KIWITEA COUNTY COUNCIL.

Feilding Star, Volume II, Issue 323, 22 July 1907, Page 4

KIWITEA COUNTY COUNCIL.

The ordinary meeting of the Kiwitea County Council was held on Sat- i urday- Present. — Crs Carman (chairman), Hockley, Guthrie, McNeil, McIntyre, Morton, and Fowler. CORRESPONDENCE. The following letters were before the meeting: — Fram Cr. F. F. Hockley, asking for further particulars in reference to the Sandon Block telephone. Also stating he had sold the cable-at Pakihikura stream to Messrs T. and W. : Duncan for £5. j From Alfred N. Galpin, Ruahine, • stating he was prepared to pay only 10s per acre for lease of 2 acres gravel reserve. — Council has no control over reserve and offer too low. ; From J. R. Johnston, Cheltenham, ' asking for information as to acreage and rates paid in each Riding in the County, also other expenses. — Information to be given. From A. Dakiell, Hunterville, asking for permission to erect a fence on the edge of the road leading from the Mangarere Bridge to the top of the hill. Also asking if the Council could do anything with the reserve leased to- Mr Munro, who had gone to England before transferring, and who had failed to comply with the terms of his lease.— Referred to Engineer, with power to act. From J. G. Ackermann, West Waitapu, stating he was willing to renew his lease of reserve, liacres, at 10s per annum. — Accepted. From W. H. N. Amos, Director Feilding Technical School ; asking for a further donation to building fund. —Council decided to make a donation of £10. From F. Kensington, Rewa, asking for permission to take metal from Reserve 62, Block Xl.— Left in the hands of Cr. Hockley, with power to act. From Cr. W. Van Asch ; Patea County Council, asking for information as to whether in the Kiwitea County Council, the general rateß are kept distinct for each Riding; whether, outside office expenditure, salaries, etc., each Riding gets its own share of general rates; whether estimates are formed at the beginning of each year Information sent by the clerk. j From F. B. Mcßeth, asking Coun- ; cil to close a road surveyed through his property to the Kiwitea stream. — Received, further action by Mr Mcßeth advised. From John Bryoe, stating he was willing to have deviation of road through his property, with such modification as the Engineer might make, and he would not make any claim on the Council for land required. The Council would make plans, etc., and erect fencing. He intended, with the consent of the Council, to form the cross road to the Mcßeth road, to enable vehicles to go right through freely. He asked the Council to provide culvert pipes, and lend road machine. — Decided to accept offer for deviation, Mr Bryce to give land and to form road according to specifications, the Council to supply necessary pipes for culverts, also that he be allowed the use of road machine for one month, Mr Bryce to pay for man in charge of machine and any breakages ; Mr Bryce to wait for payment for pipes until provisions are made in next year's estimates. From A. G. Carty, various legal matters. From Chaa. H. Baynes, County Clerk, suggesting the hours that the County office be open be altered to 10 to 12.30 and 1.30 to 3 daily, to enable the officers to. have more time free from interruptions. — New hours adopted. From W. S. Poole, Commercial Hotel, Kimbolton; S. E. Evans, Cheltenham Hotel; and G. S. Brown, Rangiwahia Hotel, enclosing certificates of hotel licenses. From Department of Roads, stating the plans of deviation of road in section 66, Block VII., Ongo S.D., had been approved. From the Department of Roads, in reply to a letter from the County Council, asking that a warrant be issued authorising the construction of a bridge over the Oroua river between Marton and Apiti, stating the "Public Works Act" prevented payment being made before two months had elapsed from date of the notice. From General Post Office, Wellington, stating they had received bond for erection of telephone line between Sandon Block and Hunterville, and the work would be proceeded with at once. From the Health Department, stating the District Health Officer would try to see the Chairman. In the meantime, the present arrangement in connection with the Health Inspector would continue. From D. R. Davies, Waituna West, asking permission to cut firewood on road opposite his property Agreed to, on«payment of usual fee. From the Treasury, stating it would be necessary for the Council to make a fresh special order for £60 loan to* metal Mcßeth's road, which should correspond exactly with the descrip-' tion of the special rating district as defined in the original special order. — Decided to inform the Treasury that the loan was not now required. From W. Jones, Ruahine, stating he wished to rent gravel reserve on which" he was living, at £1 or 26s per acre. — Accepted, for seven years. From H. Wilson, drawing attention to the fact that River Bed road leading to Miss N.and J. Wilson's properties, had been washed away. — Referred to Engineer with power to •act. From L. and M. Agency Co., asking Permission to erecting hitching post in front of their office in Kimbolton.—Permission given. From H. W. C. Henderson, Kimbolton, offering 10s per year for reserve lately leased by Mr P. Haggarty.—Accepted, for term of 7 years, at 10s per acre per annum. From the Rangiwahia Cemetery Committee/ asking Council to erect picket fence round cemetery. — Agreed to give £14, to oome from Rangiwaia County (half) and Peep-o'-Day and Hautapu Ridings (quarter each). ENGINEER'S REPORT. The Engineer reported as follows: Contract No. 40, delivery of maintenance metal on Sinclair's Line. — There are still 50 yards to deliver, and I have informed the contractor that unless the work is finished at once, the penalty will be enforced. I i am not making any progress pay- ■ ment on this contract to-day. ■ a Contract 53, forming and culverting 70 chains of Lagoon road.—Completed. Contract 60, erection of bridge on Lagoon road.— Held over till the spring, as it is impossible to get the timber to the site. . Contract 56, forming and culverting 48 chains of Umutoi ?oad. — Work in progress. The heavy rain in June caused oon-

siderable damage all over the County. Hautapu, Rangiwahia, Pakihikura, and Peep-o'-Day suffered mostly, from slips. In the lower Ridings, m additions to the slips, considerable damage was done to the metalled roads through the culverts not being sufficiently large to carry the sudden rush of water, and which got over the roads, scouring out big holes in the formation. The most serious damage occurred at the big filling on Mackay's Line, where the culvert and 30 feet of road were washed away. In my opinion the washout was caused through^the culvert being too small to carry the flood water, which dammed back until the pressure was too great for the new filling to resißt. The renewing of the culvert has been a much more formidable work than I anticipated. Great difficulty was experienced in getting a firm foundation, owing to large holes having been scoured out below the bottom of the old culvert, and that a great deal of timber had to be hauled out by a horse. To add to ' the difficulty, the wet weather kept | the stream in constant flood, which greatly hampered the men in working, and there was not room for the spoil out of formation until a length of the culvert was put in. The : road was open for wheel traffic on | Thursday. j There is an extensive subsidence on ! the Kimbolton road, Peep-o'-Day, which has dropped 2or 3 feet. It , is impossible to say how much fur- ! ther it will go, but I am having it carefully watched so that in the event of a sudden drop, no time will be lost in widening the road. j A slip and washout occurred on the Terrace Road, Oroua Valley and • which is likely to cause further trouble, as the hill is continually ' coming down, and there is danger of , the road slipping away altogether. I am informed that Mr Wilson's ' road, near Rata, has again washed i away, and I will make an inspection ! as early as possible. Fraser Creek Bridge, on the Mangawarariki road, was reported unsafe for traffic, and I found some of the blocks on the top chords holdingthe suspension rods had decayed, thus trowing too much weight on the lower chords. This will be remedied as. soon as possible. I intended examining the bottom of the piles and sills, but they are covered some depth in mud, which I have instructed the roadman to have cleared away. I had a look at K&rrhah&u Cliff road with a view to fencing a portion of it. I would respectfully suggest that about 7 chains of the top end be fenced, and one point of the road widened, the cost of which should be a little under £20. I could not recommend the lower portion to be fenced, as the outside of the road is partly made ground, and should not be disturbed. I have had a breastwork built opposite the waterfall, and the road widened. Since the roads were closed to heavy traffic, the majority of carriers and waggoners have reduced their loads. There are, however, one or two who persistently defy the Council, and I think it will now be advisable to prosecute the first man caught with an' excessive load. I have made a survey of Bryce's road, and Mr Bryce is now satisfied that it will be better to make deviation through his property. Time has not permitted the survey of these deviations, but I have been over the ground, and in my opinion they should practically follow the lines laid off some years ago. If funds are available and the Council approve, I would like to put the machine over the ham road between Rangiwahia and Kimbolton, as Mr Wood's services are now available. KIWITEA BRIDGE AT BEACONSFIELD, j The Engineer reported as follows on the bridge over the luwitea stream at Beaconsfield : — The bridge is composed of 3 spans : with 12ft roadway, length 104 ft, and I 5 spans with 4ft roadway, length 184 ! ft. Some two years ago I made a -rough estimate for widening the narrow portion to carry ordinary wheel traffic, amounting to £1300, and I see no reason now for altering my figures. It has been suggested now that the narrow portions of the bridge might b 9 widened for light vehicles, ontbe present piers, but this cannot be done. There are only 2 piles to each pier, being 3ft apart; or sft olitside to outside, and as the necessary width for roadway and truss would be 10ft, there would be an overlap of sft. In my opinion, it would be a serious mistake to make the bridge only sufficiently strong to carry light vehicles, more particularly on a through ' read. There would be no means of ■ regulating traffic, and 1 doubt if a ; waggoner would hesitate to cross the j bridge if the river was in flood. ' At any rate, the bridge should be strong enough to carry the greatest number of stock that could be placed on any one span, and taking sheep ! for data, a span of 45 feet by 3 feet wide would carry 180, and at iOQIDS ' each would give 8 tons. * I therefore consider that if the biidge is to be widened, it should be ' to carry any ordinary traffic. I There is one matter that would require the serious consideration of the Council before sanctioning any large expenditure on the bridge, and thai is the danger of it being left high and dry at some future time. During the last few years the river has considerably altered its course, and w now running in what was the old flood channel. The banks, are all liver deposit, and I see nothing to prevent the whole of the flat on the wrath side of the bridge being washed away^ To protect the bridge would mean protecting the land for quite half * a mile up the river, and would be very costly (more than the value of the bridge), and in my opinion is more for * River Board to deal with than the Counoil . ._

TREASURER'S REPORT The Treasurer reported as follows: The following amounts have been collected since last meeting :— General account, £1273 2s Id; cemeteries, £4 ss; land fund, £10; total, £1287 7s Id. Bank balances :— General account, dr., £397 4s 9d. Accounts to be passed for payment: General, £1679 16s 8d; Cemeteries. £4 Is 6d; Land Fund, £182 12s 7d; Land Fund No. 2, £4 Is; loans, £212 13s lOd; total, £2083 5s 7d. RABBITS. Mr L. E. Jackson wrote a tetter to the Council with reference to the work the Council were doing in assisting farmers in their efforts to cope with the rabbit trouble. He suggested that poison required should be provided free by the Council out of rates. He further suggested that the Council should recommend the Stock Department to either make the districts for their inspectors smaller, or else appoint separate inspectors for rabbits and noxious weeds. Mr Jackson waited on the Council in support of the letter, and said committees had been set up, and in some cases had levied a rate of Is per 100 acres of land. Rabbits were I a serious menace to the district, and he thought the Council might provide the poisoned wheat free of cost, because the bulk of the ratepayers would benefit, and the local body would be so doing its duty. The Council already bought poisoned wheat for small birds. In regard to Stock Inspectors, he wished to point out that the Inspector bad a very large district, with numbers of small holders, and it was the more difficult to deal with them. In discussing the question, Councillors were against recommending the separation of the offices as suggested, but they agreed the districts were too large; and the suggestion to provide poison free was adopted, the following motion being adopted: —That this Council take steps to provide rabbit poison free of charge foi* use of ratepayers, from Ist August, and that representations be made to the Department' pointing out that for effective inspection the present districts are far too large. COUNTIES CONFERENCE. The Chairman, who had. represented the Council at the recent Counties Conference, gave a detailed report oi the results of the Conference. Cr. HocWey congratulated Mr Carmen in having been selected for i seat on the Executive of the Confer ence, and thanked him for the com plete report which he had given ol the Conference. Cr. Guthrie endorsed Cr. Hockley'i remarks, and said it showed Mr Car men had impressed his personality oi that important Conference. RESOLUTIONS. The following motions were oar ried: — . That the Engineer be instructed t< prosecute anyone found breaking th< heavy traffic by-laws, also anyon< found leaving vehicles, timber oi produce on County roads. That Cr. Guthrie be allowed to tak« a few loads of metal from State farm read. That the Clerk be instructed tc write to the Lands Department foi full particulars with respect to the Rangiwahia Pound and Metal Re serve, the matter to be dealt with bj the Chairman of the Works Commit.