WAITOTARA COUNTY COUNCIL.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XLIX, Issue 12647, 7 November 1905, Page 2

WAITOTARA COUNTY COUNCIL.

The monthly meeting of the abovo was held in the offices, Ridgway Street, yesterday. Present—Crs W. Ritchie (tiiairman>, H. S. G. Harper, D. II: ws, J. T. Walker, S. Handley, A. Mann, J. Dempsey, E. Billinghurst. MINUTES.—The minutes of Ihe yvevious meeting were read and confirmed. BANITAIQ.ON.—<A letter re sanitation at Aramoho was received from' the Health Officer.—Referred to the now Council.

DltAIN.—vA. letter was received from Mr \Norton asking the Council to attend to a drain near his place at Tayforth.— The matter was left in the hands of the foreman 'to deal 'wi'bh.

'REQUESTS.—.Requests from the residents of Alma Road and a resident on Gonville Road were referred to the new Council

CLAIM FOR DAMAGES.—A letter was received f rom )Mr Roe, of Kai Iwi, re his claim for royalty. on metal and diajmages to Ibis property through the Council carting the metal.-—The Council.decided to submit the matter of compensation to arbitration. BRIDGES <AT OIOBHU.—TIie conditions of the special order for the two bridges over the Okehu stream 'at Bro<wn's were read and confirmed.

TENDERS .—Tenders were accepted for contracts as follows:—Contract No. 277, 600 yards gravel for Rangatatau West Road, iMaxwelltown, D. Soally; contract No. 278, 16 chains metalling Tokamaru East Road, Livingstone ; contract No. 279, formation at Maxwelltown, Bignell and Thompson, at £21 10s; contraot (No. 280, cutting willows on Brunswick Line, Snow, at 4s 9d per chain. 'With regard to tine latter contract >the ratepayers concerned pay the cost of cutting, less 12 per cent. TRACK. —'The foreman was authorised to expend £lo on repaiiiing. Peat's tracks.

ACCOUNTS.—(Acooumts to the amount of £492 2a Tld were passed for payment.

THA'NKiS.—In a complimentary speech Cr 'Ross referred to the able manner in which the Chairman had conducted the business of the Council during the-year and 'moved that a hearty vote of thanks be accorded him.—Gr Harper seconded the motion, .which was carried unanimously.—The Chairman suitably replied. —Cr Harper, 'who does not seek re-elec-tion, thanked the 'Council for the manner in whodh /they had treated 'him and the district he represented.

FOREMAN'S REPORT,

The foreman's report for the month was ias follows: —The weather during the month has been anything but favourable for the execution of road work, and many of the roads throughout ifche country (particularly those in the bush country) are in a very sloppy state at the present time. The surfacemen's time has mostly been absorbed in the work of clearing slips, and attending to other necessary repairs in order to keep the roads open for traffic. However, with a 'few weeks' dry. weather, I hope to see the roads an a more satisfactory condition than they are at present. ' Although the rainfall has been exceptionally heavy during the month, still the damage caused thereby has. not Ibeen of a very serious or costly nature in any particular pant of the county. CONTRACTS IN HAND.

With Itohe exception of the work of 'budldimg the Koa'tanui Bridge, no progress 'has (been made with contracts in 'hand, and, considering the weather, "I •must say that very satisfactory progresss •has been made with the 'work of building this bridge. With favourable ■weather I expect to see the bridge completed in afoouit two weeks from now. 'In so fair as the work has gone (and the 'principal parts ibJave' Ibeen completed) the contraiet is being executed in a very satisfactory- manner, the workmanship beting all that the .most exacting could wish"'for, and u"'f such continues to the end of the chapter the bridge will be a credit to all concerned. :.

Road Formation.—The contract on St. John's Hill has practically 'been at a standstill for the past two months, and the time for the completion of the contract expired over a month ago, and altogether v€try little progress" has been made with the work.

(Mowhanau Road Gravelling.—Acting: on the Chairman's instructions, I instiruoted the contractor to proceed with thiia contract, and lie is now on the ground with 'his teams and men ready to make a start as soon as the weather is favourable. When the contract is completed there will be something over £80 of the loan money left to meet contingent liabilities, etc. BRIDGE PLANS.—I have prepared the plans for two bridges required on Pukerimu Road, one a 60ft span and the other 30ft, and made out ft list of the ironbark timber, etc., required for building these 'bridges, and also an approximate estimate of the cost of these structures complete. These will be laid before you on Monday next.

ROAD REPAIRS,, ETC. Springvale Road.—A week or so ago I had some repairs done on the Springvale Road. All the bad holes have now been filled with gravel and the road is now in fair order. Th© quantity of gravel used for these repairs was 40 cubic yards, at a cost of 3s 6d per cubic yard, including royalty. The material was obtained from iMr Titter's pits, an is of first-class quality. Virginia Road Drain, etc. —The work of putting in the drain on St. John's Hill has Ibeen satisfactorily ocunpleted. In order to convey -the water from the sides of the road into this drain it will be necessary to out a small drain or channel along each side of the road. I mentioned this matter to one or two residents in the immediate vicinity, and they would be favourable to forming eide tracks along each side of the road a)t this particular place, and to pay the cost of the work, which would be about five shillings per chain for each side, or ten shillings per chain length of road. BiHinstfiiok [Line.—\The newly-gravell-ed portion of the Brunswick Lin© has received another rolling and a light sprinkling of clay, and I don't think the rough stones will be much more trouble.

Atana Road. —'At the/present time this road us in very bad order and has been, I might say, in an impassable state for some considerable time. In two or three places lagoons were formed across the full width of tihe road, and in some places the water was over two feet deep. Of course the road is, practically speaking, unformed. I think something should be done so that the residents could get to and from their houses wibli some little degree- of comfort. A road lin sudh close pix>ximi'ty to Wanganui should not >be allowed to remain in the condition* tibat t(hie road is m for any length of time, and a road, too, which serves over twenty dwellings. The cost of making 'and gravelling would be something very oonsideraible, and cannot reasonably be expected to be paid for oub of ordinary "revenue. However, I think a few pounds should be spent in lulling up the lagoons referred to with sand, so as to raise the surface of the ground along the centre line of road above the water levol. This would at any rate, enable the residents to get to and from their houses without having to wade knee-de^p through water and slush. Kai Iwi Beach Road.—Tenders should be ; called for improving the gradients and widening the formation on Stewart's Hill before any gravelling is done,1 arid this work should "be taken in Jiand. as soon as possible.