MASTERTON COUNTY COUNCIL

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 9 July 1913, Page 3

MASTERTON COUNTY COUNCIL

MONTHLY MEJ-JTING

TJio monthly meeting of the Mas-tol-ton County Council was held yesterday, there being present: Councillors I'. •'■ Cameron (in the chair), It. f. it. Tieotb.;i'.n, 1). Foreiium, J. Miller, A. J. Pc;cy, A. J. Patchett, C. oiuss au<l 11. Toogood. A "letter was received from Messrs Luxrord Bros., in reference Ur a. grant for tlia Ulenlean bridge.—Or Beetlmm stated thafthere had boen same misapprehension over tho grant. It WY.\s understood thai.' the Government "was £3OO, but it was*now discovered that it was'only £l5O. ; Or Boetham stated that he understood tiiose interested intended providing .•:ie jiniouut required.—lt wag decided tbat the engineer prepaixvpians for uie bridge. x A Mas read from Mr It. A. NifTToll.s, complaining of the able- st.ii to of several' uiileg of-,tho Mungapiirupuru road. Mr Nicholls expressed the opinion that a small rate j-.hr.-uid lie'struck all over,- the County to uiac? the roads-in the backblock* in a, of -i-.v/'ir. He thought that, as tho ba _•.-.*; lock set-, tiers "contributed', towards the Waipoua bridge, the people of LaJisdowne should be prepared to assist in pi ,c ing the roads in outlying districts in Repair. —Or Miller stated that the roiift in question was iii a very condition. There were not, however, sufficient* funds to place the road in repair. Ho suggested the raising of a special some discussion if was decided to inform Mr Nicholls that fcliis Council lias not the funds avail.rble to place the road in repair.

A letter was read from Mr A. H. Herbert, complaining of the condition of tho Haimiui Road. —Or stated that.the matter was being attended to. . '•'

Councillor Batchetb suggested, that tho application for four acreg of'land iin the" Hmnitti district fiof a roadman's cottage lie abandoned, that application be made for "a reserve in another part of tho district. — The clerk stated thot the present application had been favourably Reported ugoifby the Crown Lands R*nger. motion of Or c Cross, it wm jftepided that the original be abandoned, and that fresjt fp/pplicSLtion be miade for a hew resiervei FINANCE OO.MMJRTTEE.

The report of the Finance Com'-.' . iiitfter, over which Or it. F. It. Bee- ; thbim presided, was read. The Trea- ' a debit oh the' general : .^ac<jo%nt;^i6|*ib , />2i>- and a oredit: ; on ythe>'locaivfrp,diel){■loans" : acipoanV'of; £ :;£ls2:;'4s 2d. "' Xhe meeting hud tb/£ilD. 3ald/ . 'Atcoflnts aßK>untij)g to £97' 10s 5d were leoonfltnended ; for payment. The committee recommended the council to give favourable consideration to the request made by tl Featberston County Council for assistance in procuring a Government, grant towards placing the Bimu'tafca road in a satisfactory condition. ' Several amendments to the proposal were put and lost. It was decided,. on t motion of O Tcogood, juha>t the council has.no recommendation to mak-. to the request of County Council for a-re-ocnsideration'] of this council's claim for a refund of one-eighth of the sum expended during the last financi'jl year in .main-taining-the Master ton-Waimata road from the junction with, the Te 0:, * Ore-Bideford road to the.Gastlepoin,, County" boundary. It was resolves th.it the. claim of the Mastertou for a i*efund of loss oi. pound sales duinng the month of Jui; last be referred to the clerk to make further enquiry into the questions y ' ownership of stock sold, and the & ' bility of the Council l in respect of th< losses on the sale thereof. It.wa> decided, on the motion, of Cr Pat.chett, that, in view of the urgent nt/'cessity for putting the bridge on't; \ Hutewai roacTjn jn efficient state of repair, application be made to the ?<-said board for permission to alter the < alreafly agreed to, sq that the 'thirds accrued on this road may be devoted to the purpose .mentioned in place of the proposal for using them" for metalling, as priginaJly dc . termined. ' "' •"*■-■* .v*...,,

ENGINEER'S- REPORT. The report of Mr D. McLachkn, engineer, was read as 1 follows: — Opaki Riding.—rWoingawa to Oamp Road, contract No. 294, delivering 700 eubi> yards metal between Divers' Corner and Brace's Road: The work is upon completion. There arc portion* of the still weak north of mile peg -?> I have arranged for the repairs authorised on. MeGiath's road to he undertaken immediately. Black Ci'eek Roadr—As instructed, plans hsvo been prepared tor a 60ft. span swing bridge -with a &ft deck. Approximate cost £35. , Femridge Road;—A portion of the Upper Fernridge road is extremely weak in places and badly ratteti. Some metal repairs are urgently required.—Referred to the engineer. Matahiwi Road.—The- weather' being favourable, the upper portions oi the above road, which, were in a bad state, have been well repa'red with metal. •, Lansdowne.—A portion of...First street, which is in a worn-out condition, is being repaired with a .small layer of metal. .■: Rangitiv.:nau-. ; . Riding. Jackson Bros', application: for space tp inaiittfacture concrete poles on the eastori: side of the river, above the, bridge, ha s been granted, in accordance with the, council's resolution'. The space is required for two months.

Matapihi Koad. -Some light n^ etal repairs have on abov*t> road, as well .as tlio strengthening of some stone groyne" protective work where a narrow portion of the re-ad way is being threatened by-the-'en-croachment of the river.

Masterton-Waimata road.—A stone biitt has Iwen put in rnmediately abovo the Ruamahanga bridge to check undue erosion of the ea'Srterr. bank. !v ""-^

The weather condition has permitted some 50 cubic yards of metal beino; carted to mend the Wairg.i-ehu road.

The improvement to a sharp bend near Messrs James' property has been carried out by the roadman. Te Whiti Riding.—MastertonGladstone Road: My attention has been directed to the threatened diversion of the Buamiahanga into its old course along the Gladstone road, opposite the residence of Mrs Pike. A small outlay of £5 or £6 'would materially check the water from traversing the boundary of the road. I think the precaution would be advisable, a* the river has a very threatening tendency to the eastern bank, a,s >a large deposit of gravel is taking place on the western bank. Some small repairs have been mar to the Paikaraka road. Wainuioru Biding. .MastertonWaimata Road: In the event of the council conte-Tiplating the expenditure of the amount provided on the able to quarry what could be conveniently stored between now and spring at the rock quarries. There is usually a hindrance in procuring stone even when tlie expenditure i* small. ..vidian*,and specifications have been, prepared .fop £.B.;c3taijns at the Devil'> Elbow,, wliieh "srabstitutas the .present P bridge by. embankment and improves -the d|re%tiohi of the roadwav east "by" cutting through papa point, the .waterway being provided by x oiu tunnel under the road. Approximate cost of this work is .£339, for wjiioh plans and specifications have been sent to the Public Works Department for approval.

I have laid off a further 15 chains extending the i*nprovements south, obtaining a grade of 1 in 14.5 along 14 chains of the length, as a further amount of the Government subsidy will be available for the extension of thi s work in* accordance with "the conditio%of the authority that the council Psi§sSS £2 fbr £l. I ishonld like to meet**.th© council on the ground and discuss the advisability or otherwise of continuing the 15 chs. section for itg full length" as the ch viation could be further improved -by keeping the grade 15 feet'tower &own, if the remodelling of the road is cor templated further west. Plans hive been sent in for approval of .36 chains widening on th" Blairlogie road'in accordance with C Toogood's directions. Alfredton Biding.—Pori road:, Approximate estimates have been forwarded QS instructed to F. P. Nelson., for pixvposed .Totalling. Mangatakato Boad.—l have fciken levels over that portion of the roar 1 by floods —about 27 ch;ir--and have made; an estimate,for raising the road about 3 feet with a mation of 20ft. wide on .top, provi-ct ing an x ßin. by 9ft. l:yer of mete I, the of the main road on th southern side 'of. the-road to a lOf: width at lljg bottom and enlarging drain on the 'northern side to 6ft -

the bottom, and thus prevent i largo body from crossing the road which would have to return *igain to ' northern»side. 'Provision is Tiade'i" the ■estimate for' another "water-wax-opening through "the roadway, wind" would nec&ssitn.o bridging. It i ■also necessary to improve the out 7 from /bolrw Mr Rutherford/s homestead a s the waterway is much c traoted ,herc, «nd floods the man roadway to a considerable depth. } was unable to meet Mr Butherf <>: <*. on iihe ground, but have spoken with, him on the .-natter, and he has intimated his' willinjgnesis to 'facilitate motter s with regard to outlet. : 0~r h of embankment and cutting side. drains, £290; metalling-, outlet to work, £6O; waterway through road and bridging £100: total, £6lO. The cost of "the filling has increased owing to the drains being sc .'close together, , To C2r\*y._ cut th' proposed level it wi.ll be necessary tr fill in existing drain on the northern side and dig a fresh drain on the extreme edge of the road reserve. / The" repairs to bridge at FreerV,i* exported to be. completed. ". I have ,taken levels for a h-"V over the Te Hoe stream,.."'and have made an approximate estimate.' Detail plans' are not completed. Tiatad cost of bridge siiid approach".