PIAKO COUNTY COUNCIL.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2183, 6 July 1886, Page 2

PIAKO COUNTY COUNCIL.

Thk mual monthly meeting of the Piako County Council was held in the Borough Council Chamber*, Hamilton, on Saturday. Present : Messrs W. L. 0. Williams (chairman), Chepinell, Gould, Smith, and Murphy. Shaftksbuky Rovn.— The Chairman repotted that he had, in accoi dance with a previous resolution of the council, opened tender* for works on the Kh.iftesbury ro<id towards the Gordon Settlement. The amount voted for this woik was toO, and the tender accepted, that of P. Dillon, was £.V) Bs. He h.id accepted this tender because he felt that it was well to proceed with tne work at once. —The action of the Chairman was approved. Roches Gully liumrF.— Mr W. T. Firth forwarded a report of his inspection of this work. He found fault with the manner in which the last vote of the council had been expended, and suggested that certain repairs be carried out at an estimated cost of £13.— -Cr. Murphy said he had visited the place and corroboi atetd Cr. I Firth's statement.— The engineer (Mr Pavitt), who was present, explained that before he was aware of what the council had done at the previous meeting he had received a letter from Mr lloche drawing attention to the condition of the approaches. He at once took steps to protect the approaches, and expended a sum of £'."» 11s m doing so. He did not know at that time that Crs. Murphy and Firth had been authorised to spend to on the work, which he admitted was necessary, as tho water had scoured out the channel some two feet deeper. He took exception to a non-professional man like Mr Firth criticising his work without giving him notice of his intention to do so, m order that he might be prepared to explain the circumstances. Had ho known what was coming on he could easily have produced data which would lime satisfied the council. lie did not think that the additional repairs requited would cost as niiuh as Cr. Firth mentioned.— The Chairman agreed with Mr Pa\ itt that it was hardly the right thing for a non -pirtfe^ional mm to citticixc the work of an engineer, but the council wore of opinion that from his e\perience Mr Firth was well qualified to give an opinion on the matter. He, (the chairman) knew what a difficult country it was to deal with. — Mr Pavitt said the soil was of a light sandy nature and easily washed away, though fortunately the approaches* were not long, only about a

chain on either nide. Sines he had effected the lepaii.s ho icfenod to, nothing had been washed away. He h.id used wattling to pmtect the up pii).it:h(>B. — Some discussion then ensued as to the best mean-- of effecting reptirn. Mr Pavitt thought tin) outside cost would be about £12. -Cr. Muiphy thought tree* should bo planted on the enib irikmcnt, and willowh and poplars, tht 1 latter fur pn-j feienre, wore s-iig.,'. stcd. I'ltitn itely, on the ii'ot on of the ( li.'iii in.vi, seconded by Cr. (iould, the matter was left in th' v h inds of tlic cngineei, tin 1 eo,t noi to e\ci i d illhl'll \l,^ \MI (Jli \KI I \I!I Y. All). A left' r was i>'.ifi tioiii tin 1 Thames .iiid (!uii)in.ind«'l I'niti'd Chautibh> Aid IJoard, *»<- |)H:^iiii,' nv'iet tint, the council should ha\ c simmi tit to withdifiw its rfpipsi'ut.iti o fiont the meetings of tin' bo, iid. It was pointed out th.it since the Thames Jiospit.il h.td been ni ide a scpw.it' 1 institution, thuic w.ts ill tin 1 nioic n"i>d for w iti hfulii' ss, iud tli.it h.id it ii"t bet n foi thf, 15o.ini the tuistees of the hospit.d would have spent .m addition.il ATiOO upoti the institution. Apart from this there was n him wli) tin* iepi.'M>nt itive of l'l.iko should not sit, upon the> I'nited I'o.trd, as it was (,uite distinct from the Hospital Uyuid. A demand for £103 4s id for Chiritable \id foi the (matter ending June :>Oth, w. is enclosed.— The Clerk :»lso read a demand fioin the Thames flospit.il Hoard for tl!)"> .*»-, 2<l, the tot.il sum dem aided on account of these two institutions being thus illtfS U-> <*,d. -Cr. Smith did not think there w\v» any further necessity for his attending 1 the meetings of cither board, and the letter were received. —The clerk reported that the petition in favour of separation had been duly received at Wellington, and referred to the Public Petitions Committee. A telegram had been received from Mr J. B. Whyte m inference to the matter. Mr Why to promised to do his utmost to get Piako made a separate district, but in the event of his being unable to do this be would endeavour to get it joined on to Waikato and Wai pa, from which it might afterwards be divided. —It was resolved to telegraph to Mr Whyte, asking him to use his utmost endeavours to obtain a separate district, but if that were impossible to try and pet the county joined to those of Waikato and W.iipa.— The chairman said th« Hon. James Williamson would do all ho could for them in the council, when the matter came before that body. C\MBUii>fiK-TAiiR \kg.v Ro\n. — The cleik of the Taot.ioroa Road Board wrote in reply to a letter from the council, that as that portion of this highway running through the Taotaoroa Distiict was a county road, any further sum required to be spent upon it should b? applied for by the council. Cr. Chepmeil said the board held one opinion and the council held another.— The letter was received. Thb Tur Track.— The Warden wrote approving of the expenditure proposed on this track, and the Ohinemuri Council intimated that so soon as they received inforimtion from Wellington they would be willing to join them in the work. — The matter was accordingly held over for the present. Thk Colo Duty.— The Chairman said that on the introduction of the measure to abolish the gold duty he had at once telegiaphed to Messrs Williamson and Whvte, asking those gentlemen to oppo-e it, as the abolition of that duty would seriously interfere with the revenues of distucts in the North — Cr. Murphy pointed out that the bill only propo-ed to abolish the duty .it the instance of a majonty of the holders of miners' rights —The action of the chanm.iri was confirmed. Bah SrATK ok the Roads.— Mr Pavitt the County E.jgineer forwarded his leport on the works completed and in progress since the last meeting. Ho made point»d reference to the wretched condition of the roads at Waiorongomai, Shaftesbury, and near the railway station Te Aroha. They were all very bad and likely to become impassible. — Mr John Cooni, Resident Engineer. Auckland Railways, wrote asking the council to improve the railway station ripproach loid. Mr E. F. Roche forwarded a letter on the state of the nnds betweeti Hunt's boundary and Shaftesbury, winch he described as being exceedingly bid, and Mr Squiirell, storekeeper at Shaftesburv. fuinishul .i personal nairatne of adven tnres on the .s.nd road, which *vere by no means of a pleasant n.ituie.— Cr Murphy said he could fully coiroborate all that hari been wi\tt< u about the state of the_ ro.'d-. in the distiict. Tliey weie positnelv d ingemus and if not attended to sn,.n would cea-v to be of any use as thorough fan s- He was.iuaie tint the council had no funds wheivwith to uud -ltako ext»n-ive renaiis, and the only uav out of the difficulty was t i stnke a special late. Tlir rate would of eour-o be levied over the whole rulmcr. bub its expenditure should b»legul ited by local considerations; m shoit the money shou'd ho, spent where it was needed. He would movo that notice he civ en that at next meeting a rate of t M m £ would Ye le\ied upon the Aroha Riding. — TheChaiim.in said the distiict w >uld undoubtedly b' j much better off were it und»i the contiol otf a local body, and he hoped some change would &oon be effected.— Cr. Smith was afraid very little good could be done at present. Ho quite saw, ho-, ever, that money mu-t be raised locally, and he would therefore second the motion, which was agreed to without dissent. — Cr. Murphy reminded the council that permission had been given to the engineer to make Us.c of the tramway horses for toad purposes when they were not engaged at their usual work. Now, when he was passing through Te Aroha the previouday he observed a team employed in removing Btuff excavated from Mr Robin's aH>t ment towards the Paeroa end of the town, and using it for filling a hole. He had been told that it was gravel, but he denied this. He would point out that if stuff had been required for filling the hole refeired to it could have been obtained much closer at hand.— Mr Pavitt admitted that the gravel was not first-class, but it was the best he could get. To obtain better he would 1 aye t<> go to Stoney Creek, and the damask done t.» the roads by the traffic vvwuld eountei balance the, amount of good done. — Cr. Murphy said Mr Pavitt's remark would i»pply with equal force to the woik alieady done. He repeated that the stuft was not gravel, and moved that the chairman be requested to proceed to Te Aioluiand inspect the material in company with the engineer and the mover. — The Chairman thought the engineers explanation was satisfactory. — The motion was not .seconded, and accordingly lapsed. — On the motion of Cr. Murphy it was agreed that for the next month the surfaceman be employed on the mads between the Bank of New Zealand. Te Aroha, and Joy's* corner, Waiorongomai. Si'RKKr-cuostiiMJS at Tk Auoha.— The engineer was authorised to lay down two crossings in Wl.itaker-street, Te Aroha, in order that it might be possible for people to cross from one side of the road to the other. Othkr NncEssAUY Works.— Several other small works were authorised to be done. The sum of £3 was voted for certain improvements in Kenrick and McLaren-street^, Te Aroha, to enable the childien of several residents to get to the school dryshod.— A request from the postmaster at Waiorongomai for a few loads of gravel for mending the, footpath was granted, the same to bocaited by the tiatnway horses. These requests were waunly suppoited by Cr. Murphy. Thi; Trvmw ay.— The manager, Mr Cookson, sent in his usual monthly repot I. From this it appeared that the trucks were only employed half the week. Ferguson'battcry had started, but as yet it had not made any appreciable difference in the ti.nnway tratiic, there being a debit balance this month. At pieseut there were only eight men employed and he strongly \<>- conunended th it they, together with the horses, be employed m load woik when they weie not engaged on the tiamw.iy. — Cr. Murphy said it must be evident that the council would have done well to adopt the suggestions made by him at the pievious meetings, and l educed the prico on the carriage of quait7. He moved tint the couuul take the whole matter intocoiisidei.ition at next meeting. -Cr. Smith said it would be in the recollection of the council th.it about two ye.us ago a c mnnission was appointed to enqune into and report upon the working of the ti.unwav. He was not a membet of the council at that tune, but if his memory scived him aught that commission, composed of pr.ic tic.il men. < r ive the yieatest satisfaction. The in -ml) rs of the cmncd had neither the time iii r Hie re<p i .tj practic il kno.vledge to go i'ltotho uiaUer, and he would theiefore in' le that a commission consisting of Messib T. Caviii, T. (ioldswotthy, H. McLiver, X (}\\u\, and C. Com-s be appointed to make enquiry and repoit upon the whole question of tramway man. lament. The hvo gentlemen he had named were all pi.ietical men and thiee of the number had sat in the former cuiiiinbiinn. — (li.( 1 i . M.uphy shongly suppoited the motion, which he seconded. He paid a hiEfli tribute to the ability and fitness of the gentlcinon proposed, all of whom he

said uere men of long experience ami truvl integrity.— Tlie motion was put .nil <• u i sim! unanimously. Oi'lmn<, li' CoiNnn.— Meh-rs Qtiin and Hoimbronk applied t<> have a track made t<. the Tiunt-ui (l.itu Morning Star) at a ost of £7, ri-, they wished to send d(»wn a parcel of :.O tun. ( ,f fjuartz to the battery. — Or. Murphy slid to grant such requests w.i*. the tit..- way to open up the field. Ohk\p TiMNMr.— The manager of th« Aow Imu'J wi »te a-kuig special concession* for the ciincviici. „f a large quantity of low gi.uJe «pi.ut/ The application was li'-l'l "mm puidun,' tin- report of the com* lllNslol). I'm. W\iK\roTii\Afi-s Rwi.way.— Cr. Muiphv said tht- <;.\,Muiu.int intended p.ioc. eding^ with the extension of the line to the Th nii">, and he thought it would ln> uil! if tfit- council' weie to make a re* o,u"-t th.it .t m'( tion l, t . at each end, in oid( i th.it men in the distuct might find eniplo\in ut Th<- 10-dents of the district w.'ie Ukm^ action, but he thought tin- fo'incil sl(oiild l»,ick thf-m up. He »l«o thouglit tin im inbi-r foi the district should lie coininumiuteil with on the subject.— Cr. ■*>iniLh ,md the ch.urm.in .supported Cr." A[uiphy'.s sii n n ' n n ' t >.tion, .uid the clerk waiin" ■^rnrted to wiite to the Government and Mi Whyte accord i n^l v. Tin; hio.Nhi Cju.kk Tu\ck.— The follow, inifteiidets weieieceived for constructing a -lei^'e track at Ston'-y creek, as far nstha (Jiand Junction claim. The tender-j were for the Hrsc portion, some 40 chain-, at per chain, and for the .second portion a lump sum :— lO. <Jum, £1 7s od per chain and £7 lo> ; C. Tha\t«M and (Jollett, £1 7s per chain and ! Ji 10s; T. JJonovan, 19« per chain and ft 3 ; Hyde and Conies, £1 «£ per chain and £11 ss ; .las. Shine, JBl 2p per chain and £7 K<i ; J. <i old *t worthy, til 12i per chain and £12 ; R. N. Blencowe, £1 4g «»d per chain and £14 IDs ; Collins and Voy.sey, £1 10s por chain nnd £12 ; Ho«m and party, £1 l .h per chain and £14. The lowest tender, that of .Tames Shine, was accepted. Tkk Codlik Moth.— A letter *ras read from the chairman of the Ohinemuri Council on the subject, but no action was taken. The Chairman considered that the question was a difficult one to deal with, as each moth laid something like two million erei. His own opinion wai that each individual would have to catch his own inothß. (Lauphter). Day ok Mkehng.— It was resolved that in future meetings of the council be held on the fouith Wednesday in every month at the .same place and hour. Accounts. — A number of accounts were passed fni payment, and some other buni« nrs-. of a formal nature having been tramacted, the council i«v?.