ELTHAM COUNTY COUNCIL

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLI, Issue XLI, 12 September 1921, Page 5

ELTHAM COUNTY COUNCIL

MONTHLY MEETING,

The monthly meeting of the Eitfcj&» County Council was held on Saturday, Present: Crs C. J. Belcher (chairmsin, Gifford, McGuinness, Knuckey, McWtt* Ham, Messana, Carter, Barker &n 4 C J. Campbell.. CORRESPONDENCE.

The Minister for Public Works wrote* stating that in view oi the cost o* opening up Mt. Egmont quarry, on account of the present financial stringency, it was intended in the meantiateto open up the limestone deposits afc Te Wera for railway ballasting and road metalling purposes. The deposit* had been well investigated, and o?«r 600,000 cubic yards had. been accounted for, The metal was hard limestoae of good quality. A sample was sent under separate cover. . The Council wst» asked if it was prepared to take the same quantity annually from fe Wera as it had previously indicated ifc wouSd take from Mt. Egmont. ThY price would be 9s 6d per yard broken to 2J inche gauge on, trucks at Te Wera,. ■■■.■-■ "■ ■:.-' ■■• ■;--,.. ■,: ' The chairman said he did not thiak the- metal would be suitable for iar work. The price, in any case, was pt»hiftvtiTe. : The engineer said the price would be 3/- more than Mt. Egmont metal. '; The chairman said it was nearly fire ■ years ago that they started their agitation for Mt. Egmont metal, and they had made no progress whatever. It was decided to forward a repfy stating tnat, in the Council's opinion, the Te Wera""proposal was no alterna*tive to the Mt. Egmont quarry, tbe quality of the metal in the former case being poor and the price prohibitive^ On the motion of tEe chairman. Or Campbell, the engineer and the chairman were appointed a committee t» obtain information with regard to sources of metal supply. The Hawera County Council wrote intimating that it could not agree io the request that section 5, Omons (Mr Buckman's properly) be merged in the Eltfiam County. Cr McWillfam said the Hawera County Council took up^ an improper Position v A legal position was not always an equitable oriC With regard to tke statement made at the Hawera Conner Council that the* section had been offered to the Eltham County and refused, he had no knowledge of any such offer. He hoped the press would not put his remarks too strongly and would coat the pill with sugar. The letter was received. The following ratepayers whose pro- ; perties are now In the Stratford 'County petitioned to have their piw j perties included fn the rating area of i the EJtham County: A. T). Johnson, JT. W. Burke, Artnur D. Johnson, Winifred. Bowler, William George Lister, Lewis Bab" ineton. C. Schneller, C J. and K. ScHneller, Edward A. Gray, A*. G: Bryant, Henry Thrush and Cari- : ton. Broa. I Cr Gifford moved, and Cr Carter 1 seconded, that the necessary action be taken to give effect to the petition. } Referring to the decision arrived ! at by the Progressive League Conferj ence, the chairman- said that instead of

fighting they were now goiug to get together and work for the mutual good of all. A' deputation was to wait upori the "Eltham Electric Power Committee, and he understood that now every district would be able to develop any power iti migh'fcrliave. The clerk to the Stratford County Council., wrote acknowledging the* Council's communication in reference to the Fin nerty road bridge accountOn going into the matter he had found that the^ wages- item. £88 9s 6d, had been inadvertently placed as a debit against the: work done by Mr Gaye r whereas the amount should have been? plnced against Foreman Griffin. Theother, items shown as having been re- ' ceived in April, May, June, July and; August^were^oertainly not ordered during the. period.. Mr Cave was not on the* work, but the materials were, as far as he could learn, used by him, and' in any case had no effect y on the t,otaT expenditure. The Stratford Coun«t N Had' expressed' surprise at the. Eltham County's request for further details, but said there was no objection to the Eltham Council sending any responsible person to examine vouchers, etc., when "further details could be obtained! Regret was also expressed that the Eltham Council' had not sufficient confidence in the Stratford County ofeciais. to acceot the details already furnished. A" further expression was uiade 1/v the Stratford Council that they hoped thepassing of the account by tho Etthanfc Council h»d not been held up for they, purposeo o£: gaining time. ' Cr* Gifford reported that after, a conference with representatives of-the. Eltham: CouTteil he had agreed,\provided! Crs Carter and McGuinness did" nofe - object, to pay over £1000:.. It was decided on the motion-.oi r Cr McGiiiiiffless to pay witHout prejudi** £1000; It was stated t&att£4oG" would b>Berdl up till the information required was obtained. , Thel chairman said the.- next^ moye>

was wffch the Eltham Council." - . Ttie? clerk, in reply to Cr McWilliam, said 1 that he had definitely indicated to the Eltham Council- the nature or the information desifed.' * ~ The chairman: The-hest things is for the- Eltham representatives to: meet, the Stratford represeHtatrresT They douH keep the t%blebetween them, and by * conference-in this-way they weald make mu<^:, more gxagress *P^ wards settlement than by sheaves or earrespondence. The Mangal»ki = Daseyv Company wrote asking is. the Coui«al could supply them with 3Q yarda o£. either -dnps* river bed shingle, or. eiyjekt bed shingle> B?reened and crushed, and at what price. The chairsfgn. saidj tjie^ request open-^ ed up> the^ q»estio^i c£- whether iite> Counodl should provide metal in such case%. w Cr Knuckey thought it would be * goc»d idea- whenever- the lorries were> idle to cart metal- to any ratepayers requiring itv ?»r«^ charges wer» vfcry hig£ The chairman agreed with this, but H&e we* opposed by €r MeGuinness. Qr, McWilliani. thought that as 3»any of their ratepayers . were concerned they could properly grant tk» request. T&: could be doae without prejudice. The dtairinaß said they could coverworking expenses by carting shingle for Kite per yard. It was: agreed by mesabers that the Council should not undertake to deliver shingle excepting at a _ profit. 'At the chairman's..suggestion it was Becided to hold the matter over, so that the chairman and the engineer could go into the- question of cost and fix a price that would fully protect the Council. The chairman emphasised the point that the lor-rJes must not be used t<» meet private requirements when they were needed by the Council. The Public Works Engineer notified that the expenditure of £25 on the "Whenuakura Valley road had been authorised for the purpose of clearing slips that had occurred prior to the Council taking the road over.—The letter was received.. Mr R. M. Glenny wrote cemplammg that the ranger had shown partiality

%y faking charge of his cattle and , waving other cattle on the road. The chairman said they had one of jj&» best rangers they had ever had, and they had to back him up or get rid of him altogether. He felt sure that there was some satisfactory explanation of the ranger's action. It was left with the chairman to see the ranger, A number of applications for permission to erect cream stands o» the •id© of the road were granted, subject to the engineer's approval. It was pointed out that in case of an accident resulting from the presence of the stands the Council would be responsible. Mr C. A. Wilkinson wrote stating that he had been requested by the Couucil's inspector of traffic to pay a license fee of £6 for his two ton motor truck should the truck go over the county roads. He wished to know .whether the fee had to be paid in his oase, seeing that the truck did not ply for hire. It was pointed out that the County Council enjoyed the use of the good roads in the borough without charge.

Cr McWilliam: Does the firm pay a lic«ase fee in fhe borough? The chairman: I cannot say.

The clerk said that the lorry came within the heavy by-law traffic, and properly should pay a license fee. Mr Wilkinson had said that if the fee was insisted upon the lorry would not go s outside the borough, and clients j Would therefore suffer. i The chairman: We have to enforce the by-laws. Other Councils are doing so. Cr Messana: According to your ruling, Mr Chairman, even farmers should pay a license for their milk carts. " " The chairman: No. It was decided to enforce the by-law. A letter was read from the Auckland Hydro-Electric Power League setting out its objects.—Received. Correspondence was received in reference to the destruction of Paritutu, and to avoid this the Council was asked to support an effort to have the Mount Egmont quarry opened up.— The chairman said that everybody regretted the loss of Paritutu, but utility came before ornamentation. —The letter was received. The chairman reported the result of the local bodies' conference, and cave it as his opinion that" they were likely to have a big fight on the Main Roads Bill. Cr. MeWiiHam: I presume that our member,is familiar with all the details, and wi.ll do his best to have justice done?

The-Eketahuna County Council wrote in reference to the difficulty in collecting rates from returned eoldier settlers who did not wish to pay, and asking the council to life its infiuerice through the member for the district to have the matter placed on a satisfactory basis. The chairman: It does not affect our county. There is only one soldier settler and he is paying up very well. Or. Griffin said it was "hardly fair that the Eketahuna County should lose dWTSO. If the soldier settlers did not p*v the Government should. The engineer suggested that where tfce "returned soldiers' excuse" was beUc ridden to death the matter should be reported to the R.S.A., which could advise as to the course that should be pursued. The association had lijttle sympathy with those who did not endeavour" to do what was fair and honourable. , The chairman said he was very pleased to "- Hear. a returned soldier (the engineer) speak in that way. It was decided, on the motion of Cr. Gilford, to support the Eketahuna Coun. ci! at the counties conference., ENGINEER'S REPORT.

The engineer (Mr. M. E. Fitzgerald) . reported as follows:— Though the latter nsurt of the month was comparatively fine, the work ot c'eariuo- slips in the back country was fairly heavy. Work done at the depot included the making of concrete posts and pines. Further work was done on reinforcing bars for the Mangatoki bridge Overhaul of the Daimler lorry was continued, and some repairs were done to the tar plant. The chestnut horse recently stationed in Manga- ' mingi valley had to be destroyed. South Riding* Metal came to hand more freely for Skeet Road and satisfactory progress was made. Metal patching was clone in Campbell and Mangawhero Roads Water-tables were attended to in Boylan, Mountain, and Dalziel roads. Mangatoki Riding: The repairs to the culvert and embankment at "Doctor's Drop" were completed. Water-tabling was done on Eltham, Hastings and Stuasrt roaas. Timber and appliances for construction ot the Mangatoki bridge have been obtained and moved to the site. Reinforcing bars have beon prepared at the depot. The present wooden bridge will be cut down to a width ot about ten feet while the concrete bridge is being constructed, but otherwise there will be little interference with traffic except during the night prior to the opening of the new bridge. Omona Riding: Work of a general nature, including the clearing of- slips, was done on Mataimaroke, Rawhitiroa, Mataiwhetu, and Whenuakura roads. Metal on Rawhitiroa road was patched and the "thirds" work beyond Moeroa was continued. The foundations for the Whennakura bridge continued to give * trouble, owing to the presence of running sand. The resident engineer ot the"Public Works Department accompanied' me on my last inspection of the work. The Public Works engineer also accompanied me on an inspection the new length «f the Whenuakura valley road, and we provisionally agreed to a grant of £25. in connection with the taking over of this road. The grant will clear the slips now on the road, but I am afraia. it will be an expensive length'to keep open all the year round. Kaponga Riding: Water-tabling was done: in Rowan. Auroa, and Manga- * wharo roads. Some of the decking on Mangawhero bridge has been turned. Large loads of firewood continue to pass over the bye roads. Eltham Riding: About ten chains of Rawhitiroa road and two chains of Hu Road were resurfaced with sliell crock. Slips were cleared on Rawhitiroa and Tinmoana roaas. Metak patching was done on Mangawhero and Rawhitiroa roads, and watertables were attended to on Tirimoana and Rotokare roads. Firewood hauling by hea-vy lorries continues in Mangamingi valley, and the road continues to suffer accordingly. The roadman has been, instructed by, me that, he is to warn the persons responsible. fo"r dumping ,-firewood on the side of the road over the ridge and thereafter to tip any wood he finds there over the bank. - With regard .to the Whenuakura bridge, Cr. McWilliam said it was. lamentable that so much heavy work should ■be done to . obtain nothing more than a cobweb bridge. Had the Public Works Department made a grant of £200 a good, wooden bridge could have been obtained by the expenditure of about £200 by the council. He com- . plained -of •_ the parsimony of the Department. " . The report was adopted. Accounts totalling £1107 15s were passed for payment.