ELTHAM COUNTY COUNCIL.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 13 August 1923, Page 4

ELTHAM COUNTY COUNCIL.

MONTHLY MEETING. I . The monthly meeting o r the. Eltham County Council was held in the County offices at Eltham on Saturday, Cr. C. E. McGuinness occupying the chair iii the absence of the* county chairman, Cr. C. J. Belcher, who was absent at the Counties' Conferen c. There were also present Crs. R. J. Knuckey, A McWilliam, A. Messana, W. E. Carter, A. L. Campbell, M. W. Barker, and E. J. Gifford. BITUMEN AND TAR FREIGHTS. ; t TJf Minister of Railways, the Hon. J. br. Coates, wrote with reference to , the representations made by a deputation from the Eltham County Council which waited on him at Eltham recently regarding railage charges on tar ; from vVanganui and bitumen from New Plymouth. He wished to inform the Council that the gazetted, rates, including the existing percentages and wharfage charges at the breakwater were 16s 3d per ton for the tar and £1 3s 6d for the bitumen. The Council was apparently under a misapprehension regarding the rates in auestion. It was regretted that no alteration could be made in the rate for the conveyance ofbitumen. The clerk reported that he had replied stating that the engineer had found that the charges given by the Minister in his letter were correct. This, however, did not alter the fact that there was a difference between the charges for bitumen and tar amounting to 6s 9d per ton, which mounted up considerably where large quantities of that material were required. The indications, pointed to a very considerable development in the direction of tar-sealed roads throughout the Dominion, and in view of the fact that this would create an increasing de- ' mand for tar, and that it would be impossible for the Bominion to manufacture suffi-ient to meet the demand, there should not be any preference in favour of Dominion products as against imported materials." Bitumen was almost exclusively used by local authorities for the-purpose of nroviding modern roads, and "if, as was claimed, the railways were run on commercial lines, why charge two different rates on what obviously must cost the same to handle. i Councillors agreed that the reply was- | satisfactory, and Cr. McWilliam said j that they should continue to press the j matter with Mr. Hawken. j In view of the fact that something | might be done in the matter at the Counties' Conference, the letter was left in abeyance until the return of the chairman. j OMONA'S WANTS. L.-. The Australian Mutual Provident Society wrote stating that owing to the society's funds bein? fully nleaged for some time to come they could noiT entertain the Council's, application for a loan .of £4000 for work in the Omona riding. ( Cr. McWilliam mentioned that the Omona riding had £400 of thirds in hand, and with the subsidy of £800 they had in all £1200. However, the loan should be raised as soon as pos.sible, in order that the work could be 'gone on with as soon as the weather permitted. Cr. Knuckey, in supporting Cr. McWilliam's remarks, pointed out that there were only a few months of the year that metalling could be carried out in the Omona riding, and it was necessary that the money should be in hand so that the work couW be gone, right on with as soon as the good weather came. Cr. McWilliam put in a strong claim for a crusher for the Omona riding. He was entirely averse to the suggestion that the crusher should be pur- , chased out of the riding loan money, and said he thought that the councillors would be able to fee their way to make the purchase out of the general machinery, fund. The matter was left with, the engineer to report. I WORKS COMMITTEE'S RECOM- ! MENDATIONS. : The Works Committee recommended th«t the chair man (Cr. Belcher) repre--1 sent them on €he board of managers of j the Stratford High School. I The committee also recommended that the crushing and hauling of stone for the Te Roti and Mountain Roads south of the Tavvhiti stream be carried out by contract. I Cr. Campbell, referring to the recommendation of the Works Committee that work on the Te Roti and Mountain Roads be carried out by contract, pointed out that it was just possible thst if a hard resolution "were fixed there would be a danger of the work being held up, as it might not be possible to arrange a contract. Cr. McWilliam said that none of the councillors wished to see the South riding work held tip for one day. It was therefore decided to amend the Works Committee's recommendation to read "that tenders be called" for the work in question. The report was then adopted. ' The retiring engineer, Mr. M. E. FitzGerald," in referring to the work in the South riding;, said that the Public Works Department in getting sand out for railway construction works had. come across large quantities of boulders. If the Council took these boulders at once they could have them for 5s a yard at the Te Roti station. There werel 800 yards available at once. In view of the fact that the old contract with Mr. Campbe 1! at the Waihi beach, which was for 16a a yard, had been cancelled, the new offer of 5s a yard, plus a few shillings for crushing, was very welcome. j RANGER'S SALARY. It was agreed that the ranger's salary be increased by £10 per annum. A RATEPAYER AND THE CLERK. Mr. J; R. Corrigan wrote enclosing three rate demands for sums totalling £16 3s lOd, being the amount of rates for which he was liable in respect of j certain native lands. In his letter he ' said that he had paid these rates ! hitherto in consequence of an arrange- ; ment made some years ago with Cr. ' Campbell, the arrangement briefly being that he should pay the rates and then collect from the natives as opportunity offered. He contended that the arrange- , ment had been made in order to assist I the Council in collecting the money, ! but now, "considering the dirty, lowdown treatment and insults" which he had received from the County Clerk last year, no doubt backed up by mem- \ l)ers of the Council, he had no option j than to le{; the Council's own man col- = le"t the rates, and so relieve him of the responsibility. Mr. Corrigan further mentioned that he had made the" same , arrangements with the Hawera County Council, and had been thanked for doing so, as he had helped that Council ' to get in very nearly £2000 of native , rates. He concluded by saying that he ~ was sorry he could not say the same \ about the Eltham Council. . j, The County Clerk, after reading the ; j letter to the Council, said he thought ] that it required some explanation. The , position was that Mr. Corrigan had , paid the rates, but had refused to pay the penalty which had been added to ( them on "account of their being overdue. The clerk said that he had had word that Mr. Corriornn had defied him, and that he had said he would not pay c the penalty. The result was that he c

had sued Mr. Corrigan for the penalty and the money was subsequently paid into eou-rt. "If he was so concerned about the dirty, low-down treatment and insults," said the clerk, "why did he nay the money into court without nglmng the case:" Cr. McWilliam: The letter is uncalled for; the clerk was only complying with the law. F J Or E. J. Gifford: The clerk has only done what has been done to other people. Cr. Campbell said he knew the sections to which the rate demands in question referred, and he knew that Mr. Corrigan occupied all the land except seven acres, on which a Maori lived. The clerk mentioned that according to law the occupier of only a part of a native section was liable for the rates on the whole of the section. Cr McWilliam then pointed out that Mr. Corrigan was not granting the U>uncil any favour by paying th§ rates, seeing that he was bound to do so, by law. One of the councillors then moved that the letter be received, but Cr Knuckey considered that "it wanted a knock back." The clerk said that Mr. Corrigan thought he could "throw mud at a poor clerk." He further said that he did not think that anyone in the Eltham County could say that he had treated them in a dirty or low-down manner; he had always endeavoured to do his duty impartially and fairly to everyone. Cr. Messana then moved, and Cr. Knuckey seconded, "That the letter from Mr. Corrigan is couched in Ench undignified terms that it cannot be considered by the Council, and that it be allowed to lie on the table. Also that the clerk be instructed that the necessary steps be taken to recover all rates due by Mr. Corrigan." On being put, the acting-chairman, Cr. C. E. McGuinness, declared the motion carried unanimously. ENGINEER'S REPORT. The repert of the engineer (Mr. M. E. FitzGerald) was as follows: South Riding—Water-tabling and general maintenance work has been done on all roads in th:'a riding, and further side-tracking was done on the Boylan Road. Mangatoki Riding—The side-track-ing at the bottom end of Hunter Road was completed. Repairs were effected to Kapuni bridge on the Eltham Road. Water-tabling and general surface work - were done on most of the roads of this riding. Omona Riding—Metal surfaces were patched on Rawhitiroa and Mataimaroke Roads. Slips were cleared in several places, and general surface work was done on most of the roads. No. 2 filling at Matemateonga has been repaired and reinforced with willows. It has been arranged that the raising and widening of these fillings shall be carried out early in the summer. Kaponga Riding—The relaying of the culvert on the Eltham Road, just west of Palmer Road, is now completed. Water-tabling and general surface work has been attended to. Eltham Riding—Slips were cleared from Tirimoana and Rawhitiroa Roads. Metal patching and tar patching were done on Rawhitiroa Road. Watertables were attended to on various roads. . ■ - General—The rebuilding of the - tar boiling plant i«s well in hard. Since the last meefin^ Mr. Muggeridge has spent a srood deal of time getting acquainted with the roads and works in the county and the programme for the current year: I am handing pverVto him at the conclusion of this meeting. In ronclusionr I would like to take the opportunity of thanking those irfembers: of the Council who have cooperated with me in surmounting the unusual difficulties of the past three yoars for the.ir loyal and valuable assisfance and encouragement. -, The report was adopted. '