EGMONT COUNTY.

Taranaki Daily News, 13 July 1921, Page 3

EGMONT COUNTY.

PAST MONTH’S WORK. ■MEETING OF THE COtjNCIL, Th® ordinary meeting of the Egmonu "County Council was held at Opunake yesterday, when there were present: Crs. j* l . Chapman, W. C. Green, J. S. Tosland, M. O’Brien, R. C. Watson and W. R. Wrigrt. ENGINEER’S REPORT. The engineer (Mr. C. R. Pease) reported: Oeo Riding (Northern). —A considerable amount of scarifying and re-fomlng has been done in this portion of the riding. One hundred and eighty-one chains of the Eltham Road have been so treated, afterwards being rolled in and blinded with pit metal Where obtainable. A length of 17 chains of the Patiki Road has also been similarly treated, during which work the Garrett roller broke down and delayed operations for several days. Oeo Riding (Southern). —The Main South Read has been patched from, end to end of

the riding. The Watlno Road has been patched from the Main South Road to tte Railway Reserve, and four days were spent on the road cleaning out water-tables. Opua Riding (Southern). —Water-tables have been cleaned out on the Main South, Eltham, and Lower Waitelka Roads. Patching has been done to the thaia and Lower Waitelka Roads. A line of 12-lnch pipes has been put in on the Ihala Road. Concrete pipes have been carted up the Raia and Arawhata Roads for culverts on the Wairemu Road, included in Mr. P. Berge's contract for forifiation, ditching and culverting, which contract is almost completed.

Opua Riding (Northern). —During the month contract No. 450 was completed, yielding 150 cubic yards of crushed beach boulder stone, 138 yards of which were rolled In to the Arawtrata Road east of Mr. Jordan’s gate, covering about 33 chains, and 12 cubic yards were dumped for patching the Upper Arawhata Road between the Main South Road and the factory. Seven or eight days have been spent on the work of patching the Upper Arawhata Road, which Is very bad in places, and the men are at the present time engaged on the same work, using the gravel taken from the drains, cut by the Oaonui Irrigation BoardIhe road is thoroughly worn out, and would occupy the services of two mon all through the winter months to keep It in anything like reasonable repair

Rahotu Riding (Southern). —The Main South Road has been patched In several places, and some water-tabling done. The . Lower Kabul Road has been patched, and the water outlets and culverts attended to. Patching has been done on ths Upper Kahuio Road, and about four days have been put in making pipes at the shed.

Rahotu Riding (Northern). —The Main Soutt Road has been patched in various places, am several lengths of water-tabling cleaned out Five, days have been put in patching thi Carrington Road. Tte Cape, Warea and New all Roads have been patched for their entiri lengths. The by-roads in the whole of th< Jiahotu Ridings need more attention than 1 is possible to give them with only one fore man and one surfaceman in each portion Some of them would occupy the attention o' one man almost ail the year round. Then Is no metal on the roads, and by the twin they are patched from one end to the othei they require it again.

Bridges.—The work nf erecting ths new reinforced concrete bridge over the Waiteika stream on the Eltham Road is being proceeded with, the western abutment wall Is finished, and excavations made for the eastern abutment wall.

HARDSHIPS OF SOLDIER SETTLERS. L. C. Utten wrote that owing to the council closing the road to the Warea sawmill for heavy traffic, the soldier settlers on Parihaka blocks who had houses in course of erection were being put to verv great inconvenience. Most of them had been battling hard during the last eight months to get their houses built, and the closing of the road would delay another three months and' bring ic to the milking season and no timber for cowsheds and dwellings half finished would make it Very hard indeed. Dugouts in France were not at all comfortable, and he could assure them they were little better in Parihaka. On behalf of The soldier settlers he earnestly begged of the council to remedy the matter. Members all expressed their desire to assist the soldiers, and while it was stated that it would not be possible to allow the motor lorry on the road it was pointed out that provided a reasonable load was carried the soldiers could cart the timber on the roads with horses and drays. THE BRIDGE WAN.

The State Advances Department notified that in view of a portion of the county having merged into the Waimate West County, it would be necessary to take a fresh poll of ratepayers before an application for a further loan in connection with bridge loan No. 1 could be considered.

The chairman said, that that had put the council in a bit of a hole, as some of the bridges wanted re-building and now, when they wanted the money, they were told that a. fresh poll was required. This meant delay and expense, and he considered the clerk should be sent to Wellington to explain the position.

Cr. Wright considered that the portion ceded would still be responsible for the rate.

The clerk pointed out that the whole county was liable for the rate. A portion of the county had been legally taken away and no provision was made for a case of this kind, but it should be possible to obtain a proportionate amount of the £lO,OOO. On the motion of the chairman (Cr. Wright) it was resolved that the clerk be sent to Wellington. , NOTICES OF MOTION. Cr. O’Brien was granted leave to withdraw the notice of motion which he had •given to the effect that the Rahotu riding be divided into two ridings, the boundary of the present riding being from the boundary of the Opua riding to the Waitotara river, the new portion to consist of the land between the Waitotara river and the Puniho Road. In withdrawing, Cr. O’Brien asked that the council should take a note of the resolution passed at the meeting of ratepayers at Pungarehu the previous night asking that the. representation be redistributed, so as to give Rahotu additional representation. He was desirous that this should be given effect to at the proper time. The clerk said that the next election would be in May, m 3, and any alteraiion of representation would have to he made in September, 1922. Or Wri’ht also withdrew hxs notice Of motion that the Rahotu hospital levy be' paid as usual. WORKS COMMITTEE REPORTThe works committee reported that’ at a meeting held on June 28 it was resolved to defer consideration of the tenders for boulder stone on the Ihaial Road, until the next meeting of the council; also .that the council be recommended to postpone the work on contract 410, Opua Road, for three months: also that the question of obtaining boulder stone for the proposed deviation of the- Eltham Road at the Waitnka bridge be left with the engineer to

arrangements with the contractor for the shingle for the bridge. The report was adopted. The tender of J. Chamberlain for stone was accepted conditionally on there being no carting on the Ihaia Road. THE KAHUI ROAD,

Cr. Wright asked who was responsible for the loss of the £2OO grant on the Kahui Road, on which. £4OO had been expended. The chairman said that none of the council were really at fault. The money had been expended under the. impression that the grant would be forthcoming, but in the meantime when the council applied for the money, in ample time under ordinary circumstances, the Government had. decided that grants would only be made in cases of absolute necessity. It was also stated that Mr. Hawken, M.P., had been asked to endeavor to have the grant reconsidered. GENERAL. The Public Trustee notified that owing

to the increasing volume of business with which the Public Trustee is called upon to deal with, the Public Trust Office Board has decided, after full consideration. to transfer the administration of local bodies’ sinking funds accounts to the branch offices controlling the districts in which the local bodies are situ* ated. The Department of Internal Affairs forwarded Gazette notices increasing the fees payable for arbitrations, special and ordinary audits, and also -giving an alternative mode of publication of county balance-sheets. Kaita Papa wrote asking that some improvements should be carried out in the Tauru Road, on which the work he had done was.being ruined for want of necessary improvements. —Authorised to expend up to £lO on improving drains. The Commissioner of Crown Lands asked for proposals for the expenditure of thirds totalling £59 12s 9d.—The en-o-ineer was authorised to meet the chief clerk of the Land Board, New Plymouth, and arrange as to the expenditure. The Stratford Hospital Board asked support to an effort to effect a change from the present system of apportioning subsidies in favor of a return to the simply and universal £ for £.—Received. The Rahotu School Committee wrote accepting the council's offer of a German machine gun. The Customs Department wrote remitting £29, being amount of ordinary duty paid on road roller. The Gpunake Seaside Committee were granted the use of the grader.