EGMONT COUNTY COUNCIL.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 December 1920, Page 8

EGMONT COUNTY COUNCIL.

MONTHLY MEETING. The ordinary meeting of the Egmont County Council was held on Tuesday, when there were present: Crs. S. Campbell (chainman), C. A. Trotter, It. Ferguson, A. C. Chapman, W. C. Green, J. S. Tosland, M. O'Brien, It. (.'. Watson, and W. It. Wright.

ENGINEER'S REPORT. The engineer (Mr. C. It. Pease) reported as follows :■—

Oeo Riding (Northern).—A fair amount of patching tas been done to the Watlno Boad, Oeo Road (nßrth), Stratford Road, ffelta Street, and tho Elthara Road has been patched right through the riding. The water tables in Weka Street ■ have been attended to, ond the new metal on the Oeo Road has been reblinded to keep the stone in position. There Is no bottom or foundation to this road, and it should have about 20 yards of metal to the chain to keep it in order. Early in the month a large wooden culvert on the Eltham Road, just west of the Oeo Itoad, collapsed and let in the road on one side as far as the wheel track, the culvert was cleared of timber and debris, and the road fenced off and lighted 1 until the following Sunday, when traffic was stopped and a new line of 15ft diameter concrete pipes was put across tl:e road u few feet away from the old culvert. Some blinding and water-tabling has been done to the Fa III;i Road, and counter sinking carried out on the Klrl Road ready for metalling. On completion of Contract 346 at the top end of the Watlno Road the junction ot! the Eltham Road was widened with pit metal from an adjoining section. Particulars of this contract, which were not given last month, are as follows:—102 yards crushed, of which 9li were laid down on 10 chains of road and six dumped for maintenance, cost per yard for labor, teams, fuel, water, etc., 9s o>4d, total cost per chain, Including contractor's price, £8 18s 9%d. This high cost *ls caused by having three wet days on such a short contract, also having to pay extra to get men to work. The cost for Contract 352 A for 120 cubic yards of crushed metal rolled in on the Oeo Road north of Eltham Road was £0 11« lOVid per chain, and Cs il%d per cubic yard for scarifying, rolling, fuel, labor, lorse hire, etc. Oeo Riding (Southern).—The Main South Road water-tables between Puketapu Road and Allen's Creek have been cleaned out, and some, little water-tabling has been done ont the I'atiki Road, north of Skeet Road. The new formation at the things of the Pa tiki Road and Skeet Boad junction has heen filled In with good dry material. Repairs have been done to the decking of the Ourl Bridge. The contractor has got all tte stone required for his contracts on the Main 1 South Road at Oeo, the Nopera and Skeet Roads. The crushing plant will be sent out lo commence work at Oeo to-morrow. This plant would hove gone out yesterday, but the Inspector of Machinery is imaking his annual inspection of all the Council's plant to-day. Paddock stone is being put on the Watlno Road by adjoining settlers there. Opua Riding (Southern).—Tie uneven portion of the Eltham Road between the Mnnguhume school and Leahy's hill has been scarified, formed up and re-rolled. Patching has been done to. the Upper Walleika Road and the lhaia Road, fiorso has been cut and grubbed on the section at the Waiaua River leased from tie Harbor Board. The men in this Riding were engaged for a third of the month assisting the foremen In the Oeo Northern and, Opua Northern Ridings, as it was Impossible to get sufficient casual labor. The costs of Contract 3RI on the Eltham Road near the T.iungatara Bridge omitted last month on account of date of meeting being altered are as follows: Total cost per chain intruding contractor's price for 272 yards crushed metal and :!0 yards screenings, £0 4s tVld; cost per cubic yard for scarifying, forming up, spreading, team and manual labor, fuel, eic , 4s 11V4d.

Opua ' Hiding (Northern).— rateHng and water-tabling have been done to the Main South Road, also patching to the Xamu and Upper Arawhata Roads. About the middle of the month the Fowler engine with one "Austin" scarifier, along with the Garrett roller, commenced work on the Main South Road at tre Heimama bridge, from whence a length of TO chains northwards was scarified, formed tip and rolled in again without new metal at a cost of £1 2s lid per chain. The cost Is rather higher than usual, but the stone turned up with the scarifier was so large that it had practically all to be knapped by hand before rolling In. Further repairs will probably tave to be done to the Heimana bridge in the immediate future. The. timber at the breastwork of the abutments is rotting and will need to bo shored up.

Opunake Riding.—Pipes have, boen made In the shed on wet days, and shingle has been delivered to tile two yards for the same purpose. The Walmato West County Engineer has kindly lent us a tar-spreader which will be used on Main Street as soon ns tl'e contractor gets out the top dressing. The .Stratford county engineer made the same offer, but- it will be cheaper from Jtunaia. Rahotu Riding (Soutl.orn).—The breastwork to the south abutments of the Oaoltl bridge on the Main South Road has been made good, and two new joists put in, the approaches on the south side tave been made good and two new Joists put in, (he approaches on the south side has also been •improved. A new water-table has been cut on the cast side of the Main Road from the Kabul Road to the stream below Mr. Olsen's property, to carry away the surface water, of which' lie complained as flooding his garden. The whole of the footpatts and water channels in the Rahotu township have been cleaned up. The Upper Kahu! Road has been patched from the Main Soutt Road to Stonei's Hill, and the water-tables cleaned out at places. Pipes have been made at Rahotu shed on wet days. Rahotu Riding (Northern).—A fair amovnt of patching has been done to the Main South Road at the Warea end, and a little patching and water-tabling done on tte Warea Road. The foreman spent about 12 days on the Upper Newall Road, patching nuu doing general repairs, but had to leave the work before completion on account of tne plant being ready to start scarifying and I re'ling on th 3 Main Road at Punlt o. Some 'little patcbing has been done on the Lower Tarlhaka Road, A lino of 3ft diameter concrete pipes has been sent as far as the bridge at the top of Warea Road, to be used on tho Newall Road in front of Mr. Bradbury's. The Warea and Newall Roads, as far as tlte Wlremu Road, are in a very bad condition. They require attention at once, but it is impossible to find sufficient men to do the work. The Newall Road above tho Wirenm Road and the Carrlngton Road are In a much worse condition. I examined these on the 22nd ultimo, and I again examined them on tie 11th Inst., and found them In a i (shocking condition. I think the chairman will tell you that something will have to be done immediately to. remedy the bad state of the roads, or otherwise close them to the heavy motor lorry traffic from the sawmill, as It is practically iuiipossible for milk carts to get along. Mr. Harding (a settler on the Carrlngton Road) and his man are trying their best to keep the road open, but it is more than t*ey can manage owing to the dearth of suitable metal. However, I am arranging for the crushing plant to go up the Puniho Road and commence work on Contract 3!)S at the top of the Newall Road, when we can crush additional metal to repair these two lengths if agreeable to the Council. The owner of tie sawmill has agreed to pay for the crushing and to cart a certain amount of metal for this purpose, but I should like the Council to come to some definite arrangement' with him for future repairs. Mr. Cbrlstoflel has spiced to put in three new stringers and re-deck the bridge nearest Punlho Road, the Council paying for cost of timber only. The bed of the river under the Taikaparua bridge on tic Main South Road is scouring badly. There are a few large boulders close at hand that might be rolled into the deepest place, and if this does not prevent further scour probably it will need a small groin at the east side of the northern abutment to change the direction of the flow. The amount of rent required for tre house at Pungorehu should he fixed. Mr. Itereli and others havo been doing formation work on the Ruakere Road.

General,—The new intake valve of valve cace have been fitted on the Austin roller, also new rings to the nlston, and the rings on tlie nlr jump explnnded, She was cot ta worn y«»Urdsij', Ih» »Qia«tt Street sliei)

and store have been painted, also the secondhand dray thai was purchased for the Oeo Riding northern, and now awaits a horse and harness. The Oeo Biding southern and the Opua Hiding northern arc also much In need of a hors& and dray each. Paddocks are needed for grazing tl'e Council's horses at Knhotu and Pungarehu. Ironwork for a hood for llio Avellng and Porter engine has been made, but 1 have not been able to net tie carriers to bring alone the timber from JJlthani. As the bridge foreman lias decided not to return here at present, and the prospects of getting further supplies of cuaicnt arc very poor, I have received permission to hand over a certain amount of cement to otter people with permits who are in urgent need of it. As this is the first meeting of the new Council, I should like the members to take into serious consideration the provision of seme means of raising sufficient money for the purpose of obtaining labor-saving plant. tVe are behind all other counties in Taranaki in this respect. There are numerous places on the coast where tens of thousands of yirds of beach stone are available for road making If we only had the means of transporting it quickly and cheaply to where :♦. Is required. Over two years ago I submitted an estimate showing that by the use of a. lifting plant on the beach, large metal bins and motor lorries, it was possible to deliver crushed metal five miles from where It was crushed at less than half the average cost we were .paying rontraetors to deliver the same material one mile. A very valuable addition to tlio plant would be ft jaek-hammer drill, which could bo worked in winter time with steam from tie Garrett roller. I beg to submit to you a quotation for a motor trailer which is required with the crushing planl now at P.uniho to carry along the timbers required for setting up the plant and the screen.

A contract for formation of the Wlrpmu Road has been provisionally accepted, and 1 have arranged with the District Engineer to go into the matter on Saturday next. PI'NIHO BOUNDARY ROAD. The Tafanaki County Clerk forwarded a .•opy of a warrant re the Punlho Road. The late Parlhaka Road Board, he stat'd, was laboring under a misapprehension in thinking that the agreement had expired In May, 1918, as he had notified them that tho warrant was in existence, until revoked or superseded by another warrant. He pointed out that two years' contributions were still due.

Cr. Green thought that tre Council had made a mistake In allowing the control of boundary roads to go out of their hands. Cr, O'Brien thought something should be done to rectify this. The chairman said that the road • was in good order. The Council had to take over tie liabilities of the l'arihaka Board, which handed over the control of the road. A committee, comprising the chairman, Crs. IVright and Green, was appointed to go Into the matter.

MAIN ROADS POLICY. Mr. O. Hawken, M.P., wrote stating that a change of policy was proposed in the upkeep of reads In the Dominion, and he was watching the movement very carefully on behalf of the Egmont electorate. He asked that particulars slould be supplied him regarding the upkeep of the county.—lnformation required would be supplied. Tho chairman said that he was doubtful of the main road proposals. The road was bad enough now. and the Government might possibly 'luke it worse, but if they took it over and ran it properly it would bo satisfactory; Cr. Tosland said that the roa H ds migl-t he like their railway—shelved for twenty years. He understood it was intended to make a start at Auckland, and It would he a long time reaching Taranaki. Cr, O'Brien thought the Council should not make any pronouncement regarding this policy until they knew more about it.

WIREMU ROAD. The iVlremu Koad Committee, comprising Crs. S. Campbell (chairman), M. O'Brien, R. C. >Yatson, It. Ferguson, .1. S. Tosland and A. P. Chapman, met on December 9th to open and consider tenders for work on thit road (lhaia. to Arawhata Road). A tender was received from Mr. P. Berge (Rahotu), £90!) 10s.

A letter was received from the Resident Engineer, stating Unit £ISOO had been granted to the Wlremu Hood, the section between Ihnia and Ngarlki Road to be completed, and the balance spent on the section between IhnU and Kirl Roads. The Department would prepare plans for the Waiau River bridge. Tte Council could submit proposals icgarding the Okahu Road; £IOO bad been granted to the Cape Road on the £1 for £1 basis, for which the council should submit proposals.

The committee resolved to recommend the Department to accept the tender.

It was also resolved that the County Engineer suggest to the Resident Engineer tlte advisability of the erection of the piers for tl-c Heimana bridge as far as he may deem advisable, such to be of a permanent character, as the erection of these piers would save the blocking of the' river by debris whea the road was being made. It was also resolved that Mr. 0. .T. Hawken, M.P., be requested to endeavor to have Ihe survey fo the Wlremu Road (Kin Road to IValau River) from Lockley's contract to the Walau River completed. Tlie chairman pointed out that by erecting the piers, debris from a cutting near by, wbieh It was proposed to put Into the river, could be utilised for filling. Cr. Green raised the point that the Wiremu Road Committee had not been legally elected. He considered the committee should be reduced to three, as at present most of the representation was from the southern end, whilst the bulk of the expenditure was required in the> northern end.

After a lltle discussion the committee was re-electccj and the report adopted.

On tte motion of Crs. O'Brien and Watson, it was resolved that the clerk ascertain the whole of the yearly rates frnm a'i lands abutting on the Wiremu-Okahu-Carrlng-ton Road from its commencement at the Opu-rakt-Stratford-Oeo Road junction to the Punlho Road, tho land to be included on both sidls of the road, and as far as the forest reserve.

ICAHUI ROAD.

Notification was received from Mr. H.iwken, M.P., that a grant of £2OO on the £ for £ subsidy basis appeared on the supplementary estimates for tie Kabul Road. Members expressed surprise that no other notification had been received.

It was pointed out that contracts had already been let for the supply of 300 yards of maintenance metal on the road, and it was resolved to proceed with the present contracts. GENERAL. Mr. C. A. Woolford waited on the Council, and asked that it, metal eight chains of Young Road, offering to form the balance o? the road (four cbatns) himself.—The engineer was authorised to expend up to £3O. A resolution making a special rate in respect to the Ruakere Road special loan was passed. Koitapapa Rangitoawa wrote, asking that the Taurua Road be made passable from the Main South Road ,to his section. lie was nrepared to assist In the formation work. The Opunake Athenscum Committee applied for a renewal of the Council's grant to the free reading room.—lt was resolved to vote the customary £2 2s. Messrs. J. D. Keogh and M. P. Shale wrote complaining of the action of tho ranger, who had notified Ibat, in future, cows would not be allowed to graze on the road. Jlr. S. M. Ball, Reahtent-Engineer, Stratford, wrote asking the Council to forward particulars of Hie works for which authority had not been Issued, and which the Council intended to proceed with. The secretary of the Tavanaki Progressive League forwarded copy of constitution and rules. Cr. W. R. Wright was appointed to represent tte Council. ,

The Inspector of Quarries notified that the amendments to the Stone Quarries Act were now in force.