PATEA COUNTY COUNCIL.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue LXXIV, 14 May 1918, Page 2

PATEA COUNTY COUNCIL.

MONTHLY MEETING

The usual monthly meeting of the Council was held yesterday, when there were present: Crs G. V. Pearce, M.P. (chairman), Belton, Dickie, Gibbsj Cave, Taylor, Hurley, Greager and McGregor. '

COUNTIES' CONFERENCE,

The chairman briefly referred to an invitation received by him to attend a conference recently held at Eltham, but it appeared to him from information he had received that the whole matter was really a dispute between the Eltham County Council and its men. At a previous conference certain conditions were agreed to, and he trusted all the counties concerned were adhering to them. At the recent conference apparently all they did was to agree to stand by the resolution they had previously adopted; and that, of course, was the proper thing to do. Cr Belton pointed out that under existing arrangements it was left with the chairman of the Eltham County Council to call conferenes. H esuggested that, in place of that, it should be left with an executive composed of the chairmen of the several counties to deal with, matters that may arise from time to time. Reference was made in the circular letter received from the Eltham conference as to the position of tar supplies, and suggesting that consideration should be given to joint action by the various local bodies in the matter of securing supplies. It was understood that practically all the present output -of New Zealand tar was being secured by one company, and this might be prejudicial to local bodies. After some further discussion, it was resolved that the chairman represent the Patea County Council at future county conferences. It was also under, stood that at the next conference a re^commeindatiioii would be made that the chairman of the various counties should be an executive.

CAPE DAISY. A communication was received from the Agricultural Department stating that Cape daisy was already included in the third schedule of the Noxious Weeds Act. On the motion of Cr Greager, it was resolved that a special resolution be passed declaring Cape daisy a noxious weed in the : Patea County under the second schedule of the Act. As an indication of the danger of this weed, it was mentioned that at the Kowhai Park at Wanganui (formerly an accommodation paddock) cauliflower \raa planted after a crop of potatoes, but the Cape weed had come so thickly that it smothered the cauliflower, and they would now have to plough in the latter to get rid of the Cape daisy.

BALL ROAD TRACK AND BRIDGE. A communication was received from the Public Works Department notifying that arrangements had been made to repair th© Ball road bridge. In regard to the hill track the Department ■enclosed a copy of a" letter received from Mr W. W. Davey. H© pointed out that this track was blocked by slips, and at present was quite impassabki. Some. members of the Council had informed him,that the Council refused to do any work on the track until it was made 12ft wide. The Department pointed out that this road was declared a county road in 1917, and it was-.left in proper repair when handed over. The Council drew rates from these-sections, and it was reasonable that these should be expended for,the benefit of.settless. The engineer was authorised to expend up to. £20 on this track either in the way or by day labor, as he decides to be most expedient. WINTER TRAFFIC IN THE WAIV *-h TQTARA. ~ . . ■■■■■<; -*;' Upon the motion to ■confirm the resolution limiting the cartage of certain classes of goods over the Waitotara Valley road during the winter months, passed at the March meeting of the Council, Cr Belton moved to amend the resolution inf" the direction of limiting the amount chaff that may be carried on any one trip to half a ton, oats to two sacks, and fencing wire to 5 cwt. In doing so, he remarked that it had been rumored that this resolution was aimed at the Kapara riding, but this was not so. It concerned settlers in the Moumahaki also, and was designed to prevent this road from again getting into an impassable state due to heavy winter traffic. Settlers in his riding were quite prepared to ob- i serve the by-law, and he«was satisfied ! that if it were given a fair trial it would assist the whole district. Cr Cave seconded.

Cr Greager urged the Council to hold this motion over for a year. The backblock settlers had plenty of. hardships to face without imposing these resolutions on them at such short notice. If they had a year's notice they could then make proper, provision, but "they could not do so at such short notice. The chairman agreed that it would be wise to restrict traffic on this road during winter, but, as he previously said, the resolution appeared to be crude. If they permitted half a ton of one article, why not allow half a ton of another? It was only the limiting of weight that they were concerned with, and he favored allowing any of the articles specified to be carried provided they did not exceed a total of half a ton on any one trip. So far as building timber was concerned, he did not think that any settler would consider building a house if he could only cart up half a ton of timber at a trip Wool packs should be exempt, because it was not always possible to buy them just when required, and settlers must be sure of their supplies of them He understood, also, that the Council had accepted a contract for building a the Makakaho bridge this winter, it dy-law were now passed it would place | theOouncil in an awkward position. Ihe engineer remarked that this bridge certainly should be rebuilt during the winter, and the timber had been ordered locally at something like bs per 100 feet in advance of Australian timber in order that this could oei done. This timber was due at Waitotara immediately. +wr ,? elton > in his reply, pointed out that the reason for the discrimination m His motion in the various classes of goods specified was to induce settlers to cart in supplies that could readily be anticipated during the summer months. Some people would never anticipate their requirements as they should do, but would continue to use the roads until they were impassable, me limitations were designed to meet casual requirements only. Upon a division Cr Belton's amendment was carried. The chairman moved a further amendment providing for a general restriction .to a weight not fc exceedin°Red a °f any"of the ods si*^ This amendment was lost. . In reply to <Cr Taylor, the chairman said that the resolution did not restrict the total load to half a ton. That was decided by the ; heavy traffic by-laws i

I carrier or settler .could load to the I amount specified on partially prohibited | goods, but he could then make up his full load with goods that were not nroliibited. X Or breager moved a further amendment to exclude horse feed and wool packs from the prohibited list. The chairman could not accent this as an amendment in view of the Resolution just passed. Cr Greager would be within his rights in moving that the quantities of these articles allowed to be carried be increased. Cr Greager thereupon moved that the I quantities of horse feed and wo_ol packs I permitted to be carried be increased to *? ° *ons' •He did so iv tlie kor)e that the Council would see its way to defer the operation of the resolution till next season. If the Kapara people were debarred from carting the timber up for the Makakahau bridge- this winter, it would cost them som§ hundreds of pounds, and if the Council now passed this by-law they must abide by it; they could not be the first to break it. There was no seconder to this amendment, which therefore lapsed. The motion for the confirmation of the resolution as amended was carried *y t<?n 3- The voting was as follows: Ayes—The chairman, Crs Belton, Cave, | ihckie, Hurley and McGregor. Noes— Ors Gibbs, Taylor and Greager. The chairman then moved that the by-law come into operation on July 1. This would give the settlers a little I more time, and would enable the' ! oridgo timber to be got up. Seconded by Cr Belton and carried. ENGINEER'S REPORT. The engineer reported as follows:— Mam Koad—Metal has been arriving steadily since last meeting at th e Mo- ! koia railway station, 437 tons being I booked to date. The metal arrived in , big consignments, and it v,a s noce^rv to dump a large proportion in the station yard. The contractor hat. been | carting out steadily all the mar.rh. and j will nnish next week. The toller being ; available, two weeks ago a stait was made with the laying of this xaetai arrangements being made ,vith the conI tractor to deliver the metal on to the road at the top of the hill. About Vj (chains have been metalled, and I exI pect to get this tarred about Wednesday next. It was found impossible to | get the road roller to roll the metal on this hill, and I have been obliged to convert the roller into a traction to get the metal put down. I may say that in every instance that the roller ; na s J>een used on a cutting, similar ; trouble has been experienced. I expect !to get good results rolling with the t traction, though it may be necessary to I put the roller wheels on to finish after the first tarring. It was necessary to spend a day in getting the traction wheel bored to attach the scarifier stay, no provision, having been made for this, but m future about a day's work will change the wheels, if required. The metalling and tarring along Verry's frontage was completed ten days after last meeting, the delay being through restar not arriving, and the broken weather. An additional eight chains at the top of the Waitotara hill was reraced and tarred, and 15 chains of metal was tar-sealed, thus extending this length to nearly a mile Forty chains ot metal at this end was scarified up re-shaped, and rolled down, and a few chains of shellrpck laid on the Wairra m1! 1 ' while waiting for tar supplies The tarring plant then shifted to VVhenuakura, and a start made with the tarring fronting Honeyfield's, the roller going on to the Manawapou. The tar gang have been, very short handed, as three men left the work at the end ot April,, but good progress has been made considering the men employed, lhe tar-sealing at Honeyfield's was ex tended 20 chains, as the road was fairly good, making this length up to 80 ! chains. Th c deck of the Patea bridge has been tarred, two coats being put on and blinded with chips, as ther c was no chance of putting on the tar and chips mixture, at first proposed. The tarring or the short lengths at the borough boundary Gilligan's corner, and at Fairweather's hill, will be completed to-day, and the tar plant will then go to the Manawapou to tar and metal there, lhe restar for the sealing work as far as Ball road, is being supplied, and this work will be earned on at the end of this week. It i s doubtful if further tar work will be possible after the above 13 completed. Surfaceman Wills Whenuakura. commenced work at the beginning of the month. Nothing fur ther has been done in connection with the crushing of the Manutahi metal, though lebbutt is endeavoring to arrange tor the crushing plant and englv? A° n?° me througb. In company with Cr. Taylor, a spring dray a t Ohangaa was inspected and this was purchased, including harness, for £18, for use by the surfaceman on the Main road. The dray and harness are both ! m good order. i

Patea "West District—The metalling ™3h Pea ACabis ns was com Pleted last month and a few yards of metal supplied for repairs, as, the filling settles lhe men by mistake left just over a 0^ 1116^1 below Back's gate, and Mr Washer has asked that this he allowed to remain; the length agreed on was half a chain. A. Ireland is now driving the Ball road team, and has been grading on the Clifford and Hurley road. The metal on Clifford road has been put down, about 25 chains be ing spread. I arranged with the s&C tiers interested to assist the roadmen in doing this work, and th c work should now be completed. In company with Cr Gibbs the settlers on the Hurley road agreed to carry out the proposal of last meeting to cart and spread the metal from the Hurleyville Hall to the work In addition to thi s they have assisted m putting in a big filling and the hill before metalling supplying the teams for the scoops and working same, a very great improvement being made at this place The metal has been carted on and spread nine cham s being metalled, about 100

j'yards of metal being taken from . t!ie ! Ball road supply. -The extra two chains \vere necessary to make a satisfactory job' after the filling was put in. The grading on the Hurley road will be com_ i pleted this week, and the grading and scooping on the. Kaiwaiti and Vv iiford roads will then be carried on. I have not been able.to. go into the Kakaramea road improvement so far. Mr Tonks had offered to refund the amount of his account, £10, for horse hire if the Council will subsidise this sun?, £ for £ for. the Manutahi road east; this means supplying an additional 20 yards of metal for this road. [Agreed that £20 be spent on this road accordingly.] I went over the Ball road track last week, and this is badly blocked in five places, and I estimate will take from £16 to £18' to clear the slips. Except for the slips the track is in fair order, but is now quite impassable. I understand that the settlers are prepared to clear the'track, and suggest letting the work for a lump sum to them.

Patea East District.—The regi-ading of the Qpaku road lower was put in hand early this month, the two scoopß being engaged for five days levelling the road for the metalling, and a good job has been made. Mr Back assisted with the work, Locker's team being engaged =for the work, A. Wills and Locker driving. Mr Back has since graded the Wilson road from the top of .the hill to the junction with the Kaharoa road, the team and labor being supplied by the settlers. This work is not quite completed, and two days 3 scooping is required to make a good job of ,this road, but as the scoops were urgently wanted at Waverky they had to be sent back last week. Surface work has been.carried out by Baldock on the Kaharoa road and Upper Maben road. Two wash-outs occurred on the Lower Maben road valley, near the end of the road formation. Temporary croesiiigs have been put in by the settlers in that locality and the road opened for wheel traffic. I hope to make arrangements to do the work at Broughton when the scoops are available, as Turner is unable to do the work at the present time. Some improvement is necessary on the Wilson road, from Mr Hicks' to the foot of the hill. The ditch on this road has been cleaned out.

Waverley Riding.—The metalling on the Kohi gorge is now completed, 276 cubic yards being carted out and spread on the gorge. If the weather holds I expect to get 20 yards supplied for patching on the Kohi (Watkins) hill. The metal from East Town for the Waverley roads is now arriving, the trucks being", available an the Ist inst. An attempt was made to cart out the metal for the deviation cutting, but owing to the wet this had to be abandoned, and- the metalline; at the foot of the Tower hill was put down, about four chains being metalled. Another start with the deviation metal will be made to-day, and, weather permitting, this will be completed in three weeks. A day's carting was put down on the Waverley Station road (lower) to keep the teams employed. Ruddick's teams are engaged in this work. The grader team has been 'working on Tower hill, Mangatangi and Okutuku roads from 22nd April to Wednesday last, and a considerable amount of work has been done, several fillings being put in, and the bulk of the road graded and overhauled for about three miles. It was necessary to shift this gang on to the Waverley Station road to prepare the road for metalling near Johnston's, two fillings being necessary to raise the road at this place. The upper end of the cutting at Johnston's is bein- lowered about three feet, the material being required for the filling just beyond. Owing to this work beino- urgent, the grading of the deviation cuttings at the dam was held over until the above was f finished. The road from the foot of-the Tower hill to the Town Board boundary needs grading, having several bad holes in it at present. The wet weather caused a good deal of damage to> the back roads of this riding. Cox carrying out urgent repairs as far as the Nukufcau junction. Walsh has been off the Mataimoana road for two weeks last month,' but has recently returned to work, and has two men working; with him

Moumahaki Riding.—The carting out of .the shell rock from Nicholson's and Verry's pit was completed last month, .412 yards being taken out of Nicholson's pit and 98 yards from Verry's pit. with Ruddick's teams. These pits are now.cleaned up, and a lot of stripping will be required to obtain any quantity of .shellroeh from either pit. The question of fencing the pits has j ibeen mentioned by. one o f the occupiers of the land on which the pi£s are ! located. [As the Public Trustee allowed Ms lessees.half .the royalty, which was tantamount to surface damage, the Council could not recognise any liability in regard to .fencing.] Owing to the wet weather it was not possible to get the metal carted on to the, block roads, and the teams were required for the metal carting.:At Waverley. The grader : team completed the.filling^at Aitken's, andl re-graded the road.out to theMoumahaki station, and also the W&iau .road, from .the junction. The.claying of Strawan's road was also completed so far as svas possible with the scoops, and the grader than shifted to the Waverley work. This gang have got I over a lot of work with the scoops and i grader last month, havins: worked nine hours per day and all Saturday to put the work through. The Waikare surfaceman left after last meeting, arid so far I have been unable ix> replace him. The settlers in that locality are asking for some improvement, and the Lakes surfaceman 'has done what was possible to improve matters. The Lakes surfaceman lias done what was possible to improve matters. The Lakes surfaceman % doing good worts on the Hill and theTalley road. I expect to be getting metal East Town for the work near the Moumahaki station, anfl have to ask the quantity to he supplied on the Okutu'ku roa<l at Aitken's and Morrison's corner.

BELMONT AND OTHER METAL. Arising out of a request from the 'Patea Borough Council for the county to secure for them a few yards of Belmont chips, the chairman remarked that :he was satisfied one load of Belmont metal was worth two of any other class. Now that the Hawera borough was not using such quantities of chips it might be possible for the county to secure more, and he was satisfied that for- tar. ring purposes it would be economy to do soCr. Gibbs remarked, that until the Belmont metal came on the market he was satisfied that the Manutahi beach metal was the very best they could get, and he was sure the Council did a wise thing in securing the supplies it arrang_ «d for at last meeting, from this beach. MAIN ROAD ESTIMATES. The chairman incidentally remarked that the estimates they had been in the' habit of making at the beginning of each season for Mam road expenditure were misleading, because they invariably found that they spend £2000 or £300 in excess of their estimates. This automatically reduced the cr. balances of the ridings, because the balance not spent on the. Main road was available for the ridings. In future they should endeavor to estimate the amount of money that would be available for tht ■ Main road and then keep, within that figure.