HAWERA COUNTY COUNCIL.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 6 December 1924, Page 7

HAWERA COUNTY COUNCIL.

MONTHLY MEETING. There were present at the ordinary meting to-day; Crs. J, B. Murdoch (chair), C. J. Hawheri, G. Wiliiairis, A Larcom, B. C, Lysagiit, E. A. WAshei ®hril T. Walsh. The County Clerk (Mr J. AY. Harding) was in attendance. GENERAL. The railways land officer advised that an area of 44 acres had. been acquired frorii Mrs Lillecrapp, and, wishing to lease this area, asked the rate'due by lessee Advice; had been sent that all special rates would be payable on the sections mentioned The Controller and Auditor-General forwarded consent to interest charges of certain loans being met from the County’s general account. The postmaster, Hawera, wrote to say t-hat a& tb© Department were intending to re-pole the lines to Monaia arid Norffianby Main Road, they would require hedges and trees cut back to avoid obstruction to lines.—lt was resolved to reply that if any cases of obstruction were .reported ' the Council, would write, to the offenders. The Wellington. Gas Company confirmed the order for 20,000 gallons of tar, which would be supplied if suitable before Christmas.—The Council replied that the contract would be accepted if the tar was placed f.o.b. at Wellington. The Medical Officer of Health sent advice dealing with inspectors of health undertaking work as sanitary inspectors, and said that where this occurred the inspector would be acting as the local body officer. The clerk said that tlie council contributed £BO per annum to the salary of the sanitary inspector, and it was a fact that his notices were ineffective unless sent from this office. The council had to appoint him their inspector, and so become their officer.-—lt was formally resolved that this appointment be made. . Mr. E. C. Sriiitn wrote asking permission to reap and harvest cocksfoot on the side of the . road, arid offering an amount.—Th© chaifinan said they had rip power to give permission to do so, as the owner had th© right to cut m front of his property, arid in addition, he _ may he compelled to clear if required. The Main Highways Board forwarded a ciirciilar riieriio. giving extracts from the Public. Wbrlis Amendment Act dealing with heavy traffic. The chairman said this was a statement from the Department on ‘ ‘how to do it and hoiv not to do it” in the matter of motor traffic.

connection with the question of subsidy, the chairman reported that the position was now that, where counties had to raise money for carrying out works on main roads, the board liad now decided to give subsidy. Previously this had not been the case. Mr. J. Campbell wrote further re supplies of metal frorii Waihi. —The chairman said that the question of taking his supplies was left to tlie foreman. Messrs G a with and Logan, Masterton, wrote in connection with reading ori the Buchanan estate, and it was agreed that if the execiitors were prepared to pay costs, the council would assist iri the work of cutting up the land. DOG COLLARS. It was resolved to accept the tender of Mr. E. Bach, of Hawera. STAFF HOLIDAYS. It was resolved that the manual employees pf th© council should have holidays frorii December 24 to January 3, inclusive. The office staff will resume on tlie sam© date as other county offices ' OVERSEER’S REPORT. The overseer reported as follows: The tarring of Mereriiere Road is now in hand and good progress is being made. The metal from Lander’s pit is riot satisfactory for tar-sealing, as it will not stand th© sweeping. The surface looks quite hard, but as soon as the broom lias been over it the metal breaks up into a mass of small dust. Therefore, on the upper portien that has to be metalled it would lie wiser and more economical to use broken riietal instead of pit metal. The crushers are- both in good order and working. The one at Waukino is crushing stone for Iredale Road, which will have ali the metal delivered on it early next week. The one at Kapuni lias been crushing shingle, and this is being dumped on Palmer Road iri readiness for metalling the Norftianby Road, through the toll gate and the Tempsky and Sheet Roads. One of the roller engines is driving this crusher. The Ketetaura Road has been ploughed and graded and is now in ’good order. Nearly all the roads that were painted with bitumen last year have been very soft, and have been lifting during the hot days iust past. They had to be sprinkled over with shingle two or three times, but they appear to have absorbed enough shingle to render it unnecessary to dress them again. The repairing of the Manawapoii bridge is nearing completion, and there was considerably more work to do than the understrutting. The straining blocks had to be renewed and the bop cord was very rotten in places, and these had to he renewed also. Some of the tension rods were nearly ©aten through and had to be replaced. This has made the main span fit to ca.rj any load that is likely to go over the bridge, but the two land spans are in just the same position as before. It would be advisable to get four 16 by L ironbark stringers and place them under the wheel tracks on these spans, and then the bridge would be in firstclass condition all over. There is about two thousand yards of stone in stock at Waukino, and the greater part of the shingle is on the roads that will be tarred or dressed with bitumen this season. The quality of the last lot of tar is very poor compared with what we have had in the past. It is put through the same process, hut it has not the same body and dries up much quicker, and for putting on the hills, where it is not going to be covered with bitumen, it will be of very little use.

Discussing the question of tar-sealing the foreman said, in answer to the chairman, that on the Meremere Hoad lie had great trouble, owing to the difficulty in getting the road swept to take tar or bitumen. It would lie necessary to put on broken metal. —The chairman said that the wish of the council was that the work he completed to make a thoroughly good job. ■Referring to the Manawapou bridge the. engineer said it was now in a condition to carry any load. Some went over with a weight' of 12 or 14 tons. “And at 25 miles an hour,”, said a councillor.

The engineer added that the dip on to the bridge from the southern side was rather a serious matter. The chairman said this should lie altered and everything done to secure a satisfactory result.—The foreman was instructed to confer with th e Patea Council on the matter. VALEDICTORY.

As this was the last meeting this year the chairman wished his fellow counc-illo's and the Press the eompli-

meats of the Xmas and Neiv Year seasons. Referring to the country, he said he could have wished, that dairying produce was as good as wool, but that prospects, were good and were keeping the district progressing well. He hoped it would continue. Councillors reciprocated- the kindly greetings, arid Mt Harding, ori behalf of the staff, wished the chairman and cciuncil all the happiness possible in the New Year,