PIAKO COUNTY COUNCIL.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 2525, 15 September 1888, Page 2

PIAKO COUNTY COUNCIL.

Till', usual monthly meeting of the I J i>i!to County Council, was held in the l'hiunix Hotel, Morriusvillo, at 11 o'clock, on Thursday. Present: Crs. Chepnu-U (chairman,) Willianis, Brun.sliiil, Browning. Murphy, Mills, and Jleim.-y.

New Mbmhbh.—Mr N. I. limit, who had been ekicU'il, nil .pposed, to liil the vacancy in the Mntainala ri-.lin:', c.iusud by I he'resignation of Mr I' , . Dibble, was introduced by 'Jr. Williams, and took his seat.

Co.V(iK.\Ti:riVrioNs.—'V. Williams, as senior member of tht; Council, on behalf of his fellow Councillors, congratulated tlie Chairman, Cr: Chcpmcll, on his having >utereil the ranlis of thu IJ.:ii«dicts, and wished bath Mr and Mrs Chcpmell long life and prosperity.

I , it NT. — The I'Lt!c reported James Sl.iiart had signed the agre.vn-'nt of lcuse of tiia W'aiorongomai punt, hut the chairman having called the attention to the fact that Mr Stuart was a minor, and therefore not responsible, it was resolved that seve;i day's nntiee be given to the lessee cancelling hi-i agreement, and that new tender;! he calied for, to be in on the 11th of October—lV. Murphy suggested that the tenders he advettised in Thk Waikato Tjmi-:s, as that paper had a large circulation both in To Arena and throughout the county, whereas the circulation of the To Aroha papers was more a local one. The matter was loft ill the hands of the Chairman and Clerk.

Hot NpKixcis Roau. —Mr A. I.«nc3 wrote informing tin; Council that lie had lodged £15 to tlic credit of the Council at tho Batik of New Zealand, Cambridge, to defray tin: cost of laying out tho road to the Okoroiri Hot Springs. Ho requested that the necessary application for permission he mule as soon as possible. Tho Clerk reported that at liis request Mr .S. Percy Smith, Assist int. Surveyor General, hail made tho necessary application, iinil a G ivcrnor's warrant l\ad been issued to Mr T. G. Sandcss of Hamilton, authorising him to lay oil' tho road.

llosi'iTAi, Co:>tk[i;ution.—A letter was received from the S.v'ret'iry to tho Wa.ikato Hospital Board, requesting that the sum of £KB7, the balance of the Hospital contribution due by the county be paid. The chairman moved that the balance, £357 bo paid.—Seconded by Cr. Brnustvill, and carried.

Validation Rolls.—The application of Messrs Lovell, Fielder, and Thompson, to have alterations made in the valuation roll, with respect to their respective properties, were deferred to next meeting, in order that the Clerk might get more information regarding the properties. With regard to the other applications, the Clerk was instructed to tike the necessary steps to make the alterations requested. No objections having been received to the alterations sanctioned at last meeting, the Clerk was authorised to make them.

Advertising.—An application was received from the proprietors of the Tβ Aroha o.watte for a share of the county advertising. The letter was received,

FiN*AN"C'E. —The report of the committee, consisting of Crs. Chepmnll, Browning and (Joiild, appointed to look into the financial position of the county was as follows:— The committee beg to report that the liabilities of the Council, estimated up to 31st Mai-ell, 1SS!), are £3190 9s lOd, and the assets, estimated to same date, £1422 13s Oil; thus leaving an excess of liabilities over assets of £1773 14s 'lil. The committee therefore recommend that a general rate of id in tho £ be struct; on all the ratable property in. tho county, with the exception of that property within the To A roll si riding, oil which they recommend tiiat a rate of Jd in the £ be strinik ; also that any balance remaining to the credit of tlio Council iiftnr the payment of its liabilities should be allocated iu accordance with sec. 145 of the Counties Act, 18G6. The committee further report that the several riding and separate accounts stood on August 10th, 18SS, as follows :— Riding Accounts: Matamata Riding credit, £1241: 13s Id ; Waitoa Rising credit, £1587 5s Od ; T.iotaoroa Riding credit, £43 18i Gd ; Pntatere Riding credit, £2152 lGs 7d ; Te Aroha Riding debit, £7370 6s lOd.— Separate Account?: Te Aroha Riding debit, £274 5s 4d ; Matamata Riding debit, £3 2s Gd. With reference to the Te Aroha Riding your committee are of opinion that the Separate Rate account should be credited with one third of the last general rate collected within that riding. Interest Accounts,—Te Aroha specia loan. Interest y aid in excess of ape ial rates col'ected, £96 19a 6d. Special Loan Account.—Te Aroha : Expenditure on loan account in excess of money borrowed, £'20 13a Id. Re bank overdraft, <fcc., your committee further report that the ordinary revenue for the year ended 21st. March last was £2203 2s sd, and to point out the necessity of keeping the overdraft and liabilities within the amount allowed by law, viz. : —The total ordinary revenue for the year ending 31st. March immediately preceding the half-yearly ov yearly balance. A rate of -Jd in the £ upon the present valuation would yield about £1500.—The Chairman moved that the report be adopted.—Seconded by Cr. Brunskill and carried.

Ratk.—The Chairman gave notice to move at next meeting that a general rate of -Jd in the £ be struck in all the ridings in the county with the exception of the Te Aroha riding, where the rate would be Jd in the £.

Obaka Bridge,—ln accordance with notice given at last meeting, Cr. Williams moved tiiat the sum of £30, half the cost of erecting the bridge over the Orak* be voted to Mr F. D; Rich.— Seconded by Cr. Heaney.—On the motion being put, the voting was as follows :— For the motion : Crs. Williams, Heaney, Mills and Murphy. Against : The Chairman, and Crs. Biunskill, Hunt and Browning. Tho voting being equal, the chairman, gave his casting vote against the motion which was therefore lost.

Exgikekr's Report.—The Engineer reported that Mr Rich's contract on the Te Aroha-Lichfield Road was completed and that the extras on the job amounted to £3118, and that the No. 2 contract on the same road had been completed at £9 under the contract price. He recommended that tenders be at once called for the completion of the road, the contracts to be numbered contracts 3, 4, 5 and 6, —It waa resolved that tenders be called for, as recommended, and that tho Engineer be authorised to let contracts No. 4, 5 and C to natives without tendering, provided the work does not exceed £20 for each contract.

Bridge Approaches.—The Engineer reported that the approaches to tha bridges on the Oxford-Matamata Road were out of repair, and ho stated that Mr P. Rose, of Oxford, had offered to put the approaches iu good order and keep them so for 12 months for the sum of £10.—It was resolved to accept Mr Rose's offer.

Patktere Loan , .—lt was resolved that immediate application be made to the Colonial Treasurer for a further sum of £150 on the Patetere Loan.

Rksiunatiok.—The following telegram was received from :—"Please accept my resignation afinember of youc Council."—The resignation was accepted.

Payments.—The following accounts were passed for payment:—W. Brumby, £3; P. Rice, £14 15s; S. H. Daveys, £1 16a; B. Montague, £20 10s; D. Ritchie, £0 133; R. Michael, £S 4s ; If. Geaney, £7; J. Shine, £.1 11s; J. Orr, £17 2s; V. Pavitt, £5; V. D. Rich. £2G6 13a 8d ; J. Furnerty, £190; G. Walker, Junr., £12; The Waikato Times, 7s 6d; salaries, £17 Is ; F. W. Browning, £3 5s ; S. Johnson, £15 12s ; J. Mills, £2 12a Hospital Board, £387.