STRATFORD COUNTY COUNCIL

Taranaki Daily News, 21 March 1921, Page 2

STRATFORD COUNTY COUNCIL

MONTHLY MEETING. The Stratford County Council met on Friday. Present: Crs. E. Walter, S. Pitt, M. Davis, .1. Jackson, J. T. Belcher, T. R. Anderson, J. O’Neill, J. H. Thomas and VV. H. Were. ENGINEER'S REPORT. The county engineer (Mr. J. W. Spence) reported as follows: — North Riding (East).—The work for the past month has consisted mainly of clay blinding the various roads on which the metal, owing to the dry weather, l as broken up. The following roads have been treated in this manner; namely, Salisbury, Beaconsfield, Upper Stanley, Croydon West, and Kent Terrace. Patching with all the available metal is being carried out on the Stanley Road. It Is intended to cart shell rock maintenance from Mr. Oldridge’s pit to assist the work. A contract has been let to quarry a further 400 cubic yards from the same pit. North Riding (West). —About 200 yards of shingle have been taken out of the Manganui depot and placed at the Mountain Road entrance; tbis will be used partly for side tracking on the Waipuku Hill and partly for reducing to chips. The fence on the Denbigh Road over which some complaints were made, has been removed, the willows on the south side having been cut away, the concrete pipes extended, and the earth filling • widened. The clay cutting on the Mountain Road near Midhirst is being widened, the material being used to fill up the western side of the road below the Radnor Road. South Riding.—Practically the whole of the month has been taken up in making the approaches to the Finnerty Road bridge, and placing tarred macadam on the deck of the bridge. A coat of metal has been placed on tte approaches, and this will be rolled in when. It is deemed safe! to take the roller over the bridge. It was found necessary to open the bridge for traffic, as the track to the ford had to be filled in when making the approaches. The work of scarifying, blinding and rolling the South Mountain Road is well in hand. It lias been found in a number of places that the metal is practically worn out. The present work is certainly (improving the surface, but cannot be looked on with any degree of permanency. East Riding (Toko). —A •further length of the Ohura Road, on Fincham’s Flat, has been re-faced with shell rock. This work has now been stopped and maintenance metal is being carted out to serve other portions of the main road. The raising of the formation on the Standish Road has been arranged for, and tt e work is being . carried out. With the ctHsent of the owner the fence has been taken down and re-erected to enable the road to be straightened. The work of lowering the first mile of the Ohura Road has been finished, and the re-facing was started*at the beginning of the week. The portion of the Raupahu Road re-faced last season has received a coat of tar. East Riding (Douglas).—For a few weeks this riding was without a foreman. The newly appointed foreman took up his duties about the 7th of the month. During the month general repair work was carried, out on the main road, between Douglas and the Makuri! stream; also the Tututawa and Strathmore saddles. In. connection with the survey by the Public Works Department of the proposed tunnel sites at the Strathmore saddle, the results tave turned out anything but favorable as far as the construction of a tunnel is concerned, the grades to the approaches being unsatisfactory. East Riding (Huiroa).—Grading work has been carried out on the Akama and portions of the Mohakau Roads, and a start has been made with the grader on the Douglas South Road. General repair work has ben carried out on these roads. West Riding.—The greater part of the month lias been taken up with the crushing of chips on the Palmer Road. These chips will be used for tar dressing on the Opunake Road. The contractor has made a start with the boulder supply on the Waingongcro Road. The formation contract on tie Cardiff Road is well in hand and should be finished at an early date. Mangaehu Riding.—The work of crushing the shell rock on the Mangaehu Road has taken up the greater part of the month. Most of the crusted metal is being distributed on the road for maintenance, the balance being placed near the bridge on the Tututawa Road. Three shell rock contracts were signed up for on the Puniwhakau Road. Small quantities have been quarried in two, the third, after opening up, proved the stone to be of poor quality, end It has been found advisable to abandon all three pits. The report was adopted. MOUNT EGMONT METAL. The ch airman reported that after consulting with several councillors he had written to the Taranaki Progress League stating that the council used 8000 cubic yards of metal per year, and if the Government could supply it as cheap as it was at present being obtained, the council would be only too pleased to take It. He thought if up-to-date methods were adopted the Government might be able to supply the metal as cheap as they were at present getting it. NEW .ROAD AT TOKO. Regarding the new road at Toko, the chairman remarked that as far as he was aware no contract had been let for the supply of boulders for metalling the road, but one settler had informed him that they would • probably be able to get the boulders for 10s a yard, which he (the chairman) thought would be satisfactory. KAPONGA ELECTRIC POWER. - The chairman stated that he had read the| agreement made between the Kaponga Town Board and the Elthaun County Council regarding the supply of electrical current in a portion of the Eltham County, and could see no objection to a similar agreement being made by the Stratford County Council. Cr. Anderson (West Riding) said that he understood a meeting was to be called early in April for the purpose of forming a power board, and he thought it would be a pity to embarass the promoters of the power board by granting the Kaponga people permission to sell current in the county until the meeting had been held. If a power board did not 1 eventuate he was in favor of giving the permission asked for. It was agreed to hold the matter over in the meantime. i RUTLAND ROAD, Cr. Davis brought up the question of improving the Rutland Road. He said that some of the settlers had got the idea that the revenue was being taken off their road and spent elsewhere, and he would like the matter cleared up. The chairman said that the present system was that there were no individual credits or debits. Before the >8163 were struck the riding members and the engineer went round and ascertained what amount was required for maintenance, and the rates were struck to cover the cost of keeping the roads in fair order. That was wty he always asked, when proposals for expenditure came up, whether the amount was on the estimates. His reply when Mr. Perrin interviewed him, was that If the settlers could not see their way to go In for a loan, the council wouid put maintenance metal on the road. Cr. Davis said some of the settlers were in favor of a smaller loan to do certain portions of the road. One bad hill was the aiain trouble. It was decided to spend a sujji of £5O in putting maintenance metal on the road; and the engineer was instructed to interview tie settlers and see what work they wanted done. STRATHMORE SADDLE. The chairman remarked that the Strathmore tunnel project was likely to fall through. He understood that an unfavorable report had been sent to the Government regarding the granting of a subsidy for the tunnel, and eventually the council would have to complete the metalling of the present saddle. He explained that the proposed tunnel would be nine chains long, and a long distance would have a grade of one in fifteen.

STANDISH ROAD. ..The chairman reported that the riding members and the engineer had let a contract for •forming and raising the Standish-Road. PUNIWHAKAU . ROAD. Owing to there being no metal available for the work of metalling the Puniwhakau Road, for which a loan had been raised, it was decided to apply to th© Government for an extension of the time for expending th© loan. i CORRESPONDENCE. Dr. MdnlV medical officer of health, Wanganui, wrote with reference to the appointment- of a- Sanitary inspector for the stating that the contribution 'asked for fi'o'm the council was £lOO per year, which indPuded all duties carried out by sanitary- Inspectors at the present time.— Agreed to pay the'-council's contribution. ; Mr. W. Johnson, Ngaere, wrote stating that as he was about to rebuild his bridge over the Ngaere stream, he would like permission to remove some earth from the Skinner Road to fill up tte approaches to the bridge.,— Granted. Mr. Roy Wells, Huiroa, wrote suggesting that as the council had some difficulty -Ln getting the money from the Government .’just now for the grant towards his track, the .pro* sent unpaid rates, minus .the £.5 expended on gorse, should be spent In clearing the scrub the track and putting in a few culverts. He agreed to do some of the work himself.—Decided to grant the sum of £5lO towards the road. The secretary of the Taranaki Progress League notified that tl'e council’s subscription to the league would amount to one fivehundredth of a penny in* the £ on the capital value of the land within the county. The council was also asked to nominate one member for the executive, who would represent the county councils and co-operative dairy factories within the Stratford Parliamentary electoral district.—Decided to nominate the chairman. GENERAL. The chairman reported ttat the tai* sprayers, which recently arrived by the s.s. Rimutaka, had been unloaded and were on their way up to Stratford. The chairman and Crs. Pitt and Anderson were appointed a committee to go through the by-laws and consider what appointment was neccessary in order to. qpforce the bylaws. ‘ ?s '_ * The cbairmaji and Cr T .^ndersoijj, regarding the conferep^gp^hich, Progress League had with Mr k L. Birks, Government electrical engineer, on the question of hydro- . electricity, and expressed themselves in favor of a power board being formed. As there was nothing from the Progress League before the meeting on the matter, no action was taken.