WAITAKI COUNTY COUNCIL.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 10541, 24 August 1910, Page 4

WAITAKI COUNTY COUNCIL.

MONTHLY MEETING. Tin* monthly meeting of the Waitaki County Council, held in the County Chambers, this afternoon, w.as attended , by the Chairman (Mr D. Sutherland), Messrs W. Nicolson, D. Borrie, Newlands, Oats, Dovey, and Wylie. Accounts amounting to £1402 5s Id (general account) and £l4 9s 7d (Papakaio water-race account) were passed for payment. The Paymaster-General advised that the siyn of £1049 19s 6d, payment of subsidy under' section 9 of the Appropriation Act, 1909, had been remitted to the credit of the county fund. — Received.

The Receiver of Land Revenue advised payment of £39 lis lid, "thirds," "fourths'* and "royalty" if land 'revenue accrued during period 7-5»-'lO to 30 I/'IO. —Received. Tim District Railways Engineer wrote in regard to two crossings the subject of a previous ' letter. There was no objection to making a public crossing at lS7m 52chs, as the view uas good on each side, but the view at 187 m lochs was so restricted that a public level crossing could not be granted. A public crossing by means of an overhead bridge at lS7m 1/ciis might be granted instead, but the cost, of the same would have to be borne by j the applicants. Similarly the cost of converting the other one, including eattlcstops and any formation necessary would have to be botno by the applicants.— A copy of the letter to be sent to Messrs LeC'ren, the vendois of the property referred to. The Waihemo County Council wrote enquiring whether part of the Government grant for Run No. 111, occupied by Mr A. M'Lennau (Mount Nature Run), could be allocated for expenditure in Waihomo County, say on the road leading to the run from the Makaraco Estate. —An answer to be sent that the Waitaki County Council had no money for the purpose. Elizabeth Richardson, South Oamaru, drew attention to the nuisance caused her by trees growing on a vacant section at the corner of Roxby street, owned by the late John Hughes. The trees kept the sun olf for the greater part of the day, making adjoining sections very damp.— Referred to the member for the riding the engineer to make enquiries and report to next meeting. Francis W. Pochiii, Buntroon, called

attention to the fact that the Council's order for the removal of the gates 011 the Earthquake road had not been complied with. —The" Chairman remarked that the gates had been removed. The Town Clerk of the Oaniaru Borough Council wrote forwarding the borough solicitor's opinion with reference to the Council's position regarding the upkeep of water-race bridges on" county roads. The opinion has already been quoted in reports of the Borough Council. —Received. The District Engineer IMY.D. wrote in connection with information required to accompany plans of bridges submitted for approval. —Letter to be handed to the County Engineer to be kept for reference. _ _ ill- B. Allan, "Welcome Creek, V, ai- j taki. drew attention to the state <.f the northern portion of Steward s road and requested" that it have immediate attention. "I also desire, Mr Allan wrote, "to emphatically protest against the studied neglect by council of this particular work, as it is now considerably over a year since your Council were requested to put ibis road in order." —The work to be attended to as soon as possible. Mr Borrie moved —"'1 hat the Council do now make and levy the toiiowiim rate.-, on al! rateable pro::e7".'v' appearing on the valuation rolls of the eountv i'or the year commencing Ist April. 101(1. and ending 31st March, 1911. under sections 117-118 of the Counties Act. 1908.. viz.. Alniriri. Otekaike. Awamoko, Papakaio. and Inclioime Ridings, a general rate of Ul in the £ ; Waiareka and Kakanui Hidings. jjd in the £ ; Otepopo Hiding, j;d in the £, and Moeraki Hiding. 11-16 din the £. Tho rates to be' due and payable in one sum on demand, at the County Chambers, Oamaru. The motion was seconded by -Mr Nicolson and carried. The Chairiiwiii and Mr Borrie were appointed to siu;u the' rate-book. Mr Basil Seth-,Smith, Tilverst.-nve. notilied that he had purchased Graham Bros.' Government Hill property at Herbert, and applied to the Council for a bridge over tlie Otepopo River at Gieneoo (at the ford) iu order that he might work the property from the Herbert cud. He wished to improve the prttporly considerably it lie could secure better means ot access, and he liad_ expert assurance that a low timber bridge bolted to the rock on both sides could !>■.• erected at a trifling cost.- —The Council did not view the request favorably. The letter was simply received. The District Engineer forwarded a general plan of the proposed Steward Settlement irrigation distributaries, also details of road and race crossings.

Mr Borrie pointed out that when the races were running full thorn would be 24 feet of water from edge to edge, and it would be impossible to drive sheep across. The letter was received.

Wm. Ellis. James R. M'Gregor, and James Henderson, junr.. of Kauroo Hill, wrote in reference to the unfinished portion of the Raupo Creek road, Kauroo Hill, suggesting that an improvement would be effected if the boundary of the road were altered, a change to which the owner of the property was quite agreeable.—The matter was left to the Chairman to attend. Dickson Jardine, Wm. H. Munro, and Wm. Stewart, of Otekaike, wrote at great length concerning the unsatisfactory and even dangerous state of the pass skirting the Otekaike River and. known as Dansey's Pass, which they were bound to use to get to their property. At one place in particular the track was so narrow that not only was it unsafe for stock but was dangerous also for men to pass. —Referred to the Engineer for report. John King, Awamoko. applied for permission to take, a small water-race through section 3a, Steward Settlement, the property of the Council. — Referred to the Engineer with power to act. The Oamaru Fire Board's letter, in regard to the inclusion of a portion of the County in the Fire Board District was again brought up for consideration. Mr Borrie suggested that the residents outside the north town boundary had all the benefits they could expect on a Ad rate. He said the back sec-

tions wore supplied by a half-inch pipe, the main pipe along the North Road being alone available for Fire Brigade purposes. .A mem her remarked that the difficulty could he got over hy the resi<Ten(s forming themselves into a town hoard. The loiter was received. .Janet Boies and J. C. "Hates wrote that they would lie pleased to have the proposed road through their property surveyed and fixed upon as soon as possible. <m account of the fence which would require shifting.—The Engineer was instructed to show the pegs. The Chairman (Mr 1). Sutherland) reported that he liad visited the roads in Waiarcka riding complained of at last meeting of the Council. "Owing to dry weather the various roads did not look hi such a deplorable state. On the road near Ardgowan about 20 chains of metalling up to the brow of the hill would suffice. There is- a good deal of traffic on this road. The back road at Teaneraki Settlement is really bad, and white stone metal should be

put on it. lie Mr Nolan's complaint from Ngapara, I find he is not a ratepayer. and the Council cannot deal with it. 'Hie drain begun by Mr Hill cannot possibly be permitted. To get the wafer to flow from the culvert to the next gully would require a drain from four to six feet in depth. The' mouth of the culvert is silted up and will wantcleaning. The part of said drain, made is about six feet from the fence. .As there are heavy contracts in hand and further commitments in view, and eight surfacemen employed, the Council must be cautious with works in this riding until Councillor Livingstone returns.''—The report was approved, and the Clerk was instructed to write to Hill that he cannot be 'allowed to cut the ditch. Mo.-srs Loe. ('• rave. and Grave's, letter re. claim by Mr Clias. White, of Pnpakaio. for damages was also brought forward for consideration.—On Mr Bori'ic's :.:otion. tfc.- C'ouu<-il agreed to acknowledge no liability.

Aii offer from Mr J. Rooney to sell to tlie Council Ills blucstone quarry and three acres of lancl at £IOO pel" a ci' c was held over for a month to enable the Engineer to sink a shaft at the back of the quarry. Mr Crow's offer for timber from *he Ivakantii bridge was left to Mr Wylie to deal with. The Engineer's report was read as follows 1. I have inspected the. proposed road through subdivision of section 5, block 1, Oamaru Survey District, and find that a gorse hedge runs along the centre of it, and that there are two low places with bad drainage where gravelled crossings would be required. —lnformation to be sent to Mr Baker. 2. The portion of the Parson's Creek road, between the end of tlie present metalling and the top of the hill near the junction of road between sections 124 and 125, Ardgowan, 'a length of about 24 chains should be metalled, as there is a heavy traffic over it and the ground is bad. The supply of about 200 cubic yards of maintenance metal for the metalled portion of .the road should be included in contract tor above. —Held over in meantime. 3. The portion of the TYestonIncholme road referred to in the P tion for metal is the only piece of the road now unmetalled. Its total lengtii is about 70 chains, and of this length 38 chains at the eastern end is on good ground, though it is of course cut up to some extent in wet weather, bu u about' 32 chains at the western end is on tarry ground and is very bad indeed in wet weather. The whole length should be metalled or gravelled, but" if only a part can be undertaken the western end should bo done first. Tlio work to be done later on. 4 Road between sections oO and 81, block 11., Papakaio S.D., Patoii's road, is scoured badly. Ujshould be formed, when the grader is started againAgreed to. 5. Mr Makoneys offer of a team to form portion of the road through his property bo accepted, and the woik done as'soon as possible. —Agreed to. 6 A. length of about 12 chains of tlie road leading to -Mrs Burnet's gateroad south of section 29. block iv., \wamuko S.D. —is liable to be scouied during Hoods. The quartz gravel obtainable close to the road does not stand scour well. The road should be raised below the point where tlie water flows on to it so as to carry it across, and a free outlet should lie left lor noou water through the paddock on the east side of the road.—Work to be done, provided gravel is given free by Mrs Burnet. n 7. Tlie portion of the Devil's Bridge road. Ardgowan, through section 98, is verv soft in wet weather, and should be gravelled, as the importance of this road lias been much increased by its connection with tlie Oamaru Creek road. —Agreed to. S. The slip on the Ralci Tunnel road, referred to by Mr Milligan, is an extensive one. It had stopped for many years, but the last flood started it ao-aiti. It. is now nearly stationary. There is a width of 14ft for the traffic, and I do not think it advisable to widen the road while the slip is saturated with water, as that would probably cause further movement and possibly block the road altogether. As previously arranged with the owner of land, the front of the slip for a width of one chain has been planted with willows, and I think as soon as they take hold the road may be widened without dan-

ger.—Adopted. 9. 1 do not think it would be advisable to grant Mr Hastie yet-mission to connect a house drain with the pipe

drain along the side of the Factory road. This drain was putin many years ago to carry surface water from the lagoon at the side of the road, and consists of 15in. pipes with open joints and laid with a small fall. For long periods there is no flow through it, and there is no means of flushing it, consequently the danger of its being choked would be very great.—Adopted. 10. I have inspected the portions - f Wilson's Road between Aitcheson's Siding and Aitcheson's Road and Aitcheson's Road" between sections 12a, 13a, 16a. and 17a, and sections 15a, and 18a, Steward Settlement, for which gravel is asked. The length is 151 chains and the cost of gravelling the whole would be about £ . The traffic on this road is considerable, and is likely to increase, and some portions of it are verv soft. Should it be decided to do a part in the meantime it would be advisable to begin at the railway and work down. It would be well to include in any contract let for gravel Oil above road the supply of about 160 cubic yards for the portion of Wilsons [load between the Main Road and the railwav station at present gravelled and about'3oo cubic yards for the portion not vet gravelled. Cost would be about £ About 28 chains require light formation. —Work to be done. ""11. The boundary Road between the junction of the Ngapara Coalpit K° i,c j and the junction of the Tussocky Road requires rounding tip at some places, but the bottom is good that 12 chains at the junction oT Bobbin Creek Road which is very soft and should be "ravelled. Cost would be about £— —. Westward from the junction of the Ngapara Coalpit Road there is a length of about 12 chains of soft ground which should be gravelled. Cost would be about £——. Remainder of the road is fairly good.—Tenders to be called. 12. The portion of the Boundary Creeic Road, on the fiat between the end of the present gravel and the bottom of the hill is all soft iu wet weather. Length of bad is about half a mile. Surface formation would improve it. but it will always be bad under heavy traflic in wet weather until gravelled. Cost of gravelling it would be about £ . Should a part be done it should be at the lowet end, as the traflic is heavier there It was agreed that the lower part of the road be attended to. 13. The Main Upper "Waitaki road between Peebles and Wilson's road is vei> weak, and about 4000 cubic yards of maintenance gravel should be got foi it at once. —Tenders to be called. 14. There are three bad places on the road through and west of section 22a, Kauroo Hill Estate, and I think about thirty chains of it should be formed. It might be included in the contract for forming the northern end of the road cast of the settlement. —Tenders to be called for next meeting. 15. Maintenance metal is urgently wanted for the portion of the WestonIneholme road between the Main road and the quarry. Arrangements should be made for the supply of about 200 cubic yards while the contractor is on the ground.—Work to be done. Tenders were accepted as follows: — Ahnriri bridge approaches, J. M. | Goudling, £240 ss; formation and gravelling. Taipo road, and maintenance gravel, C. R. Hoad, jttu., £376 10s 4d: gravel for Coalpit road. Boundary road, and road to Awamoko, John Roouey, £B4 Is Sd; stone for sinall settlcmen road, John Roouey, £l5B Os Bd. Thos. MaunseH's tender for gravel on Main Kakanui Valley road was accepted iu lieu of Mr Head's. On Mr Dovey's motion, it was agreed to write to the Land Board objecting to the lease of a piece of land at Duntroon, on the ground that the ratepayers' money had been spent in keeping it clean. It was decided, on Mr AVylie's motion,' that the Engineer inspect the Herbert-Allday Bay road, HerbertBowally Creek road, and Finlayson's road, with a view to sections of these roads being gravelled. It was decided to extend the time for receiving tenders for the purchase of timber from Kakanui bridge until Saturday week.