COUNTY COUNCILS

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLVII, Issue 220, 15 August 1927, Page 10

COUNTY COUNCILS

POHANGINA MEETING. The monthly meeting of the Pohangina County Council was held at Pohangina on Saturday when there were present: Crs F. W. Arbon (in the chair), W. Howel, S. Strahan, A. Brooking, T. Close and W. M. Stewart. CORRESPONDENCE. From the Waimea County Council asking' for support of a proposal for the abolition of road boards where county councils thought that such was desirable.—The letter was received, the chairman commenting that there were no road boards in the county. From H. C. Mapson, Apiti, applying for a renewal of his billiard-room license.—Granted. From the Conservator of Forests. Palmerston North, forwarding particulars concerning -the leasing of a portion of Totara Reserve.—Received. From the trustees of tho Dobson Mine Disaster Relief Fund asking for the return of a subscription list forwarded in December last.—The clerk reported that no donations had been received.

From the Auckland provincial executive of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union asking for support of a request to the Government to immediately commence a gradual reduction of tlie protective customs taxations on British goods.—lt was decided to ask Mr J. Gordon Eliott, M.P., to give any legislation in this direction liis support. From the Main Highways Board advising that, when county councils were submitting proposals. for minor improvements to the alignment of main highways, detailed engineering plans would not be insisted on.—The matter was referred to the engineer. From J. Enright, Pin Piri, asking that the culverts at the foot of Takapara Road be put in order as soon as possible as in their present state they were diverting water into his paddocks. The engineer was instructed to attend to the matter.

From J. A. Coup, Ashhurst, making a claim for £8 10s arising out of his trap falling through a culvert on the roadway.—lt was decided to accept no liability. From H. Knight, Komako, seeking permission to erect a fence on the roadside of Apiti-Norsewood Road. — Permission was granted, subject to the work meeting with the approval of the engineer. From Mr J. Gordon Eliott, M.P., advising that the Public Works Department had approved of a grant of £2B asked for by the county in respect of Tunipo Road.—A hearty vote of thanks was accorded Mr Eliott for his services in connection with the matter. ENGIMEER’S REPORT.

The engineer (Mr D. Watson) reported as follows on work carried out since the last riieeting:— Aivahou riding: 258 yards of riverbed motal was carted to a dump on Mr Whitehead’s property. Several slips have boon cleared off, and willows planted /o protect the outside of the road. Coal Creek riding: Tho largo grader has been in use shaping up Pohangina Valley Road at Ngaputahi. The slip has been cut back and tho road widened out and metalled, 'lhc council’s teams have opened out a short length of Denton’s : Road that had been blocked by slips for some time. Repairs have been effected on the Main Road on Apiti Hill. Willow's were planted on tho outsido and tho filling replaced. A small amount of work which was carried out on two' occasions with tho object of turning tho .Oroua River., hack into its original , course at Parson’s Ford has proved to be jf;very successful as it has caused the river ";.o scour to such an extent that the full flow of tho stream is now back under the bridge, which for the past ten years or so has been standing high and dry with the i river running several chains away past its ; end and cutting away quite a lot of flat' land. It must, however, bo understood | i;hat, in my opinion, owing to the forma- : tion of tho surrounding country, with high i hills on one sido of tho river and low-: lying land on the other, it is possible for the river to cut a fresh channel anywhere in I the vicinity, although since tho work has j beerP'done there there have been some fair ; ! sized floods during tho winter. Mangaono j 1 riding : A start was mado to cart metal i i from the river to a dump at tho bridge, j A concrete culvert has been put in on the j Main Road, and a good length of drain i cleaned out. The light grader was run I over tho main highway and Ferry Road. Repair metal was carted and spread on the 1 Ferry Road and the bridge redeckcd with ; totara planks which wero taken from ! Lynch’s Bridge. Some protection work was put in tho creek above Soutlieo’s Bridge. Tho washout on Finnis Road has been repaired and a pipe culvert put in. The council’s portion of the fence on Ilollie’s Hill is in a dilapidated state and should bo renewed as the road is soft on tho outsido and in consequence is unsafe for heavy ; traffic. Mangapikopiko riding: Carting metal for repair work and shifting slips has occupied the attention of the permanent surfacemen during tho past month. Pohangina riding: Protection work was carried out by way of building two , stone I groynes and planting willows at Tc Awa j culvert." Tho council's team aro employed i with the use of the iargo grader trimming I 1 up tho Valley Road. Seventy-five yards of j j metal wero carted from the river to be used 1 i for repair work in tho township. The j 1 grader will bo put fiver tho back roads dur- 1 I ing tho next few days and the metal spread I * out. Tamaki riding: The light grader was ! ! used for raking in motal on tho Main j j Road. Three or four men wero engaged | j for “a. few days to clean out the watertables • I on Takapara Road. Tho drain on DclaI waro Flat and the outlet from the culvert I through tho Forest Reserve require to lfo j cleaned out. The permanent roadman will bo employed carting metal during the month. Improvements have been effected to the roadman’s house. Umutoi riding: Tho council’s team havo improved the roads very considerably with tho use of the grader from Utuwai to Ngaputahi Bridge. Water-tables havo been attended to and other repair work dono on Sixtus and Tunipo Roads, and a good deal of similar work carried out on Limestono Hill. As a result of some trees becoming lodged in the creek above Ngaputahi Bridge, the stream was deflected to one sido and caused a scour about one of the concrete piers. To - prevent any further erosion, tho obstruction was cleared out and the bank-protected with willows. GENERAL. The treasurer (Mr A. E. Orgias) reported that rates outstanding on August 13 were £338 7s 3d. At the close of the financial year £7ll 10s 5d had been outstanding. Of rates levied for the current year, amounting to £9712 13s 7d, £7 8s 3d had been collected to date. Accounts amounting to £1893 3s 3d wero passed for payment. HOROWHENUA MEETING. The Horowhenua County Council met at. Levin on Saturday, those present being Crs G. A. Monk (in the chair), Jensen, Catley, McLeavey, Kilsby, Barber, Whyte, Bryant and Ryder. CORRESPONDENCE. The Department of Health advised that no cases of infectious diseases had I been notified in the district for the last ! month. Seven complaints had been at-, tended to, and one nuisance abated. I No foodstuffs had been seized or con- | demned. One butcher’s shop and two grocery stores had been inspected, and I two requisitions for improvements I

made. In regard to special sanitary investigations, the Waikanae School had been disinfected, and the committee of the Otaki Maori Racing Club interviewed concerning improvements necessary to tho accommodation house. The New Zealand Counties’ Associa* tion forwarded a remit as under, requesting tho council to give effect ta the provisions with tho view to safeguarding all users of county roads: “That all local bodies throughout New Zealand bo urged to make full use of the powers now vested in them and use their utmost endeavours to have all growth obscuring the view at street and road corners removed, thus lessening the existing risk of motor accidents.”—lt was decided that owners of properties in the county where trees were a, source of danger be interviewed. Unanimous support was decided upon in regard to a communication from the Auckland branch of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union requesting the cooperation of the council in an endeavour to take steps to have the protective customs taxation on British goods lifted. The Department of Labour advised that in order to assist the Government to ascertain tlie extent to which the unemployment position had been dealt with, the council was requested to advise the number of men placed since March Ist last, and also whether it was proposed to commence any further special works for the relief of unemployment. Cr Catley remarked that in the relief of unemployed the council should give preference to married men. The chairman stated that the council was following this policy, and in the event of employees having to be put off, it would be seen that married men with families would be kept on longest. A complaint in respect of' a collision with a carrier on the Main Road at Tokomaru on Wednesday, July 20tli, was received from a Wellington motor cyclist, Mr W. E. Oliver, who stated that there were no danger signals placed on the road, and the plank was not visible—being similar in colour to ‘ the road—till one was too near to apply the brakes. He claimed compensation, alleging that the onus was on the council to see that adequate danger signals were placed in order to give the public timely warning, On the motion of the chairman, the matter was referred to the engineer for a report. Mr E. E. Mabin forwarded a request for permisison to put down a drain on the road side of the fence at the Tokomaru flaxmill property. —lt was decided to leave the matter in the hands of Cr Whyte and the engineer. A donation of £5 was made to the Levin Workers’ Education Association. LOANS AUTHORISED.

~~ On the recommendation of the finance committee it was decided that a further instalment of £25,000 be raised in connection with the main highway loan authorisation of £90,000, and that tlifi same bo uplifted as follows: The sum of £15,000 from the A.M.P. Society on a table mortgage basis for 36i years, and the sum of £IO,OOO from the Public Trustee also for a period of 36J years. A formql resolution authorising the council to raise a loan of £12,000 for construction of roads in the SeifertWhitanui rating district was carried. It was decided that Crs McLeavey and Whyte be authorised to sign the rate books for the ensuing year. Accounts amounting to £BB2I 14s 4d ivere passed for payment.