TEMUKA ROAD BOARD.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1171, 8 November 1883, Page 3

TEMUKA ROAD BOARD.

The monthly meeting of the Temuk* Road Board took place on Tuesday last in the Boad Board office. Present— Talbot (Chairman), Paterson, Austin and Quinp. Mr Barker came in „ during the meeting. ~ ,:!'." ? ■ '',., ~' minutes. ~. ' ■ The minutes of the last monthly meeting were read and confirmed. . ~ THE TBMOKA IEADER AND THB BOARD. ; The Chairman said before the business of the meeting commenced he would like to draw the attentioD of the Board to the report of their last meeting as it appeared in the.TEMOKA t/EADEE. He considered it an Unfair and garbled one. The first part be objected to was that referring to the passing of the accounts, whWirit wos stated that Mr Quinn elicited frotfcihe l>OVerseer that only ten piles had fagm -i/, drivenifor a bridge under the auDemston* ' of the Cleric of Works, costing .for supervision £8 3s. Seventeen piles; had b«en driven in the sixteen days, aodlthe Clerk of Works had also to look after another bridge and do some carpentering work. Mr Quinn said r.othing. had been said about carpentering work till after he had •iked the question. 4 :4 "The Chairman continued (aftdr-reading * ih'e portion of the report' referred to); ialn ■' referenceto Ifliartin Dunn's the impression was given, that be (the Chair?.; jnanyhid instructed the Overseer "to jo -and assess the work done, and that-'the , value »m £5,155. Mr Quinn waewdso (ireported to have expressed surprise many claims for extras being made. know, whether Mr Quirin' haddbne ad, but if he had. he was. present at\the f , ' meeting when, the Board had instructed •' the Overseer to go over the work. '.'■,■■ Mr Quinn said it was quite he <■, ■ had expressed-surprise. ! ! Tlve : Cbairrtfan ■ Said -that further 6b' Mi'again in the in reference to,the. Borough—- \ . Mr Quinn wanted to know whether the \ Chairman was going into the Borough .\question, The. Chairman said he wished to draw attention to,the report, as if conversion was to be reported it-should be done fully_ . - and impattially. -lUwas unfair< to report! ' only portions, Messrs Barker and Austin • wero L 'reported to have ' u&d the'" same words as • Mr- Qajrrnf .and :he wanted to know whether they had done so. --, r <~> .ZT'-s3 Mr Qiiirin- said Mr-Austin was present' ~, !„»nd could answer for himself.: ; n-. i '. ,: -,) { > •• Mr Austin said ;lie had .remarked, -that; , ;,: :tbe Chairman and the Surveyor -wVre 1 ; ; i : . H igerJern Ily lila'med ont«Me for showing' the 1 - letter (the letter froth the Colonial Sedfe- i ' jt]w-jdftie that tbe borough was to bo pro'claiujed), and, he. believed, vi'.-n. jjji Barker had expressed himself to .the

■■mo effect. :; •.'. The Chnirtnan said be did not care two Hof'fpiW- about the matter as, regarded himself, but in justice to the members whenone side of tha question was reported; the other should l>e also. Mr Quinn saiil he wa» perfectly justi- ... fiedin what he bad said at that meeting. Ho had heard it fluid tlmt some of the members had been sat upon by the Boardj and now they wanted to jump upon himself. The Chairmnn snid it was clearly shown fcy the Overseer that 17 piles bad been driven aad that tho Citric hid to ©vwlbbk

the construction of two bridges, and had also tome carpentering wbrkto do. The report made it look as if the Overseer was Growing the ratepayers' money away on Mr Langridge, by unduly favoring him. MrQuinnsaid that it was his question that elicited the information, and he eontended that the Overseer did not Btate that 17 piles had been driven, but 10. The remarks credited to him with regard to extras were quite correct , The. Chairman, while perfectly remembeiing'that it was Mr Quinn's question that brougfht'out the information, did not, agree'»itli him in reference to the num.ber of piles mettioned as being driven, and did not consider the report a fair one."

The matter then dropped. - INTERVIEW. » Mr Francis Franks waited on the Board requesting that they would remit his ratds on the brewery in consequence of his having suffered ievere loss by fire. ■ Another matter he wished to bring before the Board was that an opening had been made ! across the footpath between his houseand the bridge, at the time of the last flood, which had never been filled up. This opening was dangerous.—The Board decided that it could npt entertain the request re'rate*, and the Overseer was instructed 'toattend to the footpoth. : , '''.. '; ."'[ ACCOUNTS, Accounts ,to the amount of £619 4s 7d were passed for payment. Among the accounts;;was one from Mr Lewis fori maintenance, and Mr Quinn wanted to know whether the contract did not include the Milford road.

, The Overseer said it did./ . jMrjQuinn, wanted to know, if that was the case, how it was that he had seen, the Board's men) work pn the; road with their horse snd,d r *y •;;''<; ■■ " ■ The Qyerseer .said that he believed the men, were engaged filling up u hole on the xoa<L leading to Mr Barker's house, off the Milford road.'

'.Mr/-.Quina said that was the Milford road, and the men were at work oh it, as he:had seen;them there. ' ■■■'< /! The Overseer said he did not know the jobi waß/ on the. Milford road. He had', not itime to" be running after the men' on every little job, and he went by what 'Mr' Barker had told him. Evidently a mistake had been made. ; .';:>.i

IMe Aiistin said it was a pity that thetfe wasfnofeienough to keep a man fulli Lime on tha road, i He had only enough to keepihimjgdihg: half time, and consequently he had to work elsewhere. Mr Quinn saioVthat was nothing to do with the>matters The man had taken the contract wuhihis eyes open, and he must carry it out. ',) ,'."'.; ' •."•' The Chairman concurred, and the matter dropped, it being understood that if the matter Btood as Mr Quinn put it, the amount should be deducted oh? Lewis' account next Board day. CORRESPONDENCE. The following correspondence was read and considered: —

From Mr R Latimer, Btating that when he tendered for contract No 11 (removing footbridge on Palmer's road railway bridge) he made a mistake in reading the specifications bywbich he had lost £2O. He had also, when working on the same contract, met with an accident, and was thereby put to much inconvenience and loss. Ha requested the Board to favorably consider bis case, and mako him some allowance.

The application was not entertained. From Mr Keith Ramsay re timber for the Board. > From Mr Palmer in reference to the dead cow now Jyin<? on the Orari road, and requesting the removal of the same.— The matter, was left to the Inspector of Nuisances to attend to, and the Chairman said that they must try and find out the owner and take action against him. From Mr W Upton, asking, on behalf of theTemuka Butter and Cheese Factory Compuny, that the Board would make a crossing from the Swamp road to the bridge erected by the Company ncross the drain.—Left to the Surveyor to "attend to.

From the Chief Surveyor, returning deeds .and papers' with thanks. From Mr J Sperry, Property Tax Com 5 - missioner, in answer to a letter from the Board asking for information as to whether the Board could alter the rate roll, statingthat while he would not undertake to give the Board an authoritaye opinion on the subject, he thought they could: do so.

The. Chairman said the matter was so .important'that he had'got a' legal, opinion on" the ' matier,' submitting the case of Messrs ! 'arid 1 Twomey to ,the lawyer*. } They had replied that nnder the new Act it could be done.

Theopinion of Messrs White and Smithson was read, i Jt was as follows — Be Gafftiey. and , Twomey. —We are in;; receipt of the letter from the Clerk to the Road Board of the 18th inst, inquiring whether the; Valuation Roll and Rate Book can be altered by placing upon them the name of Mr Twomey instead of Mr Gaffney in respect of certain property situated in the Road District. Both Twomey and Gaffney appear to be desirous of the change of names Section 10 of ' The Rating Act, 1882/ gives power to the Board to make alterations in the Valuation Rell In the manner herein provided. We think that'the Valuation Roll can be altered to suit the circumstances of this case by virtue of this Section This alteration in the Valuation Roll must be transcribed into the Rate Book and initialled by the Chairman and the Clerk of the Board, vide Section 16 of tha Rating Act. We are therefore of opinion that the desired alteration may be legally effected.-r-WHiTB and Smithson." The Chairman remarked that these cases were constantly coming before,the Board, ! and he hoped that* this.would be widely I known.

From Mrs Hbnora Daley, stating that she had received a notice from the Board re clearing the gorse off the road opposite her land, and stating that she had not the means to do «o, and requostmg the Board to do the work.—After taking into considering' the exceptional nature of the caßOj the request was granted by the Board.'

From Mr E \7addel, asking that a drain on the Lower Swamp road ahould be cleared out.—Granted.

From the Otago Daily Times offiee, stating that they were about to issue..a. supplement to Vincent fyke's,Handy Bdbk of Local Government.—The seer was requested to procure six copies.' The counter petition in reference to the Borsujth WW laid on ihe/t»blei/ ifi ■ [Mr Barker hire took bit iwt]

the board's davmen and horse,

The Chairman said that during the month the Overseer had found it necessary to discharge the man who had been in charge of the horse, and he had then spoke to-him (the Chairman) as to the best way of filling the vacancy. He had instructed him to advertise and that had been done. In so instructing the Overseer ihe had not thought it right to offer, & better rate of wages, but he thought the Board should do .so. At harvest time the men always wanted more money or wanted to leave, and he thought it would be better to give a good man say £2 2s per week. Mr Barker said the man might work, till harvest time and then clear out.

Mr Quinn said tl.oy. had better get rid of the horse. The horse ■ had sometimes to do a clay's work in going to and from a job. ; Mr Austin said they had been talking about that for a long time, The cost of feeding and shoeing the Board's hirjje was then gone into, and compared with what they could hire one for. ,

After some further discussion, the Chairman said the worst of the matter was, 'as Mr Quinn had said, that the horse 'had frequently to do a day's work -in jjoing to and from a job. But he thought if they got a really good man, and made it so that the Overseer could riot dismiss him, except with the Board's permission, it would be a good thing.;, , Mr Quinn said that the foreman would be a very expensive ornament—a regular sundowner. . .■;

Mr Barker said the man's position would not b& secure unless he was a regular buttonholer.

The Chairman said that as the man wolud only be amenable to the Board, that/would; place him out of the reach of the spite of any Overseer. Mr Barker said that he did not mean the, Qverseer. When a man had half a dozen masters he could not be so secure as if he had only one. It was decided to dispense with the horse, and consequently the applications for the position of foreman were not considered. . ." MAINTENANCE. The Chairman then said there had been three offers received since last meeting for''the maintenance of roads, and the question was were they to be considered. After some discussion it was decided not to consider the offers, as fresh tenders willbe called for. THE INSPECTOR OF NUISANCES. Mr Quinn, said that as the Borough appeared.'.to! be iknocked on the head, they should inyitd.'pffers for the post of Inspector of Nuisances. The; Chairman asked whether it was known that the Borough was knocked on the head. He understood that no reply hud yet been .received by the promoter*. Mr Quinn asked who were the promoters?

Mr.Borker said they might yet have a Town Board, ij !

The Chairman said their Surveyor was acting as Inspector of Nuisances, The Surveyor said that he had made an official report of the district two months ago. When he saw; a nuisance existing he had it cleared away, i << Mr Quinn wanted to know whether the Surveyor was receiving a salary for the post. ' ■-■ f ■'>'•'' •■■-• ; . ; •-•" ■ '="' ;! • The Chairman said he was.

Mr Quinn said that he was not aware that the Surveyor was reciviog salary for the office. He distinctly stated two months before that be was averse to the Overseer receiving two appointments, and' the Chairman said it should remain in abeyance. ■lt was most unfair'to the public. There wore plenty of men in' the district who would be glad !of £2O ayear, and with allrespect to : Mr Sinclair he did not think he should hold the appointment. 1 The Chairman/said that when the matter was left in abeyance, he understood that to mean as regarded a new Appointment —and not salary. He should never have thought of putting an additional duty on the Board's Overseer without emolument. He appealed stoMr Barker and ..the other members as to whether the Overseer should nfit be paid for the extra duty. Messrs Barker, ; Austin »and Pateraon agreed that he should, Mr Quinn said that he had objected to the money beingpaid before, and he certainly understood the Chairman to say that the salary would not be continued. Mr Paterson was present when he spoke to the Chairman about it after the meeting. Mr Paterson said he recollected this. : Mr Barkar said they could not take notice of anything except .what took .place at the Board meetings. ; Mr Qninn said they were becoming 'very Parliamentary in their proceedings. It was not always so. . The Chairman said Mr Quinn was evidently stating something that had been Baid in a conversation between Mr Quinn himself,.and he certainly did nb't understand Mr Quirm as he now;.; put it. He was surely entitled to explain. Mr Quinn. said.that two months before there had. been, a separate voucher; presented, for the and he bad .then..l objected to it, and he should have objected :agnin if he had known that it was btill beingpaid. Since that time he had not seen a separate voucher for the Balary. He would propose—' That applications be invited, for/,the post of Inspector of Nuisances, to be in by next Board day." He did not believe in hole and corner work. Mr Paterson seconded the resolution. The Chairman objected to the term hole and, corner worki Everything jthat he did he brought before the Board as goon as possible. ~ The; objection he had to inviting applications for an Inspector of Nuisances was that the Borough might be proclaimed next day, or the following week, and then people would laugh and say they had .been in too great a hurry. Mr Barker proposed as aa amendment —« That applications for the post of Inspector of Nuisances be not called for until information is received from Wellington of the result of the petition for constituting Temuka a Borough.' Mr Austin seconded the amendment, and the Chairman intimated that he should vote in its favor.

The amraencment was therefore carried, Mr Quinn entering,his protest against it.

MRS SLATER'S APPLICATION,

Before adjourning for an hour the Chairman said that he had received an application from a Mrs Slater, just- before th« Board sat, in reference to the removal of her house situate iaMaidt street.

She had received notice that the house wbs to be removed, and cou'd not iifford to do 80.

After some conversation it was decided to grant her an extension of six months monthfl time in which to remove tho house. The Board then adjourned On the Board reassembling,the con. eideration of tenders received took place, TENDEBS. The following tenders were considered : Contract No. 92—Shingling Brown ■treet: S Taylor, £l7 3s (accepted) ; C Flynn, £lB 2s ; J Roddick, £2O 4s. Contract No. 93—Shingling Gamack's road : J Wilkinson, £53 (accepted) ; J Malcolmson, £57 15s ; FMulloy, £SB 18s. Contract No. 94—Shingling F Barker's road : J Pearson, £32 16s 3d (accepted); E Counihan, £34 5s 5d ; J Wilkinson, £4O 16s 8d ; J Hopkinson, £43 15s ; Tahan, £46 3s 4d. THE SMAXE BIRDS NUISANCE.

Mr J Paterson brought up the subject of the purchase of small birds and eggs. All the members agreed that good work had been done last year* and it was decided to appoint Mr Bolton collector, as heretofore. The price to bo paid to be 3d per dozen for heads and 2d for eggs It was ako decided to give a prize of 10s to the collector of the largest number of eggs and heads during the season, and a prize of 5s for the second best. A cheque was passed for Mr Bolton to carry on with.

feCOTT's APPLICATION.

Mr Barker reported what he had done in reference to Scott's application re drainage. He said that the drain had never been cut to the width for which the contract had been let. He recommonded that that it should be widened to 12 feet, but not deepened. He aiso suggested that the Overseer should see Messrs Low and Guild in reference to the matter. His suggestions were adopted. THE INSPECTOR OF NtTIBANCES AGAIN. The Surveyor (Mr P Sinclair) tendered his resignation of the office of Inspector of Nuisances. The Chairman said he supposed that would end the matter for the present. Mr Quinn said if they did not invite offers they would be without an Inspector for a month. The Chairman explained that tho Board was bound by the Act to'look after the health of the district. If they failed in their duty the public would soon complain. Mr Quinn wanted to know who was the first to bring the Act into operation here —the public or the Board. The Chairman said it was outside pressure that compelled the Board to do so. Mr Quinn did not think so. He remembered a Chairman of the Board resigning his seat to take the position of He» lth Officer. After some further discussion, the Chairman said that if he heard anything definite before next Board day in reference to the petition for the Borough not being granted, he supposed that he could, for the Board, invite offers for the poßt. Mr Barker said of conrse the Chairman could act for the Board till next meeting. Mi Quinn wanted to know if they now had an Inspector of Nuisances. He believed in having something definite. It was decided to accept the resignation subject to a month's notice.

OVERSEER'S report.

The Overseer's report was read as follows : "The contracts on.hand have made good progress during the month, and a few have been finished.

.-?' The shingling asked for last month by Mr Friel and others I cannot recom* mend, as the road requires reforming, which might be done after harvest.' " The drains asked to be cleaned out by Mr Raine I would recommend to be done, ae a great quantity of water is carried there now by the swamps being drained, and in time of freshes it will not be able to get away, About 2 miles require draining. " There is a piece of the Main South road along by Mr A Barker's land, Orari, that ought to be formed, as being a main road it is dangerous with crab holes and very rough.., " Other small works have been attended to during the month, noticed last Board day. "Is it the wish of the Board'to have contracts on hand during harvest ? ! Tenders have been called for three small contracts, which are for your consideration this day ; also for a working foreman. " The rate notices have all been issued during the early part of last month. Up to the present a great many are in aireari. About £260 has been received.

" 1 wish to bring under tlie notice of the Board the. manner in which the last meetings of the Board have been reported in the Temt/ka Lkade*, and leave the matter in your hands, as it seems that an attempt has been mnde by, the reporter to injure me in my official position, and any remark I make to the Board officially should not be reported," The following resolutions were passed thereon :—Be Mr Friel and others: agreed to; Mr Kaine's application was granted subject to' hb offer,'; the work on the Main South Road io be done by tender ; as little,work as possible to be going oc during harvest ; the amount collected to be transferred to general account. In reference to that part of the report referring to the Temuka Leadbr, Mr Quinn thought there was more being made of the affair than there was any need for. The Overseer appeared to believe himself very much hurt, but it did not touch him on the raw so very much, after all. .. «-1

' ' The Overseer said ho waa hot the man to have brought the matter up if the report had been fair, but it was not. It was a spiteful one against him. The report was cutting at bim all through. The Chairman again repeated what he had said in reference to the overlooking of the pile driving, and said he was ceitain Mr Quitia only wanted fair play. He again read (at the request of Mr Quinn) the part referring to the anI counts.

Mr Quinn said that every word of that was true.

The Chairman said, yes, it gave Mr Quinn's part very fairly, but it omitted the rest.

Mr Barker said that after Mr Quinn's rem ark« the Overseer got up and explained, The Overseer said the part he especially objected to was that in reference to the letting of Contracts 84 and 85. la consequence of what kad ap-

peared in the paper the tenderer for contract 89 had refused to take up the contract for four days. He did not think that everything he said to the Board should be reported. He was the Bonrd'B servant not the reporters.' ""he portion of the report was again read, nnd Mr Quinn asked Mr Austin whether it was not correct.

The Overseer said it was evident that Mr Quinn did not understand the whole matter. Mr Twomey (the proprietor of the Leader) and himself were not friends. Their disagreement had occurred in that office about something Mr Twomey had done, which he could not allow. All ho wanted was fair play. The Chairman said that as far as he was concerned all he wished for was that in fairness both sides should be reported, The Overseer said that any information he gave to the Board should not be handed übout. He did not think that everythine should be reported. Air Barker said thev would make it a second Timaru High School. The Chairman said he had no doubt a great deal of the unpleasantness arose out of the Borough question, and no doubt things would now go on all right. The subjeet then dropped and the meeting terminated. [On account of the very lengthy nature of the discussions, the above report is considerably condensed]