LAKE COUNTY COUNCIL.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 2929, 1 August 1911, Page 5

LAKE COUNTY COUNCIL.

A meeting of the Lake County Goqnoil was held in the Council Chambers on Tuesday, 25th inst. Present: The Chairman (W. Kei I) an 1 Crs McKibbin, Baird, Cockburn, Collins, Birley and McMullan. Cr AlcDougiU wrote asking for leave of absence owiug to the very bad weather; and that his notice of motion re the new steamer be held over until next meeting. The Chairman said he would ask for leave of absence for Cr McCaughan, who would not be able to attend owing to a severe illness. He also asked the Clerk to write Kim expressing the Council's sympathy. This course was adopted and both Councillors were granted leave of absence. The Clerk, Kewitea County Council, forwarded a motion pissed by that Council recently and Lake County should bring the subject matter of the said resolution under the notice of their parliamentary representative with the object of having the law amended in the manner indicated. is as follows : "That in the opinion of this Council the present cumbersome expenses and unfair method of electing representatives for combinedjdistricts to the Harbor Board is quite against the interest of ratepayers in Counties and Road Board districts. The electors of boroughs are unduly favored owing to their wide qualifications as compared with the qualifications of electors in County districts. Borough Council elections, again, give the borough electors an altogether unfair advantage, while the results cannot be expected to justify either the large expense of the the old system, which, in the opinion of this Council, should be reverted to. After some discussion it was decided to support the resolution and the Clerk was instructed to forward same to Mr W. Fraser, M.P., asking him to support the resolution if it came before Parliament. The President of the New Zealand Counties Association wrote intimating that the Executive Committee of the Association met on Wednesday, the 14th inst., and the principal item on the order paper was: To consider the question of having a conference of delegates of affiliated local authorities during the forthcoming session of Parliament; and, further, asking the Council to write whether it is prepared to send a representative. The following are the views of the Conference on the most important matters to be discussed:—Extension of County Franchise, Abolition of Plural Votes, Amalgamation or Abolition of certain Local Bodies, an alteration of the basis of payment of subsidy.

The Clerk said that after conferring with the Chairman he had forwarded the following wire: This Council agreeable to Conference. Mr W. Fraser, M.P. will act as our delegate. A further letter from the Secretary of the Association wrote stating that a Conference weuld be held early in August, at Wellington and that he would be pleased to receive any remits the Council may send. The Chairman considered that the only item that was of any use to the Council would be an alteration of the basis of payment of subsidy. He would like a lump sum which could be spent by the Council as tbey thought proper. At present if they | got a grant they had to expend it on the place specified. Tf it were arranged that a revenue be allocated to each County it would do away with the grants altogether. Cr Baird: Give us, say, a jEIOOO or .£1500; it could be paid out pro rata on the different ridings. The Clerk was instructed to forward this remit to the Association and to write to Mr W. Fraser, M.P., to watch their interests at the Conference. Mr W. Fraser, M.P., wired: Have seen the Minister, who only returned here today. He had to refuse application re bridge as bridges are not on list of works available for Coronation subsidies. Hon. D. Buddo also wired: Bridges not eligible for Coronation subsidy. Government has limited objects to public halls, public swimming baths, band rotundas, fountains and avenues of trees. Regret to

advise you that applications close to-day. Cr McMullan suggested [ that £SOO be asked to be put on the estimates for the Eawarau Falls bridge. %The Cletk stated that this had already been done and the application would be included in the requisitions for grants. Mr Fraser, M.P. would be asked to give the matter his support. The Under Secretary, Mines Department, advised the Council that under sub-section 2of section 154 of the Mining Act, 1908, the sum of £1 Is lOd has been refunded on amount of rent on mining claims in Lake County from February 1,1910, to March 31, 1911, and the Treasury has been instructed to«make the deduction ficm the goldfiekU revenue of Lake County.—Received.

C. Perriam, Gibbston, forwarded a copy of an application to the Warden at Qaeenßtown for a renewal for 15 years from the 11th August, 1911. of his water race license No. 1169.—There was no objection ; subject to the usual conditions. James Reid, Arrowtown, wrote that he would be very grateful if the Council would put a culvert across the main Frankton road at]the magazine to conuct the storm water from the Millers Flat and Cemetery hill down McDonnell's road. At present each time them was a heavy rain the water ran through and damaged bis land.

Cr McKibbin said he"|had talked the matter over with the Road Inspector and he had promised to do the work as soon as the workmen were available. Hon. Thos. McKenzie, Minister of Tourist and Health Resorts, acknowledged receipt of the Council's letter re a grant of £2OO offered by the Public Works Department for the completion of the Ben Lomond Road, and in reply stated that he placed their representation on the matter before the Minister of Public Works with the object of of seeing whether it was possible in the circumstances to allow the Council to complete the work. Mr W. Fraser, M.P., forwarded a letter he had received from the Minister of Public Works as follows:— Re the correspondence from the Clerk to the Lake County Council, which you forwarded to me re the requirements of the District Engineer in regard to plans and specifications for work to be carried out by the Council on the Ben London road under Government grant. Reports upon the matter have now been submitted to the District Engineer from which it appears that his requirements were not so unreasonable as one would suppose from the correspondence. Arrangement, however, has now been made for the District j Engineer to visit the work at the first convenient opportunity with the object of taking levels. He will then be in a better position to judge how best to deal with the work.

The Road Inspector] said the Engineer had been up and had taken the levels and they would soon know how the work was to be done.

The District Engineer wrote re the Council's application for £IOO for protection works on the Matukituki river. He would like a better illustration of the portion of the damage now being done; also showing whether land threatened was freehold or not.—Received.

The District Engineer also wired that he was leaving Cromwell on Thursday and would meet the Inspector on Friday, en route for Matukituki.—Received.

Duncan McPherson wrote at great length regarding the necessity for expending money on the road between Cattle Flat Station and the Tourist Hut. The river was encroaching on the road to such an extent at times that communication was practically cut off. The river would have to be turned, or else a road made through the swamp for emergency use. Tlw Chairman said the terms of the letter ware not very complimentary to the Road Inspector. Cr Birley said the matter should be held over till next meeting; Cr McDougall would then be there. The matter was gone into at some length at last meeting and he thought the facts were much overdrawn. He thought that the remarks concerning ths Road Inspector anything bnt complimentary. This officer should be protected against charges like these unless there were some very grave reasons. Cr McKibbin said that the matter had been fully discussed at last meeting and the Council had done the best they could in regard to having something done. Every ratepayer had a right to pnt his grievances before the Council, but it should be couched in suitable language. The letter cast a slur on the Inspector, which was not deserved. This officer should be protected and he was of opinion that the letter should not be received. Cr Cockburn said none of the Councillors present were in a position to know anything abcut the state of the river or roads. Would it not be better to hold it over until the Engineer and Inspector visited the locality. The Inspector said he would take the District Engineer round and explain matters to him and see what he would advise doing. ' The Chairman said it would be impossible for him to go then, but he would visit the place later. It was decided not to receive the letter.

The Clerk was instructed to return the letter pointing out to the writer that any grievance he had must be conveyed in more suitable language. The District Engineer and Inspector would visit the locality on Saturday and see what was to be done.

T. Templeton asked for permission to obtain material from the bank above the P. 0., Pembroke, to fill up the hollow near the Library. He would leave everything to the satisfaction of the Inspector.— Matter was left in the Inspector's hands.

The Ranger's report was read and received. —lnspector's Report— To the Chairman and Councillors, Lake County Council.

Gentlemen, —I beg to report that on account of the very severe frost several works have not been put through as the men have been looking after the icy roads. —I have been unable to visit the Greenstone track this month aa I have to go to the Hollyford Valley next month to a contract there. I will report on it for the the next meeting, when the weather will be more suitable for carrying out the work. —The Greonstone-Kinloch track has been repaired.—The Kinloch-Routeburn station road has been surfaced, and a new bridge at Einloch has been built. The other bridges and new culverts on this road have all been attended to.—A slip occurred on the Staircase-Kingston track and has since been removed.—Mr Faulkner, bridge engineer has been round all the bridges with me. He advises that the Arthurs Point bridge ba repaired as soon as possbl) as one of the cords shows signs of giving away. It requires new struts which will shorten up the span and make the bridge last a g:od few years longer. He has also drawn up a plan showing what the new timber will do. The bridge at Mrs McChesney's Creek requires new timber in the truss but will not be an expensive job.—The Victoria Bridge requires wedging and n >w bolts; also some new timber in the panels.—The Kawarau suspension bridge will also require some new timber in the trusses as a good deal of it is getting quite decayed on one side of the bridge, The designs for the Routeburn suspension footbridges will be forwarded as soon as Mr Faulkner gets them drawn up. Tenders are called for cutting off points and gravelling on Skippers road (Government vote).—Tenders for the SkippersStoney Creek road will be called for next meeting as I had not received the approved plans from the Mines Department in time for this meeting.—l have made arrangements with Mr Seller about the work on the Moke Creek track which will be carried out when

the weather is suitable for surfacing work to be done. Contract No. 383, at Cotters Creek, is completed and is a great improvement on the old road.

The man engaged to do the bird-trapping has not had much success bo far. He said they would not trap as there was too much feed about. ' J. Powell, Inspector. The Inspector's report was read and adopted. The Clerk read a statement of receipts and expenditure a3 follows:—Receipts £289 10s lid, expenditure, £549 15s Bd. After paying accounts before the meeting the bank overdraft would be £2340, or about £I2OO under the limit.

Accounts amounting to £466 12s 6d were passed for payment on the motion of Crs Birley and Collins. Cr McKibbin said the man employed with the bird traps on the Crown Terrace was at present being very successful owing to the snow, but he was afraid that when the snow was gone there would be too much feed about to make the traps as successful as they could wish Cr Baird asked if anything had been done re the deviation at Hamilton's Hill. He suggested that a-special grant of £2OO be asked for. There was an accident there the other day, Mr P. Reid having two horses injured.

The Chairman said he understood that Cr McKibbin had put on the requisition £SO, thinking perhaps tbey had a better chance of getting a small grant now and again than if the whole amount were asked for at once. The difficulty in the matter was that the deviation would have to be made through private property.

t Contracts.

Contract 385, cutting off points on Skippers main road. Only one tender, that of H. J. H. Lewis, £52 16s. Accepted.

Contract 386, cutting of points, Maori Point, Thos Scott. £3O; W. Smith, £29 (accepted). Contract 387,16 chains of gravelling at Long Gully, Thos. F. Richards, ; D. Mackie, £22 10s (accepted). The Chairman said that T. Richards had seen him that morning and pointed out to him that it was unfair that the Council should give fiesh contiacts to a contractor who had contracts unfinished and was not in a position to go on with the work at once.

Cr McKibbin said that any contractor who took up a contract and did the job in the specified time should be in a position to tender, but he was not in favor of giving contract to persons who would only do it at their convenience. It was not fair to allow any contractor to shepherd a job, but if they were done up to time he should have as many as he could get provided he was the lowest tenderer.

Cr Birley: What is the good of calling for tenders. Mackie is a ratepayer and his was the lowest tender. The work was put up for public competition. The specified time should be enforced.

The Inspector said that Mackie had not yet completed his Macetown contract. The specified time was up some time ago, but a few days back he had knocked him off as it was no use putting gravel on top of the snow. The work, however, should have been done long ago and would have been if Mackie had commenced sooner, but he had a contract ft Head of Lake to finish first.

The Chairman said a motion was passed to penalise the contractor that did not come up to the specified time. This would take effect on the contracts let to-day. He was of opinion that a contractor might have 50 contracts if he did them up to time.

It was resolved on the motion of Crs Birley and Baird—That Mackie's tender for 387 be accepted. —Special MeetingResolved, on the motion of Cr Birley— That the auditad balance sheet for the year ending March 31, be accepted, passed and declared finally settled. On the motion of Crs Cockburn and McKibbin, the Chairman was instructed to sign the County Rate Book. —Ordinary Meeting.—

Cr Cockburn said that some gravelling was needed on the Frankton Road. The Chairman said that some loads of gravel were also needed at the bottom of the Shotover hill —The Road Inspector to attend to same.

Cr Baird complained of the bad state of the road for about 8 chains between Gilmour's and Urquhart's, Lake Hayes. Resolved on the motion of Crs Baird and McKibbin—That about 8 chains of gravelling be done between Urquhart's and Gilmours, tenders to be called for next meeting. Cr Baird said that Mr Lee was putting pipes across the road at Lake Hayes. H s would suggest that he be asked to grant the Council a small pipe line for a horse trough. There was no water on this road from the Shotover river to Arrow. The Chairman said there was a place on the new road to the Lower Shotover bridge where they could get a trough. Still it would be better to have two. Resolved on the motion of Crs Baird and McKibbin—That this Council ask Mr Lee to grant them a small pipe line from his pipes crossing the Lady's Mile for supplying a horse trough. Resolved, on the motion of Crs McKibbin and Cockburn—That eight chains of gravelling be done at top of Hamiltons Hill, tenders to be in for next meeting of Council, Cr McMullan said Mr Crowe would like to rent the section behind the Foresters Hall.—The matter was left in the Inspector's hands.

Resolved on the motion of Crs McKibbin and Baird—That the money received from 3rds and 4ths on the Gibbston block be expended in reducing the grade of the hill on the Coal Pit road at the back of Scott's, and that the Inspector have the work carried out as soon as convenient. Cr Birley stated that the bridge near Eraser's, Bees Biver, required redecking; also about four chains of gravelling required to be done at Scott's lane, Glenorchy road. Both were left in the Inspector's hands to be done as soon as possible, Cr Birley wanted to know what had been done re the Bouteburn Boad. The Inspector said that the District Engineer said that they were short-handed in the Works Department and had no time yet to look at this work, Cr Birley said the settlers at Glenorchy had been enquiring about bird poison. Cr Cockburn said that about 200 bags would be available this week and would be distributed in different parts of the County as soon as possible. Cr McMullan stated that a few loads of gravel were required at the junction of the Arthurs Point-Skippers road as there was a hollow there that was somewhat dangerous. —lnspector to attend to same. The Chairman said th ire were suggestions for Government grants from the different ridings amounting to £7775. He thought it was overmuch to < xpect the Government to put such a large amount on the estimates. Perhaps councillors would be willing to curtail it somewhat. The amounts for the several ridings were ; Matukituki ,£450, Cardrona £1075, Glenorchy £2500, Queenstown .£llsO, Arrow £IOOO. Kingston £250, Shotover £750. After some discussion it was decided to forward the requisitions as laid on the table. Mr Turton interviewed the Council ex-

I laining the reason of the action of the ] Lower Shotover bridge contractor against the County not coming to trial sooner. During the discussion a wire came to hand from Messrs Hosking and Cook re the hearing of the case stating that the date would be fixed when the Judge returned from Wellington and giving the list of witnesses that may be required to attend. They also stated that the plaintiff had not as yet filed the affidavit so that they hardly knew what they had to answer. The next meeting was arranged for either the 16th or 23rd August. A vote of thanks to the chair closed the meeting.