PIAKO COUNTY COUNCIL.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2196, 5 August 1886, Page 2

PIAKO COUNTY COUNCIL.

usual monthly meotincr of the Council tyas held in tho Hamilton Borough Council ■Clampers yesterday. Pre»cufc: Mr W. h. 0; WUlliams (chairm.m) -; Cra. "Furth, 'Mtirpßytf Maclean, Chepmell, i&aith an'B 'otfuld;^ x i k .• j T-Eo&pital and Chamtahle Aid -hA. telegYam was read from the Qhineinijri Council st.ihng that they had ' resolved not to pay any further contributions to the Thames Board, and that they were anxious to unite with Piakb.— Cr. Firth tbpught tho Council should take some action to&trengthcn'the hands of their member in nia endeavours to get the amending Bill recommitted. In the altered state of parties the separation might be carried. The county contributed the largest shore of hospital and? was most in*ia<|equately, represented.' ' Ho'OforfdgecTthat a telegram be 'scat to Mr Whyfco' urging him to use every effort to secure the separation of the county. He said Col. ]fra f ser ha 4 jstatqd that 'if a hospityl were. ,to, { be"c3talblish eel Te Aroha he would consent at to theseparation. Whether the council considered that the time bud come for this ho could not say — Cr. Maclean-seconded the motion; -He thought the county had been very unfairly treated, He did not think Col. Eraser and Mr Ohclmand should be listened to, as they in no way represented the county of Piako.'.Tho people of any local district should' be" allowed to have a voice in the management of their OJyju agairs. T^ie motion was carried unaiiirrlou'Bjy.i'r'TChß Secretary of the yHobpital Board forwarded 20 tickets of admission to the Hospital, 10 for in- and lO for out-patients. — It was resolved that the proposal, of the Ohineniuri .Council ;be jiot entertained.— Cr. Chepmell pointed' out that Olnnemuri was not called upon to contribute in anything like the same degree as Pinko. '•'feE^Ut^rftAOK.-^-T-he tr*tnwa£ manager wrote pointing out that there were many difficulties in the way of constructing the track, and.tlia.tit woujd,. bg no use to any exceiit'*tne Tui miriest "He recom* mended that the services of a surveyor bo engaged. — The Chairman explained the position. — Cr. Murphy said it Was strange that Mr Cookson shouldjnow condemn the wprk, whioh-he bad on a previous occasion advocated. — Consideration of the matter was held over. "Te Atloha Streets^ — The postmaster wrote drawing attention of the council to the disgraceful state of the road near the post-office. He asked, if nothing could be done in the way of repairs, that a punt be placed thece for the. convenience of the public. — The Chairman: moved that the letter be 1 frtrWarded to 1 the Government 1 . — The motion was carried. • RochU's .Gully.— -Mr-E. P. Roche wrote protesting against the'wasteful expenditure ,pf -money ou this road, as it Wai still impassable for traffic, and if he were to close up a track through, his land no dray could get through. He also deprecated the levying of a special rate.— Mr R. Macky also wrote, drawing attention to the bad stato of the road. — Cr. Murphy said the road was in a very bad state. -• But first they must see how the rate would go. — Cr. Gould said it was absurd for people to complain against the roads, and at the bauie time protest against levying a rate.— Cr. Smith asked the amount of the indebtedness Of Te Arob'a riding to the county.— The clerk said the amount spent in' the riding was £14,000 or £15,000, but it was in debt i»n account of roads some £300 or £400. The council had no money in hand. — It was decided that in the circumstances nothing could be done. • " Tn Akoha Rate.— The clerk said everything li.nl been done in order to the levying a special rate. He read a letter from Mr Milk, forwarding resolution of the public meeting' of residents of Te Aroha and Waiorongomai, piotesting asrainst the rate on the ground that the district was about to be formed into a borough shortly. — A letter was read from Mr E. Y. Cox to the same effect. Bad as the road.s were he would prefer waiting until summer rather than submit to extia taxation.— Cr. Chep.ii"ll did not think the council should be influenced by what a public meetinsr nt Te Aioha might say. — Cr. Gould said if the rate were .struck now he was *' jolly certain !' it would n->t be collected before the summer. —Cr. Murphy said a meeting had been held at Waiorongomai, at which a resolution fa\ourdble to the rate was passed. —The clei k read the riding accounts, from 'which it appeared tli.it neaily AI2OO had been, spent o\er and above the amount collected dnririg the past two years. After some fuithcr di^cn^ion, Cr. Chepmell moved that a .special rate be made. The motion was seconded by Cr. Gould and carried. — Cr. Murphy asked whether anything would now bo dove to the Hhaftosbury road. — Cr. Smith thought nothing but wh.it was absolutely necessary .should be done until the summer. — Cr. Gould thought nothing should be done. The riding was already in debt to the council, and tho latter was unable to pay its debt. If they did anything to the load they, would get nothing but abuse. The rate was struck, but the money had not been raised. — Cr. Smith thought it would be bettor to pay a few pounds than become liable for damages by accident. — The Chairman said the time had pome when the riding ought to ,. be formed-' ■■ into a road district.— ,Cr. Smith agreed. He had advised the "settlers that so soon as .the proposed* borough, ,had beeu formed, they should form a highway district outside. — After some further discusuion, the matter was 4 allowed to drop. Clarkes Fence Again.— A telegram was received, stating that the fence had not yet been removed. — Or. Murphy said the borousrh would be able to settle this matter. No action was taken. The Tbamway.— The manager reported that the receipts for the month amounted to £93 9s, and the expenditure to £91 4s. The number of men employed was eight. If the traffic did not increase when the winter was over, the number of men could bo reduced. The pommisdionprs appointed at the last meeting of the council, Messrs Gavin, McLiver, Comes and Golds worthy, submitted the following report ou the working and management of the tramway :— -Waiorongomai, July 31et, 1886. To the Chairman and Members ov the Pjakq County Council.— Gentlemen. — In l'eply to the resolution of your council we hjlve the. honour to report on your tramway, Waiorongomai goldtteld, as "follows : — After going over the line and carefully ascfit lining .the number of trucks quartz f«n warded, the amount of pay sheets, <fee, fur the last few months, your commissioners aio of opinion that your tramway has not Iwen managed with regard to economy ; that biuce the reduced output of quartz from the mines to be forwarded over the line to ' batteries too large a staff has been engaged, and during the days' on which the tramway was not running we fail to see how all hands were employed. We beg to recommend that the staff be reduced to five men and a hoy, and that each one of the reduced staff work a station or post on the line when the tramway is working. We think the reduced staff is capable of forwarding up to 20 trucks per day over the line, and as the number of trucks has only averaged 12 per day lately, the stall would have ample time to keep the line ballasted and the rolling stock in good working order. We also think that one horse could be dispensed with, which would also be a saving. We also are of opinion that the firewood forwarded over the tramway to the flat should be charged for, and that your council should fix a charge for the same to recoup the outlay for wood, trolleys, and wear and tear on the ropes and line, as we are informed that quantities of wood have been forwarded over the line without charge. Your commissioners find the tramway and rolling stock in fair order. 1 with the exception of the horse grade from Butler's spur to the bottom of Queen of May grade, which has not been kept ballasted, water being allowed to lodge, causing the sleepers to show signs of decay. We beg to recommend that the brake gear on top of Butler's spur be shifted some half a chain nearer the incline. The ropes, as the gear now stands, coil badly on ' the drums, causing the trucks to tip when being lowered over the grade, which not only causes serious delay on the tramway but also means a loss of quartz to the .mining companies, besides causing th& ropes to wear with heavy faction on top of the pulleys. The gear could be shifted for some £25, and we think that the tramway hands, in spare time, with some slight assistance might carry out the shifting as recommended. We think th.it this should be carried out the before now ropes, which have come to hand for Butler's spur, are fixed, to prevent the same becoming injured. Your commissioners do not think that any great outlay wjJJ be. required for repairs on the tramway during the noxt twelve months, besides ballasting and some slight slips that might occur, as tho batters of cuttings and formations of the line are,, as it were, fairly soasoned with heavy rains during tho past wmteis since tho construction of tho line. As twelve trucks per day over the line would meet expend, and as the reduced staff would be capable of

forwarding up to 20, wts think your council hilght s frfßsard any number o\ei 12 trunks, n't a reduced ebarpre, which would nob inci'eaif the cos»t of working the line, and no rl(»i)i>t .^oulrl eric'iiia^-* minim: < "inimiirs to ii.er<M,~e the number of trucks <.ver this lift" by forward hi}.' the po .1 .;i .<Je dirt, wfrich, tlie leducpd charge for transit of thpjtine fyould enable companies to forward .p'norp.r' 1 -guide dirt than at present. We have" the, honour to be, Gentlemen, your obedient servants, JOHN GoiJ>woivrnv, Thojivs Gavin, Hugh MoLivkk, CLKMKNi' A. COJiXKS. Ci. Gould was of opinion that carelessness held been exhibited in the management of tb>i tramway. When the commissioners weie appointed the manager at once reduced the stiff, showing that a savjiier might ha\e be'en effected before. — Or. !>imth ciitioUed the nianagemunt, and pointed out how the line might bo mote economically worked. — Crs. Maclenn and Gould were of opinion that a change <)f nianat'ci- should t ike place. The latter said if the manager neglected his work they could irrtt'tierJend «pnn him. They wanted -a responsible man. It was a notoiious fact at Waioiongotnai that the tramway inaniigiU" neglected hisf work, but it ivai diffiquit, to get ope man to report another. ' — The Chan man said he had thought of moving that the tramway be taken over Uy the mines. — Cr. Smith said if the staff were reduced to five men, a saving of £10 a week wonld be effected. — Cr. Gould moved that the manager l'eceive notice to quit, and' that applications for the post be invited by advertisement up to that day fortnight, the chairman and Cr.-'. Smith and Gould to be a committee to receive and deal with the same.— Carried.— On the motion of Cr Smith, a cordial vote of thanks was passed to the commissioners for the trouble they had taken and the valuable information they h«cf supplied to the council, and the fliiin. ,o,f| £1 # Is was awarded to each commissioner in recognition of his services. Track to Mi^e.— Messrs Munro ancl Buchanan tfrote, asking the council tb spend £5 to connect thoir claim, which in payable, with the tramway. The request was acceded to. , ' , , , ' ' Tb Ar6ha Financk. — Home discussion took place upon tin's subject. The clerk said the riding was in debt £6,800 at the end of March. Since then it had gone back anothjer, £500. — The ' discyssion was of a conversational character, and no resolution wasarrived at. AocotrNTs. — A number of accounts- were passed for payment. County ofkioks. — The Chairman and clerk were authorised to find an office for the company in Cambridge, and on the motion of Councillor Firth' a hearty vijte of thanks was accorded to t the Patetore Company for their kindness in allowing the council the use of their offices free for the past fiv6 years. This was all the business and the council adjourned. ■<