COUNTY COUNCILS

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLVIII, Issue 149, 24 May 1928, Page 2

COUNTY COUNCILS

ANNUAL MEETINGS. POIIANGIN A COUNTY. Tlic annual meeting of the Pohangina County Council wes held yesterday, Cr. Arbon being re-elected chairman. Also ]>resent were: Ors. Brooking, Clpse, Howell, Pratt, Stewart and Strahan. CORRESPONDENCE. From Air G. Eliott Al.Pi, advising that lie had, at the council’s suggestion, taken up with the Minister of Agriculture the question of amending the Noxious Weeds Act. —Received. From the Kairanga County Council forwarding a cheque for £43 10s 6d, being the council’s’ share of the heavy traffic licenses collected for the quarter ended Afarch 31. —Received. From Air J. AlcEwan seeking permission to'erect a fence on the edge of his road. —Granted, subject to the approval of the engineer. From the AVaipa County Council asking for co-operation in having amending legislation passed in connection 1 with motor traffic. —Received. From the Valuer-General advising that the schedule of revision work for tlie year would be drawn up during tiie 'next month, when the claims ot the Pohanginn County would be conski ere d. —Received. From the Public Works Department advising that the Taonui-Rauinai Road (4 mile's) and the Pohangina Valley Road from Raumai to Dundas Creek culvert (7 miles) lmd been declared, at the last meeting of the board, main h i glnv a y s. —Received. ENGINEER'S REPORT. The county engineer, Mr D. W atson. reported upon the various ridings as follow >: Satisfactory headway has been made with the excavation work at Raumai bridge, but. as tiie men so engaged have been required to attend to other urgent jobs, the completion of this work has been An old bridge situated on the Awahou South Road has been taken up, the filling put m over the new reinforced concrete culvert, and the roadway opened for traffic. A start was made to open out the drain at the end of rhi-s read. The formation work and clearing of slips at the top end of No. 1 Line will be completed at an early dale. Coal Creek: The .stone crushing plant lias been set up on the banks of the Oroua River and is turning out a very fine class of road metal which is being carted t>y motor truck and spread on the mam high* wav. A cement pipe culvert was put m on * Coal Creek hill and road will bo put in order by the council's teams very soon. A culvert at Ngaputahi will also bo lengthened and the road widened out. Mangaonc: After the new concrete culvert was built on Pollock's Road, the filling was put in over it, the course of the crccJc straightened, the old bridge taken away, arid the road built up and metalled over. The light grader has been in use throughout this district and has effected a _ very noticeable improvement, and all 01 the roads, with the exception of a short length near Waiata, arc all in first-class order. A start has been made to deepen the drains on the main highway at Raumai. where the sides of the road, during the winter, arc very soft. A pipe culvert will be put in as soon as possible. Mangapikopiko: The total amount of stone crushed and carted out in this, riding during the past two months was 1206 cubic yards. The large grader was used for trimming up the Main Road. Martin Rlock, Makoura and a part of Norsewood Roads. A concrete pipe culvert was also put in on Makoura Road. With the exception of a length of Norsewood Road, which should be raked in with the grader, the roads are all very good. Pohangina: fair amount of work was done clearing out watcrtablcs, cutting back scrub, and improving bends on several of tiie roads, llic main road was trimmed up with tiie light grader. Tamaki: In order to protect the arch conercto Fridge in the Totara Reserve, a fair amount of work was necessary in diverting the stream, as it was scouring under one of flic concrete abutments and washing out the approach. Several yards of concrete were put in under water, which should make it quite safe. but. soon more work will require to be done in order to keep the flow of water in its present course. The decking was taken off an old bridge on the main road and the bridge re decked with jarrah planks. Some repair metaj was carted and the light grader run over a length of this road. Unmtqi: There is not much to report in this riding, more than .that the permanent surfacemen are engaged with general maintenance work. The council’s teams will be working in this district soon and wil ibe employed in putting the top end of Norsewood .Road in good order, and also the formation, metalling and cuiverting of Cave Crock Road. The bridge over Goal Creek has been repaired. All the old running boards have been’ stripped off' and the decking planks will have a good coat of boiled tar and sand when the weather is suitable. General. —Since my last report on the river erosion near Ferry Road, I have made a further inspection and. find that the work which we did some eight or nine years back is quite intact and in good order. 4 he erosion which is threatening is all above our protection work, and, if the same method of protecting the bank wero adopted, it should prevent any. further eroI sion, but the river is very deep and the cost would be approximately £2OO. However, seeing that there is no great damage done, it may not be necessary to go to so much expense. There are quite a lot of willows near by which could be fastened to a cable rdong the bank at a very small cost and this might ohcck the erosion. I have prepared estimates of expenditure for the current year, which if approved of. will allow of considerable improvements being made by way of straightening out and widening some dangerous bends, particularly in the Mangaonc. Most .of the roads have good surfaces and requiro very little more gravel. The main road in Awaliou Riding, owing to so much tourist traffic, is becoming more costly to maintain each year, as a better class of metal is required; consequently, an increase in rates is necessary, whereas, in several of the other ridings, a slight reduction can be made. —Adopted. TREASUIIER ’S R EPOR T.

The treasurer’s report showed the following accounts to be in credit:— Cemetery account £7l Os lid; loan account, £1562 19s 4d; county fund account No. 2, £145 13s 4d; County fund account £3842 Os 7d. 1928-29 ESTIMATES. The following estimates for- 1928-29 were submitted arid approved:— AWAHOU RIDING. Receipts.—Credit balance at 31/3/28, £3O 13s 4d ; rates at 15/16th, £847 ; subsidy, £169 ; fixed revenue, . £SO; total £1096 13s 4d. Expenditure.—Transfer to plant replacement account, £lO6 16s od; proportion of general administration, £250; engineer’s estimates, £735; total £lO9l 16s sd. COAL CREEK RIDING. Receipts.—Credit balance at 31/3/28, £2Ol 2s 7d; rates at 11/16ths, £717 ; subsidy £179; fixed revenue £75; total £1172 2s 7d. " Expenditure.—Transfer to plant replacements account £lO7 2s 9d; proportion of general administration, £300; engineer’s estimates, £742 15s; total £1149 17s 9d. MANGAPIKOPIKO RIDING. Receipts.-—Balance at 31/3/28, £348 7s; rates at 3d, £914; subsidy, £228; proportion of fixed revenue, £96; total £1586. 7s. Expenditure.—Transfer to plant replacement account £146 4s 6d; proportion of general administration £340; engineer’s estimates, £1111; total £1597 4s Cd. POHANGINA RIDING. , Receipts.—Cr. balance at 31/3/28, £BO- 6s; rates at 3d, £538,; subsidy. £134; fixed revenue, £SO; total £BO2 S Expenditure.—Transfer to plant re-

placement account, £72 7s od; proportion general administration, £200; engineer’s estimates, £567 10s; total, £839 17s sd. TAMAKI RIDING. Receipts.—Credit balance at 31/3/28, £4l 14s 9d ; rates at 3d, £451 ; subsidy , £112; fixed revenue £47; total £651 14s 9d. Expenditure.—Transfer to plant account, £B7 15s lOd ; proportion of general administration, £172; engineer’s estimates, £397 10s; total, £657 5s lOd. UMUTOI RIDING. Receipts.—Credit balance at 31/3/28, £384 15s 2d; rates at 3d, £989; subsidy, £247 ; fixed revenue, £95.; total, £1715 15s 2d. Expenditure.—Transfer to plant account, £172 6s Id; proportion general administration, £370; engineer’s estimates, £1085; total, £1627 6s Id. MANGAONE RIDING. Receipts.—Credit balance at 31/3/28, £93 4s Id; rates at 13/.loth, £979; subsidy, £225; fixed revenue, £9O; total, £1387 4s. Id. Expenditure.—Transfer to plant replacement account, £145 11s; proportion of general administration, £335 ; engineer’s estimates, £865; total, £1345 11s. COUNCILLOR’S OBJECTION. In discussing the estimates, Cr. Howell expressed his dissatisiaction with his,riding being charged £l5O lor river protection work. “I think,” lie stated,' “that the amount is too much for one riding to pay and it is only fair that portion of the cost should be borne by the other ridings. J propose that a special rating, on a graduated scale, be declared in the areas affected by erosion. This would enable us to have a fund to deal with this and similar positions.” After a discussion, it was decided, on the suggestion of the engineer, to leave the estimate in abeyance until it is ascertained what effect the present temporary work will have. LUPIN. A formal motion declaring lupin a noxious weed in the county was carried, Crs. Pratt, Strahan and Stewart dissenting. The following property transfers were approved:—Mrs L. E. Brown to Mrs J. L. Hooper, section 119, Apiti township; G. H. Purnell to CL G. Jensen, sections 31 and 32, -blk. NI-, Apdi s.d. OROUA COUNTY. The statutory annual general meeting of the Oroua County Council was held -in Feilding yesterday." Those present were Crs A. Campbell, R. McDonald, W. Greenhow, W. McLennan and A. Shannon.

Or' Campbell was unanimously reelected chairman on the motion of Cr Greenhow. In moving the resolution the speaker said that Cr Campbell’s actions on behalf of the county had earned the admiration of all. He had studied the attitude of the' whole county in all His work and there had been no demur at the carrying out of his wishes. The council was extremely fortunate in a' r ain .securing such valued services for the ensuing year.

Crs McLennan, McDonald and Shannon also spoke in support of the motion, eulogising the past work of Cr Campbell and expressing their satisfaction at his re-election.

In reply the chairman said that lie felt extremely gratified at the oxpres-

sions of faith which had boon extended to him. After looking back over the period of five years that lie had been on the council, he could only think that lie had been extremely fortunate in the loyalty of his fellow councillors. The chairman paid a tribute to the memory of the late Cr J. H. Vincent who had given long years of his life to the service of the county. Continuing, the chairman said that it would always he his policy to take his fellow councillors into his confidence before any action or expense was udertaken and he felt sure that lie would receive the full support of their opinions on any matter.

In regard to the reading policy of the council, the chairman said that it was extremely likely that it would have to be modified .slightly in the future. The over-increasing burden of motor traffic was proving a problem that could only bo satisfactorily met by providing a harder surface on the roads than the gravel surface which was at present in use throughout the county. The Main Highways Board, the formation of .which the speaker considered one "of the fines acts ever brought about to support county councils, was lending splendid assistance towards the bituminising of the main highways and the purchasing of load machinery. He considered that the advent of the board had been the means of enabling the council to keep its rates down and they were in the happy position of winding up last year’s works with a balance which allowed them to carry- out their proposed new works. Continuing, the speaker dealt at length with the various works carried out by the council during the past year and also referred to the rating position. it was not iiis policy, he said, to load the county with a great public debt and he was also not a believer in passing on to posterity such a debt, particularly' in view of the rates of interest ruling at present. The council had been able to carry out most of its work out of general rovenue and this was mainly duo to the subsidy which had been forthcoming from the Main Highway's Board. The speaker further proceeded to touch on the county’s bridge building operations which had been .greatly facilitated by the transferring of the £IO,OOO which had been raised for road work to this purpose. The valuable assistance given the council by' Mr J. G. Eliott, M.P., was also mentioned by tbo chairman who considered that the council was under a debt of to Mr Eliott for his services. The work of Mr R. L. Harding and the county staff was also singled out for the speaker’s commendation, he expressing the - opinion that but for their cooperation the administrative work of the council could not proceed so smoothly. The following committees were elected:—Finaneo, Crs MeElroy, Green, Greenhow; machinery, Crs McDonald, Shannon, MeElroy, McLennan. The chairman acts ex officio on both committees.

KIWITEA COUNCIL. The annual meeting or the Kiwitea County Council was held yesterday, those present being Cr. McLean," Hair, Younger. Shannon, Wood, Stack, Brown, Shaw and Williamson. Cr. McLean was unanimously reel ec ted chairman on the,motion of Cr. Shaw and Hair, both of whom paid tributes to the services rendered to the council by the chairman.

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT. In replying, the chairman said that it gave him much pleasure to be able to 'report satisfactory progress during last year. . “Commencing with a credit in the, county fund accmnt of £1326 15s 6d,” said the chairman, “the amount was increased at the close of the year to £4735 2s 54. I lie principal items under the heading of receipts are general rates 1926-1927, £10,878 16s 7< ; arrears of previous years, £456 16s 9d: special rates, 1926-1927, £2616 10s 6(1; arrears of previous years, £93 2s 6d; Government subsidy on general rates, £2064 ss; 10 pci* cent, on overdue rates, £B3 9s; license fees (excluding heavy traffic license fees), £261 17s: dog tax, £153; rents of employees’ houses, £337 19s Id; rent of roads and reserves, £230 9s 3d; subsidy from Main Highways Board on account of maintenance work on Nos. 52 and 53 highways, £2315 14s lid: interest on fixed deposit, £39 7s 6d; share of heavy traffic license fees, £586 16s lOd. The principal items of expenditure are road and bridge construction, £9128 6s 3d; interest and principal on, loans, £4212 10s 9d;' management and other expenses, £2200: hospital levies, £2238 8s 8d; repairs plant and machinery, £970. “Riding Accounts. —All the ridings again show a credit balance as follow: —Cheltenham, £520 10s; Kiwitea, £7ll 6s 4(1; Waitunn, £543 11s; Ongo, £590 8s 8d; Kimbolton, £715 7s lid; Peep-o-Day, £137 5s lid; Pakibikura, £264 Is Id; Rangiwahia, £235 Is Id; Hautapu, £245 Is 3d. The accounts in credit arc Kimbolton cemetery, £l3 16s 7d; Rangiwahia cemetery, £6 14s Id; \\ aituua cemetery, £7 8s 2d; land fund account, hypothecated thirds, '£1666 2s 2d; land fund account, ordinary thirds, £360 0s 9d; employees’ accommodation loan, £226 9s lid; interest, £773 Is Id. Vinegar Hill bridge loan, £1487 l'ss. The only account in debit is KimSblton Ilall, £7 14s.

“Rates.—The outstanding rates in the general account in respect to the past year amount to £l4O 12s 2d, and the special rates to £ls 12s Id. The outstanding rates liaid since tho close of the financial year are, general, £23 Is Bd, specials, £4 0s 9d. “Main Highways.—During the past year the main highways in the county, have been well maintained, and improvements affected in the nature of taking off bad . corners, and widening the road in narrow and dangerous places. On tho No. 52 main highway from Cheltenham to Mangaweka bri’dgo, over 5100 Cuba yards of metal have been placed on tho 111 miles of road, and approximately 600 cubic yards on the No. 53 main highway from Kimbolton Road to the river going'to Apiti, a distance,of six miles. Tho main read from Cheltenham Cross road to Vinegar Hill bridge has recently been declared a main highway, and the Cheltenham, Ongo, Wailuna and Pnkibikura ridings will receive benefit therefrom.

“Machinery.—Tho dump trucks, tractor and grading plant have been in commission most of the time and excellent results have been obtained, and the cost of upkeep and maintenance of tbo roads has been greatly reduced. “Employees’ Homes. —Alterations and additions have been made to several of the cottages occupied by the permanent, employees. An elTort is to be made this year to accommodate the roadman . for the Cheltenham riding, as it is esesntial that a cottage should bo erected in this part of tho county.

“New works, etc. —A tender has been lot for (he reconstruction of the Hayne’s Creek bridge in the Cheltenham riding, and the work should be completed within the next few months. The reconstruction of tiie lower Beaconsfield and tho erection of a suspension bridge over the Mangoira stream are matters which must claim the council’s shortly.

“Flood damage.—Considerable damage was caused to the roads in the , northern ridings by the storm in December last, and thanks to the efforts of the members for the district a grant of £2OO on a £1 for £1 basis was authorised by tho Public Works Department.

Unemployed relict work.—Through the assistance of our member a grant of £2OO on a £1 for £1 basis was authorised by the Public Works Department, but only £SO of tiie above amount was spent owing to the poor response for work from the unemployed in the county. “General. —On the Bth and 9th. of this month the councillors and officials made a general inspection of flic roads and bridges in the county, and I must express my satisfaction at finding the roads in such excclient condition. Most of the bridges will requiro repairing, but nothing of an expensive nature is required. The' council also inspected several of its reserves and roadman’s cottages, and altogether much valuable information and data were obtained as 'a result of tho visit. I desiro to thank the whole of the council’s staff and empLoyecs for the results of the past year. In conclusion, I have to thank the members of the council for their hearty cooperation and help they /lave given me as chairman and the keen interest they have taken in all matters appertaining to the welfare of the council.”

At the. ordinary monthly mooting; of tho Kiwitea County Council the clerk was instructed to prepare remits on the following subjects for presentation at the counties’ association conference: Authority for the council to make a by-law controlling the driving’ of stock through Kimbolton township ; amendments to the regulations dealing with tho payment of allowances to members of county councils. It was decided to purchase another road grader for county use.

AVOODVILLE COUNCIL.

Yesterday Cr. M. 0. Grainger was unanimously re-elected chairman of the Woodville County Council. Cr. Elder, in moving the re-appointment of the chairman, said that the ratepayers must be thankful for having such an able chairman and that the progress made during the past year was largely due to Cr. Grainger’s interest and devotion to duty. DANNEVIRKE COUNCIL. At the statutory meeting of the Dannevirke County Council yesterday, Cr. ,T. AY. Eilingham proposed that Cr. A. Galloway, be re-elected chairman, saying that" sinco lie had occupied tho position had taken a very keen mter-

est in the affairs of the county, and he was happily-in the position of being able to devote the time Accessary to the office. He know from his large experience that it was necessary for a chairman to be in a position to be abte to devote his time to the position. Cr A. B. Hansen seconded the motion which was carried unanimously.