MASTERTION ROAD BOARD.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 6, Issue 1683, 12 May 1884, Page 2

MASTERTION ROAD BOARD.

The Board met to-day, PresentMessrs Meredith, Dagg, Beetham, Chamberlain and Maequarie. The Returning Officer reported the election of Messrs Meredith and Dagg, The Clerk then called upon the Board to elect a chairman for the ensuing year.

Mr Meredith said that before any step was taken towards the appointment of a Chairman, ho desired to make a statement, He quite agraed with the principle adopted by the Legislature in requiring a certain proportion of members to retire annually, and he thought that on the same ground changes in t)ie ; appointment of a Chairman , could bo made with advantage. He thought it was very desirable to have a change from time to time to prevent matters getting into one groove, Too much responsibility was apt to devolve on the Chairman and on the local stiff, These were apt, lie had noticed with other bodies, to exercise an undue influence. He had endeavored while Chairman of the Board, to act impartially in every way, and to carry out both 'the spirit and the intention of tho Act, He thanked tho members of the Board for the support they had given him in the discharge of his duties, and desired it to be distinctly understood that if another chairman were appointed, he should not consider that there would be any discourtesy towards himself or reflection on the manner in which, he had discharged his duties. He might say that at no distant date it was his intention to retire from the Board as he found tho duties connected with it trespassed too much on his other engagements, land'he felt that it was time that they had an infusion of now blood on the Board, / " .. .

Mr Macquario .endorsed the remarks made by Mr Meredith; and bore testimony to the fact that Mr Meredith had discharged the duties .of Chairman in a satisfactory manner. (Mr Beetliam: Hear! hear!) He would propose that Mr Beetliam be Chairman for the ensing year., Mr Beetliam thanked Mr Macquario for proposing him, but would prefer to see Mr Meredith retain the chair. Mr Meredith: Before Mr Beetham says more I beg to second him as chair-' man! ;

Mv Beetliam said that Mr Meredith had taken great interest in the work of the Board, and he would sooner seo him continue in office. His own time ivas fully occupied, and if Mr Meredith did not object, 110 (Mr Beetliam) would propose Mr Meredith'as chairman.-

Mr R, Dagg seconded Mr Meredith. Mr Chamberlain agreed with Mr Meredith that a change in office was occasionally advantageous, Mr Beetliam some sonie years agohadh'een an efficient chairman of the Board, and while he held that the thanks of the Board were due to Mr Meredith, lie would support Mr Beetliam as chairman for the ensuing year. • Mr Beetliam having been declared elected took his seat. He thanked the Board for the confidence placed in liim. The duties of the Chairman were very important?; and iie would, while he occupied, tho chair, do his best to, discharge them. The minutes of the previous meeting were then read, Letters were read from the County Clerk re the metalling of a short piece oi the Te Ore Ore-Bideford road on the ■North side of the Wangaehu bridge, the length to be metalled being about 32 chains. \ ..• , j. The Engineer stated that the line of wad was laid off by the Survey department, and he thought there, ould be. no objection, to the granting we Council tho use of- the metal,— Wanted. : /' ' \ From the County Clerk, stating tlia; mo consideration of the Boards applica-

tioii, fofr.ialance of-Blairlogie Road loan which, remains in tho hands of the Council, was postponed until the Bth of May, owing, toithe absence of two of the councillors.;; ; i,,

•iFrom Messrs Stuckey, Herbert andothers,.,! rp the rate &n the Opaki-Sangituniau road, asking ,that the general late might mako patt of the special 'rate. j ■The Board agreed with the principle, .but as .the general rate of. those applying had been considerably overdrawn for'expenditure on the road they could not accede to the request.l i ; From tho- Clerk of the Cointy iOo'uncil re statement pfaCcounts. \ The Road Board clerk was instructed to forward.an Amended account ! From Property Tax Commissiojier, forwarding the< roll in; ; the - nativo language. !: 1: '•••••' I ' Prom H. Stevens re oxtensiorj of time in No, .2,contract on the Alfreofym district road. Granted. >:

Mr Macquai'i'ie said that it portion of a road he was instructed by the Board to see, would cost about £2O, and Mr Stevens would do it at that price.!— Agreed.to'., : ■ j; -Mr Chambeilain moved that metll-

ling to the extent of £6 or £7 be dole to the Femridge road by Mr Rasmussen's property.-^Cari'ied. 1 .; |

Mr Donovan said there was a of 1 in 9 on the road going through hia property, and the first flood' wouldmake it impassable, The; cutting was 9 to 10ft wide, and was dangerous. He thatl in. 9,.was too steep. Mr BeethamHhought that the gvade was not too steep, seeing it only, led to a creek, . . 1

Mr Donovan asked to be allowed to! use the road originally laid out until the othefone was properly formed.

Mr Beetliam thonght that when they hail fiindsftiiey might do more for Mr Donovan, : :biit. the Board would take his matter in hand, but his application must be iii .writing. ' Messrs 'Mickey, and Herbert for others attended re paying a special rate out of an ordinary rate,-Granted, ,Mr Hunt ; app]ied; to have the stones picked off ,the Opaki Road leading to the Lower'Miki Miki, for about eight or nine chains,— Granted.

Mr Rasmusson applied for a culvert through'the.rbafil leading to his property.

It was resolved that Mr Bremnerbo instructed to make arrangements with the applicant.

Mr McCardle attended re statement of Maori and Crown lands in the Alfredton and Pahiatua districts. A letter was,. read from Public Works Department re application for money due to tho Board. From Mr I', Evendon applying for extension of time on his contract.

The Board left the application in the hands of the . engineer. The engineer's report was read and adopted, ; Mr Eavid Carman applied for a subsidy for clearing drains on his property at Mamiia to the extent of £5. The clerk was'instructed to make a statement of accounts for people residing at Manaiaj. and the application would be considered at tho next meeting of the Board!, ; ( Mr' Wilton applied for bushfalling on his property -leading from Fern ridge l'oatl to Mr Holmes', and also staled if he had instructions his men would do it at £2 5s per acre, there being about two acres.—Granted.

: The Board resolved that tenders bo called for metalling on the Rangitumau road. \

Accounts amounting to £l2lß were passed forpayment. . .ENGINEER'S JIEI'ORT. Sir,—l have the honor to submit to you my monthly report : on tbo works of the district as follows No. 1 Ward—Alfredton District Road

• The this.quarter are not so satisfactory as I had' anticipated, "considering the favorable weather expcrioncod during tho:- past' month..: Mr''Stevens has barely completed Section No, 1 of'his earthwork contract, and lias only commenced to break ground upon Section No. 2, Tho Overseer reports-the. workmanship on the whole as giving satisfaction, which, to a certain extent, may expiate for tho wan', of punctuality which must necessarily attend the completion of the works. ■' - ?

_■ It will be necessary/in order to effect a junction with tlio main road (upon which a deviation lias boen made since our woi'k was laid off), to construct about 10 chains of new, formation,' and' fell; a .few acres of wanuka scrub, at a cost of about £2O; and as the approach to our works. must :of necessity be attended with cousidorable inconvenience unless this is carried out, I will ask permission to have it undertaken. _ Mi Evernden has to all appearances made little use of lhe lato fino weather in the matter of securing the delivery 'of the timber for : his'•bridges .'on this line. I understand-that the wliole of the timber has been cut, and most of it'delivered so far as Eketahuna,. and a foiv loads beyond that point; lam disposed' to'think that the contractor '• imagines' I 'Munsolf to a great extent at the mercy of the local carriers in that quarter. Who w till now appear to mo to .have ■ displayed 'in indifference as to whether or not they carry out his work until «+• ayita tbeir 'coiiveHieHce. I will therefore nggest that failirig stfep3 being takenj- that lie Board authorise my'undertaking (upon Mr Evernden's' ai/couutjitho placing of the timber- upon tho ground, and charging hi 3 account wlth the t co3t iacurrcd. ' . °

The remaining se'etmas which constituted ' No. 4 oathis.line,,wero let to Mr T, P. Gh'dwbod, on the.26th iiito., for the sum of £413.

No. 2 Ward,—The ..fencing, formation, &0., upon the Ma?terton; to To \Vhiti section of tho Mastertou to Gladstone road, have been let-to Mr James Oolway for the sum of £176 10a, and, I believe that tho preparation of the posts and other materials for the fencing is.proceeded with, Plans, &0,, have boon prepared for tho proposed work on tho Upper Manaia line leading to tho properties .of Messrs Griffin and others, The estimate based upon the proposal of carrying out tho work as prepared on tho plan (aiid which is the only satisfactory method of dealing with the matter in an economical and efficient manner) is in excess of tho amount authorised by the Board for expenditure. I have therefore withheld ; from advertising tho works until the. Board have given an expression of opinion' a3 to whether or not it is advisable to proceed with them. The preparation of the. data necessary for the estimates of the proposed loan under the Roads and Bridges Construction Act, for the construction ofthfc Whaogaehu.Valley road, is being proceeded with. The work has been conaideralily arid economised by the County'' Cotfncii having p] a c e( j at my .disposal the plans of the road aB laid off by them. ;^hMe,su6jfebt'tqslightmbdificati 0 n; I propose ti> adopt; 'and jtwll 'probably havo the necessary information prepared by next sitting of the Bpirdi-:,-'.. -■ I visited tfie litfe of- road leading to the property-'of Mt, Cox, in : : the': Mammehu Valley, with a view l bf" forming a rough estimate of .the .amount required to make the line available toWehiole traffic, ;• Owing ■ however, to the estimats haying proved in excess of Mr Cox's, expectations ho has

dcoided to abandon tho idea for the present of raising a loan. . ' 'No. 3 Ward,—l await instraotioM'relativo to. the advertising of,tho Bangitumau road works, for which the' poll was successfully carried on the 22nd April,; The necessary formation works to suable Mr! Donovan to' travel in safety to and. from liig 'proporty ■have been successfully carried-out; I have purposely curtailed the .expenditure as much as possible, owing to th'e heavy; expenses already incurred over this line, and trust that Mr Donovau may see. his way clear to perform any further embelishments which hp may consider necessary to render it suitable to his requirements. Mr Kobiesou has laid out the money authorised; by the Board on the line of road leading- to his property. : It m!iy. fl(ifely l)o said that in. doing this ho has certainly give|i value for liis'monoyl alt-liimgh it is at tho same time to be rogretted that ho Bhould have (displayed oither a totaldisregard for outward appearance or. fiuish', or very crude notions in the matter ot road formation. ; ,

[ Pairaii ;swamp contractl—This; work has teen completed in a thoroughly' efficient manner. The contract for the deepening of the sido drains has been let to Mr William Miller, and is at present being carried out. Of the small works authorised to bu undertaken in this ward, the quadmiro at Mr T. Brown's has.bcon remedied, a ford-has been constructed .on the stream crossing tho Opalii loop line, and hands are eiigaged in forming a short section onlitted'ih f tho construction of the Mild Miki Valley road. Upper Fcrnridgo line.-Tho original contract on this line has been finished recently and tho extension of tho'work "let to the same contractor is well advanced. It is anticipated that with a continuance of favoiablo wcathor the' whole of the works will be fulfilled in tho courso of the next month.

' The worn out plauking on tho Mauricoville bridgu which had become in a dangerous state,_ has been removed and new material substituted. The bridgo is therefore again 6i\fo for traffic, Mr D. Stewart ot Opaki has applied that the short branch lino of road leading fioni tho Main road to his property shall be legally transferred to tho Board, it having been located after iho orown grant for tho property through which it passes, had matured. He has expressed his willing Iness to meet tho costs so far as compensation ■is concerned. I will therefore require (authority to have, the necessary survey made ;to ouablo tho deed of transfer to be drawn out. (No 4- Ward.—Tho trusses for theWaiuuioru bridge have been built and the whole of the Materials excepting about 6000 feet of timber have been delivered on the site of the bridge. Unless any unexpected d»lay occurs L hope to have the work completed in six Vosks time, The approaches to this bridge Wely let to Mr T. P. Girdwood have not yet teen proceeded with. I am informed that His tho intention of the contractor to star operations in a week's time. |Vaipawa .Val'oy road.—This work is milting more satisfactory progress now than and is now open for bridle traffic riglt through, The bridges havo'beeu completed with the exception of tho last coat of paiiii and the line can be opened for vehicle traflft within ten days if necessary. It has suggested itself to me that in order to preseiya this new formation from an unfair tax byj opening ii up to au indiscriminate traffic,that it may be advisable to limit its use to 1 bridle traffic alone until the spring. I offer this suggestion believing that if once opened ip vehicles, it will be impossible to limit it t> those of tho light class, ns traps, buggies k I will therefore ask au expression of diinion from tho Board, before removing at present constitutes, a permauentand eflectivo harrier against its use for other thin horsemen or foot passengers, 'until the embankments. and softer portions of tho line are bolter fit to carry the heavy freights which will travel this road, \ ' n ' contract (wliici was reported'as completed some time agt) on the 21st ult.: and was disappointed tofind that the work had been slummed over in the mo.-t unsatisfactory manner. The earthworks required substantial trimming, aid bridges partially' reconstructing. I therefore supplied tho contractor with a full list of discrepancies in connection with the worto, winch it will bo necessary for him to rectify beiore it will bo . possible to entertain tile idci o£ taking them off his hands.

fco. 5 Ward,—From what I can loam, tho wonts which ate being carried out under tho Eoads and Bridges Construction Aeiin this Ward arc drawjng towards completion, and tw it is my intention, in company with Mr Connal, to visit the district during next week, I will dolor my report on the -works until next meetiag. 1 1 have, etc., C. E. Bhemnf.l!, Masterton Road Board Oflico, Mav 10th, 1881. 1 '