EGMONT COUNTY COUNCIL.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue LXXIV, 15 May 1918, Page 2

EGMONT COUNTY COUNCIL.

- «-. I MONTHLY MEETING.

The monthly meeting of the Egmont County Council was held yesterday. Present: Crs W. R. Wright (chairman), S. M. Cornish, T. Harrvey, T. H. H. Sinolair, A. J. Rowe, W. O'Brien, A. H. Holder, and R. W. J. McNeill. An apology was received from Cr Green, who was granted leave of absence.

CORRESPONDENCE. The State Advances Department notified payment to the Council's account of £1000 on account of bridge loan No. 2.

The; chairman: The last of the old loan.

The Public Works Department forwarded the authority in connection with the grant of £800, £ for £ basis, in connection with the re-erection of the Punehu bridge.

The D'Lstrict Resident Engineer (Mr H. Sharp) notified that tenders had been invited for the erection of the Heimoana stream bridge, Wiremu road, but none had been received. Tenders were at present being advertised for two formation contracts, and action to be taken in regard to the bridge would have to remain in abeyance until it was known what response there wars to these.

The Taranaki Hospital Board notified that the levy for the current year would be ls 6d in the £100. The Council's annual total contribution would be £1407 14s lOd.

The Resident Engineer notified that the question "of allowing the Council to pay laborers employed on the Punehu bridge at the rate of 13s per day had been submitted to the Minister of Public Works, who stated tnat under the special circumstances he had no objection, provided it was definitely understood that the Council would 'itself pay all the moneys which might be reauired in excess of the £1600 to complete the structure.

INTEREST ON LOANS. A special resolution was passed enabling the interest on eleven loans in the Oeo riding, totalling £388 ls 7d per annum, to be paid out of general revenue instead of out of separate amounts.

COUNTIES' CONFERENCE. ! The secretary of the Taranaki Counties' Conference forwarded copies of resolutions passed at the recent conference of county councils at Eltham regarding the wages question. The chairman explained at length the circumstanes. whicji led to the conference. The Opunake County Council was represented at the conference by Cr Holder and himself. The proposal to rescind the a*esolution passed at the Hawera. conference was lost, Stratford and Opunake dissenting. The question was discussed pretty fully, and finally ifc-was decided, on the motion of the chairman, seconded by Cr McNeill, to withdraw from the conference so far as the wages question was concerned. In the course of the discussion it was remarked by the chairman that it appeared as if somebody had been tryting to make Opunake the scapegoat, .which-, however, was not the case.

QUESTION OF A DAM. A letter was read from the chairman of the Warea Dairy Company in reference to the position that had arisen in connection with the company's dam and the county roads in the locality. It was pointed out by the writer that .there were 'in the factory forty ratepayers belonging' to the Egmont County, who certainly did not wish to injure the roads which they had to pay for. This dam had been in existence for over thirty years. The chairman said he had been considering whether the factory ■ would give the Council an indemnity against damage. It .was agreed to refer the matter to the Coiyicil'is solicitors for advice. ENGINEER'S REPORT. The engineer (Mr Pease) reported as follows: Oeo Biding (Northern)— The riding has been witnout a foreman for a short time, but the nevviy-appoihted foreman (D. Sefton) took charge on April 22. Nothing but ordinary surface work and the cleaning out of the watertables has been done during the month, but the crushing plant has been sent into the iidmg, and has already finished Contract No. 318 on the Opunake-Strat-ford road, near the Auroa road, since the end of the month; 98 yards of metal and 10 yards of screenings were crushed, of which 80 yards of metal and the whole of the screenings were rolled in on the unmetalled portion, about 5 chains in length, and the remainder of the metal was dumped for maintenance. The crusher is now set up at Awatuna, on the Eltham road, where there are about 600 yards to crush for Contract No. 317. As instructed I have examined the upper portion of Kiri road, from the gateway on Mr J. Coupe's section to Mr J. Crofskey's place, about 40 chains further up, and find it to be in a very bad condition in many places. On account of the great number of logs and' stumps on the track and large stones cropping out on the surface, it would be impossible to use machinery for grading, etc., and the work of forming would all have to be done by manual labor. This would cost about £.- per chain (say £80) to make even a summer road without metal and to [form and metal it would probably cost £400. I have arranged with Mr Munro to extend his contract on the Eltham road by 600 yards to enable us to carry on the improvements to a short distance east of the Oeo road. The whole of the boulder stone for the contracts in the riding has been paddocked at the various crushing sites, with the exception of the above recent extension.

Oeo Biding (Southern)— The watertables have been cleaned out on the hills in the Oeo road, also alongside where the new metalling has been done on Contract No. 304, on the Main South road at Oeo. Slight repairs have been done on the Ouri , and iunehu bridges, on the South road Contract No. 304 has been completed the total amount of stone crushed be^ mg 1968 cubic yards, producing 952 yards screenings, in addition to^which 2b yards of pit gravel was used for bmding. All the boulder stone for Contracts Nos. 320 and 323 has been paddocked ready for crushing. It is probable that the work on Contracts Nos. 321 and 322 for about 650 yards pit gravel will have to stand over for some time, as the weather should be fairly settled when this material is laid down, and again the Austin roller cannot be spared as long as the crusher is woi-King on road metal. It is just possible that we shall be compelled to use the Austin crusher for stone for the Punehu bridge at intervals iv which case it may be possible to use the roller for the pit gravel if the weather is favorable.

Opua Riding—Watertables have been chared -out at various places on the

Main South and Eltham roads. A new 12-inch concrete pipe culvert has been put' under the Main South road just south of the Eltham road end. Men have been engaged stripping metal and replacing ifc at the Waiaua hill excavations. Severed new planks have been put in the decking ot the Taungatara bridge on the Soafcn road. lueu have been employed making 12-inch concrete pipes. I wouid recommend that a set of moulds each for 15-inch and 18-inch pipes ba procured, as we have nothing between 12-inch and 24----inch diameter at present. The greater portion of the boulder stone for Contract No. 326 has been paddocked, but nothing has yet been done towards the execution of Contracts Nos. 325 and 328, the contractor having been busy on the Waiaua hill cutting. As instructed I h/ive examined the bridge over the Heimama river, on the Main South road, and find that the timbers seem to be in a fairly sound condition, but the ironwork is badly rusted, and the tension bolts of the trusses are fast corroding away and becoming dangerous through weakness. The bridge is of >a light construction and built mostly of totara, which becomes very brittle with age, and it is almost impossible to tell the exact period when it becomes useless for weight carrying. ' A weaker bridge than this at the pre- | sent time is the one over the Oaoiti river, by the Oaonui factory. / [ Opunake Riding —The excavations at the Waiaua hill have been completed; ! any batter that the banks of the cutj ting may require should be left to be' done by the surfacemen as they require ! clay binding. This is good material, I and there is a scarcity of it from this ' point northwards.

■Bridges—Work has been commence-.' at the Punenu bridge, Eltham road, the toreman and a carpenter from Auckland have erected a cement shed, etc., and three laborers whom the fore-, man engaged in Auckland will arrive this morning and start on the work of excavating for the centre pier. Tools have been procured, cement is on order, and tenders are being called for the supply of sand, shingle and crushed metal for concrete. Tents have been provided for the men, and I have procured a large special proofed, to roof in the whole of any pier or abutment so that the men 'can work during rainy weather. I would suggest that a committee be appointed to deal with the tenders for shingle, etc. at noon on the 22nd inst.

General —Twenty-eight occupiers have been served with notices to trim and lower fences that obstruct the view of various roads; some of these have been complied with. Tenders are submitted for 200 yards of crushed river bed boulder stone on the Patiki road at the liailway Reserve. With reference to the clause dealing with the 40 chains on the Kiri road, it was decided to leave tho matter in the* m£ s of Cr Holder to see Mr Crofskey. The other clauses were adopted. GENERAL.

j The question of the purchase of a I movable whare was left in the hands of the engineer, with power to act. An application was received from the engineer for a motor car, and it was decided to defer consideration until the next ordinary meeting The tender of E. R. Madgwick was accepted for the delivery of boulders on the Patiki road, the price being 7s od per yard. Tne chairman, Crs Cornish and Sinclair were appointed a sub-committee to- go through the accounts before each meeting. T;HE WAITOTOROA BRIDGE. A letter was laid on the table from foreman White to the engineer re- ' gretting that ther c had been any 'comPt aiJ_tf -i n regard to the workmen at the Waitotara bridge. He pointed out that every man's time was fully occupied on the works, and that there was no occasion for the complaints. He had been unable to obtain another dray but would do so as soon as possible lhe letter provoked^a good deai ot discussion The chairman said that he had complained to Foreman White in regard to th e slow- progress of the work and the method of working, details of which he gave to the Council. On the occasion of his visit he saw five men hllmg a little spring dray. Surely the foreman could have procured another dray so as to hav c expedited the work ile contended ifc was one of the most disgraceful jobs carried out by the Council.

A Councillor: Why i s the engineer not looking after this job ? Cr. O'Brien said it seemed as if there was conflict between the foreman and a responsible person. H e thought the matter ought to be enquired into The Chairman: I asked the engineer to measure up the earthwork. The engineer supplied particulars of the earthwork carried out—249 cubic yards of filling at £33 18s 9d, which worked out at 2s B£d per yard The job included a good deal of heavy quarrying and excavating work. The chairman suggested that a committee should inspect th' c work to sco

whether there had been efficiency anc. economy in connection w rith it. The discussion eventually fizzled out without any resolution being carried.

FINANCIAL MATTERS. The clerk brought under the notice of tile Council a circular referring to the Government Gazette regulations dealing with, the restriction of expenditure during the war. The Chairman: How do you think these regulations will affect the, Punehu bridge? j Tne clerk replied that it was doubtI ful whether the Council could go on with, the work. Cr. McNeill suggested that the clerk should communicate with the Govern-' ment in regard to the Council's position in the matter as affected by the regulations. Cr. Rowe enquired whetner tlie cost of the work could not be reduced below £3000, so as to fit in with the regulations. The chairman said he was as anxious as anyone to see the Avork proceeded with, but the loan had not been finally sanctioned, and what was the use of starting the work until they had got "the sinews of war.'' Councillors had to realise the seriousness of the position. Cr. McNeill moved in the direction that the clerk communicate with the Government by telegraph, ascertaining 1 the Council's position, and, if necessary, I permission to proceed with the work ' under the regulations just issued. Cr. O'Brien seconded. The chairman questioned that under the present circumstances whether it would be wise to go in for anything other than necessary repair work. It would be a hazardous policy to go in for anything beyond that. Cr. O'Brien pointed out that if this were adopted the Council's work would be at a standstill. If the Council could not obtain, the money for the bridge from the Government it would have to make private arrangements to do so. Cr. Harvey agreed with the chairman that nothing could be done until the Council had obtained further information from the authorities as to whether the loans could be obtained or not, and as to whether they could spend the amount required to build the bridge. I The Chairman: Don't imagine that 1 want to block the bridge. But I do advise the Council not to do anything hastily. We have no assurance at the present moment that we will get the money. The Clerk: The inference is that we will get the money, but there is no absolute certainty that we will get it. The chairman mentioned that he and Cr. Holder had had a conversation with the member for the district in regard to finance, and Mr Wilkinson had impressed upon them the necessity for extreme caution. The motion, that the clerk should communicate with the Government on the matter, was "carried.