ELTHAM COUNTY COUNCIL

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XXXXI, Issue XXXXXI, 14 June 1920, Page 5

ELTHAM COUNTY COUNCIL

MONTHLY MEETING

_The monthly meeting of the Ethan* County Council was' held on Saturday Present :Crs C, J. Belcher (chairman)* !A" AM™ in r? m>c A; Campbell, J. Gif! & rd > W. H. Smith. A. Meseana, W. M. Barker, W. E. Carter, and MeOrumness.. , . -- CORRESPONDENCE. The Hawera County Council wrote consenting to the Eltham Council having control of the half of Fraser road where this road constitutes the boundary between the two couht.es. Cr Campbell: The resolution will not cover what 1 wanted. It gives us no power to put metal on the road, but an assurance has been given that w& will get that power. Mr Tosswill (engineer) said they wanted to. be sure that the Hawera County Council would be responsible tor half the metal on their portion Cr Campbell: The Eltham Council should apply for permission to metal their own half, thus freeing themselves from any responsibility in regard to the other half.

A resolution was passed, on the motion of Cr Campbell, along theee lines • if Ji. Revell wr«te stating that what might have been a very serious accident occurred at Chiselhursi on th» Monday' previous to June 8 through, the carelessness of the driver of one of the Council's lorries. Mrs Revell was sitting in the gig on the side of the road ; when the lorry appeared ia sight, frightening the horaeand cansit to get almost out of control. Although she asked the lorry driver to pull up he came on and collided with the gig, bi*dly smashing on© of the. wings. The Council was asked to pay the cost of repairs. Mr Tosswill said it was not true that the lorry driver was asked to stop. The driver had got well to the side of tKe ' road in passing, and was nearly bogged. He pulled up when he passed, and dSdx what he could to assist. Cr Messana pointed out that it was the duty of the driver of the motor lorry to stop when he saw that the horse was restless. They wanted to be careful, or they might find, come day that they were involved in a heavy liability. It was stated that it would be diffi--' cult to hear the driver of the, gig call ■ out. owing to the noise the lorry would make.

On the motion cf Cr Campbell, it was left with the chairman to interview the driver and make other enquiries. :

Mr J. R. James, Riverlea, wrote complaining at the unfairness of charging him an additional 10 per cent, on overdue rates. He was, he stated, a returned soldier, having seen three and a half years' service. He had been wounded and ga66ed, and continued to suffer from his complaint. The rates were only about a month overdue. It was stated that the man had sold his farm and had made £20 an acre on it. •

On the motion of Cr McWilliamj it < was left with Cr Barker to interview Mr James and explain why the Council . could not set aside its rule.,

The of Internal Affairs intimated that a commission had been appointed, consisting "of Mr Lachlan bain Campbell, district engineer for the Public Works Department, to hold an enquiry respecting the Taranafct County vehicles licensing by-law, 1919.: —Received.' , ' ■■ ii -"'£s£&.■.." ■.■:■ Applications for renewals /of slaugh-ter-house licenses were granted to Walter Clarry and Albert Frank Cuff. : The Minister for Public Works wrote. stating that he was obtaining a report on the Mount Egmont on receipt of wMch hGt wbuid be in a better position to speak on the matter. Mr 0. Hawken, writing on the same subject, stated that he had been pressing the matter on the attention of the Minister, and would write him again. The Hawera County Council wrote • asking if the Eltham County Council was prepared to join with other local bodies in taking a fixed quantity of metal for one year from the Mount Egmont quarries.

Mr Tosswill said they wanted 20,000 yards for the South riding alone. The Clerk, in reply to a councillor, said they had named but not guaranteed 8000 cubic yards as the quantity they would require. The correspondence was received. * The Town.Clerk, Eltham, notified that instructions had been issued to the-gas works manager to have a lamp placed at Waingongoro bridge: at the earliest opportunity.—Received. The Auckland Railway Development League wrote forwarding a petition favoring a fairer proportion of public works expenditure in the North Island.

The chairman favored supporting the petition. They wanted the Main Trunk line through, as it would open up coal deposits. ■

The Council decided to give the petition its support. The District Engineer notified that an authority for £475 (£ for .£) had been issued to the Council for the destruction of portions of the Mangawheroiti bridge, damaged by flgod. The authority .r.as givea on condition that certain alterations were carried out, namely, the splicing of the girder rods and the carrying down of the foundations at least two feet tinder the bed of the river. Mr Tosswill said the conditions were being complied with, and the letter was received. . The Hawera Borough Council forwarded for endorsement a resolution favoring the removal of the duty on. children's footwear. ' Cr Campbell: If you take off the duty it will mean more taxation, for the farmos*. . The chairman moved that the Council support the resolution. This-was carried. Resolutions were received from the Bay of Islands County Council urging that the Prime Minister be asked to .introduce legislation this session (a) giving local bodies full power to enforce the payment of rates by Maoris^ and (b) providing for payment of native rates by -the General Government. On the motion of Cr Campbell it was decided to support the resolutions. The chairman: I wish they would show us hqw to collect them. j A resolution was received from the j Stratford County Council favoring j steps being* taken by the Government i to make Saturday afternoon a univer- ! sal half-holiday. | Cr Smith: I am opposed to. that. | Saturday may not suit the country people. No action, was taken. A copy of a resolution was received from the Pahintua County Council, drawing the attention of the Prime Minister to the unsatisfactory wording of the Housing Act, in that it did not make provision for the purchase of land to erect dwellings or of buildings. already erected, and that he be aeked? to have tin- Act amended and altered m that direction.—lt was decided, on j the motion Cr Messana, to support , the resolution. . ' ~ , | ENGINEER'S REPORT. t The engineer reported as follows:*. South Riding—On the Boylan roaft the work of repairing was continued^ and a further length, of about 32 chains was completed. The portion o£

the road between Dalziel and Mountain roads has been cosed for traffic while the work is iii progress. A length of 10 chains on Dalziel troad has also been refaoed, and general repair work has been carried out on the remaining portoii of this ro..d, as wJI as on Stuart road. Warning not ces have been■ erected 'at the approaches t« the Te Roti school as instru.ted, and danger signals on the Mountain road at junction of Rotokare .red, which had been tampered with, were re-erected." Channeling and metal patching was also carried out on' Fraser and Rotokare roads.

Manga tqki Riding—The Mangatoki stream bridge on Skeet road has become unsafe for any but the lightest traffic, and temporary .repairs are being carried out by the Hawera CourJty Council. This will only prolong the usefulness of the bridge for a very limited period, and this bridge as well as the Waingongoro bridge on the same road will shortly require replacing by more permanent structures in reinforced concrete, and this Council's share of cost of same will require consideration. Patching aril repairs to metal on Palmer road have been carred out, and warning signals ap*proaching Mangatoki school have been erected as well as a finger post at junction of Hastings and Eltham roads.

Omona Ridings—The bad weatherexperienced during the month has caused the usual damage to roads in this riding, and the wdrk of removing slius. fallen trees, and widening out portions of the road where underslips had occurred^ has been continuous. The . Hawhitiroa road is aga, n open for wheel traffic to Moeroa. Timber for repairing the Whenuakwra nver suspension bridge is being d«Lvered, but, owing to the difficult.es of delivering bridge timber along unmetalled roads at ths time of\the year, as well as scarcity of labor, it may be some time before the work can be completed.

Kaponga Riding —Low places alcngside the tarred crust of the Eitbam road have been: banked up, and intakes and outlets of several culverts have been cleaned, and the work of filling in the. approaches^ to the new Mangawhe,ro~iti bridge has been carried as far as possible uniil the recessary metal for completing same has been delivered. The bridge is now complete, the work of erection having been canved out by Mr Cave ma very satisfactory manner.. The ortly work now remaining is the metalling of the approaches and roadway, and with this completed the bridge will be .ready for traffic any time after the end of July. The hut erected for use of workmen-, during bu'ldftig has been disposed of to the Stratford County Council and a portion of the timber used for false work to Mr Cave. The balance of the timber, consisting of 2in planks suitable for culverts, as well as some reinforc'ng steel that w*s over, has been returned to the depot. The aides of the metal on the hill on Mangawbaro road which were 'badly scoured have been filled in with clay, but during the summer the metal should be widened to avoid the cortstant scouring taking place on tb s hill.

Eltham Riding—The *-ork done in this riding consisted _ solely of maintenance work, including metal patch- , ' ing-'on Maak and Manga whero roads avrl Templer street, the removal. of slips <m Mangawnero road extension t Q sLake Rotokare, and the removal of slips and water tabling on Mangamingi ridge arid metal patching along the .valley. Timber for the erection of Ararata stream "br'dge has been :delivered at the end of the metal, and

arrangements are being made to have 'same delivered at bridge site by sledge. The small bridge on Win^grove road over the Kaitar.gi creefi, previously reported as dangerous, has been stripped of the deck.'ng <and approaches blocked until timber can be SP rmred for rebuilding (1318 ft requir-

General—Estimates for the year's work have been completed, and Mir Fitzgerald who commenced duty on the Bth instant, has a good grasp of what is required. The several works requiring early attention are the metalling of approaches and: (1) Roadway of the Mangawhero-iti stream bridge; (2) The erection of Ararat* bridge; (3) The' repairs of Vvrhenuakura river suspension bridge; (4)_The erection of Kaitangi creek bridge, Wingrove road; (s)^The fencing of fillings and bridge approaches on Eltham road; (6) The building of extra room at Riverlea toll gate cottage, arrangements for the building of which have been made w:th Mr Baker; (7) Repaiss to plant, including the patching of tar boilers, new chain for crusher, installing chip crusher, etc. The Courteil should seriously consider the replacing of its present AveTing Porter road roller by a light motor roller, which will prove far more efficient. I would like to point out that ih's was recommended by my predecessor as well as myself on previous •ocoasiions. . The four-roomed cottage authorised to be built at the depot has been completed at less than the estimated cost, and is a satisfactory job. In concluding this, my -final report, I wish to thank members for the considerate treatment accorded me dur"ng the three years I have acted as their engineer, arfl if at any time my services should be of any use, they are freely available.—Adopted.

The chairman reported on the conference on hydro-electric supply held at Stratford. He was strqngly in favor of pushing the Government in the matter. There were two things that the country needed at present—electric power and immigration, and the Government that ■woiild not give these would have to make place for another Government. He asked if the Council would be willing to contribute towards the cost of the report by experts. The feeling of the Council was in favor of this.

Accounts amounting to £1635 18s 9d were passed for payment.