COOK COUNTY COUNCIL.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2069, 21 December 1907, Page 1

COOK COUNTY COUNCIL.

The Cook County Council mot yesterday morning. Present : Tile Hon, Cnpt. Tucker (in the chair) and Civ; \v, I), s. AlcDonald, H. Komvay, A. I l '. Ala thews, ill. White, W. IT Lysimr, 10. Boland, ad Sherratt.

Ml}. IMOIOS’ TRAMWAY SCHEME. A letter was received from Air W. L. Rees suggesting alterations in his scheme to enable him to secure guarantees without fail. In lieu of undertaking to pay ‘lO per cent on the prime cost beyond interest and sinking fund, lio would reduce that to 21 per cent, which would still leave the Council and the ratepayers, under tlmt head, a clear gain of £075 per annum. He proposed -to alter the price of carting from Patutalii to 2s ■fid and from Waihirore, but to extend the tramway from AVI Porestreot to Ormond Road. This extension 'would be advantageous' to both borough and county. A copy of theso proposals was being sent to bothcouncils. Cr. Lysnar suggested that the letter be referred to the committee lor consideration and to bring a recommendation to next meeting. Cr. Mathews asked to he relieved of his duties on that committee as ho would be away. Cr.- Keiiway said it should bo considered in open Council, or perhaps it could ho discussed by a committee of both councils. THIS AVAIROA BOUNDARY. Cr. Ivonwuy brought up the question of the AVairoa boundary. Air 11 ell or by named the sections which were desired to bo excluded. The AVairoa Council wanted the matter discussed. A road was required before Hie winter. It appeared that they wanted the whole question of the boundaries looked into. If nothing could be done, lie would be willing to go down to AA’.iiroa next January. He moved that the Clerk write to Air Bellerby asking for a sketch plan- and a statement of the position, and if full particulars were obtained, a trip might be avoided. The -motion was carried. A SECOND OVERSEER.

Cr. AlacDonald moved, in accordance with notice, to appoint an additional overseer to supervise contracts and maintenance of reads'. He said that the present man had too much to do. It would he better to give them separate districts. It was ,moro needed now as the road boards were merging. Cr. Kenway seconded the motion. Tlie area to be travelled made it impossible to do everything. The Engineer said lie would very much like to have an assistant, although it would be difficult to get one.

Cr. lvenway suggested that the appointment be left ;to the Engineer. Cr. Matthews moved that a man be appointed at £215, and that he be Coicatcd at a permanent station. Cr. Lysnar was in favor of providing a house and reducing file money. in some places there were hovels and one in' Tiniroto ought to bo condemned. The motion was carried. AVHAREKOBAE STOCK TRACK. Messrs Partington and Peryer asked that the widening of.,the stock track at AATiarekopao be proceeded iwith, as the difficulty; in respect- to tho money had been removed. . Cr. Lysnar said that .the- Council was informed that they coukl get no -more until Alarch 31st and he sugIgosted. that a mistake had occurred land the Department should be written to.

, Tho chairman thought- It would be ,as well to proceed with the work, j It was decided to apply for the money. . APPLICATION FOR GRAVEL. • Air. A. Kempthorne applied, for :270 cubic yards,of gravel for road ■around the base of Bate’s hill cliff, '.about lGi chains in length-, 15 yards 'to the. chain. 'He also asked for 80 'cubic yards. lie also applied for the position of inspector of noxious,weeds : for : the road under his care. The clerk said it -would cost be'tweeii, £4O and £SO. Cr. Lysnar moved that the work be ■done. - Cr. Keiiway objected to the expenditure. > Air -Kempthorne was present and 'said that the mud was up to the •axles last winter. He could.probably dispense with the 80 yards. ■ The chairman said that-if it could 'bo further reduced, he was in'favor of voting about £25. The, ' motion was carried. The chairman said that the Government appointed noxious weeds inspectors. ' AA’AIKOHU BRIDGE.

The Under Secretary of Public .AVbrlss wrote -stating, that the AA’ailcohu Bridge, would be .400 feet long, made up of eight, .spans of -20 feet, 1 four, of 40ft and "one of 80ft. The proposed maintenance charge of £4O per annum, was therefore at tlie usual rate of 2s per foot. Tho bridge '•would not have -a separate floor for 'road traffic. Extension of time for 'payment till April 1909, was agreed to. . Cr. Lysnar i thought it would cost I no more i*f as'much for a separate bnidge, and the Engineer should visit 'the bridge and report. Cr. Kenway thought it- was cheaper to have tlie combined bridge. • ' i Cr. AlcDonald thought it better to accept the Department’s proposaland I pay £4O per year maintenance. I ft was decided to sign the agree- : mcut-. AIANGAPAPA BRIDGE, i In regard to the Alangapapa bridge Cr. Alattliows said it was in a • dangerous condition. The committee (recommended that a; new one boer.ectcd, * • Cr. Eysnar stated that the Engineer said*tliat'when some repairs were i effected, it would bo all right. The Engineer denied this. -Cr. AA’hito moved that the lowest (tender - be acedpted. Cr. Lysnar ' said 1 ho would vote against it. . . Cr. AVlii-te expressed the opinion that- an accident might occur. Cr. Lysnar did not see where the money would come from. It was wrong to take it fi'om tho general rates? If a Hood came, ‘they could advertise it and saj’ the bridge was dangerous. A member suggested that the notice should read that a new -bridge was necessary.' The lowest tender,Air AlcLouglilin s at £617 10s 3d, was accepted and the 'other tenders were: Lord and Co., £643 17s, Baynes- and Co., £643 17s and J. Brown £687: ENGINEER’S REPORT. “Contract 163, formation AV-aihuka A’a I lev road: 2377 chains of this road have'.been satisfactorily completed. The contractor is now engaged on an extension of above contract another 102 chains; No funds from loan are available for completion of this road to tho junction -at Bilham’s.—Contract 175, Te Karaka deviation: Completed. —Contract 178, bridges and approaches, Alan-gatuna: This work, which was delayed last season on account of wet weather, will be completed in a few days.—Contract 180, formation. Alaugamnia: Satisfactory progress is being made; work should he finished -in a, few weeks. —Contract 181. metalling. Alangatu road: Nearly completed.—Contract 182, metalling College road: A few chains - tocomplete.—Contract 18.1. formation Maungahaumia : About 35 chains finished in the rough.—Contract 184, formation on same road: -Proceeding satisfactorily.—Contract 185, AA'bare-'kopae-Taliora: Good progress -is being made with this and the two adpoining contracts, and in a few weeks the road will be open as far .as Roberts’. The adjoining section, to Williams’ has been graded and pegged, i and the plans in hand. Estimates for this work will be available shortly.— ! Contract 203, metalling, etc.. Te i .Aroha : I have arranged to get spine j 700 yafds of metal broken (of which ;?ome is done). Thcro will .not be sufficient funds in the loan to pogipiete

the work, and n<L steps seem to have been taken to- provide the necessary money.—Contract 193, formation ol flat near Alangaluua : This work lias been in hand a long time, but the contractor promises to have it "finished in a- few weeks.—Contract 107, erection of bridges, Waiinata: Tho providing of timber for .piers lias been energetically pushed on, -and I am .informed by the contractor that the whole of tile iron-bark has arrived and is being carted to -the several sites. The contractor -hopes .to,start his concrete piers about the middle of next month. —Contract 201, metalling near Ilauiti: Completed.—Contract 202, metalling, Te Karaka : Completed; also about 17 chains rear Jerram’s, Poututu. —Contract 200, metalling, Cisborno-AVairoa road : In hand.— Contract 207, erection of culverts, etc., Mangatokeraii: This work has been let, and the timber being cut locally.—Contract 208, metalling, AA’ha-tat-lltu road: In hand.—Contract 219, formation and metalling, Riverside road: No work has yet been done on this contract, and 1 have notified tho contractor to proceed at once. — Contract 2.13, quarrying, spawling, and breaking- maintenance . motal, Gray’s: I have arranged to get this work done, for which no tenders had been accepted. I have also called fresh tenders for .quarrying, etc., Alaraotaha. Gro.at difficulty is experienced in getting, suitable quarry hands. —Good; worH is being done with the road machine on the Tolaga Hats and M.-ingntun.il—On the Arni-Toko-lmi road, the Spiral Pipe Company have undertaken to effect necessary repairs of the formation. The portion that was metalled at 2-mile peg lias been so cut up and destroyed that I have had to plough it up, and have called tenders to coat the section with Patutalii metal, as no satisfactory river shingle is available.—The roads from the quarry have been terribly cut up by heavy carting, and it is useless attempting to..repair same until the bulk of the metal -has been taken out. —Considerable repairs have been done on AATiataupoko, AA’ain.ui and other roads, and a- number of bridges re-docked, etc.” ! GENERAL. The Eeinrtment of Roads forwarded plans 251, 252, 253 and 254 in duplicate and asked for the Council’s consent.-—Plans laid on the table. The Engineer stated that tho overseer n skoal for 10s extra per week for ~ Kiragc allowance. He recommended that this bo granted.—This was agreed to. : On the motion of the chairman a penny rate was struck in each riding, on all native lands for the ensuing yea r. : Cr. -Boland asked that the Clerk write to -the Roads ilepi lumen 1, in reference to a request for a £4OO loan, of which nothing had been heard, i -Permission was given to Cr. AVhilo ,to -lav down a line -of water pipes near Ills place, AA’liataimoko. Tlie- Treasury advised that the loan ■of £4OO was available for expenditure on the construction of Alurphy’s ' road.; • Tho Department of Agriculture forwarded extracts of gazettes noti- , tying til,'it- -gorse was a' noxious weed within tho county.—Received. The .Colonial Secretary’s office notified that the special . orders merging tho Poverty Bay and the Ngatapa- Road districts' had been gazetted.—Received. Air. AYillinm Preston, surfaceman, , Tolaga Bay, advised that the.maintenance allowed for liis horse, 15s per week, was wholly inadequate and lie applied for an extra 10s.—Excep- , t-ion was taken to tlie. -request.—Tlie chairman suggested. that a conipro- - mise of £1 be taken.-—Cr. -Lysnar |said that that meant £52 per’ year and *hev might as well buy the horse. —Or. Boland proposed that -the request bo acceded to. —-Carried. Air AV.A. Limbrick wrote that having secured cutting rights over some 4,000.-acres of bush at Alutawai, and ais ho intended putting in a sawmill ithis autumn, lie applied for permission to lay a tramway to get tlie timber out upon the noad from Alatawai towards the. railway terminus, isucli tramway to he laid clear of the ; present formation, and subject to the approval of the County Engineer.— Authority was given. The Department of Roads urged : that the votes £9l 18s 70. Karaka to Poututu,' and £ISOO AA'aimata River bridge, bo expended before 31st Alarch next- to avoid re-voting old grants.—The Cleric said no money would be given until the work was 'completed.—Cr'. Keiuviiy moved seat I the Department be communicated i wit'llexplaining the position, that the bridge could not be erected until all tlie ironwork -arrived. Cr. T.ys-liri-r thought- ,£ for £ subsidy should be -asked for on the letter of credit •being issued. The chairman said that -substantially tlie amount had been spent.:—Carried. (Mr.' C. Neeiiaii wrote asking far the usual amount; £3. for the Ormond water trough.—Passed for payment.

A. Ci. Smith asked to he allowed to expend the thirds accruing from his sections ■ between- liis house and the junction of tho Tokonui and Te Arai-Alangapoiki roads. For " four years lie had maintained it at liis own expense, but it was now used 'as a through road. The Clerk stated that tlie thirds were already pledged for loan money. . -

Air. H. Dynioc'k asked for compensation for 1 acre 4 poles land taken for alterations to To Karaka Cliff road. It was decided to offer £2O for tho lot-. The District Health Officer stated that old dwellings at Tolaga would lid attended to. Ho approved of the - action taken. Tlie chairman said ■that was very assuring. A petition, was received from six i ratepayers agreeing to a rate of Jd for loan of £SOO for metalling portion of road between , Te. Aroha station and the junction of the Hangaroa roads.—Or. Lysnar said that it would be 1910 before the money could bo granted.—Cr. Alattliows said it was absurd that a district like this •should ho limited to £6OOO from the . Government. —-Cr. Lysnar suggested ' that the petitioners’ be written to, stating that they could not get it bc--1 fore 1910 unless tho law was altered.

Tenders -for carting and spreading on tlie hack road were received, and -that of Messrs. Lynch- Bros, at fig Sd per yard was accepted-.—-The tender of B. Fitzpatrick for metalling 15 chains on tho Kaiti-road at.£llo was accepted. Air. T. Jex Blake wrote in connection with acquiring land for a road near Air. C. J. Parker’s, AAYiingako. —The Chairman said that Air. Parker was willing to buy the road.-—Cr. AA'hito stated that tlie road ran through his place, not Air. Parker’s. He had no objection to the proposal, and -lie was quite willing to purchase the road. The idea was to avoid two crossings. He moved that the Engineer inspect and report to next meeting. A petition was received from eight Tolaga ratepayers asking lor a footpath. for which they were willing to pay half tlie cost. There were other persons interested.—Cl'. Bolaml moved that the Engineer report upon

the matter. —Or' Lysnar seconded the motion, and urged that concrete he used for small culverts, and that the Engineer look into the matter. —-Carried. f I Accounts amounting to £299/ were passed for payment. --- : The meeting closed with tho Chairman’s wishes lor tho festive season.