WAIHEKAU DRAIN.

Matamata Record, Volume XIII, Issue 1109, 27 March 1930, Page 4

WAIHEKAU DRAIN.

TOWN BOARD’S VIEW. Rate Without Work.. Replying to an offer made by the Matamata Town Board, the Hungahunga Drainage Board wrote with reference to the Waihekau drain, stating that it could n.ot entertain the offer made, and asked, that £25 per annum be paid for three years, the matter to be reviewed at the end of this period. For this contribution the Drainage Board would clean the drain up to the. town boundary. A reply was asked for before March 31. The chairman (Mr. J. Buchanan) then read a report of the last meeting of the 1-lungahunga Drainage Board from the Matamata Record, which dealt with the Town Board’s offer. The chairman stated that anything he had said was as between two chairmen endeavouring to settle a difficulty, and not as in open board meeting. He would absolutely deny that he made any offer of £lO to £ls in addition to what the board spent. Further, he stated definitely that though they stated £25, it was only regarded as a jumping off offer, and there was no doubt in his mind that they would be prepared to take less. In previous years it had cost the town board £l2 to £l2 17s for work .outside their boundary in addition to the £4 spent within. This money was spent on their own volition on part of the drain for which the town board was not legally responsible. The chairman of the Drainage Board made another statement, that if it were not for town water the £8 10s would not be necessary. The Drainage Board had been collecting rates, and it looked as if they were not going to give service over portion of their area. Mr. Black: They mean if it were •not for the Town Board their drains would not be blocked. The chairman: Yes; but we have been giving them a benefit over 92 chains from Broadway. Mr. Black stated he had told ", the board at the last meeting he considered tlieir offer was a ridiculous one, and that they would be lucky to get off with £25, He felt positive if it went before a commission they would have to contribute more. Mr. Stewart agreed that a lot of refuse must go down the drain. Mr. Black: It’s all right talking about the 90 chains of drain we did but they may have '999 chains affected lower down. . Mr. Stanley thought the offer was a fair one, as one didn’t get much draining done for £25. The chairman: If we did 92 chains for £l2 10s, we could do 180 chains for the £25 asked; that’s 23 miles. Mr. Stanley remarked that the deeper the water the higher the price. Mr. Ruthe: It’s unfair, Mr. Chairman, that the Drainage Board collect a rate within the town district, and yet the Town Board do the work. Mr. Hawes agreed, and suggested that the Town Board pay the £25 on condition the Drainage Board cleaned out the drain to their own boundary. On the motion of Messrs. Hawes and Ruthe, it was then decided that the Town Board offer to pay £25 a year for three years on condition the Drainage Board cleaned the drain to its own boundary, the position to be reviewed at the end of three years.