ORDINARY MEETING.

Inangahua Times, Volume IV, Issue 42, 16 July 1877, Page 2

ORDINARY MEETING.

The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed. CORRESPONDENCE. The Clerk read the following corres« pondence; received since the last n»eeting. From D. Condy, requesting permission to construct a tramway along Anderson's race into Black's Point. From Frederick Brandt, applying for renewal of protection for a punt on. the Buller river, and asking the Council to give him the right to occupy ferry reserve there. Hitherto the ferry had not been remunerative, and he had gone to considerable expense in repairing the punt fastenings, &c. From Alexander Munro, accepting the office of County Engineer, and stating his intention of starting at once for Keefton. From Colin Campbell, Bank NewZca- | iund, requesting permission to construct a drain to oonvpy drainage from the Bank yard into Bridge street. i From 6. S. Cooper, intimating that the '.sum of £552 5s 10J h.id been remitted to the County as subsid}' accruing from goldfields revehuo and i gold duty ; also from the samp, requesting to be furnished with a statement of the assets and liabilities of the County. From Wfm. Hunter, Matakitaki, calling attention to the state of bridge at Lake Buller, Ilatoro. From ' — Johnston, Collector of Customs, Nelson, acknowledging receipt of £655 for license fees from the luangahua. From — Stewart, Hampden, stating that there were 180 miles of road in that riding which required inspection. From — Shallcrass, Inspector of Brands, Nelson, requesting to be supplied with printed forms, in order that he might make the requisite returns to the Council. From the Secretary of Public Works, Wellington, stating, in reference to the Council's application for a portion of the Camp Reserve for the erection of Council chambers, that Government had been ad* vised that when contemplated additions and rearrangements of the present build" ings on the Camp Reserve had been effected the whole of the reserve would be occupied, and therefore refusing the Council's request. From Charley Ah Fook, offering to work a ferry on the Inangahua River between the hours of 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. daily, for the sum of £2 per week and right to charge sixpence per head for passengers. From F. Lucas, Clerk Resident Magistrate's Court, asking to be supplied with printed forms upon which to make necessary returns to the Council. From the Under- Secretary, stating that the Council's suggestion re charitable aid had been agreed to, aod that the sum of £75 paid to the Hospital on that account would bo refunded. This was all the correspondence read, and on the motion of Mr Dayies, seconded by Mr Dick, it was received. With respect to Condy's application, it was thought that the proposed tramway would interfere with the level of the street, and the application was therefore ordered stand over until the Engineer had reported upon the matter. Discussion ensued upon the application of F. Brandt for renewal of protection for punt at the Landing. Mr Kelly said he had heard that some arrangement had been entered into between Langdon, the original holder of the ferry right, and the Provincial Government, whereby the punt was to become the property of the Government after the lapse of a certain time. The period

stipulated had, he believed, elapsed, and ] I assuming that he was rightly informed, t the property now belonged to the Coun- c oil, and that being the case, he saw no i reason why the right to it should not be < submitted to public competition. If the i Council could get £50 or £100 a year for the ferry he saw no reason why they < should not do so. Mr Davies was of opiniou that it would < be a bad bargain in any case, and he i should be opposed to the Council assuming the ownership, as, in the event of the punt being washed away, the Council would be asked to go to the expense of £200 to replace it. Mr Dick had heard nothing of the arrangement referred to by Mr Kelly, and he thought that Mr Kelly should have come prepared to state definitely whether or not any such arrangement really existed,. He (Mr Dick) did not attach much importance to mere hearsay. The Chairman suggested that it would perhaps be as well to ascertain the exact conditions upon which Brandt held the ferry, before taking any action in the matter. Mr Dick moved that the matter stand over, and that in the meantime the Clerk institute the necessary enquiries. The Clerk, in reply to the Chairman, | stated that he was unaware whether any land had been reserved for ferry purposes at the site of Brandt's punt. Mr Dick moved, and Mr Irving seconded— That the Clerk write to the Waste Lands Board asking that a reserve of one hundred acres of land be set apart at the Landing for ferry purposes.— Carried. On the motion of Mr Davies, seconded Mr Kelly, the application of Colin Campbell was ordered to stand over until the levels of the street had been ascertained. The Clerk was authorised to write to Mr Hunter, of Hampden, informing him that liis complaint in regard to the con* dition of bridge at liotoro would be at* tended to. The Clerk was also directed to supply the printed forms asked for. A long discussion ensued in reference to the reply from the Secretay for Public Works ye the Camp Keserve. It was the general opinion of members that the advice given to the General Goverment upon the matter was not justifiable, there being ample rcoji upon the reserve for all buildings required by the Government annd also by the Council. It was ultimately resolved to renew the application to the General Government for a site on the north side of the Courl-hou3e, and it was decided, upon the motion of Mr Darios, seconded by Mr Dick, to drat of all communicate with Mr Warden Sliaw, asking whether he would bo prepared to recommend the applioa'ion. Mr Davids presented n petition from S. M. M sickly, complaining of excessive valuation of land on the Grey river, and asking for a remission of rates thereon. It was statetl that Mr Mackley had been unable to atte.id the Assessment Court, as ho only received notice of the sitting on the same day that the Court sat. It was alleged in the petition that Mr Mackly's land had been assessed at 30s per acre, while M'Neil, an adjoining holder, had only been assessed at 10s per acre, and finally that the valuer had not visited the ground at all. The Chairman could not see how the application could be entertained. The time for objecting to the assessment had passed, and the Council would be estab« lishing a very bad precedent by encouraging such applications. Mr Davies considered the application a very reasonable one, the injustice of the valuation being so glaring. Mr Kelly said that if they agreed to any reduction in the amount, the Council would be inundated with other applications of the same character. It was ultimately agreed to, let th c matter stand over, and, in the meantime the Clerk to make enquiries concerning the truth of the allegations contained in the petition. O^ the motion of Mr Kelly, the Clerk was directed to communicate with Mr Stewart, the road, overseer at Hampden, requesting him to report as early as possible upon roads at Matakitaki and Maw* herita. Mr Dick called attention to the fact that many of the business residents of the Hampden district had taken out business and publican's licenses at Lyell, thereby depriving tfye County of its fair revenue. | Mr Kelly called attention to the nenecessity of some repairs been effected to the Soldier's track. He said it was in a wretched condition and unless attended to would soon be quite impassable. Mr Davies could not see what could be done to the track until the engineer had reported upon it. The present route was a very unsuitable one, and it would be a mere waste of money to start patching it up. Mr Kelly said that two men. in a fortnight could do all that was at present required. He was content, however, to allow the matter to stand over for a few days, so that it was not lost sight of. The Clerk reported that the amount of Road Board liability taken over by the Council was £843, against which there was an asset of £95, uncollected rates« There was also a prospective liability of £4193 to be taken over, which was the amount to bs paid on current contracts. Attention was called to the fact that

Cane and Lynch were in illegfifoccupa* ;ion of Crown lands, at Crushington, and m the motion of Mr Dick seconded by Mr Irving, the Clerk was directed to order the parties to remove their fence and retire from such possession. 4 V The Chairman said that he haßreceiyed: complaints from Messrs Arched, .. Gal-. lagber and others, concerningthe r^Mitibn of the road from Gallagher S Broi. to Gorgetown. It was almost impossible to get a vehicle over it. The Clerk was directed to inform the contractor that unless he took immedi<. ate steps to place the road in proper re* pair, men would be employed at his expense by the Council, and his contract would be cancelled. Mr Davies proposed that Mirfin and Hogg be appointed to audit the books and accounts of the late Road Board. He. said that the books of the Board had only been audited once during the. whole time, that the Board had been in existence. The O'lerk pointed out that by the " Local Eevenues Act,' the members of the Board were the persons to audit the. books. The Chairman confirmed this, aud the motion was therefore withdrawn. On the motion of Mr Davies seconded, by Mr Dick, it was decided to reduce the. gradient of Broadway, at the intersection of Bridge street, by 3ft 6in. Mr Kelly pointed out the necessity. o(> bridging a small creek at the Fern Flat ' crossing, but it was decided to let the. matter stand over until the engineer reported. , On the motion of Mr Davies, seconded; by Mr Kelly, it was decided to grant a. further advance of £90 to Dash and Co v on account of the protective w,orks. The Clerk was directed to apply at once to the General Government for a refund; of items of Inangahua County revenue, which had been collected at Lyell, and t consequently, cred/ted to the Buller. County. The meeting then adjpurned.