EGMONT COUNTY.

Taranaki Daily News, 14 December 1921, Page 8

EGMONT COUNTY.

MEETING OF THE COUNCIL. PAST .MONTH’S WORK. The Egmont County Council met at Opunake yesterday. Present : Crs. S. Campbell (chairman), R. Ferguson, A. F. Chapman, W. C. Green, J. S. Tosland, M. O'Brien, R. C. Watson, and P. Brophy 1 . The engineer reported : Oeo Riding (Northern). —A considerable amount of patching has been done. Contract 414, on tl o Oeo Road, is about completed. Oeo Riding (Southern) .—The Patiki Road, from the Maori pa to Skeet Road, has been patched and blinded. Water tables have b>en cleaned and other general work carried cut. Opua Riding (Southern).—Young Road, off the Eltham Road, Jias been ploughed, formed and metalled with crushed paddock stone, 149 yards of crushed stone being put down at the rate of a little over 9 yards to tie chain. Valuable assistance was rendered by the interested settlers on the road, especially Mr. Woolford, who assisted wttn the work until completion. After Young Road was com ji’ eted a further 62 yards of paddock stone was crushed and dumped on the Eltham, Road for im ain ten a nee. The crushing plant! was taken from here to the diversion of the Eltham Road at the new Waiteika bridge, where 76 cubic yards of crushed metal was rolled in. 16 yards dumped for maintenance, and 12 yards delivered at the Taungntara bridge. The old road was then scarified tip, and the best metal dumped for maintenance, and a. portion of it taken to Taungatara bridge in readiness for the time when the new bridge will be opened for traffic. Opua Riding (Northern).—The men in til’s portion of the riding were engaged unost of the month in the southern portion, but some patching was done to the Upper Arawhata Road and the Nanni Road, whilst a lictie blinding was done on the Main South Road. Contract 418, for the repairs to the Upper Arawhata Road near the Wairemu Road, has been completed. Opunake Riding.—Blinding has been done :o the Main South Road, and five days’ work have been put in on pipe-making. Rahotu Riding (Southern).—Patching has been done. The Upper Kahuia Road has needed a lot of attention from the factory to the Wairemu. Rahotu Riding (Northern).—Formation has been done rt the lower end of the Lower Newall Road. Patching has been done on several roads. Bridges.—Work is proceeding on the now Taungatara bridge, nn the Eltham Road PURCHASE OF MOTOR LORRY. I The chainman submitted the report of an ' informal meeting held on Thursday last. This I had been called at the.request of the chan-! man to consider how some of the contracts ! could be carried out, horse teams not being! i available, except at an exorbitant price. Tin-j ! representative of a motor firm was present: ' a: the meeting, and it was decided to defer 1 ; the matter till the ordinary meeting or the ‘ : council, when representatives of other flrnzs I j would be asked to attend. i The county chairman and Cr. R. C. Walscn 1 I were authorised to look out for three heavy’ draught horses and one two-yard dray, and! the county engineer was authorised to build a I three-yard shute. Cr. Tosland said that, he did not. believe | that teams were not proc;i able. If they had I advertised for teams he felt sure they would have been able to hire several teams to do I the carting after the- contracts had been ! finished, because he had never seen tenders I cut so fine for years. Cr. Ferguson said that councillors must recognise that if they were to get vrtltie c or i their money they must have motor lorries for l carting distances of five or seven miles. | Cr. Tosland thought, that unless they’ went | in for a big loan they would find the lorry I a white elephant. If metal had to he carded five or six oniles in some of the lorries they! might jxrhaps be able to arrange witn « cat-’y • company to do it. He did not think their finances would permit of the purchase of a Cr. O’Brien considered the present system a scandalous one, being too slow and exporter. Green favored hearing the lorry agMts and ascertaining financial terms, when they would be in a better position to discuss the matter. The representatives of the four makes of lorries present t’» n waited on the council in turn and submitted terms, etc. It was finally decided to purchase a motor lorry. QUESTION OF SEVERANCE. A letter was received from the Taranaki County Council enclosing* a resolution passed at-the meeting in July, stating that with a view to doing away with the joint control of • the Puniho Road, and also to enable the I settlers on the lower portion of the Ptiuino j Road to raise a special loan, the Egmont : County be asked -if they would agree to the [ alteration of tke boundary between Egmcr* ' and Taranaki counties t« the Walweranui

A letter was also received from Messrs. Govett and Quilliam enclosing a petition signed by thirty-four ratepayers, asking the council to sign the necessary declaration. The council went into committee over the matter, and on resuming it was reported that the council intended to oppose it. NOTICES OF MOTION. Cr. J. S. Tosland onoved, in accordance with notice of motion, that the report of the coi.-i--mittee which visited Waimate West be discussed, and that the recommendations he considered. Tie chairman said that he understood (hat no tar was to be procured in New Zealand at present, and that local bodies were going io use bitumen. He therefore suggested that as the council was going to adopt up-to-date methods of road construction, councillors should, when travelling, keep their eyes ope-i as to its success or otherwise. In view of this Cr. Tosland withdrew the motion. Cr. Tosiand moved that the engineer lay on the table a return showing: (1) Tie mil’s n f metalled roads in the county; (2) the miles of unmetalled but. formed roads; (3) the miles of unformed and unfilled roads; i 4) rough estimate of miles of metal fit for tarring, and miles of metal roads worn out. This return, he said, was required to nscer-aui the general state of the ln mileage, and would also give them seme Idea of 'he work they had to undertake in connection with the new sckeme.—Carried. GENERAL. R. S. Rooks, Wataroa Road, Pungarehu, wrote drawing attention to the state of the road, pointing out that if something were not done it would soon become impassable.—lt was resolved to allow Mr. Rooks to expend the thirds amounting to £l2 I6s sd, sunjeet 'to the supervision of the county engineer and the approval of Cr. Brophy, the riding member. The tender of E. J. Wallis, of Opunake, at lid, was accepted for the supply of dog col- * ,T. Huwiter asked H at repairs should be effected to the upper end of the Watino R< <id. —The engineer is to inspect and report, with a view to reinstating the grant of 360 yerds of metal. The application of J. Byrne for a. billiard room license at Pungarehu was approved. Mr. J. S. Tosland sent, asked that some work promised by the Parihaka Road Board on the Ontia Road prior to the war should I now be carried out. He had put in some j drains himself, and now wished to take n dray to the Opua factory.—Tr was resolved to notify Mr. Tosland that the work would Inattended to as soon as fhe council had funds. Mr. J. McDavitt, secretary of the Opunake Public Library, applied for a subsidy towards the upkeep of the library.—lt was resolved to subsidise the library to the extent of the