RAGLAN COUNTY COUNCIL.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 2754, 8 March 1890, Page 6 (Supplement)

RAGLAN COUNTY COUNCIL.

A meeting of the above Council was held in the Council Chambers, Raglan, on Wednesday and Thursday, last. Present at the ordinary and special meeting: The Chairman (ur. Mitchell), and Crs. Mathiaß, Langley, Brooks, Sherrett, McGuirk, and Bunt. . A very great quantity of business came before the Council for its consideration. Special Meeting.—lt was proposed by Cr. McGuirk. and seconded by Cr. Sherrett, " That the petition of the Whaingaroa ratepayers, praying for the road district to be surveyed in their county be deferred until next meeting. Ordinary Meeting.—The minutes of last meeting were read and confirmed, together with the minutes of the Financial Committee Meeting. Slaughter Licenses. —Slaughter-hotiss licenses were directed to be issued to the following persons: — L. Johnston, G. Robinson, Harper and Beet, and W. H. James. Bbuce's Wharf Account.—Proposed by Cr. Brook, and seconded by Cr. McGuirk, "That the Bill from Mr Bruce, re wharf, be considered in committee. Correspondence. — Incoming and outgoing correspondence was read and considered. Licencing Committee.— A letter was directed to be sent to the Colonial Secretary, informing him that no one was elected as Licensing Committee at the last election for Raglan. Land Purchasers.—Letter to be sent to tho Government, requesting a list of all persons taking up land recently in this county. Spending of Rates. —A letter was received frofn the Onewhero Road Board, asking the Council to hand over to them the rates raised in their district, after deducting r.he expenses of the Council, etc. The request was not complied with. Petition for Merging Into Council.— A letter was received from the Whaiugaroa Road Board, as to the petition sent in by tho ratepayers desirous of merging into the county, etc, stating that a counter petition would be sent in. Swing Gates.—A letter was instructed to be sent to Mr Rathbonj, requesting him to remove the present slip rails across the road (Hot Springs to Ntraruawahia), and informing him that an application for a swing gate there will be considered by the Council. (It was at this spot Mr J. K, McDonald had to get off his horse, though his leg was previously broken, causing him great pain, and had to renvmnt again before proceeding to Ngaruawahia.) Hor Srrings Road.—Letter received from Mr J. K. .McDonald, asking for further works npon the Hot Springs road to be done. He was. requested to inform the Council of the number of new settlers on the blocks of land in that vicinity, etc., so that this Conncil could make an application to Government for the third of such sale of land, etc., and then the Council would consider the spending thereof. Ratepayers' List.—Letter received from S. Wilson, his name be omitted from the ratepayers' list for section baaring the names of S. and T. Wilson, T. Wilson's norao reaining on said list. for property described. Cattle Yards.—Letter received from Chairman Ngaruawahia Road Board, requesting.the Conncil to erect cattle yards on the Ngaruawahia side of the Waipa. The request could not be granted as the place was not in the county. Bridge Abtiioiuty.— Letter instructed to be written to the Colonial Secretary, requesting that the Council may be informed as to .whom the control of the several bridges will be vested in, and gazette the same,. Timber Floating.—Letter to be sent to Mr Harsant of Kaniwhaniwha as to the floating.of timber, etc., warning himagaiust doing damage to bridges. Wharf.— Several letters read from the Marine Department re wharf etc., one informing the Council that the powers delegated to the Raglan and Whangaroa Road Boards venting in them the authority over said wharf, etc,,' ware now vested in the Raglan County Council. Letter to be sent to Colonial Secretary, requesting hi in to inform the Council in whose charge is the punt at Tuakau, etc. Deputations, Etc.—Several deputations waited upon the Council during its sitting, ,i Mr Vernon, a settler residing in the Kahuhuri} Valley, pointed out t° the Counpil fhe dstlgerpus stafce at various i places of the roa4 to Huntly. During winter time some of these places wore almost impassable. lie also requested the making of a bridle track through Qtorohaea Block, both Jif.r Sutherland and J>£r T. B. Hill also supported Sfr Vernon in his request, and .spoke as to the necessity of the works required, >yhich could be at small cost, and would enable settlers to reach Ngaruawahia ancj back in one day.— Cr. Brooks .also spoko as to the necessity of something beipg dopej etc. ' And jn gassing one pf the bad places named Cr. Hunt came 'to grief not long since whilst coming to one of the meetings of the Council. The road up the Pukerimu Hill being especially bad, and a deviation upon good ground was recommended, Mr T. B. Hill now waited upon the Council. Ho pointed out the desirability of improving the road to Huntly in certain places, also that the junction of

the Ruaptiko and Aotoa-Kauroa road otc. His requests were.; favourably received by the Council, anch iiro 'much needed too.—Mr, Bnice, tHe 'wharf contractor, waited upon -,the Council.;: in reforpiice to the wharf contract.'-, A\ satisfactory arrangement as to 'payment'iir balance due was made, and the full account will be paid shortly, etc. Dog Tax. —Mr C. Muon, dog tax col-. Council informing them that the natives jiving, at Kopi»a',part {hteatened.tbat, carried Ihe laWout in collecting or shootini? dogs, etc., they would erect a fence across the Te Kopija, „«The .natives having entered the Council Chamber had their.say. Mr Moon was infonned that he must carry j out,the,law, .which,;was to,be. observed by ! both" races aiikei" etc. , Resolutions PasseoV—The. following"' 1 Were piids'ed:-—Resiilved" That' the' engineer be; instructed 'to prepare; a' plan and an estimate for the construction of a bridge across the Opoatura ,creek, opposite,,|the : township.— "That the contractor for. the .Wainni ■ bridge be paid the* balance of his account, viz., £22:10vetc."—"That'the engineer's report be adopted, and that be be supported as to maintenance; charges re tho'" money Stopped,' etc.' I —"That permission' be obtained from Mr Wallis to deviate the road "at vVallis' hill, (Raglan-To Mata road) through his land. Ai'd ,upon that leave being eranted'the biish to be ' fallen on s i'i-l deviation,;etc."—Resolved" That tenders be called for erecting a bridge at the_ ; Walii creek, and ' a" bill vert 'hear Mr' McNichol's, and that the fini'nco cominittae accept the Bame."r-rßesolyed : "That; this ,Council whilst regretting the refusal of the Government to make the Cuuncil a Harbour Board (which claim the Council will-revive in due course), respectfully ask that .the terms of the Council's maii&gement be alter'ed from 14 to 25 years, as the money borrowed to! pay the wharf is repayable by a sinking fund in 25 years. , ; Resignation Of Doo Registrar.—Mr R. Muir, dog tax collector, _ Wbangape ridin?, having sent in his resignation, it was resolved : " That fresh tenders be called for, that office in Whangape riding. Lands Sold.—Proposed by Cr. Langley, seconded.by Cr.' Mathias, "That the purchasers of land sold for rates by tho late Karioi Road Board can have the title deeds,: and request them to pay the balance due,, without interest at once. Carried linaminously. " That a special order be made to' borrow the sum ot £400 under the loans to Loan* Bodies Act (10 or 0) for wharf purposes, etc." Carried unaminonsly.

Division op Pirongia Riding.— Proposed by Cr seconded by Cr. Sh irrett: " That .the special order paused at the special meeting held on the 27th November ISB9, during the Pirongi.v riding etc., be confirmed." Carried. This resolution passed by the Council will cause a fresh election for the two new ridings of Pironeia and Karamu, > each riding returning one member in placo of the old riding of Pirbngia two.

Engineers'' Report. — I have to report as follows : Rb tho main road works on the Waipa-Raglan road, last year the sum of £2555* 8d was spent 011 this road in various works and m«itenance. With regard to the latter I have tosay that,the work was not carried out in a satisfactmy manner at all. On the B'istion from Whitawhatato the font of tho mountain lit tle or nothing was dono in tho way of opening water tables etc. And I have therefore not paid anvthing on this section. The amount was £7 10s This is, stopped on section N". <3, (mountain section). I have stopped 50% of the maintenance owing to neglect, and the work being badly d»ne, this stoppage amounts to £7 ss. Section No. 0 mountain to Okete, I have paid in full. Section No. 7, I have stopped £4nut Of t'B 10s as the road was sadly prelected. The stoppages amount to ±,'lB 15s, and this I strongly recommend should not bo paid as tho contractors have not carried out their work faithfully or honestly. Owing to defective wiirkin-inship at the stone, culvert on the west side of the mountain, I have slopped the sura of £6 8s for the purpose of completing the work according to the specifications. I found on examination that the foundations were very defective, and. nnt made according to the plan, and I ain now having it fixed with stone and concrete composed of Wilson's hydraulic lime, and gravel. The work will/be done at a cost not exceeding the amount of stoppage. About 140 chains of formation were done last year, and 30 chains more havo been done during the present year. Thirtyseven new culverts have been put in in the main, road, all being limestone or glazed socket pipes. The present contractors for main road tnaintenanca seeins to be shaping well, and are pnttinsr the mountain road in good order. It is to. be h"ped they will carry out tha wnrk more faithfully than their predecessors. The Bridges at the Opoutia ; and Wlianer-ipe creeks have after .many delays been finished, the former fairly well, the laUer not being a credit to the contractor, who made a most slovenly, finish. I have kept back the . detiosit £4 in order to get the bridge properly finished olf. I have let work to G. Skidmore to carry out, and it will probably c>st from £2 to £3. The contractor had neglected_ to nail down the ends of the planks at either end, and in some instances he had used only wire nails in the centre. The Wainui Bridge let to S. Verde to erect h'rs. when the stone abutments were nearly fiuished, washed away, owing to the contractor having simply laid the stonos on the surface, instead of sinking them as.specified. Owing to there being no solid, foundation, it was found necessary to drive piles,-and this has been done, and a timber bridge erected in rather a rough style, but the strength is there, and the bridge may be considered safe. The accident to this bridge was caused by neglect and dishonest workmanship. I have not yet had Vercoe ;and Sutton's culvert fixed yet, but Mr _ Vercoo has promised to see to it and make a good job of it, I supplying the cement which I have agreed to do. The shed on the wharf is now approaching completion and will be a fine roomy structure, capable of storing over 490 bales of flax. On the 12tn of last month I asked Mr Bruce, the contractor for the whatf, to hand the struoture over to me on behalf of the Council. This he refused t > do, and he still holds possesion of the wharf, and I understand he will n»t allow the wharf t>> be used (nor the xhed), until 8 >me arranaements are made as reparda payment for the work he has already, done The punt at Nearnawahia has been completed at a total cost, including cattle-yards and approaches, of £107 3s 7d. I failed to come to any arrangements with Paul Hopere re the punt, and therefore handed it over to Mr Kellow, who, I believe, left his son to work it. He has to pay the Council the sum of £5 for the right to run the punt, and ho has taken possession of the 00 acres section at the punt reserve. Paul Hopere threatens lneal proceedings. I let the contract for improvements to the Waineraro road to A. E Cogswell, and it 1* about , completed. I will inspect,and certify or otherwise before the next committee meeting. Iu the meantime I have given a certificate for £20 on account. The improvements are a great benefit to settlers using the road. I have inspected the Wahi creek, and find that it is 30ft. wide It would be advisable to make a bridge 40ft. long, i.e., two spans of 20ft. each, bridge to be 10ft. wide in the clear, with two piles in the centre and three stringers; deck 3in. thick, with hand rails, containing about 4000 ft. of timber, and little or tjo earthwork to Redone. I'he cost would be about £50 for a good sound structure fit to carry dray or cattle traffic. Re the road deviation at Kaniwhaniwha, spoken of by Mr McGuirk. I have visited the ground and inspected it, having been fortunate enough to meet these parfjes interested on tho ground. Ttyey pointed ouf the presept surveyed road arid the proposed new one, whioh passes through Section 249 (T. Weston. Esq., proprietor), and Section No. 248 (Government land). First of all the deviation must be surveyed and taken under "The Public Works Act," unless Mr Weston would convey. (Mr Dickey, I feel sure, would convey if he agrees, at qll), Tf ' agrees to oonvpy the land, the expenses of large plans under "The Public Works Act " would be obviated. The survey would cost about £12, including tracings of road to be closed, couies of plans for landowners, and copies to be "on view " in tho district, 'i'o 'make tho work passahlo for wheel traffic, it would be necessary, first of all,' to clear' fiO chains of road at a'cost of £4; earth cuttings to four swamp crossings, say, £15 ; tour set* of pines, one ]Sjo. and three 9in., say, JJ-lfl. Advertising wjU cost » few pnuufls.'and altogether I'reckon that, the entire co*t of ma'kitur deviation passible for wheel traffic would cost little short of £50. It might possibly be to £40, 33 only Ijgfit traffic need be provided for at present, With regard to the extra expenditure on the wharf, Mr Humphries, Commissioner of Crown Lands met me, and I went into the matter with him. He says that ho will require more particulars of details than t?i v eu in tha account sent in i and signed by M_r Wilson. Also. 1 as soon aa tho shod » finishod he will get it inepeo- i

ted, and when all the monies have been paid he will (jive aicertificate for SO par cent of the cost of the'"«xtrai. ■ I am now in a position to forward tile plana'-'uf th'e wharf and shed,-, if X eet'.tho detailed par* [ ticularu required-Jay. the officii}, re tha.ciwie for wharf. Mr Dunwoodie, to whom I spoke on the matter, him been on the look out for something similar to that with Kiulway.,D,epartinentJift.the e oi)»l, into tne engine at Huntly, and other places. This would-suit admirably, and ought to iße [got cheap, as the Public Work* Department" 'haVS several on hand, and no tine for them. I will know about this in the course of a few days.- The shed on the* wharf has* b«e nmade with four door*,, in lieu of .the :tivo centro ones only. Those extra doors i will facilitate the 1< ading and unloading of> .Kooilsirnmithe steamer, enabling them to ;proceed with the unloading and, filling jip Sat bne and- the same time. 'E'nr ttiis'pHr* -pose all'outgoing goods; such iis flUx, ,JHtc.,' ish'jujd be putiu one end of, the shed, , leaviinii the other for incoming 'goods as far,as feasible. One or two of the bridges ori the' Raglan-VVaipa road are much' in need of repairs; one near the .. Waitetnn*,.Creek,not far from th« m mintnin,"tiio other at Li Trobe's flax mill Greek. I find thiit tW :VVhttiwhata; ; Bridge is much in need of repairs, there'being nojv three holes in the •tacking, ani more coifiirig. ' Also some of 'tHn-'thriiat pieces are a' 'bit out of yeari s r notice that a pile of dead timber is at pre* sent lyintr up: aerainst; the .South E iatern high pier of the Kiniwhnniwha Bridge, and in case of a flood, I ani afraid that some thing may happen. Infact,snmething.seriou.s might easily occur in the way of shaking tlio whole structure. These trees sViduld be removed at once by cross-cutting and chopping, and the pieces put down .the stream below the,bridge.,. Tins, matter I consider important. I' would like to say, in conclusion,'that in future it would be most able that the Councils should allow for supervision in the case of laying the foundation of masonry, culverts or abutment) to bridges, r »8 it aeetns that it is out of the question to expect'contractors to do their work faithfully unless wotched. ,