MURCHISON COUNTY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 23 October 1941, Page 7

MURCHISON COUNTY

MONTHLY MEETING OF COUNCIL MARCIA HIGHWAY 1 Mr F. 11. Newman presided at the i monthly meeting of the Murchison . I County Council which was held on 1 I Thursday night, others present being ! Councillors T. O. Morel. F,. M. Brown, j i J. B. Milligan, A. Burt, and B. C. i j Spiers. j The county clerk submitted a very ! interesting report showing a compari- j son of the estimates for the year with j the receipts and expenditure for the 1 half year ending 30th September. Al- | though some of the items of the esti- j mates had been overspent, there had I been considerable saving on other j items, and it is expected that by judicious control.of expenditure there will be a balanced budget at the end of the financial year. The report was received, and the county clerk was congratulated on the manner in which he had set out the position of the county finances for the half year. The Main Highways Board advised that the following items were providj ec for on the 1941-42 estimates for ex- • penditure on the Murchison-Maruia | highway—General maintenance, £BOO '.£4 for £1); Bastin’s ford culvert. £320 (£4 for £1); Mailman’s creek bridge, £412 (£4 for £ 1 >. The District Engineer forwarded a copy of a letter addressed to Messrs Flowers Bros, at the Gowan, in connection with the bridge giving access to their property. The letter stated that the Minister h~d agreed to subsidise repairs to the amount of £6O, £1 for £l, with a view to keeping the bridge in use until conditions make a i new bridge possible. Proposals for the | work must be submitted by the council. 1 In connection with this matter, ' Messrs Flowers Bros, waited on the 1 council and explained the work which I required to be done on the bridge, and j the proposals which they were prepar- ; ed to make in connection with the 1 work. It was decided that the proposals be submitted in writing, to be forwarded by the council to the Public Works Department for their approval. The Transport Department acknow- | ledged the council’s approval of Mr A. j H. Crawley’s nomination to the EP.S. Nelson Advisory Committee for the I Motor Impressment Committee, and ! advised that the council would be noti- j lied in due course of the personnel selected. Transport (Nelson! Lid. wrote ap-j plying for the refund of two months j heavy traffic license on truck No. 31 j which had been sold. Owing to the j fact that the company had not complied ; with the regulations requiring that the j disc, license, and registration plates j must be deposited with the local authority for the period for which the refund is to be made, it was decided that no action be taken. USE OF REST ROOM The Women's Division of the Earners’ Union advised that notwithstanding the instructions given to the W.W.S.A. that no afternoon meetings were to be held in the Rest Room, that j organisation held a meeting on Saturday afternoon. 20th September, and the Women’s Division would be pleased if | the council would advise what action ! to take. It was resolved that the W.W.S.A. be advised that in future they could have the use of the Council Room for their afternoon meetings. A letter was received from the Returned Soldiers’ Association requesting that the work at the Memorial be expedited. and advising that Mr Geo. Peacock had offered his services free j aa supervisor of the laying down of the lawn. It was decided that the chairman [should interview Mr Cork, the Agricul- [ ture Officer of the Nelson Education j Board with regard to the preparation j of the soil and the grass to be used. 1 and that Councillor Spiers should be : authorised to employ Mr Peacock to | undertake the work. 1 Mr E. V. Watson advised that he | would not require the Council’s cottage jin Waller street after the sth October, i It was decided that the property be advertised for sale by tender. Mr D. G. Norris wrote asking that | the Council either send the truck and j men to the Rappahannock for a few j days to patch up the worst parts of the road, or give him a contract of £8 to j £lO to do the work. i The matter was referred to the fore- ■ man to attend to as soon as possible. The Minister of Transport wrote ! acknowledging receipt of the Council’s • protest against any alteration in the i Heavy Traffic License fees, and advising that before anything is done in the matter the Government will fully consult the local authorities. The Lady Galway Guild Committee applied for the use of a room in the Council Chambers as a storeroom for , goods made up for the relief of distress in England. , j The District Engineer advised of the Minister’s approval for the erecting of ; a cattle-stop at McLernon’s. Maruia. The P.W. Department advised that the sum of £3OO (£3 for £1) had been provided on the Estimates for the formation of the access road to Badcock's ■ Matiri. It was decided that Mr Fennell I should be asked to draw up the neces- ’ sary plans for the road. OBJECTION TO HOSPITAL LOAN The Nelson Hospital Board wrote advising that it intended to raise u • loan of £45,000 for the erection of a : boiler house, laundry, etc., and that any objections to the proposed loan j must be lodged before a specified date. \ It was resolved that an objection I should be forwarded from the Council protesting against such expenditure I during the war period. A letter was received from the Home [ Guard asking that the Council should 1 instal the lighting, free of cost, in the ! building which was Leing erected for use as a drill shed. It was estimated | that the total cost of the installation j would be about £ls. ! It was decided to reply that the Council would be willing to find £lO towards the cost of the installation, 1 j provided that they retain the ownership of the fittings, etc. A . tier was received from the SaniI tary Inspector drawing the attention of the Council to the bad state of the sanitary conveniences at the River View Domain, and urging that some ; improvement be effected before the ! commencement of the camping season. | The matter was referred to the forei man for his early attention. The Public Works Department forwarded plans and specifications for the ! Bastin’s Creek culvert, advising several ' minor alterations to be made, j It was resolved that after the necessary alterations had been completed by Mr Fennell, tenders should be called for the work. Three applications were received for the position of County grader driver, and after consideration it was decided that Mr A. Drummond ~e appointed to the position on one month’s trial. GENERAL BUSINESS i Arising out of the County Clerk’s j report the foreman was instructed to dra\v up a report to be presented at I the next meeting, showing the quanti-

I ties and the location of metal required j ion the county roads and the highways, j Councillor Milligan asked that the J drains on the roadside of the Matiri road be cleaned out. j The matter was referred to the fore- I man for attention. Councillor Morel asked that one day’s 1 patching be done on the Tutaki road at \ the Mangles.—The foreman is to attend to the matter. Councillor Morel also reported on his inspection of Wheeler’s Creek, and Rifleman’s Creek, access to Glenroy. As a result of the report it was decided that no action be taken with regard to Wheeler’s Creek, but with regard to Rifleman’s Creek, that a temporary bridge be erected to give access for settlers in the Glenroy. Councillor Morel drew the attention of the Council to the dangerous condition of the Mataki river at the Mataki Bridge, where the main stream was threatening the bridge approach on the East bank. It was resolved that a letter be written to the District Engineer drawing his attention to the matter, and asking that he view the position with the Council at an early date. Councillor Spiers reported that damage had been done by Mr Hill’s bulldozer in the vicinity of a culvert on the Matiri near Brown’s cowshed. It was decided that Mr Hill be asked to repair the damage. Damage had also been done by P.W.D. : bulldozers through their traversing the road between Nalder’s and Peacock’s on j the Maruia road, in wet weather. It was decided that the attention of [ the Public Works Department be drawn j to the matter. | Councillor Spiers also reported that ; j the decking on Anderson’s Creek bridge. ! Francis’s road, required attention. The foreman was instructed to attend [ to the matter. ; The chairman asked that a culvert . I at Badcock’s be attended to. and that 1 i pot-holing be done on Warne's Bluff i The foreman was instructed to attend to these maters, j With regard to T. Collins’ road which [also required attention it was decided j that Mr Morel inspect and if necessary ■ he was empowered to authorise 2 days’ 1 work . HOSPITAL SERVICES Councillor Newman drew the attention of the Council to the position with regard to the Kennett Hospital. Mrs ■ Wyllie was definitely retiring at the end of October, and as yet no suitable applications had been received by the Hospital Board for the position of matron. It was resolved that a letter be written to the Board stating that the Council viewed with concern the fact that the nurse was leaving shortly and no staff had, yet been appointed to replace her, and urging that they use every endeavour to have the vacancy filled as early as possible so that the service might be maintained.