GREY COUNTY COUNCIL.

Grey River Argus, Issue 3211, 29 November 1878, Page 2

GREY COUNTY COUNCIL.

Wednesday, 18th December. The County Council resumed for the transaction of ordinary business at 7.30 p.m. All the Councillors were present, and the County Chairman in the chair. The minutes of the last ordinary meeting were read and confirmed. On the question, that the minutes of the special meeting held in the previous part of the day be confirmed, Cr ETarrison- drew the attention of members to the fact that the Council had inadvertently passed a motion with regard to the salary of the Chairman, which was absolutely void, and of no effect. The Council was, on that occasion, assembled for a special purpose, and for that purpose only, viz.— the election of the Chairman for the ensuing year, and the late Chairman only presided over this meeting for this special purpose. Until the new Chairman had been elected, and an ordinary meeting held, it was quite clear that the resolution passed regarding the Chairman's salary was ultra vires. He therefore moved, as an amendment, that so much of the minutes of the annual meeting as related to the motion referred to, be excised from the minutes. Or Faulkner seconded the motion ; but the Chairman ruled that it was inadmissable, as the minutes must be a faithful record of the proceedings of the Council. He agreed with Cr Harrison that the . resolution was invalid, but that was no reason why it should not appear on the minutes. Cr Harrison insisted that at the time the resolution was carried the Council was not duly constituted, and that therefore the resolution had no authority whatever. After some further discussion the subject dropped. After the outward correspondence had been read, the inward correspondence was considered, and dealt with as follows : — Application from John Turner, Moonlight, for reduction of his assessment, as some of the land he had occupied and been rated for had been sold by the Nelson Land Board. - On the motion of the Chairman, seconded by Cr Reid, the application was ordered to be referred to the Valuator for report. Letters were received from the Treasury covering payments to the credit of the County in the Union Bank amounting to Lll ss, land revenue, and L 1052 143 Bd, County fund account. Michael Ryan wrote asking for a certificate for the completion of hia contract for the road to Try Again Terrace, and for the payment of the same. His letter set forth that the work had been finished four months ago, and that he was urgently in need of the money. The letter was received, and ordered to stand over, Councillors Ellis and Foley speaking strongly of the injustice of keeping Ryan out of his money. The Chairman announced that a writ had been served against the Council by W. J. Coates, claiming L2OO for damage alleged to have been caused to his property at Omotumotu by certain works constructed by the Council — the Kaiata road — and the placing a culvert under the main road by which it was said his land had been swamped ; the claim also included damages to fencing. The Chairman said that, as the case was set down for hearing in the District Court within a few days, it was necessary that the Council should make arrangements for contesting it. Cr Harrison asked if the Chairman was still the legal adviser of the Council 1 Be was of opinion that the motion carried that morning only related to the office of Chairman, and did not refer in any way to the legal adviser of the Council. The Chairman said that it would entirely depend upon the amount of remuneration the Council would award him whether he would continue to act as the County Solicitor. He would say, however, that with regard to this particular case he was satisfied the Council had a perfectly good defence, and he would be willing to defend the action for nothing. On the motion of Cr Harrison, it was resolved that the Chairman be instructed to take the necessary steps for defending the action of W. J. Ooates. Cr Clifford presented a petition from the residents at No Town, setting forth the imminent danger to the township caused by the encroachments of the No Town Creek, and praying that immediate steps should be taken to protect the banks and divert the stream into a safe channel, otherwise there was a danger that the township would be swept away. He asked for leave to move that the overseer be authorised to construct the protection without delay. Cr Ellis, in seconding the motion, confirmed the statements made by Or Clifford, and he thought only a small expenditure would be required. Cr Harrison, whilst admitting that there was some risk from the incursions of the creek, did not think that the case was one of such urgency as to warrant the Council in deviating from its standing order, that notice of motion should be given. He had seen the evils of the hasty and irregular manner in which applications for expenditure had been accepted in the previous Council, and he should object on all occasions to the continuance of what he thought was a mischievous practice. At the same time he was willing at the proper time to deal with the case on its merits, and assist Cr Clifford in the matter. Crs Taylor and Faulkner concurred in the remarks of the previous speaker. Cr Reid objected to the road overseer having the power to expend public money, and mentioned that he knew of instances in which work had been paid for at extravagant rates. On the motion for leave being granted for Cr Clifford to move without notice, Cr Harrison dissented, and the motion was lost. After the reports of the Committees of, the late Council had been adopted, The Chairman stated that, in accordance with a request preferred to him by an influential deputation, which waited upon him some time ago with regard to the construction of a dray road from Brunnerton to the reefs at Langdon's and the Black Ball, he had communicated with the Minister of Public Works, pointing out the general public advantage of the proposed road, and applying either for a direct granto r an advance to be secured on the County reserve, but as yet no reply had been received. (The letter was read, and it gave full effect to the wishes of the deputation.) He (the Chairman) would be glad 10 know if hia action in

this matter was satisfactory to the Council. On the motion of Or Harrison, it was resolved that the action taken by the Chairman met with the entire approval of the Council. The Chairman moved that Crs Clifford and Taylor be appointed to countersign all cheques. Or Taylor declining to act, the name of Or Harrison was substituted, and the motion, as amended, carried. The Chairman moved that a Tender and Contract Committee be appointed to open tenders and let contracts, the Committee to consist of the Chairman and Crs Foley, Clifford, Taylor, and Harrison. On this having been seconded, Cr Harrison moved, as an amendment, that all tenders be opened and contracts let in open Council. He said his reasons for doing so were — that he entirely disapproved of the Bystem of relegating to a small close committee one of the most important functions of the Council. He did not wish it to be inferred that he cast any aspersion on the late Tender and Contract Committee, the question was one of principle. In matters of this kind there should be no door left open to even the suspicion that tenders were tampered with, and he was aware there was a feeling of dissatisfaction on this ground prevailing in the public, although he did not share the opinion he had heard expressed that everything was not fair and' above board. Cr Ellis seconded the motion, and confirmed the statement that dissatisfaction had been expressed publicly with the manner in which tenders and ' contracts had been dealt with. The Chairman was surprised at the statement made by the mover of the amendment. He had never heard a word of suspicion cast upon the committee, and he was sure if the amendment was carried it would tend to considerable inconvenience and delay in the carrying out of works. If tenders were only to be opened in open Council it would be necessary to summon the Council on every occasion when the time for closing tenders arrived, or else to postpone matters for weeks, perhaps months. Besides, he thought it would be an unwise plan to open and publish the whole of tli9 tenders in the presence of the public, for it would probably lead to what was called a knock but among contractors if the lowest tenderer, seeing that he had perhaps tendered too low, would refuse to go on, and combine with some other tenderer at a much higher price. He should oppose the amendment. Or Taylor agreed with a great deal with what had been said by Cr Harrison, and it could be carried out without creating any inconvenience. He was inclined to support the amendment. Cr Foley strongly opposed the amendment, and defended the purity of the late Tender Committee, of which he had been a member. Having beenput to the voices, Cr Harrison callad for a division, with the following result :— For the amendment — Ors Harrison, Marshall; Reid, Faulker, Ellis, Taylor (6). Against — The Chairman, and Ors Foley and Clifford (3). The amendment was-therefore carried. On the motion of the Chairman, Crs Taylor, Faulkner, Reid, Ellis, and Marshall were appointed as a committee to wait upon the banks with *he view of making arrangements for a draft sufficient to pa> off existing liabilities ; to report next meeting. A number of tenders for leasing the Omotumotu toll-gate were ordered to stand over for consideration until the next ordinary meeting. On the question of the amount of travelling expenses to be paid to members coming from a distance, it was resolved, on the motion of Cr Harrison, that the scale adopted by the late Council be reaffirmed, viz. — one guinea per day and a shilling per mile. The' Chairman laid upon the table the Road Overseer's report, which was as follows : — 1 . On the new works now in course of construction, which will be completed within one month from date hereof, and on account of which there will then be due the sum of L 3113 :— 1. Track from Greenstone to Bruce's Paddock. 2. Track to King's Terrace. 3. Road from Dunganville to Maori Creek. 4. Granville Foot Bridge. 5. Bridge over German Gully, No 2. 6. Saltwater Bridge. 7. Bridge over Coal Creek. t The last-named work will take about two months to complete. The contract price for it is L4lO, which makes a total of L 1523 for new works. 2. On maintenance and repairs of tracks for which contracts are let, there will be LSOO due one month hence, i.e. if the contractors will have the work performed in a satisfactory manner, as by that time the contract term will have expired. The length of tracks under contract aa above are 17 miles. 3. In addition to the 17 miles under contract, there are 100 miles of tracks in the County which have to be kept in passable repair by removal of trees, slipa, and repairs of scours, &c, which will entail an expense of at least five or six hundred pounds per annum. 4. Of main roads, there are 68 miles let by contract for maintenance, the contract time for which extends over a period of from 12 to 20 months from present date. The cost of maintaining the above roads, independent of culverts and bridges thereon, is about L 3600 per annum. The maintenance of culverts aad bridges, of which there are many that will require repairs before long, cannot be put down at less than L4OO per annum. 5. In addition to the above, there are about 12 miles of roads being occasionally repaired by day labor, namely : — 1. Twelve-Mile to No Town. 2. Brunnerton to Four-Mile Creek, 3. Nelson Creek Road. 4. Omotumoto Valley Road. 5. Paroa to Rutherglen Road. 6. Granville Road. 7. Cobden to the Sea Beach. 6. I may alao inform you that the contract time for the maintenance of the road from Greymouth. town boundary to Marsden has expired. It will therefore be necessary to call fresh tenders, else day labor must be employed to keep it in its present state of repair. 7. I have further to state that unless you make some arrangements with parties to whom money is due, it will become, and is now unpleasant and difficult for me or anyone who may be in my position, to deal satisfactorily with both parties.

Some day labor me*n who are only occasionally employed are lying out of wages for three and four months, and some maintenance contractors have got no money for the last six months, though there was never a time contractors were more in need of their money owing to the very bad weather. 8. Surveys Ordered. — The following is a list of the surveys which I have been instructed to make by the late Council, viz. : — • 1. Track from Langdon's to boundary of Inangahua County. 2. Track from Big Gully to Granite Creek. 3. Track from Lake Brunner Track to Maori Gully or Maori Creek road. 4. Track to Black Ball Reefs. 5. Road from Four-mile Creek to Goal Creek Flat. 6. Road from Coal Creek Flat to Seven-mile Creek, North Beach. 7. Road through Pike's Plains near Ahaura. 9. The survey of track from Big Gully to Granite Creek I have completed. The work if carried out will be a great improvement on the present track which is very steep and circuitous, and about 2£ miles longer than the new line. It has and will cost a large sum to keep the old track open in the vicinity of Starvation Point, owing to the rotten nature of the ground and to the encroachments of the river. 10. From Langdon's to a point between Black Ball and Moonlight Creek, I have found a good route for a road or track at a safe distance from the Grey River. From foot of Black Ball Creek to within about half a. mile of the reefs, I found a practicable route for a road or track. It will be rather expensive, as there will be some rock blastings, and metal is scarce in many places. I have also found a good route for a dray road from the Four-mile Creek to Coal Creek Flat, clear of the influence of the Grey River. With the country through which the other proposed roads and tracks must necessarily pass I am yet unacquainted. E. Butler. It was resolved that tenders be called for the maintenance of the Marsden and Greymouth roads for one, two, or three years. The following resolutions, on the motion^ of Or Harmon, as amended, were carried : — " That a Committee, consistiug of the Chairman, Cr Taylor, and the mover, be appointed a committee to review the bylaws ot the Council, to report at the next meeting of Council, two to bo a quorum." " That a Finance Committee, consisting of the Chairman, Crs Taylor, Marshall, Faulkner, Clifford, Foley, and the mover be appointed, to whom shall be referred all accounts for examination before being submitted to the Council for payment, three to form a quorum." " That a Public Works Committee, consisting of the Chairman, Crs Reid, Taylor, Clifford, Foley, and the mover, be appointed a committee, to whom shall be submitted for inquiry and report ali proposals for the construction of new works which may be ordered by the Gouncii to be referred to such committee, four to be a quorum." ■:■ : The Chairman announced that, owing to the indisposition of the County Clerk, he had temporarily obtained the services of Mr Thomas North to act in Ms stead. Or Harrison by leave moved, that two months' leave of absence, on full pay, be granted to the County Clerk. He was well aware that the state of his health made it necessary that he should be relieved from work for a time and get a change of air and scene. He had had many opportunities of knowing the amount of work the Clerk Had had to perform, and he was satisfied that his assiduous attention to his duties had conduced to hia present indisposition. The motion was seconded by the Chairman and supported generally, and during the disenssion it was stated that the Auditor of Counties accounts, Mr Pollock, had expressed the opinion that the books and papers of the Grey County Council were the best that had come under his notice, and that he had never found an error ia them.— The motion was carried. After some unimportant < business, the Council adjourned till 1 o'clock next day. [Our report of yesterday's proceedings ia held over till our next.]