AKAROA COUNTY COUNCIL.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume LIII, Issue 2808, 29 September 1903, Page 2

AKAROA COUNTY COUNCIL.

A meeting of this Council was held on Saturday list. Present — Messrs Biuoe (chairman), Lelievre, Scott, Mason, Reid, Montgomery, Fredericksen, Pettigrew, and Harris. MINUTBS. The minutes of the last ordinary meeting were read and confirmed. CORRESPONDENCE. Outward correspondence was read and approved. chairman's statement. The Chairman's statement was read and considered as under :— Annual Balance—The Clerk reported that the annual balance sheet had been reoeived from the Auditor General, duly certified. On the motion of the Chairman, seconded by Mr Pettigrew, the balance sheet was formally adopted. Government Subsidy.—-An advice waß re oeived from the Commissioner of Taxes, stating that a voucher bad been Bent to tl c Treasury for £57114 a 6d, amount of Governmenb Bubsidy; bub that before paying subsidy to the Mount Herbert County on rates levied and partially collected in the late Road Boards of Port levy and Port

Victoria, he desired to know'ho pn S 4,io M of the Akarca County Council in the m*t ter. The Chairman said the Clerk had supplied thf> Commissioner with tin inf mna'ion asked, and had suggested th.it, us the Auditor General wou'd shortly adjust ali the outftanding accounts hp.'wefh the two eounciesj it would be rosiest to. p*y the m? hey as usual tq,this Council, and let it form. part, of thefuadß to be adjusted. The Council approved of this action. Telephone at tho Hospital—The Secretary of the North Canterbury Hospital Board wrote saying that the Akaroa Hospital had been connectod with the telephone bureau, as the Council had requested. Fencing Parts r*f Railway at Lake Forsyth —Mr R, H. Rhodes. M.H.R., wrote that he hal seen Mr Rnnaynf, General Manager of Railways, on the subject of fencing off the dangerous places along the railway line} and that Mr Ronayne promised to look into the matier,

Mr Harris sad Mr Montgomery and himse f had met Mr McAndrew. the Residenb Erjgiueer, and visited the p!ac3s complained of.

Mr Montgomery remarked that while they were discussing the matter a mob of cattle h»d opportunely presented themselves right on the railway, so that Mr McAndrew had a practical illustration of what they wanted remedied. Mr Mo \nerew had promised to send report to Mr Ronayne, but did not express any opinion on tbe subject. thb crusher. The Chairman said the cusher was now working on the Long Bly road. About 1100 cubic yards had btea crushed during the month without counting screenings, but all the work had been much delayed and hindered owing to the wet weather. The Engineer w*a au horised to proour ■ fr >m Home any parts, such as jiws, etc , which rnighi shortly be required. LAKE FORSVTH. The Engineer reported that. Lake Fo sy h had been lo out after considerable trouble. Tie spit was just now nil sind-, which was very troublesome to move and necessitated a good deal of.very work. There h»d been much difficulty in getting horses, and had it not been for Mr John Coop, who, to expedite the work, had offered his, it would have been necessary to send to town for them. There was a long discussion as to the difficulty of inducing the men to work in the water, and the Engineer suggested thab on future occas<ons it would be best to call for tenders to do the work, in which many of the members concurred. The return moved for by Mr Harm, showing receipts and expenditure on Lake Forsyth Bince 1900, was placed on the table. TRACTION ENGINE. Mr Montgomery moved his notice of motion—That the Council procure an engine of their own, He said that the hired engine now doing their work was costing over £200 per annum, and only working part time. A good up to-date engine could ba obtained for, say £700 or £750, interest on which would amount to only £70 to £75 per an num. An enconomy in fuel would be effected by having a compound engine. If thoy found afterwards that it would be a good thing to have Bpecial roller attachment, it would cost another £200; but it was not needed immediately. There was a good deal of work in view for the cru her, and if the Akaroa and Wainui Road Board oorried out their proposal to borrow money for metalling roads, there would be a great deal more—possibly 3 years cruihing—in which case their engine would pay for itself. No doubt £750 appeared a large expenditure for a single year ; but it might easily, with a small overdraft, be si read over a couple, and it would then be within the Council's means.

Mr Harris seconded the motion, and in doiug so said, if the Council affirmed the desirability of purchasing an engine, they should appoint a committee to go into details of sort of engine most suitable.

Mr Pettigrew sympathised with the motion, but suggested that it might be deferred until the Road Board had decided on their metal loan.

Mr Lelievre rather depreoated waiting as the engine would, by no means, be a white elephant, beoause, if not In use by the local bodies, there were plenty of people who would gladly hiro it for chaff cutting and other purposes, if they had the opportunity. The Chairman said such an efficient en gine as that mentioned by Mr Montgomery could be purchased for about the sum t-tated viz., £750. He read quotations whioh he had procured from several importer«, He strongly advocated a compound engine,as for hill country they were much superior to single cylinder, aLo there was little danger of fire.

The Chairman then put the motion which was carried.

On the motion of Mr Lelievre, seconded by Mr Fredericksen, Messrs Montgomery, Pettlgrew, Harris, and the Chairman were appointed a Committee to go into the ques tion of the type and power of engine re quired, with power to purchase if they thought advisable.