Vincent County Council

Cromwell Argus, 7 October 1929, Page 6

Vincent County Council

I The ordinary monthly meeting- of I che above, nelu 111 tne Council chambers, Clyde, on Thursday last, was attended by Crs jas. kitchie (chair), A. Scoular, S. A. btevens, R. autcher, \V. D. Nay lor, D. I'rquhart, and C. Weaver. A.| apologjy ilpr ltoii-attendance was received from Cr Partridge. The first business was the confirmj iug of the motion to strike a general I late of six farthings in the £. This was proposed by C r Urquliart, seconded by Cr Stevens aiid carried. The formal motion striking a rate of three-sixteenths ot a penny in the £. Hawea Road Loan, was confirmed 0:1 the motion of Crs Weaver and butcher. The minutes of the previous meet- | ing were read and confirmed. I Correspondence was read and dealt } with as under: The Otago Motor Club wrote re the I Main Highways and the withdrawal of j tiie appropriation of the The chairman pointed out that he had attended the meeting in Dunedin, when he had been appointed to reprei sent the Counties on the delegation : to the Prime Minister. Councillors ! had no doubt read tne press reports I of what had transpired. He repudi- ' ated the Prime Minister's suggestion : that the agitation had been made for political purposes. He pointed out ; that the whole of the available funds ; of the Highways Board would be eatI en up next year, and the position was j ■ that if the was not available certain units, like the Clyde bridge, j would have to be held up. They could not get sufficient money to undertake urgent, works, despite the fact that the Prime Minister said there was plenty of money available. i The ,£200,000 Wits given as a grant in. lieu of votes given before the- Main Highways was inaugurated. The i Prime Minister had not yet announced what he was going to do, and at the present time they did not know where they were. In reply to a communication sug- | gesting that an inspector for the • iS'O. 16 Highways District, which inI eludes eleven counties, be appointed ' to collect all heavy traffic licenses, it was agreed to support this on the motion of Crs. Secular and Stevens. In reply to communications from Mr Bodkin. M.l\. and Mr A. Mead, it was decided to apply for a free vote of to construct a road to Mr Mead's property, Hunter Valley. Mr \Y. A. Bodkin wrote intimating that he was urging the Minister to give favorable consideration to the application for grants. A letter from the Public Works Department stated that a free grant of ,£■soo could not l>e made for the Ophir tint, but agreeing to a £ for £ subsidy. The J.uggate Branch of the Farmers Union wrote urging that the construction of. the two bridges in that district be speeded up. Cr. I'rquhart supported the protest, and said the general opinion was that the progress was slow. —The chairman agreed with these remarks. The Commissioner of Crown Lands v\ rote re sections 5. 6 and 23, Hawea, concerning gravel reserves. The chairman pointed out that where gravel revserves were vested in the council they had full jurisdiction. After discussion it was decided that the policy be to retain all gravel reserves. Mr Watkins wrote on the same subject stating that he had ordered necessary fencing material to fence the reserves in question. In reply to a communication from j the Land Board re a reserve near Camp Hill, Maungawera, Cr. Urquliart asked that consideration be held over lor a month to permit ratepayers to look into the matter. — Agreed to. The Public Works Kngineer wrote approving of the acceptance of the | tender for Poolburn Bridge. £&oi J 15s od, Thomas Wilkinson, and for 1 W. M. Lopdell.—Received. McLennan Bros., Moa Creek, wrote j agreeing to the establishment of a 1 gravel reserve ot" two acres. The inward correspondence as read was received and the outward approved. The Road Inspectors report was read and dealt with as under: The Grandview Channel, Hawea, was in a bad condition, and the chairman expressed the opinion that the only way to improve it was to clear tin- bottom end to allow the water to get away. It was at present making a mess of the roads. Cr. Urquhart thought that if the roots were cut away the water would do the rest. It would cost alxnit £■s<.> and he was prepared to give £\o towlards it. The chairman thought that the council should accept the liability.— It was agreed to spend £25 to clear the channel. —•■ The Inspector said that the roads in Makarora were in fair order, but wanted a bit of gravelling.—{There was no money available for Makarora to the Sawmill. It was agreed to ask for a vote of £73- £ for£, on the estimates. With regard to Boundary Creek bridge it had been suggested to send the material round by boat. The settlers were putting in a screen at Swann's Road, Lowburn.

The chairman remarked that he had received a complaint tnan an irrigator in the Tarras district was damaging the road.—Notice to be sent to bwnc-j of the land to eliminate the nuisance. The chairman intimated that temporary repairs were being made to the Lindis bridge, and it was hoped to have it open for traffic in about ten. days time. The chairman drew attention to the necessity for painting the Bannockburn bridge.—lt was agreed to call tenders for same.

Cr. Butcher said that good work had been done by the grader, and the Ophir Hill had been much improved. Sinnamon was making good progress with his contract. • Cr. Scoular asked that the road from Mr J. Wilson's race to the branch to Lauder be graded.— Agreed to. The main road to Lauder Creek carried a lot of traffic and wanted grading up and widening. Cr. bcoular also referred to the desirability of screening the gravel, anu the engineer submitteu plans of modern plants for this purpose.— Held over for further enquiry. Cr. Weaver said that the coping stones had been pushed oft" the protecting walls in the Conroys-Butchers area.—The attention of the Police to be drawn to same.

The inspector reported that a Ooft. span for MacPherson's bridge at irpringvale would cost £SOO. Cr Stevens suggested that the work to complete the appproaches to the Springyale bridge be laid out. The engineer stated that the approaches were provided for in the contract, but there was a piece near Mr Keddell's sito not included. ,

The inspector's report was adopted. The county ranged reported that since last meeting lie had impounded four head of. stock found wandering on the county roads.

The engineer reported that better progress was boiii}>- made by the eontractor with the Albertown bridge. There were 13 men working now and all the piers were up. The contract time expired on November Ist. The treasurer's statement showinga credit of ,£"521 was read and adopted.

Crs Ritchie and Stevens were pmt!lorised to sigrn the Rate Book. Tlie .sum of £BO was voted tor the purchase of injurious birds eggs. The Council then went into committee, the report on resuming- being: Resolved—That the schedule of accounts amounting- to ,£1212 os yd be passed for payment, and bridge loan £24. Tenders were dealt with as under:

Contract 822—\VaH ling-ton's) road, C. Smith ;£6c>. —Accepted ; llannan and Ranee £qq 14s. One tender was received for contract No. 821. cleaning- out Lauder Domain Race, but as it was considered too high it was decided to call for fresh tenders. 'The meeting then closed.