PATEA COUNTY COUNCIL.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 11 July 1923, Page 3

PATEA COUNTY COUNCIL.

_j a \ MONTHLY MEETING. The monthly meeting of the Patea County Council was held at Patea yesterday, - when there were present: Crs. Gibbs (chair), Belton, Watkins, Scown, Back, McDonald, and Alexander. Leave of absence was granted Crs. Sutherland and Taylor. i. The resident engineer, Public WorKS '■Department, Stratford, wrote advising that the charge for Te Wera metal had been reduced to 8s Id per cubic yard on ': all orders of 500 cubic yards or over on the understanding . that these orders ! were standing orders on which delivery :at a special time was not guaranteed. I Crs considered that Belmont metal 'was still preferable as far as they were .'concerned, and the letter was received. I Mr. F. T>*ain wrote asking that- repairs be effected to the Upper Waitotara Valley Road through Kapara [ and that a bridge be erected at the I junction of this road and the Rawhitii roa Road. . J Or. Belton pointed out that the road ' was a Government road, and it was de■qided.to send a. copy-of the letter to •the Public Works Department stating !that the council would facilitate the I carrying out of the work. j Mr. Clutha Mackenzie wrote asking ifor a contribution to the Pearson ■ Memorial Fund. i Tlie chairman said he- had always ; been against local bodies voting away ! ratepayers' money, and he considered !it was a. matter for_ individual effort. j—The letter was received. • The secretary of the Waitotara War :'Memorial Committee wrote stating that 'it was proposed to erect iron gates with ■ concrete pillars on the Waitotara Domain road frontage, at a cost of £250, :as a war memorial.for the district. He i asked if the council would assist by putting in the filling for about 35 feet in front of the" proposed site for the i gateway.—The matter was left in the j-hands of the engineer and the_ representatives of the Moumahaki riding. Mr. Muggeridge, of Manutahi, wrote drawing the council's'attention to the bad state of the road to his mother's homestead. He offered to contribute £20 on condition that the council spent £100 on the road._ The chairman explained, for the benefit of new councillors, that it had always been their practice to start work on'receiving the cheque for the subsidy: —This course was agreed on in this pa rticul ar -c a se. Mr. A. B. Royle asked that the council give him access to part 76, block 7. Carlyle suburban.—The matter was left - ,in the hands of the chairman and engineer. Messrs. O'Sullivan, Barclay, Schwiss and Ward wrote drawing the council's attention to the bad state of the road in the vicinity of the Manutahi school and the hall. In the good old days when the "Road Board had charge of the by-roads a culvert was always maintained at this particularly bad corner. The chairman said that there was a sum of £250 on the estimates for culverts and draining, and he presumed that an item such as tr>i« would come out of these estimates.—The matter was left-, in'the hanrls of the engineer. The Public Woks Dennrtment wo+« forwarding the -plan of the proposed grouping of counties under the Main Highways Act. The chairman sm''l he would like a. little more information, and that he was more concenied about the compensation. far work already t-ban' the basis of expenditure. He wondered whether a. district,-'board would he able to snend all their grant on one county which might.be a bit backward. As far as Patea was concerned they were fairly forward in regard to their main road, and they might be left out in the cold." _ The matter was left over in the meantime pending further information. A draft for the striking of a separate rate for rebuilding the Moturoa brichre was placed before the council.—Tlie draft was received and it was * decided to proceed with the work. The Public Works engineer wrote stating that the cost of borings for the Waitotara Valley Road (lower) was £30, and that there was a further contribution of £2 10s due from the coun-cil.-—Tt was decided to forward a'cheque x , for the amount. ) The State Advances Department advised that they would entertain tlie ! council's application for a loan of £6*.jo : | tor the purpose of rebuilding the Ngutuwera bridge over the "Moumahaki • stream. The currency of the loan would , be 364 years and the rate of interest 4'- ! per cent.—A motion confirming the loan ' was passed. ' .r0' 1 t^ r motion of Crs.' Watkins and ! McDonald it was decided to purchase a 1 team of five draught'horses for grading . work. ' rt The chairman reported that under 1 the new system of allocating money to ; county councils, application had -been made to the Public Works Department ; ior grants and subsidies amounting to ' about £7000. > ■; Or. Belton referred to the method em- ; ployed by the council in collecting but- • standing rates through a solicitor" He - pointed out that a solicitor collected 10 pei-cent., the same as on any trade ' debt whereas the council had the power ' to obtain permission from the Supreme ; Court to sell the land in order to collect the rate. After some discussion, it was decided tomtom the council's solicitor that in ■ iutuye the-council would not pay commission. l •* ENGINEER'S REPORT. I The engineer's report for the period encimg July 10 was submitted as follows: .. Main Road and General—Work throughout the month has been 'very considerably impeded by the 'incessant bad weather. The roller and party have been engaged on tke remetalling of the Manutahi Gorge. This work is now very nearly complete, and when it is ' finished work will be commenced on \ Scown's hill towards Patea. The grader and dray teams have been at work on j the side tracks on the main road, comi mencing at Manawapou, and are now j near Kakaramea widening the road, j Near McCarthy's on the main road a ' j culvert is required to drain a* water | hole, and I recommend that this be ati tended to. I have inspected the Patea I bridge recently, and I recommend that the last two spans on the station side .be redecked at an early date and that , the steel truss be repainted. The total , cost of these works I estimate at ' £270. During the month the list of estimates requested from the Public ' Works Department has.been forwarded. 'In company with the chairman we interviewed the Resident Engineer at Stratford, and we have every reason to , believe that a large programme of Gov- , ernment assisted works can be proceeded with this season. ( | Otoia West—There is very little to , report in this district. Work has been carried ont widening Burkes gorge on , the Manutahi road. • i Otoia East —In this district there is little to report outside general surface , work. Slips have occurred on the ■ Maben road, at one place the whole"", < road being «arried away. On the China- I « | man's road an old culvert which was < partly blocked and causing, flooding is ? being replaced; - | 1 1 Waverley. Riding—On the Karahake, 3 road a filling has been made on the !. seaward side of the. gorge. The bad place between $be two bridges has heen

slipping again. The work of forming Hooper's road has been commenced^ Arrangements have been made to drain the outlet of the culvert leading from Mr. Bremer's prooerty on the Oturi road. This culvert is badly blocked, and if it cannot be cleared another one will have to be put in. Moumahaki Riding—Bad weather has prevented the replacement of the culvert on .the Valley road near Groves. A culvert outlet into the Waitotara river near tbe Waitotara Schooh is causing considerable, erosion, and ] recommend that this lie attended tc without delay. Several slips have taker place, one large one on the Lakes length nnd others near the Weraweraonga road. Kapara Riding —I have been unable to make a trip up this riding during the last month, but will do so in th* near future. The Te Ngaue contrad is reported complete (except for maintenance), and very little remains to b< done to the Makakaho bridge. Tb< contractor for the latter has requested to be allowed to leave over the balaric* of the work to be done (mainly painting) for the better weather. I understand fair progress is being made or the river diversion at Taumatatahi. which work is approaching completion. Several slips have occurred in this ridiug, a particularly bad » ie (an underglip) taking place just over the Ka'imanuka bridge. A"n attempt is being made here to cnt out a new road on a higher level. —Adopted.