PATEA, COUNTY COUNCIL

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLI, Issue XLI, 10 August 1921, Page 5

PATEA, COUNTY COUNCIL

MONTHLY MEETING.

The monthly meeting of the Caun&Ewas held yesterday. Present: Ci&C Gibbs (chairman), .Belton, Taylor, bcown, Hooper, Matthews, McDonaldHurley and Watkins. HIGH RATE OF INTEREST. v A .communication was received f _*>■_£. the Ashburton County Council viewing with alarm the high rate of interest charged on money in this Dominion, which was bound to cfiuse stagnation instead of progress and prosperI ity. Seeing that the value -pt I their primary products, particularly I meat and wool, had fallen so low, the | present high rate of interest and that the burdensome taxation made it air most impossible for the producer to ' carry on. Was it not jpossible tor the Government to use its influence'in trying to bring the rate of interest in this country somewhere on a level with thftrate ruling in Great Britain. They enclosed a resolution for the Council* endorsement. - On the motion of the chairman, sec- - onded by Cr Taylor, the Council *•- solved to support the views of the Ashburton County Council. '■' WILFORD ROAD. Ernest Thomas wrote to tSe 1 Council in regard to the very bad stat* i of Wilford road, which was r«»w in * ' i worse condition than it had -been toe , many years. Only one man had been, son the load for one day in the last i eight months, and in view of the comr | ing milking season.he urged the Coua- ? [ cv to have some improvements made /_ I The engineer said that he had al "" ! ranged with a suriaceman to go out i as soon as there was the prospect of « C' j fine day. For the most part the road ; ; was in better order than previously *,1 The chairman added that the Counr t cil nad had' the grader all iover- thia ; road and sorted it up properly, and I last autumn they had had five chain* ! of metalling done. It was one of the furthest out-back roads they had to-" deal with, and the cost of getting ' metal out there was very heavy. They had ] already spent more money on this road than they were entitled-to ia' placing- this five chains of metal ok, but the Council thought they should not leave a job half done. Very shortly after the Council had done this they - received a letter" trom one of the settlers who benefited by the Conucil's * over-expenditure saying'that he would * sue the Council in case of any ace*- - dents. The only thing the Council' could now do would be to keep the road sorted Up as well as possible for the next two or three years until a . little money had accumulated for mont " metalling. The alternative to this waa - tor the ratepayers to agree to a special loan and have their metalling done where they wished it. A NEW SUGGESTION. '* The chairman reported that he had teen waited upon by two ManutahiL ' ratepayers asking tor some earthwork on their road. He told them that the Otoia riding was considerably - ,m debit, and there was no hope of any* expenditure in the meantime under ordinary circumstances. The riding wmld have to provide a considerable proportion of next year; s rates in rediKMOJfc of this debit, and also a contribution ta- » general account. He, However, sug- ! gested to these ratepayers that if they . I would now pay up the whole amount - i of their coming rates he would recoift- *' mend to the Council to spend from 30f to 35 per cent--of those rates on the work they required. The-work would have to be^done some time, and if this.', | suggestion were adopted it would en-if | able the ratepayers to have it done «t > once, and it would also; benefit the Council by having the use of the bab . ance of the money. The Council had. I its grader there, and as they had to, " , pay the men and grazing'of horses, it ? , would be good business to keep them : , employed, especially as they, could do-\; I so, under tlie proposal he made wiUw*" out drawing on their general accoiuifc_ | in so doing. He would like to see this practice generally adopted, and moved - in the direction indicated in this par- ' ticular instance. \ Cr Belton suggested Tihat the chair- ' man amend his motion in the direction*, of considering every application on ita " merits. The chairman agreed to this, -and the motion as amended was then - carried. "RATES. On the question of the confirmation. of rates the chairman moved that the . striking of a penny rate in the Otoix. " riding be confirmed. —Seconded and carried. On the motion oi Mr. McFarlane the Waverley rate .of Id waa confirmed/On the motion of Cr. Belton the Moumahaki riding rate of 14 " was confirmed. 'Cr. Matthews moved .„ as an amendment that Kapara's rate i be reduced to the same rate as last year's,-namely, lsd. He pointed outr > Kapara's very difficult position, and was strongly supported in his requestby the Farmer's Union, "returned soldiers, and several settlers. Cr. Belton seconded. With thepresent low price of wool and meat v settlers could not stand any increased * rat« and were willing to put up with. * reduced expenditure in their riding. The chairman reviewed Kapara's? position at length and moved the confirmation of the ljd rate. Kapara's ; financial position had gone back £500> or £600 in the last two or three years, and their present debit was something like £2000, very much more than a. year's rates. The Council's general account paid interest on this, so that Kapara got the benefit in that way. He hoped they would soon be in a. i position to reduce Kapara's rate, but- -■ the present was not the time to do X so. The amendment was lost by 8 to 6* ... votes. The division was as follows: „• Ayes, Crs. Belton, Matthews, and Watkins; noes, the chairman, Crs. Taylor, Scown., Hooper, Hurley, and" McDonald. GENERAL. Cr. Belton, in view of the forthcoming Counties' Conference, thoughtthat the chairman should represent. the .Patea County Council at that conference. In view of the Government'aproposed main road Bill it was particularly important that the Council should be represented. - The Patea. County was differently situated to-, many other councils in that they had tar-sealed portions of their main road out of revenue, whereas other counties had raised loans to do so. The chairman was appointed to represent the I Council. Cr. Taylor mentioned that Mr. G. V. Pearce would be attending: the conference, and if the Council desjred he would be pleased to represent them. The chairman said that he would be very pleased indeed to have the benefit ! of Mr. Pearce's long experience and j knowledge at the conference. The Bank of New Zealand notified^ tjie Council that the proposed raising: I of the rate of interest ■'■ on the Council's overdraft to 7 per cent, had been j deferred to the Ist prox. ■ The Department of Agriculture intimated to the Council''that barberry had been added to the^third schedide of the Noxious Weeds Act. r That j meant that any council could declare I it if it wished to do so 3. I Mr. P. Travers, of '■'•' Whenuakura, *. notified the Council of: a slip on thpt_.

bridge on the road leauin^ to his property. The present condition, created a very dangerous position to the passing public. Thevengineer said he would make an inspection of the locality as soon as possible.

Cr. Scown reported that, at the request of two settlers, he had inspected a, bad portion>ot the Hurley Road. It was about a chain and 15 yards in extent, and the settlers' had suggested that if the Council allowed tnem to take some metal dumped on the side of, Ball Road many years ago they would cart it and place it on the Hurley Road free of' charge to the Council. He moved in that direction. In seconding, the chairman mentioned that the metal referred.3to had been dutaped: on the side of Bail Road ten years ago for maintenance wofk,! but }_Ad-, been found unsuitable. . It would be a -good thing, therefore, if it could be made use of on some "county road jfithout any cost to the Council. •

In reply to .a complaint re straying stock the chairman told a deputation some pertinent facts. l He mentioned that pome time ago the Council agreed to appoint* a ranger at £10 a month. The man drew his money every month, but matters did* not appear to improve much, and this went on for a few months until councillors saw the fallacy of it. Then they decided that if any two settlers were prepared to supply the necessary evidence the county clerk would take action and institute a prosecution. Could the deputation suggest any other method "i hat '■'would be likely to prove effective?";. The problem was to get a ranger who would do his duty or to get the necessary evidence to secure' a conviction in court.- ••-■ ''-~ /,..:'■'■ \ '-.'.'■ 7y

Mr. W. BacK, WhenuakuKi/ waited on the Council in regard to the'Qpaku Road. He contended that they were, entitled to have £200. spent on this road. The chairman suggested spending £100, but Mr. Back said that anything under £200 would simply be money wasted. The chairman agreed to --.visit the road and ..consider the position oh the soot. ■ --y'

ENGINEER'S REPORT

The^ engineer reported as follows

Main Road and General—Gilligan's metal length is now completed and ready for tarring, and a short length -of the original tar-sealing is being refaced at this end. The engine-driver lias been off work for about a week, but is, I believe, making a start today. As soon as weather permits of tarring this work the plant will then shift to Waverley to prepare the road for metalling at Lupton's, and also overhaul the racecourse frontage, which-is very rough. Two trucks of surplus metal have been sent ,on to Manutahi to repair the main road between the gorge and township. An offer of £12 has x been received for the horse Tom, originally bought from Dickson. This horse is not very suitable for county work, and I concider the offer reasonable: Miley, contractor for Langdown's road, wants the horse now on the Waitotara Valley road lower. Metal has been coming to hand slowly for the month, 140 yards of metal and screenings being received. Arrangements have been made with Amon Bros, to unload and cart out the ,metal from Moumahaki station, but a number of trucks will he ddmped before carting is commenced.' The main road generally is in fair order, the wet weather having caused numerous pot holes on the weaker sections. An inspection of the tractor since"" dismantled failed~to disclose any reason for the extraordinary .wear on the right track, but Messrs Draffin propose to make further tests to ascertain %he cause -of this wear. The condition of the decking of the Patea bridge at the southern end is far from satisfactory, and though minor repairs have been effected from time to time the probability is that this section will require redecking very Boon. A small quantity of rimu deckings has been secured for renewing the (top planks, and Warner is to do this work shortly. To redeck the faulty part will take aboufr 7000 of -ttardwood.

Patea West District—The Taumaha gorge filling has been considerably delayed with wet weather, but fair progress has been made, but there is stilt a good deal of work to be done, and it will take till the end of this month to complete. The surfaceman has been engaged in stone raking on the Ball road recently, and also oh the Hursthouse road./ A new 9-inch culvert has been put in on Hamilton road and some necessary patchirig carried out, and this road is in good order.

Patea East District—General surface work been carried on in this district for the month, the road below Gower's cutting up badly in wet weather. A serious under slip went out on the Nicholson road bridgeTemporary repairs have been made, but further work is urgent, as also are repairs to the bridge. The Otauto road has cut up badly, and a washout on- the new formation has been reported and will be seen to at once. Patching has been carried on along the Opaku road, which is in a fairly rough state.

_ Waverley Riding—The Waverley riding roads have cut up badly during the past month, and are in a very rough state in most cases. Cox has ! been attending to the Kohi and Karahaki roads, and will, I consider, have! no difficulty in continuing this work, i A slip is reported on the Kohi gorge,'! which is being shifted. A new wheel- ' barrow has been sent on to this length. Sinclair and Hayward have been together the past month, and necessary patching has been done on the beach roads. old culvert hear Waverley reported on some time since has been taken up, and replaced with a, line of 6-inch pipes, these being put in at a lower level. The sanding oi ! Cave's hill and the road near Gran- ! tham's, both of which were in bad order, is being done as weather permits. Repairs have also been effected to Elmslie's Toad. The back roads of .this district are in need of attention, and I have arranged with A. Handley to take over the junction length, but the wet weather has prevented him shifting out. Miley, who would have taken this length, was the successful, tenderer for Langdowns road. • ""'

Moumahaki Riding—Tenders were invited for Langdowns road formation and dealt with by Crs .Hooper and Watkins, M. Miley's tender at £215----being accepted. Miley has made a start, but the whole of last week being unfit for work not much progress" has been made. A flood washed out the approach on- the upper end of the Ngutuwera bridge, timber lodging against the piles and diverting the stream, but willows were placed in the break ancl the recent fresh has silted up, and with care this trouble should not occur again. The Valley road is< in a very rough state, and though the water is being let off, not much improvement can be made until the road dries. The settlers on Block VIII. made a start with carting out papa on to this hill, the mud being cleared from the' road and a coat of papa feeing carted on, but the wet weather stopped the work, and the road, is now in bad. condition. • Hayward and ! Stevens assisted with this work. A : section of the State Farm road metal I -will require more top-dressing, but ' this will be better left till the road can be rolled and consolidated. A big Slip near Hyland's is reported, which

blocks the road, and also another above the Lakes house. Arrangements have been made for the Kapara surfacemen to assist in opening the roadIt is possible to get round the slip at Hyland's just now. Repairs have been made to the washout on Block IV. hill, Valley road, the culvert being shifted, the road- widened, and willows planted on the lower side of road. Two more lines of pipes are required |on this hill to relieve the tables. I