HAWKE'S BAY COUNTY COUNCIL.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XX, Issue 3930, 12 June 1877, Page 2

HAWKE'S BAY COUNTY COUNCIL.

The County Council met yesterday in tlxe Council Chambers. Present — Tlxe Chair, man, the Hon. Col. Whitmore, MessrsTorr, Kinross, ancl Williams. N.iAttui-ORO nxunc-E. After the minutes of last meeting had been read and confirmed, the inward ancl outward correspondence was laid on the table by the chairman. The most important document brought under tlxe attention of the meeting was Mr. .Hold's report on the Ngaruroro Bridge, It was to the effect that steps wero urgently necessary, to be taken at once, to bring the bridge into such a condition that it would not be in danger of being swept away by the first ilood. That -was really its condition at present. An expenditure of £GOO would make it safe probably for a yoar or two. 'fo make a thoroughly good bridge of it, a much larger outlay would be required. Colonel "Whitmore remarked that to commence the larger work now would involve borrowing money, ancl rating the district for interest. This it woulcl not be desirable to clo at present, at any rate, pending the anticipated alterations in the Act. Mr. Williams concurred in this view, ft would be well to get plans and estimates for the larger work in the meantime. The Chairman thought it woulcl probably bo possible to get the bridge strengthened, so as to last for six or eight months, at any rato for a smaller expenditure than £000, and suggested that Mr Bold should be asked to attend and give information on tbo subject. Mr Bold accordingly was sent for, and, in clue course, appeared. The matter was laid before him, and he promised to send (lown to the Council bofore its adjournment a report on tho subject. His plan was to drive the present piles to the water line, cap them, and place on top a false cap. Tlxe report was as follows -. — The Chairman of the Hawke's Bay Council, Nnpier. Approximate estimate to strengthen tho Ngaruroro bridge, viz., by driving the three middle piles to near low water lino, capping same, and framing doini-trestle. Per pier — Labor, iron work, timber, and carting — £25 Total cost— l . piers at ..25 each-»--;_ 4.0,. 0, I

I find, on going into details fox* above estimate, that the cost of the modified ->J _n I described this morning will only be £150 lower than the proposal for inserting new piles, providing we get those rejected from the harbor works, many of which, I find, are of good quality. Edward H. Bold. Napier, June 11, 1577. The feasibleness of this plan would depend 011 tlxe soundness of tlxe piles. Mr Kinross suggested that the services of the diver should be applied for. It was accordingly decided to apply for theni, with tlxe view of having the piles examined. Tlxe question was also put to Mr Bold whether he thought some of the harbor works timber, which had been condemned as unsuitable, would serve their purpose if it could be obtained, in tlxe case of new piles being required. Mr Bold was of opinion that it would. OMAHU BRIDGE. The following report was sent in by Mr Bold with reference to the Omahu bridge : — Napier, June 11, 1877. Sir,— This bridge I have already examined, when I received instructions. My report upon it has been delayed pending the acquisition of certain information as to the depths to which the piles were driven by the contractors. From the information I have been able to gather, the river channel has deepened considerably at the first five piers (reckoning from the right bank). The piers can be made secure after the fashion adopted at the Waitangi ancl Ngaruroro railway bridges, viz., by the deposition of loose rubble stone ("pierre-perdue") round each pier. The estimated cost of this is as follows :— 400 cubic yards stone at 2s 6d, £50. I may state generally in connection with the pile bridges in charge of the county, that steps are being taken to have sections of the depths of the river bottom at each bridge, referred to the bridge floor. "When records of this work are completed they will be of great value in affording at once exact information as to where scour is taken place.— Yours obediently. E. H. Bold. H. S. Tiffen, Esq., Napier. Owing to the absence of several members of the Council, most or all of them on tlxe Grand Jury, it was resolved to defer the decision of tlxe question in regard to both bridges to Monday next, to which date tlxe Council was adjourned, AMENDMENT OF COUNTIES ACT. The Ngaruroro bridge was the chief [ business before tlxe meeting. While the [ attendance and tlxe report of the engineer | were being waited for, however, other matters were px*oceeded with. Among , them the most important was the reply to the Colonial Secr-etary's circular, asking ' the chairman for suggestions bearing on the proposed amendment of the Counties ! Act. Col. Whitmore said that, fearing his health would not permit him to attend, 1 he had drawn xxp some suggestions and transmitted them to tlxe chairman. [ In compliance with tlxe request of tlxe I Council he read them ovei-. Their sub- ', stance was somewhat as follows : — lst. 3 For the harmonious working of the two bodies tlxe Council should have some conJ tx*ol over road and river boax-ds, and should act as a court of appeal for the J aggrieved minorities in tlxe sxxbox-dinate '" bodies. 2nd. It should have a voice in ~ regulating the boundaries of road dis-tx-icts. 3rd. Tlxe boroughs should be 1 subordinate to tlxe County Council in matters of gexxex-al concern. Tlxe neces--1 sity for tlxis was shown by tlxe un--1 fairness of tlxe present arrangements in regard to license fees. The borough ] gets most of tlxe auctioneers' license fees, though the sales are largely held in the county. 4th. The merging of road I boards he disapproved. The chief argu- "_ ment in its favor was the present powerlessness of tlxe Council to impose separate 1 rates on outlying districts. This might be got over by conferring such a power on > tlxe Council for tlxe maintenance of district roads. Another argument was the 3 inefficiency of certain road boards at present. This would be met by conferring the general control above suggested. L Against tlxe facilities for merging, as also for accepting ox* refusing separate rates, ' he xxx-ged that the principle of making the localities do their own work could not be carried out if there were many opportu- [ nities of relieving themselves from it. ' sth. There was an absence of proper ' executive authority in the Act. Tlxe , chairman alone, or tlxe chairman and two members, should be appointed to carry out works and to prepare business to be submitted to the Council. 6fch. Thex-e was no good reason for maintaining tlxe 1 distinction between main and district 1 roads. If tlxe distinction were done away ; with there would not be required two rating bodies for the same purpose in one locality as at present. The county might still rate for general purposes, such as protective works and .charitable aid. 7th.. The Council should have power to alter local Acts such as that regarding dog tax, slaughtei'-houses, &c. Bth. The valuation system should be altered • the valuer should be like the auditor, a Government official nominated by tho County Council. A little discussion ensued, chiefly on tlxe question of merging tlxe road boax-ds. Mr J. N. Williams adduced as in favor of works being carried oxxt by bodies whose jurisdiction extended over a large area, tlxe Wairarapa road boards, which worked efficiently, though these districts wex-e as large as our counties. In the end it was resolved that a committee consisting of tlxe Chairman, Col. Whitmore, and Mr Williams be appointed to draw up and transmit to the Colonial Secretary the suggestions desired. FINANCE. In reference to the county subsidy, Col. Whitmore asked whether anything had been received. The Chairman replied that it was on its way. Tlxe whole subsidy would be transmitted, a portion of it being allotted to "Charitable aid." Subsequently £150 for charitable aid was received. Previous to the receipt of tlxis sum the Council's overdraft was £518. MISOELLANEOUS. The bye-laws wero adopted on Mr. Williams' motion. In reply to a letter from Mr. Tracey, the road overseer, it was resolved that he should be informed that he should receive no orders excei>t from the chairman. His application for horse allowance was refused. Mr. Bennett's motion for the adoption of a drainage scheme was referred to the Public Works Committee to report on. It was resolved, on Mr. Torr's motion, that the road ovex-seer be requested to inspect and report on tlxe county road to Petane. Colonel Whitmore suggested that to the recommendations for tlxe amendment of tlxe Counties Act should be added a recommendation for tlxe exemption of county councillors from service on juries. This seemed to meet with very general favor. Tho Council adjourned till Monday next, at 11 a.m. ___--__ -____>________ ______■ ■•_-__■ ___*^^____-n_» l i ii ■ ____■-■>-- _■!■■■- '■*;i,;,;-y^y*T_r. . . -u^.^