WAIMATE WEST.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXII, Issue LXII, 23 November 1911, Page 5

WAIMATE WEST.

The annual general meeting of the "Waimate West -County Council was held'at Manaia at noon yesterday, when there were present: Crs Bridge' Long, Le Fleming, MePhillips, Harcttttrt, Hughes and Scott. ' : ■ EtfiCTlpN OF CHAIRMAN. Cr Long prosed that Cr MePhillips Ibe elected chavftnSu for'tiiev ensuing year, and paid a 'tribute to the long | experience of public ixidyVork enjoy--led -by Cr MePhillips. Cr Scott .seconded. Cr Le Fleming, with all a«6 respect to Cr MePhillips, proposed ><3r Bridge for the office. Cr Bridge had had long-experience of road boards and county matters; he had devoted a great deal of time to public work in the past, and was prepared to do so in the future. Cr Hughes seconded pro forma. ! On a ballot being taken Cr MePhillips was declared elected.

Cr McPhillips, on taking the chair, thanked his fellow councillors for the honor they had done him, and assured them that he would do his best in the interests of the ratepayers. He was sorry not to see some of his old colleagues back again—they had done excellent work—but sometimes changes !in the personnel of public bodies' did I good. He extended a hearty welcome to the new members, and trusted their future proceedings would be conducted in good feeling. The Council then adjourned for lunch. Upon resuming the minutes of the last annual meeting were read and confirmed. ORDINARY MEETING DAY. -On the motion of Cr Long, seconded by Cr Scott, it was decided that the ordinary meetings of the Council be held on the second Thursday in each month, commencing at 11 o'clock. . FINANCE COMMITTEE. Grs Long, Bridge, and the Chairman were appointed a Finance Committee for the ensuing twelve months. ORDINARY MEETING. The ordinary business of the Council was then proceeded with, and the minutes duly read and confirmed. ACCOUNTS. A committee consisting of the Chairman, Cr. Bridge, and the overseer was appointed to go into the long-standing dispute re accounts with the Hawera County Council. < PORTION OF OEO ROAD. A discussion took place as to the con T dition of a portion of the lower part of the Oeo road, and the question of raising a loan to put it in order. Ultimately the Chairman suggested that, as this particular portion was in a very bad state, he and the engineer would visit the locality, interview the settlers, and endeavor to secure their written con-, sent to the raising of a special loan. It, was resolved to agree to the suggestion. Re grants for construction of bridge on Skeet road and Glenn road:—The Under-Secretary for Public Works wrote a circular letter, as follows, which willl be found of general interest to local bodies generally:— "Re offers, to local bodies. Sir, —Referring to the offers of expenditure of rates for roads, etc., which were made to your Council on the 16th inst. As there appears to be a. slight misapprehension on the part of some of the local bodies,in regard to the items where the amount offered is on account of a large

sum, I have the honor, by direction of"' the Minister of Public Works, to inform you that in. all such cases the larger sum mentioned is available for expenditure. Thus where a vote of £250 is provided on account of, say, £1000, the Minister will be prepared to authorise up to £1000 as soon as satisfactory proposals are submitted. The reason for allocating the smaller amount is that, generally speaking, ifc is not anticipated that more than that sum will come to charge before March; 3J next. . If, however, local bodies are in a position to carry out and claim for work to the extent of the larger amount before^ March 31 next, such claims will be duly met. —-H. J. Blow,- Under-Secretary." The bridges in question were the Ota— keho, £700, the Government contributing £350 by way of £1 for £1 subsidy;. Mangawhero, £800, Government subsidy £400; and the Kaupokonui, £1000, Government subsidy £500. A further communication was read from the Government asking if the Council would b© willing to undertake the responsibility of these works, and intimating that if they were willing, the work must h& commenced within two months; otherwise the Government officials would proceed with it. " After a conversational discussion oa the whole position, Cr. Bridge moved. that the Council intimate to the Government its willingness to undertake the> responsibilities of the three grants o» the terms stated, and that the Council would undertake the work. Cr. Scott, in seconding, made certain reservations. He wanted to know just how the money was to be raised before committing himself further. Cr. Bridge suggested that a meeting of ratepayers in each riding should decide among themselves the best methods of raising the loans; Cr.. Longremarked that the representatives . of each riding were in favor of building these brides, and it was for them to sayhow they would proceed. The Chairman mentioned tha^ these bridges v^era very necessary, and it would be a great pity if the ratepayers allowed the subsidies offered to lapse. After further-'. discussion it was ultimately decided that the representatives "of the ridings inter- > ested form themselves into separate committees to. consult with. the ratepayers as to the best ways and means of raising the requisite loans. It was (also decided to apply to the Government Engineer at New Plymouth for plans and specifications. : '.' ROYALTY ON METAL. ' The Public Trust Office .wrote asking for the amount of gravel taken from the native fishing reserve, section 88, block VIII., Waimate West, and requesting a. cheque for royalty. The Clerk mentioned that 607 cabic yards had been taken, and it was resolved to send a, cheque, for the amount of royalty. * *• Kaupokonui Dairy Factory.—The. secretary, wrote asking for 'permission t»>' carry an electric.wire from tne factory across the;. Main South :oad to their store on the opposite side-'of the iriatLThe «rire v w,ould be 25 to' 3d i-net al c\& the road. The Chairman explamoi that the. factory people proposed,t-ogo^ej ate electricity ' for their own lighting. It. was a question, however, whether tha Council had power to grant the requests After discussion it was resolved to in- . form the Kaupokonui Dairy T :»cttiy that the. Council had'no objection ta their carrying an electric cable across the road as suggested,'subject «o me law permitting, ar*d subject j]so to the> supervision of the Council's foreman^ - SPECIAL COMMITTEE'S REPORT. The report of,a special committee setup to consider .several matters was read. The Council endorsed the committee's action in directing the Clerk to write to Cr. Mudford (who had intimated his : intention of retiring from the Council) conveying to him from his colleagues their appreciation of the value of his services to the ratepayers during his term,of office.: and of the amiable relations which had always existed between himself and other Councillors. ■ BY-LAWS. Cr Long mentioned the necessity in tha near future of the Council framing and- . adopting bye-laws, more particularly with regard to a standard width for tyres for vehicles. The Chairman and memhers agreed to defer consideration of the matter for a Future meeting. ACCOUNTS. Sundry accounts were passed for payment, after which the Council went into committee: <• ..■■'.,■ TENDERS. Upon resuming it was announced that the tender of Messrs Smith and Faulkner had been .accepted for the supply of screened metal for the north-western, portion of the Oeo road at 10s 8d per yard. The meeiSng then adjourned..