WAIMEA COUNTY COUNCIL.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LII, Issue 160, 4 July 1918, Page 5

WAIMEA COUNTY COUNCIL.

MONTHLY MEETING. The monthly meeting of the Wat mea County Council was ,held to-day. Present: Crs. H. Everett, ,A. J>rummond, T. Rewetson, G. "vlacmahou, A. P. Allport, and H. Tunnicliffe. In the absence of Cr. Best (chairman) owing to.' a 'bereavement, Gi\ Everett was i sooted ta the chair. Cr. Best was j granted -leave of absence. } FINANCE.

ENGINEERS REPORT. r The County Engineer (Mr CJ. S. Whiteside) in his monthly report, stated, inter a'lia : Maitai Riding: A large '.slip' occurred in the Wangamoa hill, and temporary repairs have ben effected. The roa-d would require to be excavated wider, which would be done as soon as the weather permitt d. The breach in the Tahuna sea wall had Tieen repaired "and the footpath billed in and. gravelled. As to the maintenance • of th<. main road between Nelson and Richmond Borough. ~ih>> practice heretofore had been to nttich thu road with river shingle, obtained either from Bright-water, t-tpTTTeby or the Maitai river. This s rved very' well while the traffic was light and slowmoving. However, during the last few vears traffic had increased very consid- , ?rably, especially motor driven -or pro--1 gelled 'vehicles. The result was that ;the increased traffic, and the spee.-u [multiplied by the weight, exercised a ilvery destructive influ- nee on the .sir. face d? the road. Though repaired ; w,itih "'ctiver shingHe' albout every two ;Tiouths the material \ was not good Enough to stand up" to the work ro--1 quired of it. No river . shinglr _ was . ■ : go,od enough for the severe 'tapkiraposj'ed- upon it. Its rounded form did nof*. bind or interlock sufficiently to proidiice a ' hard surface, and the stones | were ground int§ powder and. turnd !<nto dust. The increased, cost of _ceLrnent and present conditions puf a concrete road out of the question. What was required was a bard, closegrained, stone broken to about lh cubes to treat the surface of the road 'with. Rolling, and if possible tar binding, would be. essential to. : produce a. good wearing surface. Wai-iti Ridding: During the month river protecition work at Hoult's valley was continued. The floods gave it a severe test and\ three of the stone crates were dislodged; otherwise the work had ■. stood very: well and promised to he. • effective. " Work had been started in i ,Stoney -Creek .bridge in Pretty Valley. 1 Motupiko Riding: The road into Pahl's, j ■Korere. would cost about £ls to form. 'The footbridge over Stanley Brook . i'river, by Eatwell's, had been restored j -at a cost of £lB. Wangapeka Riding : j .Some river protection work was "be- j ; "mg carried out opposite Bigg's. Glen- j !?ae, Mr Biggs paying, half the cost. , The formation required 'by Mr Gre n i "in Grani'tv Creek, Pearce Valley, i =would cost £SO, and Mr Green offered J to contribute a third. Motueka Riding : f \ new bluegum string, r had had to be Dlaceo" in the Riwaka bridge also some .new deck planks to keep it going. The ; on the west, side of Parson's j bridge. Waiwei-o, ...required to be rais-.. : ■wl a s the Waiwero stream was being, hlocked by vegetation, : which would j ■>ause tn e " river to overflow and v run j jdown the road: Moutere: Riding. The j of a concrete bridge " over the.:* Stream on Wills' road would be not lless than £6OO, based on prices at the ' , end of June—an increase of 12A per cent, had taken, place -since then.i The cost Kif a timber bridge on the Olid House - road would be about £250. _ ,\ Cr. Allport referred to the state of* (the Stoke-Richmond road and. said it should he metalled. He moved that , half a mile of the southern portion of ■ the road be metalh d with crushed ; imetal «s soon .as possible and in thp \ meantime that the wholo length of j • road be repaired. j Cr. Macmahon seconded.. - I

The chairman said that if thry waited till crushed:, metal was available it "would he mouths before the- repairs would be done. Instead of havinp: a man on- the road -constantly they waited • till it was in its pxpsent deplorable con\ditioii and then blamed the class of \ metal. 'Ho had come over the road .*in the dark the previous evening ana 'had nearly had liis neck broken. H agreed that broken metal was the best but it was not available and they must make the . best of; the material at hand. : Cr. Hewetsonr said there was plenty of metal • oil the Stoke road, but it wanted, raking up. , The road could then be. rolled and the pot holes, would be filled up. This . could not ,b e done at' present and', in 'the. meantime* the; .road shoxild be patched. ■ Cr. Br.um.mond said the road should be immediately . patched. They could not get crushed metal.just, now and it Was. of no use waiting to repair the road which should -be attended to at once- ' ■ ! Cr. Allport.. said the road needed Until that could be.-done ;]tKe"Toad- should .fee repaired. ; The motion was carried. . . Resolved that . a motor .bridge, be,over the.splash across the. main 'road ,on the town side; of the Belgrov.e -Hotel. '■■ /. ■*:'.. '• ;'• J ■<■

! Resolved that the Council pay half the cqst of- repairing, road leading: to sections 15 and 19, bfock viii, Tainan survey district, the whole cost-not t<> exceed. £2O. > : Resolved vthat the Council pa;.:/ bal ' the cost •of widening. Granity; Creek, tracky-, providing the -whole cost doe? not .exceed £3O. : . >/ Resolved that the Waiwerp road on the western side of .Parson's . bridge be raised and..metalled;. A '..-.. , Resolved that the Engineer, make » permanent,, fordway . _. acrons. the Com. pany/s ditch in Wills road; also that the fordway on the Old House road across •the-.second stream be repaired. The .Engineer's report Jvas thei: adopted, ,'r ' ( ' '

COiRIffiSPONDEN'CE.- ... From the Minister for Public Work?. re the Tadmor bridge, statijng that if the ■ Council* had the necessary hai'dwood in stock, he-would purchase it and commence the erection of the bridge; but if the Council's' proposal meruit that thev Intended t©i;ferect the bridge with local timber he could not accede to- the Council's request *-td». hand over the amount allocated by ithe< Governyuent.—-Mr R. P. Hudson, M'.8.4!.> a letter he had • received (ifrom the ./Minister, in regard to the same .^matter. —Referred to the Engineer. W From ;th«A ; Deputy Superintendent of the StatolAdvances Office re application

{or consent to a: loan.x>t.£lso lor the purpose of 'repairing ■£&&• Maitai Valley road, "and asking for. further information. —Referred" "to Clerk. From Whangarei County Council, urging that returned soldiers ' should not be placed on the poorer classes of land. —ffesolved that the Council heartily endorse the spirit of the resolution, and suggest that it be forwarded to the Minister of Lands. From Messrs Fell and Atkinson, on behalf of 'Messrs Fell, Jackson and Rout, , re flood water on their property at Ta- f hunairui, and stating that if the Council . failed to take satisfactory steps legal proceedings would be taken. —Resolved to refer the matter to the Council's solicitors for an opinion as to the Council's liability. \ (Left sitting.)

The Bank passbook showed balances as follows:— Dr. i £ s. d. i Waimea County "Fund ac. 8746 0 2 Cr. £ s. <1. J Contractors' T>eposit ac. Interest ac.s. ■Rocks Road Ngatimoti Brklge 0 7 0 ■ 38 7 0 34 19 3 Baton Bridge "Sherry "Bridge Peninsula Bridge I" 4 9 j 11 10 6 1 98 15 i . ;Stoko Waterworks Reserve 62 9 3 Moutere Inlet 31 4 6 " Land Fund Thirds Ac. _ 89 11 11 Payments were authorised in G- neral Account amounting to £1087 6s 7d.