ELTHAM COUNTY.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 October 1922, Page 8

ELTHAM COUNTY.

PAST MONTH’S WORK. MEETING OF THE COUNCIL. The Eltham County Council rnet on Saturday. Present: Crs. C. .1. Belcher (chairman), R. J. Knuckey, A. V. Messana, M. W. Barker, A. Campbell, W. E. Carter, C. E. McGuinness, and E. J. Gifford. An apology was received from Cr. McWilliam, who was granted leave vf absence. The Department of Internal Affairs forwarded an account of £3O 16s 9d, the council's proportion of expenses as recommended in the commissioners’ report concerning the Eltham* Stratford boundary commission.—‘‘That is too hot,” commented Cr. Carter, and other councillors agreed that it seemed hard on the council. —Cr. Messana pointed out tlyit the council might be involved in heavy expense by such commissioners. They should have been indemnified by the petitioners.—The clmlrman said the council would be wiser on future occasions.—The account was passed for payment. ■ ENGINEER’S REPORT. The monthly report of the engineer (Mr. M. I Fitz Gerald) was as follows: South Riding.—Water-tables were attended ■ to in Campbell and Rotokare Roads. A fur- > ther length of Fraser Road was re-metalled and ’ the side-tracks were graded. Mangatoki Riding.—Metal-patching was done on Stuart Road and -tar-patching on Hastings and Hunter Roads. The reconstruction of the Eltham Road culvert near Duthie Road is completed, except for finishing off the road surface. Portions of Eltham and Hunter Roads were sprayed with bitumen. The Palmer Road loan work is well in hand. The work is proceeding at a rate of about 10 chains per day during favorable weather. In company wi h Councillor Carter, I disposed of some of the rough atone on Hunter Road. A few heaps were reserved for the making up of the junction of Hunter and Skeet Roads. Omoana Riding.—Metal damaged at the near end of Rawhitiroa Road and on Mataimaroke Road, by the floods/,' was attended to. The bulk of the works in this riding consisted in catching up maintenance work which got behind as a result of the special flood work. Some small slips have been cleared and minor widenings effected. The Public Works Department has made much progress with the clearI ing of 8-foot tracks in the valleys. ; Kaponga Riding.—The bulk of the month’s i work has been the patching of Eltham Road. , The metalling of Palmer Road is now well under way, but the work has not yet reached Kaponga Riding. The condition of Manaia Road is causing anxiety, and it is hoped that the council will see its way to include the tar spraying of this road (which had to be cut out of the estimates) in this year’s work.

Eltham Riding.—The obtaining of metal for repairing flood damage at the far cr.'l of Rawhitiroa Road was continued. A ei.mmencement has been made with quarrying shell rock in Mr. Jackson’s pit. A few small slips were cleared off the Mangamingi Ridge, and water-tables were cleared. General surface work was done on Poti, Mabey, Tirimoana and Mhangawhero Roads. Part of Mountain Road was sprayed, with bitumen. General. —Repairs were effected to the tar boilers, and I think they will stand this season, but before long it will be necessary to replate the bottom of one. The staff is now concentrated upon the resurfacing of Palmer

Road. Given favorable weather, this work j should be completed about the end of October. It is proposed to then complete the metalling lof Fraser Road, which will take about two ua to about tha middle of

November. By that time the road across the .swamps should be firm, and it is proposed to carry out the remetalling of Campbell S. and Mangawhero E. A suggestion has been made that a start should be made with the re-metal-ling of Dalziel, but as Campbell and Mangawhero are In worse condition, and are a continuous expense to maintain it would be uneconomical to delay work on them longer than is necessary. The foreman, Mr. Maynard, applied for a week’s leave of absence at the beginning of this month and this was granted him. The report was adopted without discussion. GENERAL. The chairman and clerk were empowered tn purchase dog collars, and the fees were fixed at 2/6 for cattle dogs and 10s for sporting dogs. Cr. Carter said he had decided to withdraw his resolution concerning the remission of toil fees to milk carts passing through the Mangatoki toll-gate. Cr. Carter then referred to his proposal to introduce rating on the unimproved value, stat- ; ing that he was still in favor of it, and would tack round a petition In connection with the matter. The chairman did not consider it would be in the best Interests of the county. He pointed out that it would be to the benefit of the ratepayer on land of low Improved value as against the one with valuable improvements. In reply to Cr. Knuckey. the chairman said SU9O lu'tttu hud rewired.—Argus.