STRATFORD COUNTY COUNCIL.

Taranaki Daily News, 20 December 1920, Page 3

STRATFORD COUNTY COUNCIL.

MONTHLY MEETING. The monthly meeting of the Stratford County Council was held on Saturday. Present: Crs. E. Walter (chairman), S. Pitt, M. Davis, W. H. Were, J. T. Belcher, T. R. Anderson, .1. H. Thomas, and J. Jacobsen.

ENGINEER'S REPORT

The engineer (Mr. J. W. Spence) reported as follows:

Nortr; Riding (East).—During the past month general maintenance worlf has been carried out on the Cross (West), Cross Croydon, Salisbury, Beaconsfleld and Croydon (West) Roads, also on Kent Terrace. The drains on the Beaconsfleld Road have been cleaned out.

North RidlnE (West).—A considerable portion of the unonth has been taken tip In getting shingle from tho Manganul Stream,, and putting same through the chip truster The necessary chips, sand .and tar have been distributed on the Mountain Road. A start was made with the work of tar sealing from the Borough boundary, this work was interrupted with tho wet weather. An endeavour to seal the pottiou to tie Kahouri Brldgi before the holidays Is being made. A portion of llio Radnor Road has been cluv blinded and some of the drains cleaned out South Riding.—Fortlons of the Mountain Road below N'gaere have been banked and coated with river shingle. On tho Robson, Waiihapa, Wingrova and Cheal Roads clay blinding has been carried out. Chips and sand rave been placed on fhe Mountain Rnad preparatory to tar sealing the parts lately refaced. A few days were occupied in filling In the northern approach to the Finneiiy Road bridge. East Riding (Toko).—lt has been necessary to do u considerable amount of clay blinding on the Ohura Road at Sangster's Ml where tlie work of refaeing will be put in hand as soon as the weak portions of the Coition Road have been refaced. Clay blinding has been carried out on the BeaconsHold, Al'uroa East, Toko, and Raupahu Roads. A short length of the Mangaehu Road near the tunnel will require some attention, respitt ana bt»«ffttt«4 with »it mtnh

East Riding (Douglas).—General repair work has .been carried out on tiie Ohura, Ohura-Mangaehu and Mangaoutku Roads. The track from Gordon Road to the bins has been coated with shellrock. Tie work at the shellroek p'.t is progressing satisfactorily, ihe output at present being used to refaee the wpak portions of the Gordon Rocd.

East Riding (Hulroa).—The shell rock metalling ft part of H(io Douglas South

Saddle has been completed, 30 cubic yards beh'g placed on the north side and Mi yards p» the south a.cle. Tin smill triage imi if" Hu.ioa side cf the Salle has Jeep, repaired. General surface work has be';n carried out on the Makurl (Ilu'.i'Oa), Makuri East, Douglas North and Autuwa Itoails.

West Riding.—'The refacing of the Manala North Road has now been completed,' about V,i wiles receiving a light coat of broken metal, 940 yards of river stone being crush. Ed for this purpose. The grade at the gravel pit has been improved, about 150 cubic yards of metal being used In tlte filling. Messrs. Anderson and Maun must be thanked for having given permission to obtain tie clay required for blinding, from their properties. About two thousand feet of deck timber has come to hand for repairing the bridges on the Opunake Road. Mangaehu Riding.—During the month slips Itavo been cleared and water tables cleaned out on the Mangaehu, Mangaehu South and Tuiutawa Roads. Grading on the BrewerTalhore, Taihore and Mangaehu Roads hss | been done and a start made on the Punl- | whakau Road. Some of the decking on the Tutdtawa Bridge has been repaired.—Received.

CORRESPONDENCE. The rublic Trust Office, Wellington, notified that tl e Public Trustee regretted that he was unable to increase the loan of £20,000 which had already been granted by the office, by jt further sum of £15,000. The matter o£ raising the loan was left in the hands of the chairman.

The Department of Labor, Wellington, notified that under the Stops and Offices Act the Council was called upon to hold a special meeting In the month of January, for the purpose of deciding the day of the weekly half-holiday, failing which the Minister would declare a certain day as the day of the halfholiday.—lt was decided to take no action In the matter.

The secretary of the Ngaere Co-operative Dairy Co. Ltd., wrote requesting the Council to take steps to acquire a small portion of Mr. Sparks' land at the corner of Flnnerty Road, Ngaere, in order that the corner may be rounded off.—Cr. Thomas, In supporting the application, said that the corner was very dangerous and something would have to be done. Only a few feet were required. —After further discussion it was decided to defer the- matter until the next meeting in order that Cr. O'Neill could be apprised of the position. Mr F. A. Nelson, secretary of the Matan Ratepayers and Settlers' Association, wroto asking the Council to reconsider its decision not to Include the Matau district In the Stratford County, and further that the Council set up a committee to meet representatives of the Association for the purpose of discussing the matter. The chairman said lie thought it was r. fair thing for a committee to meet the Association.

Cr. Thomas asked if in the eyent of the Council again deciding not to take in the district concerned, could the petitioners force their way Into the County? Tho clalriin said lie had not beard of such a case happening. The chairman and Crs. Were and Anderson were appointed a sub-committee to meet representatives of the Association at the County offices on Tnesdily, January 11, at 2 p.m.. Messrs. Blair .Mason,. Lee and Owen, New Plymouth, wrote asking if any steps had been taken to constitute a power district of the Slrat'fon! ami Eltliain Boroughs, and the Stratford, Eltlam and Whnngamomoua Counties as suggested In the Public 'Works Statement for 1920, or if the Council had under consideration- the Installation of a power supply to moot their local needs.—Decided to reply stating that no action had yet been taken

Mr. li, Masters. M.P., wrote staling that at the request of the Council he hail made ronrcsent.'ltinns to the Minister of Lands in October in the direction of getting the Government. it pay the rales on the properties in the county taken over for the settlement of discharged soldiers, which were not paid In the intervening period hotwcen the purchase of the land by \\e Government, and when It was settled by the soldiers. He was now pleased to he in a position to advise the Council that the Minister bad seen fit to authorise the Treasury to make a payment for the amount, which he understood was about £6OO without the Government subsidy. The chairman said that the letter was very satisfactory, as tie Council had been trying to get the matter fixed up for a considerable time. On his motion, Mr. Masters was accorded the thanks of the Council for his efforts in regard to the matter, THE STRATHMORE SADDLE. ' The chairman reported on a itiectliif! which had been held at Strathmore for the purpose- of discussing what should be done Regarding Ihe Strathmore Saddle. He said the people had £OOO of a balance left, and it was suggested that Instead of spending that amount In metalling the existing road, two tunnels be made through the.hill. This would be a big benefit to the district, especially as the road was really one of the main arterial roads. He Ibought that the Government would probably help by way _of i subsidy. Personally, he thought two short tunnels would be better than one long tunnel. Roughly, the cost would be about £SOOO. He moved the following resolution: "That providing no engineering difficulties exist in deviating t'|e Mangaotuku and Ohura Roads, at the Strathmore Saddle, by means of two short tunnels, and the formation and metalling of a new road to connect the two roads, this Council is In favor of the work being carried out, providing that a loan is raised over potions of the Whangamomona County and parts of the East and Mangaelw Ridings In the Stratford County, and that \n application be forwarded to the Minister for Pbblic Works, for a grant of £ for £ in connection with the cost of the proposed deviation. Should this request toe granted there would be no objection to the grant of £COO for metalling the saddle being withdrawn." . Cr. .laenbsen seconded the motion. Cr. .lacobson favored the idea of making the tunnels because the saddle was becoming very expensive to keep in order. In reply to Cr. Belcher, the ctairman said that both tunnels were in the Stratford County, but as they would benefit some of the Whangamomona settlers It was only fair lhat they should contribute. The motion was carried unanimously. GENERAL. On the motion of Cr. Thomas, the engineer was instructed to tave some trees cut at a dangerous corner of the Cornwall Road. It was decided to close the County offices for the Christmas holidays from Dec. 24th to Jan. 4th.

At the conclusion of the meeting the chairman wished the councillors and staff the, compliments of the season.