EGMONT COUNTY.

Taranaki Daily News, 13 September 1922, Page 7

EGMONT COUNTY.

MEETING OF THE COUNCIL. | PAST MONTH’S WORK. The Egmont County Council met at Opunake yesterday. Present: Crs. M. O’Brien (chairman), C. A. Trotter, R. Ferguson, G. Gibson, H. Young, J. S. Tosland, R. C. Watson, A. E. Luckin, S. Campbell. The overseer (Mr. Inn Campbell) reported that, as per instructions, he had laid off and called tenders for 50 chains of the Kawaroa | Read. Work was also In hand on the plant -shed-. -He had laid out the work on the j Okahu Road (N'gariki-Newall) and full autho- j -tity for this, work had been received from the Public Works Engineer, Stratford. In the Opua Riding (Southern), blinding, maintenance, etc., had been done- on the Maia South Road, Kaweora and Lower Waiteaka Roads; also tnetal patching, etc., on the lhaia Road, where drains had been cleaned out, a settler paying half cost. The drains on the upper portion of the Kaweora Road required cleaning out*.- . - - In the Opua Riding (Northern) scarifying and relaying had been done on the Main South Road, starting l at the Town Board boundary and Working towards the Opunake factory; also a pipe culvert had been put in. Maintenance work was also dene on Te Namu, Lower Arawhata and Main South Roads, whilst pipes had been made in the Opunake shed. In the Oeo Riding (Northern) three bridges had been completed and a drain deviated, -while the staff had been engaged cutting down banks to provide spoil for filling. In company with Cr. Watson and Mr. Lockley, he had inspected the latter’s first contract on ths Wirenui Road, and found the work now done in accordance with the Public Works Department specifications. He would go over the second contract with a view to properly locating the survey route, and was also preparing a new set of specifications for the same. In the Oeo Riding (Southern), repairs hud been done on Ouri Bridge on Main South Road. Metal patching had been done on Main South Road, between Watino Road and Puketapu Hill. Water-tabling and general maintenance had been carried out on Nopera Road and Watino Road. A pipe culvert had been put in at the junction of Skeet Road and Patiki Road. Rahotu Riding (Southern). —The county lorry j had carted out maintenance metal to the various roads in the riding. Metal patching and general maintenance work have been done on Main South, Gregory, Upper Kahui, Opourapa, Wlntiora, Upper and. Lower Kina Roads. Two days were spent pipe-making in shed in Rahotu. Rahotu Riding (Northern). —W. McLeod had completed his contract on Ruakere Road, delivering 1873 yards of metal. It would require about 150 yards to complete the whole road. ’_ho bridge over the Waiweranui Stream on Main South Road had scoured at the south approach, caused by the tail race to the dairy factory drawing the stream to that side. A supply of boulders had been placed above and round the buttress, also a channel cut above tn try and straighten the creek. If this should j not act, I would recommend a netted groin placed about 20 in. above the bridge and wil--lows planted up to the bridge. The foreman and staff had been engaged on work in connection with the Ruakere Road Loan, metal patching and re-facing on Main South Road and Bayley Road. The work tn connection with Land Fund Thirds by local settlers was progressing slowly. He had a further amoust authorised and would expend this ,when the (first lot was completed. General. —The overhaul of council’s plant had been In hand. While waiting for castings and parts from the foundry, he had the roller and scarifier at work on the Main South Road. He drew the council’s attention to the .very bad state of the wooden bridge over the Taungatara River on the Main Soutli Road. He was having this fixed up, but only temporarily. Practical!}’ the whole of the weight was supported by two sets of "toms” in the river. The whole structure was in a bad way. and he asked the council to treat the matter as urgent. WIREMU ROAD BRIDGE.

The chairman reported that, with Crs. Ferguson and Watson and Mr. Campbell (county overseer), he had interviewed Mr Ball (district engineer at Stratford) regarding Wiremu and Okahu Roads. The various sums promised by Mr. Ball some time ago, with some additional money, were coming to hand in due course. Mr. Ball particularly drew their attention to the grant or subsidy of £2OOO, i.e., £2 fnr £l, for the Waiau River bridge on the Wiremu Road, and urged the council to find the £ 1090 and allow the bridge to be erected. A concrete bridge was proposed. The chairman said that he would like an ex- I pression of opinion from councillors on the ! question, but he thought the council should endeavor to take advantage of the offer and find the £lOOO. Cr. Tosland asked whether this was not a work that the Government should carry out from start to finish, seeing that the road would be a main arterial road. The chairman considered that it was a road in which the whole county.was concerned. He recognised that there were many ratepayers who held that the council had no power to expend money on the Wiremu Road, as they considered it was not a county road. Mr.. Ball ruled that it was a county road, but was one in which the Government was prepared to assist. He himself was of the opinion that every road within the county was a county road, but that the Government was assisting in the upkeep of same, of which the Wiremu was one. Mr. Ball had challenged them to prove that it was a Government road. Cr. Ferguson said that the district engineer had pointed out that the Government could build a suitable wooden bridge for £2OOO. This would have to be renewed in a few years b3' the council, so that it would be good business to spend £lOOO and erect a permanent structure in concrete. Cr. Tosland considered that the bridge over the Punehu River on the Stratford-Opunake Road was just as much entitled to a grant as the Waiau bridge on the Wiremu Road. Th?y should first ascertain who was liable for the erection of these bridges, and If the council was liable for a share he would advocate going in for a further bridge loan. The chairman stated that the Warea bridge and other bridges not provided for In the bridge loan required reconstructing, and the council would have to consider a further bridge loan shortly. In this case, however, he thought they should approach the Government- 'for the extra £lOOO, and Mr. Hawken, M.P., had promised, if the council wished, to assist as far as possible In obtaining the additional grant, on the understanding that’it shotaid be considered as having been advanced against future grants to the road. He pointed out that there were settlers in the vicinity who were using the road to cart milk to the factory, and in flood-time there was the danger of a serious accident. He moved: "That as this county’s antecedent liability is £12,500, and the county being large and undeveloped, this council exceedingly regrets being quite unable to find the £lOOO asked for by the district engineer as a subsidy to the Government grant of £2o'lo for the erection of the bridge over the Waiau River, and appeals to the Minister of Public Works to grant the £lOOO additional needed for the bridge and charge that £lOOO against future grants to the Wiremu Road.” Cr. Tosland seconded. * Cr. Campbell did not consider it fair to the settlers on the whole road that £lOOO should be earmarked for one portion of the road. Cr. Gibson objected to the whole road being charged with the expenditure of £lOOO, which only benefited a section of the road. The chairman agreed to delete that portion of his motion regarding earmarking £lOOO. In answer to a question, the clerk expressed the opinion that it was a Government road, though there was nothing to prevent the county spending money on it if they wished. The motion as amended was then carried. A copy will be forwarded to Mr. O. Hawken, RUAKERE ROAD. Messrs. W. Revell, A. J. Lilley, D. N. Sutton, C. W. Revell, E. E. Johns and W. C. Caldwell, ratepayers on the Ruakere Road, protested against the council using loan moneys f< r pair work on the Ruakere Road, while at the same time a large amount of rate-money was standing to their account, which had accumulated since the Parlhaka Road Board " >1 ' into the Egmont County, very little having been done on the road since the time of merging. The loan was raised for the purpose of forming, draining and culverting, also metalling the new portion of the road, and they ril quested tflat after having paid for the pnrtlcn- ■ lar work, the balance of the loan money shor.’d ! be paid to the Government. The chairman stated that the work was - practically new work and had been done at the request of the settlers. He thought the letter should He on the table. In reply to Cr. Gibson, the clerk stated the

Ruakere Road showed a credit of £3OO. Tins included over 20 years’ administration by the Parlhaka Road Board. It was also considered that the metalling could be done much cheaper now than when the estimate was taken for the loan. It was finally resolved, on the motion Crs. Tosland and Gibson, that tho chairman and riding members meet the ratepayers vv.tn a view to coming to an understanding on the matter.

SOLDIER SETTLERS’ REQUIREMENTS. The chairman stated that William Hodgson, a soldier settler on the Newall Road, asked the council to request the Government to form and metal the road so as to enable the soldier settlers .there to get their milk to the factory and obtain access to the Main South Road. [-The. men could not raise a special loan, as a.L i .the land on one side of the’ road belongs .to 1 settlers-living on Warea Road, and those set-t--iers would probably vote against the loan. -The chairman moved: “That seeing that the Government felled the bush on Newall Road 40 years—ago, and had not improved the road since then, and as the condition of the road was fatal to the success of the soldier settlement there, this council most earnestly appeals to the Minister of Public Works to form and metal the road and thus enable the soldier settlers of the road to get their milk to the •factory and gain access to the Main South Road; and that a copy be forwarded to Mr. Hawken, M.P., who will be asked to interview the Minister on the matter, urging a grant for the work.” This was carried.

Mr. C. Forrester, Upper Parlhaka Road, asked the council to request the Government to metal the road. The soldier settlers cou’d not raise a special loan owing to the huge area of native land in the vicinity. The chairman moved that the Minister of Public Works be requested to metal the road, so that the soldier settlers may be enabled to get their milk to the factory, and that in the council’s opinion the road can be metalled with pit metal for £5OO per mile. This was carried.

NORTHERN REQUIREMENTS. The chairman said that latterly he had been over the roads at the northern end of the county a good deal, and he did not wonder at the people there complaining of neglect. The Newall and Carrington Roads were in a bad state and not a shovelful of maintenance metal had been provided. The council had got ir little out for urgent requirements. They ; could not allow that neglect to go on. The previous riding representatives had been responsible for the neglect, not the whole council. He therefore moved that tenders be called for supplies of stone as follows: Carrington Road, 150 yards, Newall Road 250 yards, and Warea Road 400 yards. This was carried. The chairman stated that he would visit Kent Road during the month and report to the next meeting on its requirements. It was also decided that the scarifying plant should be sent into the Rahotu riding as soon as possible. The question of the expenditure of the £2OO grant on the Kahui Road was also discussed, and it was decided that the’ overseer, Crs. Gibson, Young and the chairman should visit the road. It was also resolved to station a surfac-J--man in the Newall-Carrington Roads district. UPKEEP OF PUNIHO ROAD. Cr. Ferguson stated that at the commission held recently at Warea, to consider the question of merger, a good deal of capital had been made by ratepayers out of the state of the Puniho Road. This council was contributing £2OO per annum to the Taranaki County Council towards the upkeep of that road, and he thought they should draw the attention the Taranaki County Council to the matter. He moved: "That seeing that this council contributes £2OO a year to the Taranaki County Council towards the upkeep of Puniho Road, this council does now draw the attention of the Taranaki County Council to the rough and unsatisfactory condition of the said road, as disclosed by the Puniho settlers in their evidence before the commission at Warea.’’ This was seconded by the chairman, who, In reply to questions, stated that he had been over the road during the past couple of months and considered it was jn a badly-kept state. Ratepayers had been under the Impression that the road was maintained by the Egmont County Council. The overseer also considered that the road was only in a passable state, and he did not think anything like £4OO per year had been expended on it. The motion was carried. ANTECEDENT LIABILITY. | The superintendent of the State Advances [ Department notified that the precedent consent of the Governor-General-in-Council had been i obtained in connection with the proposed antecedent loan of £12.500, and that a further Order-in-Councll authorising the payment of 6% per cent, interest was being prepared. The chairman moved that the antecedent

liability of the county be apportioned between the various ridings on the basis of the actual indebtedness of each riding at the time the antecedent liability was ascertained. This was carried. GENERAL. At a special meeting of the council the balance sheets as audited were adopted, the, chairman and councillors remarking that the fact that they were returned without any tags save one, over which the clerk had no control, reflected great credit on the work of that official. E. E. Johns, Warea, notified that the quarry opened up on his Ruakere Road property had been left unfenced, and he asked that this be attended io.—The contractor is to be notified ta attend to the matter. The chairman notified that he had accepted tenders for the supply of material to the county plant shed as follows: Shingle, A. T. Harvey, 3/4 per yard; boulder stone, H. Munro, 5/-. — Action confirmed. Geo. Goodwin, Puniho, notified that tiie Brookland Dairy Company and suppliers proposed erecting a private telephone line along the Puniho and Carrington Roads, and asked permission to cross the roads. —Decided to offer no objection. C. F. Griffith wrote drawing attention to the state of the drain on the Opua Road in front of his property. He offered to clear it out for 10/- per chain if the council would pay half the cost. —Left to the overseer with power Mr. O. Hawken, M.P. for Egmont, notified that he had in hand a petition from C. R. Julian and five others, asking that a road on the Matai-Kahowai block, in Block XIII, Opunake S.D., be proclaimed a county’ road.—No objection. The Public Works Department, Stratford. # notified approval of proposed expenditure of £>367, being portion of the £475 grant for Okahu Road (Ngariki-Newall Road). The work proposed consists of cleaning out and cutting side-drains, raising formation, filling bogholes, replacing culverts with concrete pipes, improving grades, etc.—Tenders will be called for the work forthwith. The State Advances Office notified that £650, being the amount of the Ruakere special loan, had beefl remitted to the council’s credit. The Public Works Department, Stratford, notified payment to the council’s account of £C"» Ils, on account of work done under the Wiremu Road (Kiri-Ngariki Road) grant. The Rahotu Soldiers’ Memorial Committee asked that some improvements be effected to the crossing at the school gates, where the soldiers’ memorial is being erected. —Left in the hands of the overseer, with power to act.