coal supplies were very short,' but two trucks nad been promised out of the boat now in port, A special order was passed, authorising the raising of a loan of £IOOO for the metalling of Ahu Ahu road. Regarding the proposed groyne on the Kaihiki stream, F. J. Greenaway wrote stating the channel made by the Council's workmen was much too small to cope v?ith the water when a «royne was erected, and considerable erosion might result on the opposite bank of the streaip. The writer sought the Council's advice before proceeding with the work. —Left to the Engineer. On the suggestion of the ehairman, a special meeting is to be held next Monday, 13th inst., to consider the matter of new Riding boundaries, and the question of re-organisation of ftaff and the work "of the County generally.
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TDN19200907.2.81
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Taranaki Daily News, 7 September 1920, Page 7
Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,454TARANAKI COUNTY COUNCIL. Taranaki Daily News, 7 September 1920, Page 7
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Taranaki Daily News. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.