ELTHAM COUNTY COUNCIL.

Taranaki Daily News, 14 March 1921, Page 2

ELTHAM COUNTY COUNCIL.

MONTHLY MEETING. The Eltham County Council met on Saturday. Present"'Crs. C. E. MoOuinness, W. E. Carter, E. J. Gifford, R. J. Knuckey, A. Campbell, A. MeSsana, W. E. Barker and A. McMillan. In the absence of the chairman (Cr. C. J. Belcher), who is at present in Auckland, Cr. McGuinness was ’voted to the chair. ENGINEER’S REPORT. The county engineer (Mr. M. E. Fitzgerald) reported as follows: General.—Tke Daimler lorry was laid up during the greater part of the month with a broken axle, so that it becomes necessary to again postpone a full report on the result of her overhaul. What little work she has done has been quite satisfactory. The tip body of the Leyland has been taken down and rebuilt by the makers, with satisfactory results. We have had to wait for new parts for the stone crusher which have been on the way up from Christchurch for some weeks, with the result that this machinery bas done practically no work during the month. Thp steam roller, borrowed for work in the western portions of the county, had to be overhauled before it could be used,. The above remarks indicate some of the reasons why the past" month has not been a good one for progress on metalling works. The conference with the Eltham Borough Council on the question of damage done to streets by stone traffic resulted in an agreement which will be submitted to both councils for approval. The policy of halving the responsibility, for maintaining boundary roads is one which could be applied with advantage to those roads which .are at present maintained jointly with Eltham Borough, and I would suggest that the County Council empower me to make the necessary arrangements—one member from the tiding concerned, to approve in each case, and each case to be reported to the council when settled. Finnerty Road bridge was thrown open to traffic this week. South Riding.—Further progress has been made with the metalling of Fraser Road, and the re-facing of Skeet Road. The halving of the jointly owned length of Fraser Road was settled with the engineer of the Hawera County Council, and a peg placed to show the dividing point. The carpeting coat for Boylan Road was commenced, and is complete at the time of writing, and. the second coat for Rotokare Road is in hand. Mangatokl Riding.—Re-facing of Duthie Road hud to be held up to allow of the metal already spread being rolled. Omona Riding.—Further shell rock was got out of the Mangatoronjiro Road, and included several very necessary widenings, and the improvement of the bad length of road through the township site. The Minister of Public Works has offered a grant of £l5O (£ for £) towards the re-.building of Whenuakura suspension bridge. Kaponga Riding.—Saud has been, placed on the Auroa Road in readiness for tar work, which will be carried out as soon as men and machinery become available—probably next week. Mangawhero - Road received attention and Manaia Road was tar-patched. The old Mangawhero-iti bridge has been removed. Some urgent repairs were done to the Mangawhero bridge (Eltham Road). Eltham Riding.—Tar-patchlng and other work of a general nature was done on the Rawhltiroa Road. ’'The. new culvert was put in-at the far end of Rotokare Road, and further improvements will be arranged for in the near future.

With reference to the re-bulldlng of the Whenuakura suspension bridge, which was estimated to cost £3OO, including a grant of £l5O from the Government, the clerk was instructed to take the necessary steps towards raising a loan of £l5O. It was also decided that the engineer proceed with the work at once, on account of the probability of the existing bridge being washed away by the first flood.

The engineer said he was considering the question of tarring the portion of the Opu-nake-Stratford Road in the county, because much damage was continually being done by the heavy rains.

Cr. Knuckey mentioned that on the Mangamingi ridge, a fence' on the road was in very bad repair, and caused much annoyance to drivers owing to sheep getting through It on to the property below.—lt was decided to ask the owner concerned to make the fence sheep proof. The engineer’s rej/ort was approved. BOROUGH ROADS. The report of the conference between delegates from the County Council and the Borough Council held to consider the matter of damage to the borough roads by reason of the Eltham County’s metal carting, stated that after submission of the borough proposals, the county delegates agreed to recommend to the County Council the following:—l. That the Eltham County Council increase the width of Clifford Road two feet from Collingwood Street to Templar Street, re-face and tar the same, the cost to be borne by each body in equal proportions, and the work to be done as soon as convenient 2. That Collingwood Street be patched and tar-painted, and that each body pay half the cost of th« work. 3. That respecting Eltham Road, from Colling,wood Street to the county depot, the present arrangement to hold; namely, that the County Council provide metal for bad holes on side tracks, as required by reason of the cooiinty’s metal traffic.—The report was adopted. ■ PLANT AND MACHINERY. The engineer referred to the matter of obtaining a fcrusher, and said that when they were considering the estimates the council would know fairly definitely whether it would be able to get crushed metal from the Eginont quarries. If it was not likely to be able to get metal from Mt. Egmont within about eighteen months, it would be advisable to include a sum on the estimates for a crusher. He also suggested disposing of the present steam roller of 14 to 16 tons weight, ahd purchasing a lighter motor roller. STOCK ON THE ROAD. A discussion took place arising out of recent proceedings at tke Magistrate's Court, in which a settler was charged on the information of the ranger, with allowing stock to graze on* the roads, Cr. Kquckey contending that before proceedings were taken in future the facts should be reported to the council. He pointed out that stock generally got on the road accidentally, and It was giving the ranger too much power in allowing him to prosecute a second offender. The ckairman pointed out that there was a resolution on the books giving the ranger this power. Eventually the matter was left in the hands of Crs. McGuinness and Belcher to inquire into before the next meeting. GENERAL. Notification was received from the District Health Office, Wanganui, to the effect that the council’s share of tke expense of maintaining a health inspector in the district, would be £7O per annum. The council itself could, If it desired as an alternative, appoint a qualified man as inspector.—Decided to refer the matter to the clerk for further investigation. Cr. Carter was appointed the council's delegate at a conference convened by the Eltham Progress League, to be held on March 18 for the purpose of considering the matter of a soldiers' memorial for the district. The Taranaki Progress League notified tke subscriptions of affiliated bodies had been fixed as follows: —For all local bodies, one fivehundredth part of a penny in the pound on the capital value; dairy companies £1 Is to £lO 10s, according to output; and harbor boards and freezing companies £lO 10s. The league also requested the council to nominate one member to represent the Egmont electorate on the executive.—lt was decided to nominate Cr. Belcher for the position on the executive. Mr. J. A. Rankin wrote complahiing of the condition of Anderson Road, which be declared was often described as the worst road In the county.—Received.