ELTHAM COUNTY COUNCIL.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLVI, Issue XLVI, 16 March 1914, Page 5

ELTHAM COUNTY COUNCIL.

O'Neill. hei> Best ' Bl™K and

INWAKD CORRESPONDENCE the Council's hip yVCcaßlone seen twice carting metal i fl + \ and section. He a ffi ß r fwnt, his absolute necesri?£ th^CW *"* authorised balances of votes fir rSS and bridge work, the esjSnditarerf the Council- special quotations fo? cement either from steamer or on trucks .at Eltham.-Letter received this being a matter for the engineer BACK-BLOCK DISABILITIES.' A petition was received from eight Crown tenants on the Upner MoeawK tea road, asking the Council's assistWnV? endeavoring to Eet the Government to open.up the Upper Moeawatea road for wheel traffic. Money had ' been spent on this road for some three , or four years, and it was time some- ■ n^Zi?- done for the 6ake of settiers (there were three married and with families) who live at,the further end of the road. They should be given facilities to net the necessaries of life and other goods to their holdings and they asked the Council to bring the matter before the member for the district.— Cr Barr said the Government apparently would not make anything more than six foot tracks in ' these cases, and the only thing he could suggest would be for them to form themselves into a special rating area- and go tor a subsidy.—Finally.it was decided to refer the matter to the Chairman to ascertain if there were any grants, and to consult with Mr Wilkinson. ROYALTY RIGHTS. A communication was read from some settlers drawing the Council's attention to the fact that year after year different contractors had been entering the river at the back of their farms near; CMselhurst and taking stone without ever asking permission. They entered through' R. "Norm's property, and went right up through J. Robertson's place. A large quantity of stone was there, as the river changed its course a few years ago. Also, the contractors entered from Cornwall road over on Robertson's. The writers considered that royalty should be paid to those settlers for the stone thus taken.—The Chairman said this was a matter between the settlers and the contractors; The Council could not de- . cide what percentage of royalty should be paid to each. The Council held baflk a percentage of contract money until the contractor furnished proof of royalty claims having been paid*, but it could not go further than that. RAWHITIROA ROAD; Cr. Belcher remarked that this road was breaking up rather badly and wanted to know if something could be done to it. He would like to see that portion between the town boundary and the cemetery finished. There would be very little expenditure, required in this riding: next year.—Cr;, Best, remarked that there were 200 yards of metal to go out on this road and he would -like to.know from the engineer how /much more it would require to-make a good road of the piece mentioned by Cr.: Bencher.—The engineer replied that another 200 yards would do it and heTjras thereupon instructed to procure that quantity and finish the' section.—ln reply to Cr. Belcher the" engineer 6aid that 75 per cent, of that portion of the Rawhitiioa Road already tar-sprayed could, with advantage, be treated with restar. Practically three miles were tar-sprayed. —After a brief discussion it was left with the engineer to treat the portions he considered most essential with restar.—Cr. Belcher mentioned that there was a sum of £30 available for improving some of the worst corners of this road,'' and he thought they should now bo attended to. —Resolved that the engineer and two riding mem*-" bers meet on the site and decide which was best to be done. LAKE ROTOKARE ROAD.

Mr Jenkins waited on the Council to see if they would consent to a deviation of the road ho was constructing, and pointed out that the deviation suggested would be advantageous.—The county engineer and Mr Murray, Government engineer, approved of the deviation and neither offered any objections provided Mr Jenkins was prepared to pay the survey costs, expenses of transfers, etc.—The Council made no objection under these conditions. They decided also to apply to the Public Works Department for a progress payment on the work already completed. GENERAL. ._■/■. Mr A. Voullaire^' toll-gate keeper at Riverlea, asked the Council whether n% had power to prosecute drivers of waggons, motors, etc:, for driving after dark without lights. The practice was common and . was very dangerous.—lt was resolvedUto instruct the toll-gate keepers to inform the v Council of any offenders with a view to prosecution. Mr Jacob Marx senr., was appointed to represent the Council on the Assess- | ment-Court in regard to,the new valuation of the county. The conference of county delegates to go into the suggested toll-gate uniform scale, motor lorry regulations, etc., -was fixed for Saturday Bex*, March 21, at noon, at Eltham. Apropos of the engineer's reference to the bridge over the Kaupokonui, £he Chairman said the Kaponga rir?fn<* would soon have to go in for a bridge loan. The engineer nier'tioned that he thought the decision arrived at In'sfc meeting to break up the surface of the road o:i Bourkc's Hill in order to relay it with restar was too drastic. It woni-i I be a pity to disturb a surface such "as 1 was row ou that road and t-o overcome the slippery weather trouble he <^7s?--geted putting down six feet of nvejr shingle which would back up the tf. t red road and enable the traffic to o-Qft nlong on occasions when the tarred ■ irface wns too slippery.—The sugge.-;; a ! was adopted. Dun'ng a discussion on tarring generally th» engineer mentioned the-value-of "restar" for mending purpo:-?;;. i When they put down the experimental

section on the Mountain road two pieces were laid down on a wet day and they were not able to have the .road swept very clean, consequently where the. mud was thick the restar later on flaked off. Recently he sent the men along to mend these places and all they had to do was to dip their brush into the boiler, brush on the restar, throw on a little shingle and the patch healed up at once, and so effectually that it was difficult to see where it had been. , ~, In consequence of the Easter holidays the next general meeting of the Council will be held on the Thursday prior to Easter instead of Easter Saturday.

"Cr. Ban- mentioned that in the Omona the fences had been carried away on on© portion of the road. CoiM the owners of the land be compelled to re-erect it?— The Chairman: Is it dangerous to persons using the road; Cr. Barr: No. It oould not be said to be dangerous in that sense. —The Chairman : Then we cannot do anything. It is T,ho man's private fence and if he chooses to allow his stock to wander all over the country that is his affair. The only thing you can do is, if you are bringing out your sheep and they get into his paddocks, see that your dog rounds up a good tally. That generally cures broken fences." Cr. Phillip3 ssked if anything could be done to a very dangerous corner on -the Mountain-Cornwall road?-^-The Chairman said they were up against a big proposition as it would cost £100 to do any good at this place.—The engineer was instructed to report to next meeting. In repiy to a. question as to whether he thought it would be advisable to put restar on the Upper Mangawhero road, the engineer said it was a question of policy. They could get good metal on this road for about 6s a yard and under these circumstances it was doubtful if the traffic would justify tarring. Whilst on that subject the engineer took advantage of the occasion to suggest to Biding members that it would be ad-: Tisable if they met and decided amongst themselves what work they thought should be done and not leave it to the engineer.. They could then carefully frame their own estimates for the next year which, he suggested, would be far better than either just endorsing, throwing out, or reducing the engineer's suggestions. It was decided to insert a notice m the Argus and Star that owners of motor cars or motor cycles not complying with the regulations re registration and the affixing of proper sized numbers, etc., will be prosecuted. During a conversational discussion on toll-gat.es and the proposed conference, the Chairman said he was for wiping them all out. It was now becoming an impossible system of barbed wire entanglements. But if other people were going to have them he did not, see •why the South Riding should not" have them too, especially if they go in for a big loan to provide first class roads. One gate to catch the Fraser Road traffic <which would then he the main road to Hawera>; one at the junction of the Baylan Road and one at Te Roti would just about suit. —The engineer thought New Zealand should follow the. Yic-1 torians' lead of appointing one road \ board to take charge of all main roads, j They went in for a four millions loan1 there and the Board apportioned out subsidies according to the requirements of each particular locality and toads I tad to be made to their satisfaction. A tax on motor cars brought them in £40,000 a year. j ENGINEER'S REPORT. The Engineer reported as follows: Kaponga Riding Loan. —Rowan road: This road is now remetalled, and is in good order. Kaponga Town Board. —Eltham road: The refacing on this road is completed! to my satisfaction. Mangatoki Riding Loan.—A start! has been made with the crushing and; delivery of metal on this road, and satisfactory progress is being made. J Patea Bridge.—The concrete will be finished in about two more weeks, leaving the stripping, plastering, and j asphalt decking to be done to complete! the bridge. I hope to have it openj ■for traffic by the end of April. | Karewa Road.—Plans for widening i the road and bridge over the Whenua- j kura river are completed, and when I same are approved by the Public Works Office I will call for tenders.

Otakeho Bridge, Kaponga. —Plans for this work are in hand, and a start will be made.as soon as the staff are available. lam afraid that by the time this bridge is completed it will be necessary to rebuild the bridge over the Kaupokonui, as it is getting very shaky and brittle. . ■ Clifford Road and Templer-Street.— Contractor will start delivery of metal next week.

General.—Restar work in Kaponga riding is completed so far as authorised; the men are now at work on the Manaia road for the Kaponga Town Board. Contractor for delivery of >crushed metal for maintenance on various roads will commence delivery on Monday. Delivery of boulders for maintenance is well in hand. lam expecting to hear definitely from the chairman of the Kaponga Town Board re pound proposal, and will then report. SOUTH RIDING LOAN PROPOSALS.

The Engineer submitted the following estimate, of suggested loan for South riding: Skeet Road, li mile.—Boylan road to Waingongoro: 15 yards metal per chain, 1800 at 9s, £810- spreading, blinding, rolling, etc., £150; total £960. .\. Boylan Road, 2\ miles. —Onewhaia road to end of present metal: 15 yards gravel per chain, 2850 at 10s* 6d, £1496; spreading, rolling, etc., £250;—; £1746. End of present metal to Mountain road, 1 mile: 22 yards metal per chain, 1760 at 10s 6d, £924; spreading, rolling, etc., £100;—£1024. Dalziell Road, 170 chains, —Boylan to Stuart roadf 15 yards per chain, 2550 at 9s 6d, £1211; spreading, rolling, etc., £200;—£1411. Rogers, Road, 30 chains. —Dalziell road to railway: 22 yards per chain, 660 at 9s, £297: spreading, rolling. «tc., £53;—£350. Stuart Road, \\ mile.—Mountain foad to railway: 15 yards per chain, 1500 at 10s 6d, £787; spreading, blinding, rolling, etc., £200; culvert, £100; —£1087.

Neill Road, 60 chains.—Clountain road to end of metal: 15 yards per -chain, 900 at 10s, £450; spreading, blinding, rolling, etc., £100;—£550. Mountain Road, 130 chains.—Borough boundary" to end of present metal: 15 yards per chain, 1750 at lls, £962; spreading, blinding, rolling, etc., £200; —£1162. End of present metal to Hawera County boundary, 300 chains: 22 yards per chain, 6600 at 13s, £4290; spreading, blinding, rolling, etc., £500 —£4790.

Campbell Road, 1 mile.—Mangawhero xoad to end of metal: 15 yards per x;hain, 1200 at 12s 6d, £750; spreading, blinding, rolling, etc., £150;—£900. Mangawhero Road, 2 miles (half share). —Borough boundary to MangaTnanga stream: 15 yards per chain, same as-Campbell road, £900. Rotokare Road, 2 miles.—Mountain road to end of metal: Same as Campbell road, £1800.

Fraser Road, 1 mile.—-Kotokare road to end of metal: 15 yards per chain, 1200 at 14s 6d, £870; spreading blinding, rolling, etc., £130:—£1000. End of present metal to Hawera County boundary, 260 chains: 22 yards metal, 5720 at 18s, £5146; spreading, blinding, rolling, etc., £600;—£6746.

Contingencies and first year's interest, £1412. Total estimate, £27,000. By reducing the quantity of metal per chain on the Mountain and Fraser roads, and finishing with tar surface, a saving of- aboxit £4000 could be made. Consideration should be given to providing an overhead bridge at Te Roti at a cost of £600; also a bridge at the junction of the Neill and Stuart roads at the Waingongoro river; Mangatoki has raised a portion. (£350) towards it in the riding bridge loan. The whole of the roads should be treated with tar when completed, 1750 chains at 50s per chain for restar would cost a total of £4375, which would probably require renewal about every tour years. Consideration was deferred.