PATEA COUNTY COUNCIL.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXII, Issue LXXII, 13 February 1917, Page 4

PATEA COUNTY COUNCIL.

MONTHLY MEETING

■ The monthly meeting of the Patea County Council was held on Monday. Present: Crs W. G. Belton (in the chair), C. C. Dickie, J.Gibbs, W. A. Spicer, A. SymeSj H. Greager, and J. Taylor. Leave--of ■'absence-"-was granted to the chairman (Cr G. V.'Bearce). GOVERNMENT GRANTS. A circular was received' from the Waiapu County Council asking the cooperation of county councils-' throughout the Dominion to bring about the abolition of the system of Government giants for roads now in operation, and to have the present system substituted for some system more acceptable to local bodies and' country settlers generally: The chairman said it seemed as if the Waiapu local body were really asking for an increased subsidy. The matter was of more interest to back-block localities, and'he thought\the County Council should leave the matter alone. It was a very big question, and personally he did not think"- the Patea County Council had reason to com.plain in regard to its treatment <so far as road grants op subsidies were concerned. He moved that the circular be received and lie on the table. ; This was seconded by Cr Gibbs and carried. HYDRO-ELECTRIC SCHEME. , A 1 circular was received' from the Wanganui Chamber of Commerce inviting the Cqnncil to appoint a delegate to . attend a conference at Wanganui on March 7 to consider the question of at .once increasing and' husbanding the resources of the Dominion by utilising the waste water power in the genera-tion-of "electricity. It'was a question that vitally affected' the - Dominion, and this had' been recognised by the Government. Already one highly successful "hydro-electric scheme had been inaugurated by the Government in Canterbury., and' others were in contemplation for other parts of the Do■•'jninion. So far nothing had 1 been done in this direction in the North Island. The chairman said" the conference could very well have the support of the County Councilj. although he did not think' it could give an estimate of the cost of a scheme for this district. Cr Symes moved1 that the engineer be asked to represent the Council at the conference. Cr Greager: It will give him a holiday. (Laughter.) I will second the proposition. The motion was carried. MINISTERIAL INTERVIEWS. A communication was read from the Resident Engineer, Public Works Department, asking that in the event of a deputation proceeding to Wellington to interview the Minister in connection with works in which it may be interested it \vas| desired; if possible, that the deputation should at first interview him before approaching the Minister, thereby expediting matters. The clerk (Mr E. C. Homer) said two members of the Council two months ago had interviewed the Resident Engineer, and1 he took it that the communication, was meant as a guide in regard to future deputations No action was taken.

WAVERLEY TOWN DISTRICT. > The Department of Internal Affairs forwarded for the information of the County Council an- extract ' from the New Zealand Gazette containing the notice calling for objections to the proposed alteration of the Waverley town district. After an informal discussion Cr Dickie.moved tHa.t the Council enter a protest against' the proposed alterations of the boundaries of the "Waverley town district. • • - This was seconded by Cr Svmes and carried. >* '* ' ■ WAR MATTERS. A circular was received from the ; Petone Borough Council asking (1) that the pay of men in the Expeditionary Force be increased to ]0s a day. and ■(2) that all wealth should be conscripted. i The chairman: If any of you have Socialistic tendencies here's your chance to air your views. (Laughter.) Me • moved that the Tetter be received. , Seconded' by Cr Greager and carried. STOCK RESERVE. The Department of Lands and Survey wrote that Section 17, Block 1, JNukumaru, had not been gazetted as a stock reserve, and was Crown land. . It could not therefore be vested in the County Council. In any case, even if it were gazetted, it was not the prac--1 tice of the Department to vest the fee simple of reserves in a local body In certain cases where it was deemed expedient the control of the reserves was vested in the local body. On the motion of Crs Greager and bpicer it was decided to apply to the Department to have the control of the section vested in the County Council. MAKAKAHO ROAD. IL A communication was received from the Pubhc Works Department forwarding a copy of an Order-in-Council declaring a portion of the Makakaho ; road to be a county road in terms of frLt- ec\\°.. n3 of section 103 of the Public Works Act, 1908. SUBSIDY RECEIVED. The Valuation Department forwarded voucher for £1311, an advance on account of subsidy due to the Council. GENERAL. It was decided, on the motion of Crs bpicer and Greager, that the engineer make arrangements with the settlers interested to spend the amount of thirds available on the Omata road so as to improve it. Mr J. Wil&on, representing Mr J. r. l<itzgera»d, motor importer, Wellington, waited upon the Council with reference to the Council purchasing a motor lorry. ° ~ The Council did nos commit itself to the purchase of the lorry, but decided that a committee, consisting of Crs Dickie, Greager. the chairman and the engineer, shduid inspect the lorry and nave a practical demonstration of the capabilities of the vehicle at Wano-a--nm, the committee to report to the Council at the next meeting. It was decided that the question of fencing in the stock reserve at i\Vamatapouri be left in the hands of "c r Greager. It was resolved that a defaulting ratepayer at Waitotara'be sued for rates outstanding. It vvas decided to procure a low-set aray tor carting screenings, etc An connection with the tar-sealing work'in j The tender of T. A. Turner, for claying the Opaku road, at Is 2d per yard, was accepted. On the motion of Cr Gibbs, it was decided to authorise the engineer to make an even width through Tripe's cutting. ENGINEER'S REPORT. The engineer reported as follows: Mam South Road.—The work of laying down the metal with tar at Kakaramea was delayed for about a week after last meeting for various reasons, and a .start was made on the 19th inst., and about 22 chains of road were tar-grouted and two short lengths of tar-sealing were completed. The length through the Kakaramea township, 16 i chains, ma-dc a very good job, but the piece on the cutting near the waterfcoje ;$ not so satisfactory, chiefly ow-

ing to the roller breaking throijgb the road, which left a rough surface. This 1 will hare improved when the work is started again next week. During this work several delays were caused owing to the tar not coming to hand regularly. As the horse broom had not arrived when the grouting work was completed, and the Main road above Ball road was in very bad order it was decided to overhaul the Maiii road until the broom came to hand. Good results were obtained by raking the loose metal on to the forma tioii^ and, after steady rolling, blinding with clay. This work was completed oil Wednesday last, and then the Manutahi gorge cutting, south side, which had broken through in several places, was patched, 30 yards of metal being ogtained from Eltham for this purpose. This work was very necessary, and as the gang was available I thought it advisable to do the.work. This is now nearly completed. This cutting is very bare of metal, and the roller was stuck on two occasions while scarifying, and the attempt to use the roller for this. . purpose was abandoned. lam pleased to say that the horse broom came to hand on Saturday last, and the tar work will be continued on Wednesday next. I have arranged for two extra - drays for the sealing work as I find that four drays are necessary to keep the sprayer working. A 400-gallon tank was obtained for heating tar hi should it be necessary to get same in tins, shortage' of'• drums' causing the former delay. Mr Wilcox was appointed to the position of surfaceman at Kakarainea, and has been working with the roller since January 24. Sometrouble has been experienced in getting suitable shingle for the tar work. Mr Wills, jun., has been claying the road between Patea and the Wnenuakura during the past fortnight, this length having broken up badly. Pankhursfc has attended to^ the lower length, which is in fair ortler. Some small repairs are required at the cottage at Upaku road, the brickwork 6f the copper having broken away, etc. Quotations, for drays are to hand from Messrs Hunger and McCarty. . ' Patea W'ejjt District.—Maintenance work only has been carried out on tiio roads in this district, Mr Hoidway removing stones and claying the Bail road near the station and a. portion of the Gentle Annie cutting, the Making; gorge cutting, and the Kakaramea st^J tion road.. Ine upper end of Jiall roatF is very rough and will be attended to. Mr iioldway has given up his work as surfaceman iii this district, and i have arranged with i>. Amon to take his place. Mr Ginger has asked tiiat the road to his property be improved. Patea East District.—The clay work hi hand at Turner's cutting is about finished, and a start was made with the grading on the Opaku road on the 2nd inst and good progress was being. ! made on this arid the upper end of the Otauto road, but a breakdown on Friday last stopped the work. The team went for the Waitotara Valley grader and the other will be repaired. Tenders have been invited for claying the Opaku road, and this should be dope for Is 2d per yard. ! Tripe's Chitting.—l "have prepared plans of the deviation at Tripe's cutting, allowing for a 20ft road for a distance of 18 chains, with a grade of 1 in 15. I find, on taking out the quantities, that there is about 1000 cubic yards more filling than the ex^ cavation totals, so that it will be pos-" sible to provide a greater width in the cuttings with very little more expense than if the filling was taken from the nearest point to the work. My estimate for this work is £300, including metalling. Manutahi Gorge Deviation.—Planshave been prepared for the proposed deviation at the Manutahi gorge, allowing^for a 24ft road practically straight for*a distance of seven chains acros^ from vthe elbow to the south side, allow^ ing for a 24ft road and a grade of 1 in 14. This work is a very heavy fill- , ing, over 26ft in depth, and 8684 'cubic ; yards of filling, will be required,: and the culvert will have to be at least 90ft long, as, owing to "the siding, it is not possible to put the culvert in on a much higher level than at present. My estimate for this work is £620, iacltidirig metal. * The report was adopted.