WAIPA COUNTY COUNCIL

Waikato Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 2628, 16 May 1889, Page 2

WAIPA COUNTY COUNCIL

Tub usual monthly meeting of the Wai pa County Council was held in the Council Chambor?, Ohaupo, at 10.30 a.m. on Tuesday. There were present: Crs. L ing, (chairman), Smith, Finch, Grico, Dawson, Farroll, Ridler and Hunter. Mr A. Armstrong, county engineer, was also in attendance. Tho minutes of the previous meeting wore confirmed, and tho outward correspondence read and adopted. Es'GlXEKitVi Hkpoiit.—Tim Kngineer rend his usual minthly report as follows : —To tho Chair-nan Waip-i County Co'incil :— Sir,—l beg to recommend that the following payments be made : On contract No. 112, G lies and Fletcher, £fi !)s Sd; contract No. 102, R. Wayto, £4 4s 7d. The above contracts have been completed. I also recommend that an advance of £11 be made on contract No. !)'.), diversion of road at Alexandra, that the sum of £10 bo granted on contract No. 101, gravelling near Mr Blackett's, and £5 on contract No. 101, fencing and filling pits on the Haniiltori-Ne-vcasUe road. The above accounts were put in for payment last month, since that time contracts No. 01). 101 and 105 have been completed. On contract No. 0!) 1 recommend the payment of the balance due, viz., £!), on contract No. 101, £2, and on contract No. 105, formation of streets at Alexandra, £7. Flans for re-building Walker's (Jully Bridge. In accordance with instructions, 1 had begun tho preparation of plans for this bridge, when [ received a letter from tho chairman, asking mi! not to proceed further with the work, till the question of building a brick culvert had been considered. Acting on these instruction-, I have had several pits sunk on the site in order to ascertain the nature of the ground. On the west side 1 could find no bottom at 10 feet below the water level, but on the east or Cambridge side, tho ground is better, air-1 by keeping in tn the foot of the spur, a foundation may be got, although not so good as I could have wished. The cost of a culvert willi the necessary earthworks, will, of course, considerably exceed the cost of the repairs proposed to be carried out on the bridge. On the other hand, the culvert will be a permanent structure, with the further advantage that the road may be raised to any required level afterwards, by lengthening the culvert, whereas the money spent in repairing the present bridge would bo lost in a comparatively short time. To form an einbatikuiont across the irully to the level of the present bridge, and to build a brick culvurt would cost £450.-1 am, &c v Ai.kx. Akm.sthon'i;, County Engineer, rCihikihi, 13th May, ISS!).— The report was received and adopted. Walk mi's Gnxv Bhiiwk.—lt was decided to ascertain from tho Piikekura Road Board whether they would assist in erecting the brick culvert as suggested in the engineer's report. Cli.vkut. — Mr Hibbs wrote, drawing at- ! tention to the damage caused to his property by the water being backed on to his land by the culvert not being deep enough, and asking tint something be done befoie the wet weather sets in. The matter was left in the hands of the engineer to attend to. Rath*.—Mr J. Raynham, who stated that he was out of work, asked to work out tho amount of his rates. —The Clerk stated that the amount due was a small one, about 5i 3d, and the request was not granted. Or. Teasdale here took his seat. Smai.i, Birds Nuisan'ck. —A petition was received from T. Rothwell. A. Kennedy, F. S.j]y, A. Wilcnck, F. B. Jolly and J. C. Booth, praying the Council to take steps to reduce the enormous Socks of small birds in the district by .supplying the settlers with poisoned grain. Tho matter was held over until next meeting. Crossing.—lt was decided to grant the sum of 2s Gd to Messrs Fawkes and Foxall to make an approach from the HamiltonWhatawhati). road by sloping down the water-table on to the road to their timber mill. TjHASK.—T. J. Meredith applied to lease the reserve in Alexandra West, now hold by a native named Kotnku, on tho same terms as at present. The matter was held over. Traction* JC.vgini;.—A letter was received from Mr C. Tuck, enclosing a copy of Mr May's opinion re making by-laws for the regulation of traffic of traction engines. It was decided to defer this matter. Fishkiuks Hill.—A copy of tho Fisheries Bill was laid on tho tablo. Audit Account. —A further demand for payment of the £1L account Tor auditing the account! of the County was received from the Controller and Auditor General, and as before the matter was held over. Hamilton , -Whatawhata Road.— Tho follow ing letter was received from Mr J. B. Whyte re this road:—"The Council have already spent a great deal of money, and I am told think of spending more in putting clay upon this road. Now, L an: of opinion that any money which tho Council has for this purpose, would be much more wisely spent, and be much more effectual if it were devoted to lowering the water. This could be done 8 feet for a small trifle, in my opinion, not more than £15, probably less, as it is only necessary to deeuen the main drain for about 30 chains, to lower the water IS feet at the road. The drain need not Vie deepened for a greater width than 5 or li feet at the top. If the county will undertake this work, 1. am willing to subscribe one-third of the cost, and surely the other adj >ining| roprietors would also assist. Unless the water be lowered the road will never be good. 1 therefore trust that you will give this matter your favourable consideration, and send me a reply soon, so that the work may be done before the winter sots in." The clerk stated that this letter had been received some time, and acting on the advice of the chairman, Inhad written to Mr Whyto to see it he knew anything about the £100 which it was rumoured had been granted by the Government for this road, out he had not received any reply.—Cr. Ridler said he had seen Mr Whyte, who had told him ha knew nothing about the giant of. £-103, lie hid. also seen an

adjoining settler who had promised £:i if the water were lowered three feet at the road. Fawkes and Foxall In stated would allow the water to be drained on to their land, on condition that the earth removed from the drain be not sluiced down, but thrown on to tho sides of the drain. The engineer was instructed to inspect the place, and jail for tenders for the work to be in at the next meeting of the Council, and the Council would then see what the work would cost, and decide whether they would go on with it or not.

OusTluiCTtON. —E. Garmonsway complained that T. Garmonsway had fenced in a piece of public road at Alexandra West, and erected a shed on it, and he asked the Council to givo him notice to remove the, shod as it was an obstruction to his property. Or. Smith said this request simply arose from a brothers' quarrel, and the matter was left in his hands to report ;on at next meeting. PiiOi'osKn Xkw CiiowN Lands Bill.—A circular was received from the Tauranga County Council enclosing a copy of a petition to be presented to the House during next session for the amendment of the Lind Laws of the colony, and asking the support of tho Council. The objects of the petition are briefly to have the Crown Lands of the colony, wherever situated, thrown open for selection at any time, without the present cumbrous system of public notification by the Governor, and a lung delay between that public notification and the time at which selection may be made ; to remove every unnecessary! restriction from the selection of lands, and to givo every intending settler the' privilcgeof atany timeseenring for himself, by application to the Land Office of the district, any piece of land he may be desirous of selecting, whether already surveyed or not. The Council decided not to support the petition as it thought that if such a Bill became law too much power would be placed in the hands of a few to snatch up tho pick of the Crown Lands before the quality was generally known. Ratui'Aykus' Mutual Insurance Bill. —A circular was received from the Sydenham B-n'ongh Council, asking thn Council to support and endeavour to get the Government to give elfect to the following resolution passed by the Sydenham Borough Council, viz.:—''That in the opinion of this Council it is desirable, in tho interests of the ratepayers that the Government should endeavour to pass during the next session of Parliament a Ratepayers Mutual Insurance 33i1l empowering local bodies upon security of their rates to insure against loss by fire the properties within their respective boundaries." It was resolved that the Council support the abovo resolution and the clerk was instructed to write to the Sydenham Oounefl to that effect. Ci.ai.m I'Oli "Damai;i:s.— Mr Jnmes Hally, instructed by Mr J. P. Thomson, wrote to the Council as follows:—I am instructed by Mr J. P. Thomson, Town Clerk, Cambridge, to inform you that on the afternoon of tho 2f)th April last, when he, was returning from Rotorangi to Cambridge and when within 100 yards of the Monavale end of tho swampy portion of the road, his horse shied at an obstructiwn on the road and the rind formation at that part being only IS feet wide with a drain alongside 10 feet deep.".iid 10 feet wide, totally unprotected, the result was the horse drowned, buggy smashed anil harness broken, and as this was caused by the negligence ot your Council in suffering a drain of such dimensions t~> exist alongside, such a narrow formation of road without reasonable protection. Mr Tiioins m expects you to recoup to him the amount of his actual loss by this accident, viz. : Horse, £15 ; repairs to buggy, i' 10; rrpiirs to harness, £1; hire of boggy, £2 ; total, £28. It transpired dining the, discussion that the horse shied at some bags lying on the side of the road, and the Council did not consider itself responsible for these, as they hid evidently fallen from some passing vehicle. — The Clerk was instructed to reply to Mr Hally that the Council did not consider itself liable.

Tk Rohe AN-ii Whatawhata BiimcEs. —A letter was received From tlio Survey Department asking that, before tlio bridges be placed under the cuntrol of the Council, they should state whether they consider that any other local authority besides the Waipa County Council should contribute to tlio cost of the maintenance of the iihovo bridges, and if so what local body, an-.l what prop irtion "f the cost should such local body pay. Mr J. B. Somerset, who attended on behalt uf the llaelan Comity Council, stated that his Council would be willing to bear half the cost of maintaining the bridges. Cr. Teasdale moved that this Council retain control of the Te I torn and Whatawhata bridges, and recommend that the cost of maintenance bn equally borne by the Raglan and Wai pa Counties.— Seconded by Cr Farrell and n-mved. Nuakuawaiiia F-KitHT. —Mr S iniersel stated that tliis ferry was about to be erected, and the estimated cost would be £100. The Raglan County Council had obtains'] a Ferry Reserve of 50 acres, and a yrant of £.~>o to assist in building the ferry, from the Government, and they proposed to apply f"i- the control of the furry. His Council suggested that the cost: ■>'. erection and maintenance should be borne as follows :—One half by the Raglan County Council, one quarter by the Waipa County Council, and one quarter by the Ngaruawahia Town Board, thus making the amount to be paid by each for erection : Raglan, £25 ; Wai pa, £12 I.os ; Ngaruawaliia, £12 10s. The cost of maintenance would, he thought, be small, as his Council proposed to give a man the vesorve and the fees collected, Id a head for footpassengors, and 2d for cattle, for looking after and running the ferry.—Cr. Smith proposed that these, terms be agreed to.— Heeonde 1 by Cr. Hunter and carried. Finances.—The Clerk stated the l!ank overdraft had now been reduced to £!.IN'.). The following statement was laid .in the table, wilh reference to the expenditure out of the last allocation :— K.idin-' Vote Expnnck-.il To Spend £ £ s .i /; s .1 Xc-ivciistli: ... :ii i» SI -1 11 U Tiiliikanimen. ... i« 39 10 0 *l:J 1!) 0 Hamilton ... Sl> 2li 3 1 ii Hi 11 Pnknkura ... S!) i>2 11 7 + 3 U 7 M.in".ipiko ... (12 !)o (i 7 113 5 Kaiiitiauliia ... 03 73 2 i> Wl7 1 * t Oivrspnnt. I'HAN'KTON' SWAMI , ROAH.—The .hnglliecr stated that several portious of this road required gravelling, and the matter was left in his hands to attend to. Accounts.—The following payments were authorised :-L. O'Noill, £29 7s; Hesketh and Richmond, £3 13= Gd : Fitzgerald, 15s ; Appleyard, £!) ; Reid and Drabble, £2 Is (id : O. S. McCallum, £f) ds 3d ; salaries, £21 V.h Id.—Cr. Smith moved that the interim payments made on the 9th of April be confirmed.—Seconded by Cr. Griceand carried.—The Council then rose.