RAGLAN COUNTY COUNCIL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 8585, 5 June 1891, Page 3

RAGLAN COUNTY COUNCIL.

. SPECIAL MEETING. ,-■' , A special meeting of the Raglan County Council was held at the Council Chambers on Wednesday, May 27. Present: Messrs. R. C. Mathias (chairman), J. Brooks, G. Whiteside, J. McGuirk, A. Calder, C. Sutton, E. B. Hill. : . h Notices ok Motion.—Proposed by Mr. Brooks, seconded by Mr. McGuirk, ''That the resolution to divide the Whangape Riding be confirmed." Carried. : Proposed by Mr. Whiteside, seconded by Mr. McGnirk, " That all main roads in the county be considered 'county roads.'" After a great deal of discussion the motion was deferred until next meeting, to enable , the councillors tolook up the various Acts relating i to this motion. Proposed by Mr. Whiteside, and seconded by Mr. Caldor, " That by-laws be made to regulate the traffic on tlieTuakau punt." By-laws read, and the motion was carried. Proposed by Mr. Whiteside, and seconded by Mr. Calder, " That the road between the Manukau and Raglan Counties be made a county road." J This motion was deferred until next meeting. ■ ORDINARY MKETIXG. : ' The ordinary quarterly rncbtina of the Raglan County ' Council was held on Wednesday, 27tli May. Present: Messrs. Mathias (chairman), Brooks, Whitesido, McGuirk, ; Calder, • Suttoii, and Hill. The minutes of the previous special and general meetings were read and confirmed. .' .''■■ CoRKKSi'ONDKNCE.— betters were read from Messrs. Wilson. McDonald, Seocombe, Murray, ColonerUawsoii, Godnell, Eyre, anil others, requesting,: thirds to be spent on various works ' as # pointed out by them. Several of the writers complained of the action of the Council in diverting the use of the money to pay off liabilities »of the Raglan wharf. The clerk was instructed to reply that the consent of the Land Board must be obtained before any "of the thirds can be spent. From the Hon. Colonial Treasurer, Stating that the" result of the poll for the wharf loan had been duly gazetted, and linking for iinformation as to under which Act the Council proposed to ' borrow the £342. Reply, under the Counties Act. Prom the 'Jhief - Surveyor, re deeds Ngaruawahia punt;reserve.- That lie had applied fop;, the Surveyor-General to ; hand them over, but had hot yet ' received thorn. From Hill and Mahony, on behalf of T. H. Westbn, objecting to land being taken for } road, and requesting the sum of £10 for

same. Mr. Finlayson to be written to asking it he •is prepared to pay the above amount in accordance with Ins offer to the Council. From T. G. Hallimore, objecting to •assessment of his section, Onewhero, as being excessive. Reply, 'to be made that, others had paid on same basis, therefore no exception could' : be , made , in his case. From S. ■bellhouse, enclosing rates, and calling attention to reduction in value of his land, ■iveply, that they had no information to hand substantirtting his letter. From C. Viney, declining to pay rates as his name was not on the roll. Reply amount must be paid. From Vv, P. Cogswell, re names to be put on ratepayers petition against merging the Wnaingaroa Road Board into the county. Reply, signatures .not attested, therefore informal. From the Ohinemuri County Council, re rating of ■ native lands, asking the Conned to join them in urging upon the Government the necessity of enabling local bodies to receive rates. The Council expressed an opinion that as native lands are now being made valuable by. the expenditure of county rates, some aotion should be taken in the matter, and it was resoived that the chairman should frame'a letter in support of this object. From Constable Bulford, that the police had been instructed in the matter of registration of dogs. The Council being of opinion that this was the only way of collect- \\% tax * rom tue natives, it was resolved Ihat the_ clerk write to the Inspector of I ohce, asking him to nominate registrars for a? x}??£ a P e i Onewhero, Karioi, and Te Akau Ridings, the remuneration being—for Whangape, half fees; Dnewhero, Is ; Karioi and le Akau, Is each for dogs. From Mr. oeccombe re erecting suspension bridge over Waingaro creek. It was resolved to ask him for estimate of cost, etc. From the Waipa County Council, enclosing account Whatawhata bridge repairs, etc. The clerk to write for information as to expenditure, from the Town Board, Ngaruawahia, enclosing vouchers and ro gazetting ferryman, also letter from ferryman asking for authority to collect fees. The clerk was instructed to jniovm the Town Board that they must summons persons who refuse to pay the ferryman.

Rescinding a Resolution;.—Motion was made by Mr. McGruirk, seconded by Mr. Sj?aUl«r; " That tbe resolution prohibiting the employinenL of R. Loam be rescinded. , Mr. McGuirk stated that . on consideration he had come to the conclusion that the resolution was unfair to Loam, as others were equally implicated. A lengthy discussion followed, when some' spoke for and some against the contractor; Mr. Button stating that?tho engineer, had*admitted that Loam had done £40 worth of work for £22 10s. Ine motion for rescinding was carried. It was resolved to rescind a motion made at a lornier meeting to allow a second member for the W hangupe Riding. JNgaruawaiiia to Hot Springs Road.— Mr. J. K. McDonald waited upon the Council to ask them to spend the sum of X2o upon this road. At present it was impassable through slips and bogs, and only to be travelled over at great risk. He proposed that the Council should allow the settlers to carry out the work by day labour, and they would see.to getting the work done well. The amount he thought was due to ;ms riding by thirds; and they would be prepared to execute the work and wait for the money until the Council was in a position to pay for it. Mr. Brooks was inclined to be lenient. The settlers were quite justified in making their request. At present they were short of funds, which would not have been the case if outsiders had not written to the Land Board, and thereby "hindered the Council from obtaining >vha6 was due. It was resolved that the sum of £25 be allocated to the improvement of this road, and that Colonel Dawson, Messrs. Wilson and McDonald be appointed a committee to superintend the spending of this .money. 1 his amount having to come from thirds, the approval of the Land Board to. be obtained. /Mr. Brooks was authorised to call for tenders for snagging and cleaning Mangapiko Creek, consent of Land Board to be obtained, and the acceptance of tender to be subject to approval of the Finance Committee. Mr. McGuirk was authorised to spend the sum £1, on clearing water tables, etc., and Mr. Hill £5 on the Ruapuke Road. The Chairman drew attention to certain repairs necessary upon the main road. Messrs. McGuirJv and Sutton were authorised to employ, labour for these works. h KKitiEs, Etc.—lt was resolved that, the local bodies on the east side of tbe Wuikato river, "be requested to' contribute to the maintence of the Tuakau punt, etc. .._ Finance.— The .Finance. Committee were instructed to call tenderefor working the Opofcuru Ferry, as the present contract expires on the 17th June. It was resolved, "That the chairman be authorised to arrange for the working of the ferry at' Port Waikato." If ,-was proposed by Mr. .Whtteside, seconded ;;by Mr. Hill, " That the cost of maintaining the Tuakau punt be a general charge on the county funds." Motion lost. Hakbouk and Wharf.—Several bylaws were submitted for the approval of tho Council, and after some discussion was amended and passed. '..It was resolved, "That the wharf shed be insured in the Union Fire and Marine Insurance Company for the sum of £500." It was resolved, " That the Government be requested to grant the Council control over the whole of the harbour until such time as a proper Board may be appointed, also to write to the member for Waipa, to ask him to use his influence in this matter. Complaints as to wharf management and charges were received from Messrs. Rendell and Henry, Sutton, Langley Bros., and the Northern S.S. Company. Mr. Langley also interviewed the Council upon this subject. He thought the rates were high enough to allow wharfinger to pay all charges for labour, etc., and would like the Council to make some reduction in the rate of storage, as his flax had been costing him at the rate of nearly 4s per ton per shipment. It was proposed by Mr. HiIJ, seconded by the Chairman, •' That owing to the way the roads are cut up by hauling flax on sledges, the Council cannot see their way clear to reduce wharf charges." Messrs. Brooks and Sutton spoke strongly against this motion, and thought it would prove to the detriment of the wharf, and proposed as an amendment "That storage on exports be reduced to Is per trip of steamer." The amendment was lost, and the motion carried. Proposed by Mr. Brooke, seconded by Mr. McGuirk, "That the duty of the wharfinger is to collect dues. He was not to. sign the ship's manifest, but shall give the agent the receipt for the goods as stored in the wharf shed." Mr. Sutton opposed this motion, on the ground that it would lead to the steamer not using the wharf at all; and unloading, in the stream, and proposed as an amendment, " That the wharfinger be instructed to sign receipts, etc., according to terms of 'conditions of tender for wharfinger.' " Amendment lost, motion carried. Surety.—The wharfinger suggested to the Council as his surety, Mr. 6. Robinson. The Council accepted him as surety, provided he was willing to act. Harboxjk Reserve. —Section 11, town of Ruglan, containing 4a 2r 15]> having been duly gazetted, and vested in the Council, it was decided to cut it up into suitable sec tions, and offer it at public auction, on a 21 years' lease, the lessees to be allowed the right of removing improvements, or, if the Council re-lease, the value to be added to the upset price; or the Council may, if it is possible, renew at valuation, Messrs. Frissell and Co. were appointed as surveyors: Messrs. C. Sutton and Co., as auctioneers (without fee), and the members of the Finance Committee were appointed to make all the necessary arrangements. BALANCE-SHKETSi —The clerk reported that lie had written to the Hon. Colonial Secretary, for warrant to enable the Council to discontinue the publication of the annual balance-sheet. It was resolved, " That SOO copies of the balance-sheet be printed (and divided amongst the councillors For distribution to ratepayers in their respective ridings), provided the Council obtain permission to discontinue publication in the newspaper." The clerk reported that the annual balancesheet had not yet been received from the Audit Department. The balance of the various ridings on the 215 th February were :— Karamu, dr., £7 2s 7d: Kariori, dr., £79 los 7d ; Onewhero, cr., £101 Is oil; Firongia,dr., £20 I(>3 3d"; Te Akau, cr., £:>.() 14s lid; Whangape, dr., £16 5.3 fid. The bank overdraft, £403 12s Td, less wharf debt £85:3 15s 3d, leaving actual county overdraft at £49 17s 4d. It" was resolved thac most of the balance to the credit of rhe Onewhero riding be paid into the Road Board account (Oiiewliero). KAtes.—The following rates we're struck : Whangape, i{d ; Karamu, 4'd; Te Akau, M; karioi, 4'd; Ouewhero, id; Pirongia, Sd ill the £. It was resolved that legal action be token against all defaulters, and that the clerk prepare a list, and submit the wame to councillors for their remarks as to whom it may be possible to recover from. Accounts.-—Tho following accounts wen 3 passed for payment :<—T. Cuthbert, £3 15s ; W. Z. R., £'2 17s ; B. Scott, Gs ; wharfinger, £1 17s 0d i Charitable Aid, £99 : Mold and Co., £3 12s ; G. Edgecorabe, £0 Us Cd ; W. Wilson, £8 10a ; audit, £4 Gα 8(1. Proposed by Messrs. Brooks and VVhiteside, "That thin Council strongly object to the amount deducted by the Treasury for audit account from the Inst subsidy," Mold and Co., £f> 17s (id ; J. Jackson, £5 ; VV. Wilson, £50 12s Ud. Mr. Brooks proposed, Mr. Hill seconded, "That the account of Charles Sutton for shortage in wharf delivery be paid, but that the Northern S.S. Company's account for labour be not paid," Mr. Sutton said that in justice to the company ho must propose as an amendment, "That tho company be paid." Mr. Whitcside seconded pro forma. amendment lost, and motion carried. It was resolved to hold the next meeting of tho Council at Ngaruawahiti.— LOwu Correspondent.]