WAIPA COUNTY COUMCIL.

Waikato Argus, Volume IV, Issue 287, 12 May 1898, Page 4

WAIPA COUNTY COUMCIL.

—■ -♦ The usual monthly meeting of the Waipa County Council was held at the Couucil Chambers, Ohaupo, on Tuesday. There were present : —Crs. \V. H. Mandcno (chairman), Ed. Allen, W, Scotr, S. Steele, J. H. Viokers, J. B. Tcasdale, G. Totty and R. Bell. Chairman's Rei-oet.—The Chairman in his report stated that tenders were received from three persons for repairs to the Cambridge bridge. The lowest tender was £43 Bd ; but it was not accepted in the meantime. A system of iron bracing had been suggested as being preferable in many respects to that before adopted, and with the approval of the Council he proposed to carry out this plan provided it was not too expensive. Clarke's Bridge : The contraccor for this work, he stated, had finished the job. A platform of timber had been placed under the pipes, aud he recommended that cement should be placed in the joints of the pipes to prevent the water getting behind them. He was endeavouring to get a price for this work. The sides of the embankment he thought, as well as embankments at Koromatua, should be thickly planted with poplars. Whatawhata Road : The contract for sanding in Whatawhata had been finished most . satisfactorily. Sand had also been carted on 40 chains of the Swamp Road ; but the work had been constantly interrupted by the rain, as the road showed a disposition to break through. Hickey's Contract : He had measured up Hickey's late contract, and instead of haviug any claim ou the Council, he had been over-paid 6s, after allowing full price for the work. Jolly's drain : He had taken the levels of Jolly's drain, and found that although there was a slight fall between the pipes and the railway, there appeared to be more fall beyond. He advised that the pipes should not be interfered with ; but there was nothing to prevent another set being put in. Gravel : Three trucks of Otorohanga gravel ordered for Te Awamutu had beer, wrongly consigned to Ohaupo, and the stationmaßtcr refused to give delivery pending the payment of the amount in dispute. Pound : The old Alexandra Pound had been sold for £5 7s 6d.—The report was adopted. Finance Committee's Rei-ort.— The Finance Committee, which met on April 26th, reported as follows : On March 31st, 1897, the Council's overdraft amounted to £375 173 7d. On', March 31st, 1898, there was a credit balance of £216 13s Sd. A sum of £IOOO was voted for public works a year since, and a sum of £957 9s 2d was actually paid away for work and material within the 12 months. A careful estimate of receipts and expen diture for the current year shows that after an addition of £IOO to the charges upon the general fund, we may safely vote the same amount, viz., £IOOO for riding allocations this year. The position of the various ridings upon the Ist April last was as follows :

•Deducting 25 per cent, of old debt. The system of allocation as existing at present is not satisfactory, and does not appear to meet all requirements, as those ridings most fortunately situated as to funds and facilities for making roads do not do anything to assist the poorer parts of the county. To obviate thi3 to some extent, it was agreed that where special need can be shown, grants shall be made out of the general funds before the riding allocation is made. In connection with this the committee recommend that £SO be allowed in aid of the Newcastle Riding and a further grant of £SO for the Kihikihi Station Road, making the £IOO before alluded to ; also, that all bridges of 20ft. span on county roads be charged to the general fund. This plan is but a makeshift, and is likely to cause a feeling of unfair treatment. What was wanted was some plan by which the money would be distributed by some fixed rule. The Committee also recommend that in future the general rate in the Hamilton and Mangapiko Ridings should be jd in the £, and in the outlying district Jd, instead of vice versa at at present, the Government subsidy being paid upou the outlyiug rate. They also recommended that 10 per cent, be charged against the funds of the various outlying districts tor expenses of management. This is a course authorised by the Counties Act, and should have been adopted long ago. It was agreed to recommend that a riso of £5 in salary be granted to the clerk. A suggestion was brought forward that tenders should be called for the printing and advertising, but the majority of the Committee favoured the existing arrangements, and the Bum of £2B 5a 9d, which includes everything—printing, stationery and advertising during the year, was not thought to be excessive.— A recommendation was made to the above effect, Cr. Teasdale dissenting.— The report of the Committee was reccived'and adopted by the Council. Jolly's Drain.—The Council decide.l to grant Mr F. Jolly's application for a Bjt of pipes, provided he would put them in at his own expense and did not require any further alteration in the levels. —The Council also resolved to request the Railway Department to supply a set of large pipes to carry off the surplus water thrown into the drain by the recent draining alterations at Frankton. Obakau Road.—Mr A. Kay, of Orakau, forwarded a number of letters, of different dates, calling attention to the urgent necessity of executing repairs to the Orakau Road, which he stated was positively dangerous. He reported that •a serious accident had lately occurred on account of the bad state of the road.— The Council decided to leave the matter in the hands of the riding members to attend to. Unregistered Dogs.—Mr S. Bond, dog registrar, wrote, asking what steps he was to take to enforce the payment of dog tax in his district. Several people seemed disinclined to pay, and others who had one collar owned two or three dogs. He stated he had not been able to register a single sporting dog.—Mr Soper, of Bamilton, reported that Mr Tcbbs, the dog registrar for the Hamilton district, demanded five shillings for a dog which lie had never used for any other purpose but for cattle, which he thought should be registered for 2s Gd. —The Clerk was instructed to inform registrars that they had been legally appointed and that they Avere to take step. 1 : to enforce payment of the tax. The Council also decided to place the services of their solicitor at the registrars' disposal. Railway DisrcTK.—The dispute with the Railway Department on the question of the overcharge of freight on gravel from Otorohanga still remains unsettled, —The Chairman said that Mr Grant Traffic Manager, had been communicated with upon the matter, and the Council agreed to let it stand over for the present. Interest ox Loans. —The Manawatu County Council forwarded a circular dealing with the payment of interest on loans raised under " The Government Loans to Local Bodies Act, 1586." It had been the practice of the Mauawatu Council to pay interest on loans raised under the above Act out of separate riding rates where the are coterminous with those of the ridings. This course had been objected to as illegal. The asked the Council to use its influence and co operate with them in making representations to the Government to have the Act amended in the direction indicated.—The Council agreed to lend its assistance in the matter. Opening Road.—Mr W. H. Soper again wrote, asking the Council to open up the public road passing through section 73, adjoining Mr Livingstone's property. He offered to contribute £lO

towards the work.—The Chairman and Cr. Steele were requested to inspect the road and report at next meeting. Grant. —The Chairman was instructed to apply to the Government for the balance of tho grant for work on the Whatawhata Swamp Road. Water-teouoh.—Cr. Allen reported that a new water-trough was badly needed at the Red Bridge. Cambridge, and he was authorised to procure a fresh drinking trough. Unpaid Rates. —The Clerk furnished a statement of all the unpaid rates, amounting to £424 Is 3d.-The Council resolved to sue for all arrears of rates unpaid by June Ist. Rate.—The Council gave notice of its Intention to strike a rate for the ensuing year Accounts.—The following accounts were passed for payment : —R. Wake, £S 13s 4d ; Parr Bros., £1 0j 4d ; P. Guthrie, 12s 7d ; E. Exelby, 18s ; C M. Alexander, £1 lis 6d ; Geo. Berry, £1 5s ; M. O'Connor, £3 ; R. Friar, £1 17s 6d ; Geo. McGhic, £ls ; T. A. Alexmdcr, £4; R. O. Clark, £3 19s 4.1 ;T. W. Maunder, £1 9s lid; MeNaul Bros., C 27 Gs ; Win. Mawhiuuey, £26 lis 2d ; C. Crouch, £ls 8s ; R. Carter, £9 18s 6d; W. Vickers, £1 ss9d. Fckze. —lt was decided to issue furze notices to all property owners whose frontages have not yet been cleared. By-laws. Wednesday, May 25th, was appointed the day on which a committee meeting will be held in order to revise the bye-laws. Damage by Traction Engines.—Cr. Allen reported that the bridge at Cowley's Gully, on the CambridgeOhaupo Road," nad been broken down by a traction engine. It had been found necessary to rebuild the bridge at a cost of £lO. Several of the councillors spoke s f ,rongly of the manner in which owners of traction engines damaged the roads and bridges with impunity, and thought they should make some compensation for the extra expense incurred in making bridges strong enough to stand such heavy traffic.—lt was decided to forward an account for 50 per cent, of the cost of repairs to the bridge to Mr Wallace ; also that an account for the repairs to- the Norton Road be sent to Mt I. Coates, whose engine had damaged the road. _^_____^____

Allocation Available l'ukekura . C'r. £48 .. JC292 . . £340 Rangiaohia . . Cr. 15 .. 235 . 250 Mangapiko . . Dr. 13 157 . 140 Hamilton . Dr. "7 120 . 115 Newcastle . Pr. 52 150 . 98 "Tuhikaramea. . Dr. •JO 4(1 .. CO