EGMONT COUNTY COUNCIL

Taranaki Daily News, 9 March 1921, Page 6

EGMONT COUNTY COUNCIL

MONTHLY MEETING. The Egmont County Council met at Opunake yesterday. Present: Crs. S. Campbell (chairman), R, C. Watson, M. O’Brien J. S. Tosland, W. C. Green, A. F. Chapman, R. Ferguson, and C. A. Trotter. Leave of absence was granted Cr. W. R. Wright. ENGINEER’S REPORT. The engineer (Mr. Pease) reported as follows : Oeo Riding (Northern). —The Eltham Road has had clay blinding spread on places where the metal was working loose, some patching has been done to it, and water-tabffh cleaned out where required. A short length of drain near the Ouri bridge has been cleaned out. Repairs have been done to the joists, under-decking and top-decking of the Ouri bridge, and additional timber ordered in case of emergency. Kiri Road has been patcted with pit metal. The Stratford Road has been patched, and a portion of the boulder stones delivered on to the road ftom the Kiri Road pit have been knapped ready for further patching. The abutment of the bridge over the Mill stream on the Stratford Road is being underscoured and will need attention shortly. Instructions have been given to proceed with' the case of allowing blackberries to grow on a frontage at the top of the Kiri Road. The contractor for the felling, clearing and grubbing of that portion of the Wairemu Road from east of the Taungatara River io the Maungahume River has almost completed his contract. Oeo Riding (Southern). —Four days’ work was put in on the Main South Road at Oeo to finish off contract 377 and 378. The plant was then moved to the Nopera Road (contract 381), which yielded 248 cubic yards of crushed metal and 34 yards of screenings. Two hundred and forty yards of metal were rolled in on 23 chains of the road along R. Lamble’s frontage, and the rest dumped for maintenance. From here the plant was taken to the Skeet Road to contract 38Q, where 252 yards of metal were crushed, producing 40 yards of screenings. Two hundred and twen-ty-six yards of metal and the screenings were laid down on 23 chains of the road from the Ouri bridge to the Patiki Road, where the wings at the junction, which have been in a bad condition for a long time, were metalled, and 26 yards were dumped for the maintenance of the Main South Road at the bend near Jersydale at a future date. The next move Yvas to the Main South Road near the Taungatara River (contract 379), where the contractor is now making fairly good progress.

Opua Riding (Southern). —The Main South Road and Lower Waiteika Road have been blinded where necessary. Three new concrere pipe culverts have been put in across the Jhaia Road above the Wairemu Road, and n line of 12in. pipes were put in at the lower end to replace a wooden culvert which had collapsed. Eighteen new 81n. and 4in. decking planks, totalling 768 feet, have been used on the Maungahume bridge, Eltham Road. I would like to point out that the Waiteika bridge,. on the Eltham Road is getting into a bad condition, and as the plans for it ar* prepared a specification could soon be made and a contract probably let if satisfacMj Then the Taungatara bridge on the same road could be dealt with similarly.

Opua Riding (Northern). —Clay blinding has been done to the Main South and Namu Roads. A considerable amount of tim? has •een spent in gathering up loose stones cn the Upper Arawhata Road, which have been dumped for future maintenance, and a lot of boulder stones have been taken out of the /road surface above the factory.

Rahotu Riding (Southern). —The Main South, Ngariki and Manihl Roads have been patched and blinded where required from end to end, and sortie patching has been done to the Opourapa Road. The newly metalled portions of the by-roads have plucked up badly during the dry weather and required considerable attention.

Rahotu Riding (Northern). —The men In this part of the riding have been engaged on contract work practically all the month. Contact No. 401, on the Stent Road, has been confßleted and yielded 206 yards of crushed metal, g'hich was put down on 33 chains of tte road (p>m the Main South Road downwards. Afterwards 84 yards of metal which had been crushed for the late Parihaka Road Board was carted out and laid down on li chains of the road in continuation of the above, making 47 chains of new metalling with a coat of about 6 yards per chain. From here the plant was moved to the Main South Road to contract No. 390, where it crusted 514 yards'" of metal, which produced 34 yards ot screenings, the whole being put down on about 30 chains of the road between near Stent Road and the Teikaparua bridge, at an average rate of about 10% yards per chain. ' Some water-tabling was done here. An old contract of last year was next taken in hand and produced 206 yards of crushed metal, which was rolled In on 33 chains of the Bayly Road at a rate of 6% yards per chain. Four yards of the total were taken to a hill on the Main South Road to repair a chain in length of the surface which was water scoured. At the end of the month the plant was moved to the Cape Road, and is now at the Pungarehu Road. There are about 25ft cubic yards of crusted metal at the bottom of the Bayly Road which the settlers are anxious to have laid down, but there is not sufficient money to do the work. However, after all expenses in connection with the last contract are in, and if it is found there is ahy money left, I have promised to spend it the road. The Settlers on the Pungarehu ask for the whole of tte stone got out by A& Symonds to be crushed, but again the money is P ot available. Contract No. 398 should be transferred from Munro and Kahely to M. and Jil. R. Hill, who have agreed to take it over and are proceeding’ with the work, A', DEPUTATION. Messrs. Feaver 'Bros. (3), T. Austin, and M. Callender waited on the council and asked that something should be done to the Opua Road, which was In a very bad condition. They understood tfte road was £lOO in credit, and asked that they should be allowed to overdraw £6OO on next year’s rates so that the crusher could be taken up the road and metal got out at a reasonable cost. In reply to Cr. O’Brien, Mr. Feaver said that he questioned If any of the settlers had plant suitable to enable them to get out the stone. Cr. O’Brien agreed that the road was in a bad state. The settlers had done a lot to assist in tte upkeep of their road, having raised a special rate for the purpose. Although finances were tight, the coundil should do its utm<>WJ assist the settlers, otherwise many of them would not be able to get out tc the main road in the winter. The chairman said that he would be agreeable to accede to the request, providing money was available. At present the council was heavily overdrawn. On the motion of Cr. O’Brien and the chairman, the works committee was authorised to go into the matter of road works, with a view to seeing if the money could be made available, and if it were available the works committee were authorised to make arrangements to procure the metal. • HEALTH INSPECTION. The health officer, Wanganui, wrote in reference to the changes made at the beginning of the year in the working of the sanitary department of the district. He pointed out that towns could appoint an inspector, who must be properly qualified as a wholetime official, as they might contribute to the salary of a man appointed by the Government. The contribution asked from Egmont County would be £7O per annum. Cr. O’Brien thought that this would give the council the opportunity it had wanted for some time past of appointing an inspector of its own to enforce the by-laws, etc., and this £7O would help make up his salary. The matter was deferred till next meeting. EXTRAORDINARY TRAFFIC.

W. C. Clement, sawmiller, Eltham, wrote stating that he was prepared to maintain the Waiteaka Road North in fair working order from the Eltham Rond to his gate with pit metal, using 400 yards per year, or in lieu thereof to pay the council £lOO per year to be spent on that length of road. Sim chairman said that he favored placing

the matter on a royalty basis. After some discussion it was resolved that' Mr. Clements be charged 9d per 100 feet on the output. Cr. Tosland pointed out that the timber was carted over pther roads within the county besides the Waiteaka, and be thought that a portion of the royalty should be utilised for their maintenance. He therefore moved that 6d be devoted to ttre"friaintenance of the Waiteaka, and that 3d should be placed to the general fund to maintain the Other roads. Cr. Green seconded. The resolution was carried* Cr. Ferguson protesting that it was unfair to charge one for maintaining the main road when carriers who carted timber from outside were not charged anything. GENERAL. On the. motion of Cr. O’Brien and the chairman, the engineer was instructed to inspect and report on some bad places on the Wiremu Road. In reply to Cr. Trotter, the engineer stated that the tar-spraying machine had now arrived and the work of re-tarring the main road through the Opunake town would be put in hand at once. The Secretary of the Board of Trade forwarded a copy of a circular letter expressing appreciation of the assistance rendered during the past six months since the cement, brick, and timber regulations came into force, but stated that from information now received from various parts of the Dominion it appeared that some local bodies were placing a wider interpretation upon the delegated powers than intended by the Board. The circular pointed out that local bodies were empowered to issue permits only for dwellings bouses. Including alterations, additions, repairs, and essential farm buildings. This does not cover private motor garages. In any case where there was a doubt about the authority the application should be forwarded to the Inspector of Factories. In reply to the council's inquiry as to whether any revenue would accrue to the council by reason of the Crown purchasing the freehold of any Native lands, Mr. G. Bullard (Commissioner of Crown Lands) stated that where land was acquired for sub-division and allotted thirds up tp £3 per acre unimproved value would be paid, but where the freehold was acquired for a lessee over land he had a lease of, the department did not pay any money to the county council, any more than one farmer did if he sold his property to anoUiar,