ELTHAIKI COUNTY COUNCIL

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LVII, Issue LVII, 11 April 1910, Page 5

ELTHAIKI COUNTY COUNCIL

MONTHLY MEETING.

| The monthly meeting of the Elthan 1 County Council was held on Saturday 1 present— Messrs J. T. Quin (chairman^ Swadling, Prcece, Pease, Phillips, Best 7 King, Voullaire, and Belcher. 1 CORRESPONDENCE. Kaponga Town Board's apphcatio] for snare of toll-gate revenue collectei by the Council, also of the £100 sub sidy paid by Waimate West Count; Council to tho Eltham Council wa dealt with. — On the motion of Cr Swadling and Preeoe, it was decided : That the proportionate share of th toll-gate revenue and of the £100 sub sidy received from "VYaimate Count; (after deducting expenses) be allocate! one-seventh to the Kaponga Tow] Board and six-sevonths to tho ridinj s for expenditure on the Eltham road, ii _ connection with the year for which ap plication has been made. An application for a slaughterhousi '^snso for A. Coplestone and W. Clarr; ~ "^proved. !i!l "**iT>ermtendent of the Treasur unt u 'ntn -t the £^ 000 loan for Ra ' notl£<s tW ""^ling had teen pro whitfnwa) r&a& ». \ ' i . . reference to claim for >.. ,* r w Minx, contractor, on metal * ly**. his sectfon.' — The; Chairman r*.. ne * tha"t' tho 1 matter' could be settled v». tho contractor's; fftraH payment vta*. made, as according^ to tlie specificatiotfS tho contractor' had to pfbdtice 1 receipt §• to show that all claim? wore' settled. The New Zealand Counties' Association advised! that copies' of tlie 1 Local Government Bill, which was expected to be introduced during the coming session, would be distributed, and the Council should' forward any suggested amendmenfe to the' BiU or to existing, statutes deonied necessary. The matter would Be dealt with at the annual conference. There was also a suggestion that local bodies affiliated should form themselves into an association for the purpose of dealing with the insuring of their workers in accordance with the provisions of "The Workers' Compensation Act, 1908," instead of dealing with private corporations as was being done at the present time, as a considerable saving could be effected by the proposal suggested. — Special meeting of Council to be held when copies are to hand. — The Chairman was appointed w attend the conference on behalf of tho Council. — Insurance scheme to be reported on' by Finance Committee. The Under-Secretary for the Public Works Department acknowledged receipt of Council's resolution with reference to grants for certain roads in the Eltham County, the expenditure of which it was proposed to entrust to the Council. In reply he could only re-

iterate the remarks contained in his last letter on the same matter, and to state that the Minister could not see his way to vary ihe conditions which had boon imposed in the case of all local authorities, that the cost of supervision should bo borne by the local body. He also" expressed his surprise at the Council's estimate of the cost of supervising the expenditure of these grants. The total amount of the grants was £1502, while the estimated cost of supervision was £200, approximate] v 13 per cent, which was indeed a high rate, and far in excess of the cost of supervision as carried out by the Department. — Received. / Cr King thought it was just as well to find out if any of the grants could be used for keeping the roads open during the winter months. On Cr King's proposal it was decided to apply for the following amounts to be spent in keeping the tracks open which give access to Crown lands: Whenuakura Valley road £50, Moewatea (upper) £50, Moewatea (lower) £50, Rawhitiroa extension £150. Taranaki County Council replied to : the Eltham Council's communication ' relative to the charging of administration against Government grants: That the Council was in hearty sympathy with any proposal whereby the cost*of ' administration should be paid out of the respective- grants, and not made a charge on the local bodies. Wanganui Education Board asked the Council to support the movement to inaugurate technical classes for woolclassing in the Board's northern disbr t c i — The Chairman thought about September would be a more favorable time for starting such classes, as thero would not bo sufficient wool at the present time— Cr Best said if the instructor would go in the back country there would bo plenty of fleeces available. He thought tho proposed class should be held at Mangamingi — Cr Belcher advocated assisting the movement to inaugurate classes.— Cr Best explained that the Egmont A. and P. Association's committee wore arranging for fleeces.— Letter received, it being understood that councillors would render assistance in getting students and advancing the movement. The District Road Engineer, Public Works Office, New Plymouth, disclaimed any liability in reference to Mr McDermott's claim for £14 15s for work done in the Moewatea district, as the Department had no knowledge of such work having been authorised.— Copy or letter to be forwarded to Mr McDermott, who had claimed above amount fro pAL OMER'ANDNEILL0 MER'ANDNEILL ROADS. Waimate County Council's proposals as a basis of agreement in reference to Palmer and Neill roads were again before the Council. These provided that the Palmer road be put in good order by mutual consent, then "Waimate control southern half and Eltham retain control of northern half, and the cost of upkeep to bo borne equally by both Councils. Re Neill road, Waimate to hand over to Eltham County all rates accruing from sections abutting on that road with the exception of corner sections, which would contribute one-third (less cost of collection and charitable aid), provided that Eltham Council contributes an equal amount to the upkeep of the road. „,,„. Cr Phillips said it seemed that \\aimate had shifted a bit since that conference took place with their representatives in Eltham to discuss tho matter Since then Waimate had tacked on "that subsidy equal to Waimato rates be spent by Eltham," which was not in the previous proposals at all. Cr Preeco: I will move that Mtham still retain control of the Palmer road. There has been no logical reason given as to why we should hand the road over We have been careful m expending the rates. There has been no extravagance, and I feel pretty sure that no other local authority would have done any better. Cr Vonllaire seconded, and the motion was carried. The Chairman : What about the Neill road. .„ , „, Cr Swadling: Wo will hand it over to tho Waimato County. Cr Voullairo moved, That the Council take no action. Cr Swadling seconded. Cr King said the Council should make it clear that they were not going to spend money on tho road. Cr Swadling thought it would be as well to see if the boundary could be adiusted. The block line had been de-

! viated from to put that road in Eltham " County. Ho had recently ascertained that the road was in Eltham County, but there had been a deviation from the block line to put it there. Cr Preece said if the Eltham ratea payers were not suffering there was no ; need ft worry. i, Chairman: Let them blaze away. Our ;, ratepayers adjoining the Neill road disk-ict are paying higher rates than Waimate ratepayers. n It was suggested that the question d of alteration of the boundary be brought )- up at the Counties' Conference. y The motion vas adopted. •s NOXIOUS WEEDS. t *S On the motion of -Cr King, it was decided to ask Stratford County to de0 clare foxglove ffi noxious weed. He" )- pointed out that Eltham County had y already done so, and it -was a conaiderd able annoyance to settlers who were n j trying to Keep it down to see it growg ing just over, their fences in Stratford n County's territory. The foxglove wai >- spreading badly, and* waS'ilie biggfesi curse in weeds out Omona way". 6 Cr Preece mentioned the spread of 7 the blackberry out Matapu way, and said the noxious weeds inspection was y more or less a farce. There were acres l " and acres of blackberry. '■ Other councillors said the blackberry was spreading all round Eltham and •i Kaponga districts. \ The Chairman said it seemed hard Jj to understand that settlers who owned 1 good land should have to be compelled tt to protect their own interests. Cr Belcher thought the great trouble in the frequent selling out. Wt^ "Preece remarked that there were Cr , blackberry jam in the Matapu t&tig «f „ -^boards, residents' Cw blackberry in the disThe spreacf <„ L*° the notice of the trict to !ra frrangh*. noxious weed's 1 inspe*,. EXPENDIRATE INCOME ANl> TORE, c motion In accordance with notice o*. "wing given by Cr Voullaire, the folio, vj return was presented, being the ros*. valuations, rate receipts, and road eiw* percditure in Kaponga riding since tho formation of the county. The receipts in rates shown are from April 1, 1907, to March 31, and the road expenditure from November, 1906, to September 30, 1909:— Road. Valuation. Rates. Expndtr. ££s £ s Stratford-

250,328 4005 2 3541 15 — Cr Voullaire said his purpose in asking for the return was to find out the revenue that accrued on the byroads and what was the expenditure on the by-roads. They could then go into the matter next year and allocate so much to Eltham road, and they would know how much they had left for the by-roads. The question was how imjch of the rates should go to the maintenance of the Eltham road. He instanced the Melville road rates of £173 4s 6d, which had practically all gone on the Eltham road, and suggested that so much should be allotted to the main road from each by-road so that ratepayers would know what amount there was for expenditure on their by-roads. Cr Swadling thought there should be a separate rate struck for the mam road and one for the by-roads. If a road got in a bad state and there were no funds available the settlers could turn out and put a day or two in themselves. GENERAL. v Cr King enquired if the MoewaJLea road had been handed over to the Counqil, as the men working there said they were in the Council's employ. The Chairman said there had been nothing handed over that he knew of. The Council had not authorised any work to be done there. The grants had been, offered the Council for expenditure, but were not accepted. The Engineer said the road had not been ha&ded over to the Council. Cr Preece moved for a return to show the amount of money owing by # Mangatoki riding on loans merged or' partly merged, also an estimate of cost of re-metalling road with 16ft track and 10 inches depth of metal. He said it was possible that they would go in for a loan this winter to pay off all Ousting loans and reconstruct the Eltham road. The Chairman said the trouble was to find out how much of the merged loans was in adjoining counties. Cr Pease said there was one thingcertain, and that was they would have to go in for a loan over the whole riding. Facing the metal was only throwing money away. The Chairman, also the Engineer, remarked that facing the metal was only wasting money. In reply to Cr Pease, the Engineer said practically all roads in the riding wanted a good six inches of metal. To the motion was also added: And the cost of all necessary works. The motion was carried. ENGINEER'S REPORT. The Engineer (Mr F. Basham) reported as follows: — "Rawhitiroa Road (No. 2 Loan). — I have arranged with Messrs Johnston and Robinson for quarrying 600 to 800 yards of shell rock at 2s lid a yard stacked on side of road. After considerable difficulty I have managed to engage teams for carting. • Mr EL Julian ,will be sending out four or five teams, some of which are starting today. Given three weeks of fine weather I hope to metal the 40 chains on top of the hill at Omona before winter sets in. "Mountain Road. — I have interviewed Mr Shaw about his contract for delivery of 200 yards of boulders, and have n his assurance that work will be commenced in a few days. The stone is out on the river bank. "Cottage at Reserve (Contract No. 111). — I arranged with Messrs O'Reilly and Miscard to make the proposed alteration with regard to weatherboard, match-lining, the amended price being £215 10s 6d. I have made a careful examination of the ground with the idea of sinking a well in lieu of tank to house. I find that there will be an approximate depth of 30ft, mostly through hard cement and gravel. I would suggest that the Finance Committee meet on the ground before anything definite is done in the matter. Good progress has been made with the erection of cottage. "Stratford-Opunake Road. — I have four men engaged on the concrete culvert near Mrs Solly's section. I hope to have work completed in aboxit a fortnight.— The 100 yards of boulders delivered at the Mangawhero bridge are now all broken, and Messrs Tate i Bros, are assisting with the spreading. "Manga whero Road (Eltham Riding) — I found it necessary to metal about four chains of bad road in order to let Mr Slater have access to the metal road. The metal is being obtained from

big rocks in a gully just below the road. About 70 yards oi stone has been secured, and Mr Slater is assisting in the hauling, etc. "General — Good progress is being made with re-metalling roads generally. So far I have not found it necessaiy to put on extra hands." Report adopted.

Opunake 18,086 langaTvnero 51,357 Luroa ... 20,943 Htham ... 66,457 lowan ... 37,3d8 lelville ... 11,151 'aimer ... 20,466 lanaia ... 30,560 feiU ... nil 282 11 802 9 327 4 1038 8 582 18 174 4 319 15 477 11 nil 352 2 879 16 129 16 1750 17 81 4 nil 110 0 2i6 3 21 13