Ordinary Meeting.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 2770, 15 April 1890, Page 2

Ordinary Meeting.

The ordinary monthly meeting was then held, the same councillors being present. The minutes of the previous meeting wero read and duly confirmed. c .. A Dispute.—Mr K. Y. Cox, of bhaftesburv, wrote on the sth inst., re bhaftesburyTe Aroha road lam in receipt of the copy of resolution passed at the last meeting of the Council. I am very sorry to have any dispute with the Council in this matter, but having already spent more than the sum agreed on t I must dechneto be at the coat of spreading the stuff taken out of the drains on the road. My oifer I consider quite clear, of course I never supposed the stuff was not to be spread, but that was no part of my contract, and when the drains were done I told your engineer that the stuff wasready|for his surfaceman to spread. In reading iny offer you will notice that with regard totho diagonal road I especially agreed to spread the stuff, whereas in the other I only offer ta share the expenses of deepening the drains which, by letting the water right away into the outfall makes a '• permanent job," instead of leaving the drains brim full during the winter, before I commenced the work I called on Mr Pavitt, and told him exactly what I was going to do, and asked him if he Jj a d instructions to give.He replied, ''.No ! that it was the mind of the Council that 1 should do it in the way I wanted.'' I thought at the time that I had made it quite clear that all I was going to do to the main road was to make the drains. When I saw Mr Hanmer on the subject I offered that as there had been a misunderstanding on the subject, I wbuld pay one-third of the expense of spreading this stuff. This oner 1 am willing to adhere to if accepted at your next meeting, but I make it without prejudice, and if not then accepted X withdraw it and 3hall reluctantly be compelled to place the matter in the hands of my solicitor. P.S.—I may add that I spent £212s more than the sum agreed upon in actual labour, not including anything for horses, plough, dray and road scoop, all of which were used. —Mr Pavitt did nwt re* member the conversation, at least, not as represented by Mr Cox.—Cr. Hanmer said Mr Cox had done all he had intended; perhaps the best way, as there had been a misunderstanding, would be for the Conncil to accept Mr Cox's offer. The Chairman said Mr Cox had not carried nut tho terms of his letter (letter read); he had not made a permanent job of it. Their engineer reported that the work had cost more than if it had been done in the ordinary way.— Cr. Mills thought the amount of money spent should have made a good permanent job of it.—Cr. Murphy supported Cr. llttninßr'ii view of tho view of the case.— The cost of defending an action would spread the stuff on the road.—The chairman : It would, but if we are guided by that, we shall render ouiselves open to all sorts of actions. The letter is worded badly and the Council were perhaps wrong to act on it. Mr Cox has had the stuff thrown on the other side of the drain, and yet talks of that being a permanent job. If it had been thrown on the other side of the drain, it would have allowed the water to run off the road, but as it is placed it prevents it doing so. I shall certainly vote for not paying the money.— Cr. Hanmer: I only recommended it as a way out of the difficulty.—Cr. Murphy :It is always best to let our work through the engineer.—The following resolution was then moved by the Chairman, seconded by Cr. Mills and carried unanimously : "That Mr Cox be informed that the Council sees no reason to alter the decision arrived at at the last meeting in reference thereto."— The decision was to pay the subsidy when the stuff had been spread upon the road. Gordon Special Settlement.—Mr B. Montague, Chairman of the Gordon Special Settlement Association, wrote renewing the application and offer contained in his lettter of March 10th. He also forwarded papers showing that the Association would be entitled to £51 8s 8d from the Government on May Ist, upon receipt of which they would forward the Council a cheque for £40.—Cr. Hanmer moved "That the Conncil agree to grant the application and will, upon the receipt of the amount (£4O) promised by the Association, at once commence those parts of the work which are most urgent.—The Chairman : They ask us to spend £80 and they will pay £40 of it? Cr. Hanmer '■ They want some repairs done at once so as to have a passable road

through the winter. The Chairman: YVecan do the most pressing part, if we could get their £40, and do the remainder later on. At present we have no money.—Cr. Hanmer : They will ba satisfied when thoy know the Council will pay their share.— The motion was then seconded by Cr. Mills and carried. Mokiu.\'svili,e-Tk Ahoha Roai;.— Cr. Hanmer reported he had inspected the portion of the above road complained of by Mr Buttle, and said that it was advisable to at once do certain repairs thereto, at a cost of about 30s. —The repairs were ordered to be done forthwith. Roads to bu Closer—'The Auckland Agricultural Company wrote re certain roads proposed to be closed in the Patatere Riding, and asking the Council to expedite matters. —Mr Sandes wired that the plans were now ready, so the necessary action will be taken at onoe. Roau Throc«h Mangapouui, — The Auckland Agricultural Company wrote agreeing to the closing of this road where it runs through or joins the boundary of their property. It was resolved " That this Council offer to close that portion of the existing road referred to, and to exchange it with Mr Northcroft for the road recently laid out through his property by Mr Rich." ■PnowrT Setti.kmicn't. —The manager of the Matamata Estate forwarded a cheque for half the cost of re-erecting the Mangawjjara bridge that was recently burnt down, Property-tax,—The Property.-tax Commissioner wrote: Before the ratos on account of Native Lands for the year 1889-90 cau be passed for payment, you

will require to furnish me with a list of those properties upon which rates have already been received by your Board.— The only amount received was 03 3d, paid by Mrs Heaney. [The concluding portion of our report of this meeting is held over, owing to pressure on,our space.]