Whareama Road Board.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume IX, Issue 2932, 23 June 1888, Page 2

Whareama Road Board.

A special meeting of the Board was held yesterday.. Present—Messrs E, Meredith Morrison, Carswell, Elder, and iflPeredith. The minutes of the previous ordinary meeting were read and confirmed. !

The Chairman expressed regret that J lie had been compelled to call aspecial ' ' meeting, but certain information hav- 1 ing come to hand which was likely to , materially affect the interests of the | ratepayers and the Board in particular, he felt it his bounden duty to adopt the present alternative. The Board was in a very unsatisfactory ; ODiidition. At a meeting held in Feb. ( ruary last £2O, (a portion of a loan) ' had been voted to Mr Geo. Moore for certain works to be done by him, and the localities of these particular works were defined at such meeting.' A far '' larger sum than that authorised had, <1 however, been expended, and besides ■ this a road had been cut through Mr ; R, Meredith's property, without"notice having been given, the fences on the property had been remdp, and coft- I siderable damage had Been entailed. •, In consequence of this Mr Travers had \ been communicated with and a writ had been served on the Bnaal at the I instance of Mr Meredith flfot having "■> fenced the road. The question before " the meeting was whether it was legal to go through -property without first : fencing. The Board was uo douH

aware that the road roferrod to, as well as most other roads in the district, had been in good condition. On r- May sth, the tender of Mr Girdwood had been accepted for road making, and a guarantee had been received that if tho weather becarao inclement, the work would be executed without delay. Notwithstanding this fact, on the following day, Sunday, May Gth, Mr Moore had taken a number of men and had cut down several fences on the line of road surveyed by Mr Rawson, but had left those which affected his own property. Ho (the Chairman) had received intelligence from his shepherd that tho flocks had been mixed, and that the fences would require to be replaced at once, He ordered his man to replace the fences, but he was sorry to learn that on the very next day they had been again removed. The result was that the whole of his flock had mixed with his neighbour's, He felt in speaking to the members of the Board present, that lie was speaking to practical sheep-farmers, and ho had no doubt they could form some idea of the darn- , age sustained by the mixing of flocks. The information regarding the affair was entirely new to those present. If f\ it were brought into Court a large •" amount would be awarded as damages. Mr Mooro could give no real grounds for this aggravation, and the injury hi(d been done simply to gratify selfish desires. Such an action was in violation of all integrity. He felt sure no member of the Board would countenance it. Tliey had the opinion of Mr Travel's before them which was that a resolution be passed by the Board that no further damage be done to property. Ho referred to the time when gates were not allowed to be erected and dogs had to be kept on the chain by the roadside to prevent the mixing of flocks. He was sorry Mr Moore was not present; lie always liked to meet a man face to face. If the opinion of Mr Travel's was not upheld in the Supreme Court he would come in a straightforward manner and ask for permission to erect dividing gates, and would expect the same courtesy as would be given to any other ratepayer.

11l concluding, he said that as lie to / a person concerned he would not vote aan on the question, but asked members fr of the Board to express themselves on the subject. Mr K. Meredith considered the question before the meeting was whether the Board was justified in going through the land. Mr Moore, although acting as it were for the Board, had no authority to spend any money beyond the £2O allotted. Mr Elder disclaimed all connection with the cutting of the fences referred to, and thought the Board generally had no part in such an act. He was verysorry the fences had been removed, The Chairman: I am very glad, Mr Elder, to hear you express yourself in such a manner, Mr Carswell thought all works should have been stopped by the Board until the dispute about the right of entering property without first fencingh ad been settled. Mr E, Meredith: All I want is for this matter to be a warning to the ■f- Board.

The Chairman: Ic is some time since the 120 allotted was expended, and it is an extraordinary thing that fences should be cut at this stage. Mr Elder would like to ask if Mr Girdwood's contract was completed and passed. Mr R. Meredith replied that Mr Girdwood had finished, and the work would be passed by the Engineer in a few days. The Chairman said lie had received 110 communication whatever on the subject. He would like some member of the Board, other than himself or son, to table a motion before proceeding further. Mr Elder proposed," That Messrs Meredith be allowed to close the fences cut on the Maungapiu deviation, provided Mr Girdwood's contract be not passed for payment, or payment made in the meantime, and provided MiGeorge Moore receive sufficient notice of the motion." Mr E. Meredith considered such a motion would be countenancing the Board in cutting the fences. Mr Elder made an explanation as to the correct rendering of his resolution, which was seconded by Mr Morrison, and carried. The Chairman said there was another matter he would like to bring before the meeting, and that was the unauthorised expenditure ofmoneys by individual members of of the Board. Mr Morrison had made certain repairs without authority, and although the Board had without doubt received full value for their money, the precedent wa3 an undesirable one, and most reprehensible. He had learned this through his connection with the Masterton Road Board, He trusted the Boar would take some action, Mr Morrison; Has not the Board received full value for their money ? The Chairman, " I admit chat. Mr Carswdl concurred with the remarks of the Chairman. Unless traffic was actually impeded no membor of the Board should undertake repairs, Mr Morrison said the repairs executed by him were a necessity. The Chairman called attention to the fact that at the last meeting certain items in the Engineer's account had been challenged as exhorbitant, He considered the Engineer had power to modify or otherwise the amount expended, but the interests of ratepayers should be conserved and wardens should not be permitted to ♦.make any expenditure without authority. Although no resolution was tabled on the subject, a general opinion was expressed that the spending of money by individual members should not bo tolerated. After some discussion a report from Mr McLachlan which was read at the last meeting was adopted. Outward and inward correspondence was then read. A most important letter had been received from Messrs Bell, Gully and Izard, solicitors, warning the Board against passing Mr Girdwood's account for payment until the question of the legality of the road made by him had been decided. Mr Meredith remarked that if a question of legality were raised it

, would be found that there was not a logal road in the district. The Chairman considered that the point raised by Messrs Bell, Gully and Izard was monstrous. Mr Carswell: The affair is a very complicated one. No doubt tho services of a licensed surveyor will be required before the roads are legalised. The resolution to hold tho next ordinary meeting of the Board on 7tli July was rescinded, and the date was fixed for Saturday,. 21st July. The meeting then terminated,