EGMONT COUNTY COUNCIL

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 15 January 1925, Page 8

EGMONT COUNTY COUNCIL

MONTHLY MEETING. The Egmout County Council met at Opunake on Tuesday. There were present: Councillors W. C. Green (chairman), J. A. Pettigrew, T. H. li. Sinclair, E. A. Collins, G. Gibson, J. S. Tosland. H. Donald. J. Hickey, junr., J. 'Young, and Messrs G. W. Regers (clerk), and L. J. Harrop (overseer). THE MONTH’S WORK. The overseer (Mr L. J. Harrop) reported as follows: — Oeo Riding (Southern). Main South Jload: About 90 chains of road between the Hopera Road and the boundary have been day blinded. The hands in this riding from the 10th. of the month have been working on the Taungatara bridge. Oeo Riding (Northern). Elthain Road: Patching has been done with crushed metal .between the Taungatara bridge and the Patiki Road. The road has also been clay bljnded between the Punehu and Oeo bridge and the watei tables cleaned out in places. Opua Riding (Southern) —Main South Road: Patching has been done with crushed metal and the road clav-blind-ed in places between Waia-ua and the Taungatara rivers. Slight deck repairs have also been done to the Mangahum© bridge. Eltharn Road.—Patching has been done with crushed metal between the Main South and liaweora Roads. Jhaia. Road.—Clay "blinding has been done in places between Mr R. Campbell’s property and the factory. Pipes have also been made in the county shed. _ . Opua Riding (.Northern), Mam South Road: Patching has been done with crushed metal and the road blinded between the Namu and Opua roads. Patching has also been done on the Upper Arawhata and Namu roads. Road Reconstruction Work. —On December 10 Cr. H, J. Donald and myself went to New Plymouth and saw J. B. Mac Ewan re motors, and ordered a 40 h.p. motor to replace the 27 h.p. motor. The 40 h.p. motor has been placed in position, and is doing satisfactory work. Arrangements were also made with the New Zealand Express Company to cart and stack the 2046 barrels of bitumen on the borough section opposite the railway station. Crushed metal is being delivered and a start has been made with the bitumen spraying. Rahotu Riding.—Main South Road : Patching with, crushed metal has been done between Rahotu and the Oaoite bridge, and the road has been blinded in [daces. The footpath in Rahotu has been cleaned up. Pipes have also been made in the county shed. Newal. Riding. —Main South Road. — Patching lia.s been done with crushed metal, and the road blinded in places between the Paora road and Pungarehu. Patching has also been done on the Ruakere and Warea and Newall roads.

The report was adopted. It was* decided to call tenders for the removal of bitumen supplies at present in New Plymouth

BRIDGE FOREMAN’S REPORT. The bridge foreman (Mr K. J. T. Dillon) reported as follows: Waitahi Bridge.—One new stringer and a. few deck planks were placed in early in the month, rendering the bridge fairly safe. The other new stringer will be placed in position as soon as opportunity offers. Pungareere Bridge. —The stone abutments were drilled and the supporting stiiitfe to the stringers embeuded in concrete, so there is now. little danger of them being washed away by floods. M align nui Washout. —The washout across "the road at Manganui was inspected by Cr. Gibson, Mr Harrop and myself. As the banks on either side consists of excavated material, there can be no guarantee that a rough temporary bridge laid on spars would last any length cf time without, the ground bemg staved up. Taungatara Bridge.—After careful consideration, I reluctantly decided to abandon all the work previously done in regard to repairing and moving the old bridge to one! side, as the cost would be very heavy, traffic would be dislocated during the process of moving. and above all the fact that there would be no working room between the new and old bridges as laid out. Consocpiently steps wer© taken .to erect a temporary oridge a little up stream. Five long pinus iiisignus trees were obtained from Mr Maxwell’s bush near Rahotu and used as stringers. One pier is well down m a sandstone ledge and the other is also fairly well down, sufficient, j tinuK, to resist a lairly 'heavy flood. 'lnis bridge is now complete, and moderate traffic can be sent over it at any time. A start has been made at the excavations for the new piers for the main bridge. A few chains below this bridge the river broke through a sharp point during one of the recent hoods _ and lowered the river-bed by about three feet. It was rather an anxious time, as there was a danger of the toms which support the old bridge being washed [ a„ay. To prevent this as much, as possible we wired them to. posts upstreafn. The pump, alter working for about a day, broke' down, and is now undergoing repairs. Meanwhile handpunipnig will be resorted to. A 25-cwt. monkey is being obtained from the Bubhc Works Department at a nominal rental, and will be used for driving short pi.es for the false work, A new derrick, however, will, need to be built. As the foundations to this bridge will most likely be very deep, a second pump will be necessary, otherwise in case of a breakdown there may be a lot of" Lost time through flooding. uix men, besides the wo roadmen, are now engaged on this work. The weather, however, has been bad lor any class of river work. The report was adopted. Authority was granted for procuring a new pump.

Mr. C. Skitrop, consulting engineer, reported that the crushing plant at Arawhata Road was in good order and was capable of crushing 100 cubic yards of broken metal per day of eight hours. It remained, continued the report, to get the boulders pulled and delivered to the tramline in sufficient quantity to keep the plant fully occupied. In order to work the metal deposit on the beach satisfactorily it would be necessary to clean the deposit in a face, taking the large stone with the small, and for that purpose it would he advisable to secure a small air compressor plant, thus saving considerable labour in hand breaking. The stone on the beach was of exceptionally good quality, and the quantity was practically unlimited. On the Bth inst. the fit's! asphalt had been sprayed on the road. The first electric motor had to he replaced by a larger one. The new motor was a 40-li.p. and was just sufficient for the work. The matter of procuring the uncompressor plant as recommended was left in Mr.* Skitron’s hands. The ranger (Mr. H. Wiltshire) reported that out of 111 animals found straying on the roads 105 had been released on the roads and 6 had been impounded. Notification that he had inspected the boilers and machinery owned bv the council was received from Mr. .T. H Johnston, inspector of machinery, who further submitted a list of necessary repairs.—lt was decided to have the repairs effected.

SAUNDERS-CARRINGTON ROAD. Referring to the proposed SaundersCarrington Road loan, Mr. R. Cassia, Newall Road, wrote offering the opinion that, rateoayei s in the Egmont County would be agreeable to raise a loan of £250 provided that amount would be sufficient to complete the works, arid also that in so. doing they did mu incur any liability concerning other maintenance charges. He thought the matter of the Government grant would best be left to the council. The ratepayers, however, desired that the work be completed this year. It was decided to reply expressing regret that the council could not see its way clear to make application foi the grant of £250. POWER BOARD RATES. The secretary of the Opunake Electric Power Board forwarded copy of a legal opinion received from the Electric Power Board Association’s .solicitors, which advised that the los«l authority of the constituted districts was the body which should sue for outstanding rates, provided the power board had supplied the local authority with copies of the resolutions making or levying the rate. The Opunake Board, therefore, requested the council to take steps to collect the rates, which the board expected to be collected and paid over before March 31, 1925. The clerk explained that though the majority of the amounts had been paid there remained gome £2OO owing by

about 150 ratepayers. He considered it would prove expensive if all were sued. On the motion of the chairman it was decided that ‘JO names be selected by drawing and the amounts sued for. GENERAL. Copy of Gazette notice declaring the Kekua and Puhuia Roads as county roads was received from the Public Works Department. As the result of a complaint received from a settler on the Paora Road regarding damage caused to live fences by wandering stock, it was decided to draw the ranger’s attention to the matter. The Taranaki County Council forwarded copy of estimates of expenditure on the Puniho Road for the year Ending March 31, 1925, the amount being £793 15s. —Approved. H. Wiltshire was appointed dog tax collector for the year 1925. Mr. 0. J. Haw ken, M.P.. notified that he had brought the matter of the subsidy to the Manganui bridge on the Kina Road before the district engineer (Mr. Ban), but that an estimate was required before a grant could be obtained. The Public Works Department notified payment to the council’s account of £125 on account of the Oka.hu Road grant (Ngariki-Newall Road). A copy of proposed regulations as to the use of motor lorries, in accordance with the provisions of the Public j Works Amendment Act, , 1924, was , received from the engineer-in-chief.