RATEPAYERS’ MEETING.

Temuka Leader, Issue 810, 5 January 1882, Page 2

RATEPAYERS’ MEETING.

The annual meeting of ratepayers in the Temuka Road District was held in the Road Roai'd office, on Tuesday last, there being a large agendanpe. ikLr J. Talbot was voted to the Chair. The Chairman having read the advertisement inserted in the TemDKA Leader coi vening the meeting, read the following

ANNUAL REPORT. “ Gentlemen.— l Inve much pleasure iu again meeting the ratepayers at the commencement of another yeai for the purpose of reporting to you on the works

carried out ny me Jtsoard miring tue past year and to lay before you a statement of the receipts and,expenditure for the same period. It will be remembered that at the last annual meeting 1 mentioned in my report that our future expenditure would have to be very largely curtailed and the funds remaining on hand administered with care, and I trust that the statement which I have now to lay before you will show, to your satisfaction that the Board have done this to the fullest possible extent consistent with a proper regard to the various requirements of ihe district. Early in the year the Board took in hand the task of making very considerable retrenchment in the expenditure on the official staff, which for the previous year had been as follows •. Surveyor, £3OO. per annum ; Clerk, £IOO per annum, wUh bouse ; Inspector of Nuisances, £25 per annum ; Rate Collector, 4% per cent, (say £35), and valuation of district; by contract, £BS, being a total cash expenditure of £545 per annum. The altered arrangements which are at present in force are, Surveyor, £250 oer annum witlr house, whose duties

also combine clerkship, valuator, and rate collector, ami an Inspector of Nuisances, £25 per annum, involving a total cash expenditure of £275 per annum, being a saving of £270 per annum The full effect of the alteration, although made in Msp’ch Ist, did not come into operation until four mouths later, in consequence of the Board deeming it just and equitable to their late clerk, Mr W. Wills, to allow him, in addition to two months’ notice, that his services would be dial pensed with, a bonus equal to a further two months’ salary. The works completed during the year comprise 7 mbes, 69 chains of formation, 7 miles, 43 cbairik of shingling, thjee bridges arid also, 71 chains formation of footpaths, 98 rhgins shingling of ditto, and cha’ns asphelt-’

ing. There are in progress 17 chains of shingling and other, small works. There has also been carried out under the Baard during the'year, a work of considerable magnitude, and of the greatest public utility, viz., the cougtrustion of a bridge across the river Opihi, on the Main Road. The importance ofthe work to this district, cannot be over-estimated, and Its completion is a matter for sincere

congratulation. The Board, b.a ve bean greatly importuned during some portions of.the year, to provide day work for a number of resident unemployed, and the question has been of a rather troublesome nature, as in the addition to the objectionable nature of doing work in this way, a number of.the men are totally unfitted and incapable of doing a fair day’s work, | In order, however, to meet the difficulty' I as far as possible, a number were put on at a job that would otherwise have been let by tender, but the result was not satisfactory. Another method has lately been adopted, ’• which promises to be more successful, viz.;, to set a value on some suitable work, such as clearing drains, at which similar work has hitherto" been done by contract, and let applicants have por-

tions This plan, whilst finding work for those who are anxious to obtain it, will also ensure the Board a fair return for the expenditure. Another question of some importance is, that of an alteration of the bound {iry line between this and. the Geraldine district, from the Omri to the R v angitala. It has been mutually agreed between the two Boards that the boundary line shall be the railway instead of the old.south road, and the change has for most practical purposes been acted up to for some time, The land, involved in the

alteration has lately been sold, bnt until the arrangement is placed on a legal.footing, the Board.cannot levy rates, neither can the owners of the land, vote in the district which they are most interested in. In the matter of the drainage of the township, the Board are fully alive to the • necessity (hat exists for some be tter system, and.overtures have been made to file townspeople for assistance to bring in a flow of water for sanitary purposes. From data obtained by the Board, (hoy

are of opinion that an expenditure of about £IOOO would meet all requirements. Ths bulk of the money would of course require to be raised by special, rate, hut the Board has been willing to subsidise (he fund to some extent besides carrying out the work, in recognition of its responsibilities as guardians of the public health. The scheme which the Board would propose, jf adopted, would, moreover, give an

ample fmpply of water fob fhe'Hiie of ; the fire engine.—l am - |&v TALBOT,; 1 :;' Gliflirman of the Board.

; : . - FINANCIAL , r . The Chairman alio vread tbb/follovring statement in regard to the-financial, poai; tion of the Board.:— ... ,V. G^nxlbmin.— The Board commenced the. yqar wi(h a balance to credit pf £10155 18s. Tlie receipts for the year from all sources, being a. total 0f,4i7,457 Bs. The total expenditure has been £i1,023 5s lid, leaving a balance in hand of £6484 2s Id. A large portion of the receipts and,expenditure must be con-

sideied,as special on account of the Opihi bridge, winch Ji,as been, by receipts from the County .CJohucil, £526812s 2d, which

with contractors deposit £262, make, a total of £5530 12m 2d. The expenditure up to date with contractors deposit retur ed is £6564 9s 9d, being an excess of expen. diture by the Board in excess of receipts on that account of £1034 17s 7d. It will thus be seen that the receipts on ordinary account has been £2071 13s lOd, and the expenditure £4458 16s 2d,—l am, etc., “John Talbot, * “ Chairman.” j

The Chairman also road a detailed statement of the accounts of the Board for the past year.

The Chairman ; In reference to a clause iu the report relating to the boundary, it is rather a troublesome matter. I will read a portion of the Act bearing on the subject. [He then read a portion of the Act.] You will see by this that in order to carry our wishes Out both Road Boards will have to resign. The land belongs to this district, and works have been done in it by the Board, Mr R. A. Barker drew the attention of the Chairman to the fact that they had been going under an old Provincial Act. Possibly, now, there might be some Act of the General Assembly that would override it.

Mr Bissett remarked that during.the year he had - occasion twice to make complaints against the Board. He was a member of the Orari Board of Conservators. By the way the accounts were made up between the Road Board and the Conservators he could see the latter were losing money, and there was no remedy for it, there being no method of appealing. At another time he had complained about the work of the Board, con-

tracted for by parties, being only half dune. The Board had passed a resolution to the effect that the contractors for

the work complained of should have no further work from the Board. He, however, found that the same contractors had had other work from the Board, A ratepayer asked the Chairman if he had heard anything about the fencing of the reserves m the Waitohi district ? The Chairman said he had, but he thought Mr Lewis, tile Board's Surveyor, would be able better to explain the matter than himself. Mr Lewis said that when the work was done he reported to the Board that it was executed in a most disgraceful, manner. The contract for fencing certain sections marked off on the map as reserves had been let by the Board, but owing to the Government, refusing to recognise these sections as reserves, even a«fter they , had been fenced, they had paid for the work rather than be involved in a lawsuit with the contractor. As far as he was concerned, he had never passed the work. Mr Bad ham asked the Chairman why he had not informed the meeting of the actual debts of the Board.

The Chairman replied that he had done so already. Of the year’s rates there was over £9O due, and £3OQ contributions for Cox’s drain.- The latter was a complicated affair, and some time and trouble had been expended in making up the various amounts due by the parties.

Mr Hayhurst: When yon advertise each year and, say you will summons if the rates are not paid, why don’t you do so. I don’t believe in having rates due for over three years. The Chairman : The matter rc Cox’s drain was not a rate, but contributions fo r . work doneMr Hayhurst : It amounts to a rate, though. The Chairman read the statement in reference to the collection of the rates for 1881, and at its conclusion was applauded. Mr Dadham considered it a most un-‘ satisfactory statement. The Board threatened the good .marks, and the bad ones were looked over,

The Chairman considered it a very satisfactory statement. He was sure that if a business man had as much to have collected in, he would consi ier the amount still unpaid as a very satisfactory result-

Mr Ollivior said that the rates could have been collected if. the collector liad called for them. Mr Lewis said that some of, those who were on the roll had gone away, and consequently there was between £4O arid £SO out of the £99.due which conld never be collected.

Mr Currie asked, how much money led, been expended,on the Opihi Bridge 1 : and were the men now employed on it paid by the Board or the contractor ? The Chairman said the btidge was now finished, and the men employed on it were in the pay of the contractor. T' e amount expended on the bridge was over £6OOO, of which £IOOO. was contributed by the Temuka Road Board.

MMOissett asked whether ilio members Vi.-PC'- j- * '** of the Board represented the whole district, parts of it ? and, if they the whole district, would it be right for a member to. refuse to look at ?a jot thaif would 'be . ahSwn to him as necessary to be done, * The Chairman : Certainly not, Mr Bissett : Because, I asked Mr Barker, one time to look at a road, and lie tqlcbme to ask Mr Ensor, as it was in his.diatrict. Mr Barker,;. L lpok.at. the .road. Mr Ensor : And I. went over every bit of; it. ‘‘ *

Mr Bissett: If, ,we, have two members Milford, the sooner we. divide the district, into, wards the better,. I propose, that wg divide the district into, wards. .

Mr Badham said that. with regard to , the suggestion made by Mr Bissett there . was a story going about that the iasfc member who represented their, district had, been sat upon by the Board., Justice had. not been done to that district by the Board, for out of the money, expended in if ££o0 i Avas,f6r i pian ( t^ The Chairinan said that was not a fact.* The Board got on very well with the mem-. ber inferred to. He al ways got anything for tHe district he asked for, and in fact every application that came from, the Rangitata had been attended to. Mr Hayhurst asked wny were the reserves planted ? The Chairman said he thought it would - be for the good of the district. Eyery other pul lie body bad done the same , thing. Mr Badham: Why do you put the,, money expended on fencing and planting down to the district I Why not put it down to the general account ? Mr Hayhurst said it was most 1 unfortunate that the statement of accounts had not been published, so that they could all refer to it. As it was now they had to depend on what they could gather from hearing it read. It was most unsatisfactory that the Board had not published a balance-sheet.

Mr Barker was quite of the sameopinion. Mr Storey said that there was a resolution on the minutes to the effect that; the statement should be published. The Chairman said he was quite aware, of that, but for economy’s sake they had not published it this year. Mr Hayhurst moved ‘‘That the balance-sheet be . published; .and the. resolution to that effect be strictly adhered to in future.” Mr Barker seconded the proposition. Mr Olliyier moved as an amendment- - “ That the statement be not published.” He dared to say anybody desirous of obtaining information could get it by applying at the Boad Board office. Mr Currie thought the motion quite ouh of order, as there was a resolution already on the minutes ordering the balance-sheets to be published. - ' 5 r The ; Chairman said the motion was quite in order. The Board had let the other resolution lapse this time for the. purpose of ascertaining what view the ratepayers would take of the matter, believing the publication of the balancesheet only useless expenditure of the Board’s funds.

Mr Hay hurst said tliat ever since the Board had an existence a balance-sheet had been and ratepayers had. only tu come in and take hold of it. It was said anyone could read the report laid before them by tire Chairman, but supposing five or six men came in together they could not all read it at once. It would be more satisfactory if there was a sheet for every one of them to read. Mr Currie said the Board used to print, a balam e sheet when it Was much worse off than at present. Mr Harrop seconded Mr Ollivier’s amendment

Mr Quinn said the resolution would read many ways. It might be taken to mean the present balaJCe-sheet to be printed, or it migh.t mean that all', balance sheets should be printed in future' He would like to know which ! Mr Havhurst intended.

The Chairman said that it would bo useless to print the present one.

Mr Hayhurst would make his resolution refer only to future balance-sheets,

and moved—“ That in future all balance* sheets be published and issued at least one week before the nomination day.’ - ', Mr Clllivier said very few would take the trouble of reading it. He thought it useless expenditure. The amendment on being put was lost and the original motion carried.

Mr Bissett said that work had been done at the Rangitata which had never been asked-fyr. Three mile* of road at 18s per ' chain had been done for the beneht of one man which had never been asked, while' works which had been asked for were never attended,to.

The Chairman said he believed there never was any application for work necessary to hie done in Pangitata come in which had not'been granted.

Mr Badham : The district has been altogether neglected, we never see the Surveyor visit the district now.

The Surveyor ; It is quite possible for the Surveyor to visit the district without Mr Badham seeing him. Mr Wareing ; How much poorer are we now than we wore this time last year, The Chairman said about £3,000. The income could have been made equal

not more than the expenditure hy le' yiug a shilling rate, but th'-y thought that ■ while they had the money they would no |evy rates. (Hear, hear). Wit;- regard to maintaining the roads they had been giving turn about to men who wanted employment but he did not think that was working quite satisfactory. They would require to keep up a staff of about 3. or 4 good men and some horses which he believed would be less expensive, Mr Ourrie moved the adoption of the report and a vote of thanks to the members of the Board for the efficient manner in which they had conducted the business of the ratepayers. He had no doubt they had done what they thought was best for the district, and perhaps if others had been in their place they would not have done better. Mr Bissett : Stop a minute I want co ask a question yet. I want to know whether a contractor when he has finished his contract is bound to bring Lack to the yard, anv timber he may have left over after the contract is finished. Timber is allowed to lie on the side of the road for 12 mouths after a contract is finished. It is useless for anything but firewood. The Chairman never knew of n case of the kind, but if such a tiling occurred it was certainly wrong. He had no doubt that the Surveyor could explain the matter. The Surveyer said *hat one case of the kind had occurred, but he did not know of it until the contractor had been paid The fact was that Mr Bissitt was harping on the job for a long lime, and the result

was that the contractor was not very

friendly to him (surveyor) at the finish of the contract. But he knew where the timber was and could lay his hands on it

any day. Mr Currie said he had seen many works carried out but never saw the timber left lying on the roadside after a contract had been finished. ,

Mr Essery seconded the adoption of the report and the vote of thanks to the Board and it was carried unanimously. The Chairman said he thought it right now for candidates for election to give the ratepayers their views. He had been for many years a member of the Board and he was offering himself for re-election. He was not very anxious for being a mem' her ot the Board but as he was going to stand he would not like to he beaten. Mr Barker and himself had done all they could for the good of the district at large and if elected they would continue to do so. He had been told that there were some who wished himself out of the Board but he would stand notwithstanding that, and would like to win.

Mr Badham asked Mr Talbot what he would, do with regard the land taken from the Geraldine Road Board and whether ruies had net been levied on it. The Chairman said the Geraldine Road Boaid had levied a rate but never collected it. there were so few settlers’ on it. The Teniuka Road Board had taken it from the < eraldine Road Board and paid them for what they had done there. It appeared from the ordinance that it was necessary for the Board to resign in order to be able to deal with it and he would be •willing to take that course, Mr Currie suggested that a lawyer should be consulted. ■ ■.

Mr Ensor said they could get their member to pass a small bill which would get them out of the difficulty.

The Chairman said that the Government stated shat money had been paid to the Geraldine Road Board. They say they have not received il and that when they do they will hand it' over to the Temuka Road Board. Mr Currie would like to hear Mr

Barker’s views. Mr Barker said- ho would be most happy to answer any questions asked of him. He was not over anxious to be elected although he offered himself. He had always tried to do his duty to the district and if elected he would continue to do so. Mr Quinn asked whether there was any truth in the report that the Board sat on an}' member as had been stated on that day.

Mr Barker : I never eat bn liim neither .did I see any one else sitting on him. I believe everything! he suggested was attended to. Mr Currie: T would like' to know whether the planting of reserves is likely to prove a success Mr Badham wished to know' who would Jseep the fences in order. Mr Bissett asked who would make good the trees eaten by sheep. The Chairman read the specifications of the contract, from which it appeared that the contractor was bound to keep the fences in order for some time. There was a clause in it which lequired him to replace trees that had been injured. - Mr Currie understood some of the fees had never grown. He questioned whether would replace them. Mr Blyth said the contractor had a reputation to uphold and would not run away ou account of a few pounds. Mr Hayhurst said that the Boird of Conservators expended money, in the expenditure of which'the ratepayers had no voico. Mi Barker was a member of that Board ami lie would ask him if he was in favor of expending that money in which the ratepayers liad.no voice. Mr Barker said he would go according to law but would not object to the act being Amended.

After some further discussion Mr Ourrie paid the mqstion was a local one and interested only the locality to which it referred.

Mr Gray said the reserves had been planted with useless trees. Blue gums would have proved: • more: useful than pious insignu's with which they were planted. The Chairman said nearly all the land was poor and blue gum would not grow there while pinus insignus would.

Mr Ourrie thought it very wrong to Mr Gray to, sell in the ppund while they prevented' other auctioneers, from doing so. , The Chairman, said that they told Mr Gray, when they allowed him tod oso, he should get yards, of his, own as soon as possible. Mr Esser.y said that limy had done perfectly right. Mr Barker said they bad ma.de a mistake in allowing Mr (pltay to gel! in the pound, but they would have made a, greater mistake if they had allowed, others to do so.

Mr Currie did not believe in giving anyone a monopoly

Mr Buxton, another candidate for election, said he would soon give them liis own opinions. He would do his. best to promote the good of the district if elected. He would look after the district from one end to the other, for he did not believe in attending only to one locality. They had no reason to complain in his part. If he were elected and anyone tried to sit on him he would find him a very uncomfortable seat. (Hear, hear, and laughter.) While taking in the whole district, he would pay particular attention to the Rangitata portion. (Hear, hear ) Mr Hayhurst, jun , said he had be p n asked by the residents of Milford to stand, and he had complied with their wishes. Some of them thought they bad not been well represented, and wanted him to become a member of the Board to help Mr Ensor. If elected he would do his best for the good of the district.

Mr Wareing said he would be in favor o£ having the district divided into wards. He did not believe in having three members of the Board from Kakahu and Waitohi.

Mr Barker said he would be a poor member indeed, who could not look beyond his own locality. Mr Blyfh said as the gentleman whom he had - proposed was not present, he would like to make a few remarks. It had been said he had no right to propose Mr James Austin, but he (Mr Blyth) respectfully submitted that he had. Mr James Austin was a gentleman who had plenty of time on his hands to attend to the business of the Board, and who would not let anyone ait upon him—r(hear, hear) —and he held that such men were the fittest to be members of 'the Board; ■ He hoped they would elect him. Mr Hayhurst moved a vote of thanks to the Chairman, which was caused unanimously. The proceedings, then terminated.