CLUTHA COUNTY COUNCIL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14383, 28 November 1908, Page 12

CLUTHA COUNTY COUNCIL

ANNUAL MEETING. The annual meeting of (he Clutha County Council was held in the Council Chambers on Wednesday at noon. Present —Crs John Edwards, John Clark, J. R, Mitchell, W. Nicol, W. Hay, D. A. M'Lachlan, A. C. Saunders, J. Cumming and W. Quin. Mr A. M'Donald (clerk) occupied the chair, and called for nomina-tions-for chairman for the ensuing year. •Mr J. R. Mitchell, the retiring chairman, proposed Mr W. Nicol for the vacancy, and said it gave him very great pleasure to bo enabled to do so. Mr Nicol had proved himself to be a sterling worker, and oiie 'who attonded to his many duties most faithfully.—Mr A. C. Saunders seconded tlie motion,- which was carried Unanimously. Mr Nicol then took the chair, and briefly thanked councillors for their unanimous verdict in electing him to the position. Ho also extended a very hearty welcome to Cr William Quin, who had taken his seat at the council table for tho first time. . ORDINARY MEETING. At the ordinary meeting all the members were present, Mr W. Nicol occupying, tho chair, CORRESPONDENCE. R. A. Johnston, secretary to the Land Board; wrote enclosing copy of letter from MrR. Bcrney, Ratanui, applying, topurchaso section 19, block VII, Woodlands district (Quarry reserve).—lt was decided to allow this matter- to stand over till next meeting. ; '•• • C. Hursthouse, chief engineer, wrote that the grant of £150 for the ClintonOwaka road had been authorised, and that the issue oE .authority for £50 for .the Wai-pahi-Piikerau load was receiving attention, —Received. - Hugh Shanks, Merino Down 3, wrote etrongly opposing the proposal to tako portion of his land for road construction purposes. ''.': The' same petitioner wroto under later date that he was satisfied with the position lis put forward by Mr Leeder, but would bo unable' to say anything definite with regard to the acquisition of lahd for a road until he learnt what the ' compensation would s be.—The' engineer said ho had a written statement from the writer, offering the land at £10 per acre, but Mr Shanks was not satisfied with this amount, and thought he should receive compensation from those who' would benefit by the road.—lt,was decided to hold the work of constructing the road in advance until the. title,of the land was acquired. . A. J. Webb, Wnipahi, wrote drawing attention to the disgraceful state of the roads in his district, and stating that Waipahi Riding had in the past been negleoted. —ft was deoided to authorise the engineer to give the matter his early consideration. Doughus Ramsay, Duncdin, wrote askbi; permission ; to lay tramways across it road in trie Woodlands district for,the purpose of conveying the timber from his mill.— It was decided to grant the request during the pleasure of the council. Ward Bros., Ahtiriri Flat,, wrote that, having complied with the Tramways .Act, they wanted permission to lay a tramway on Gwyn[6 road.—Granted. 'C. 'W. Body, Kelso, wrote asking the assistance of the council in the opening up of a drain in front of petitioner's property. —The'engineer was instructed to-attend .to the matter.. - ' Cooper and Lumsden, Tawanui, Ratanui, wrote! asking permission to lay a tramway, across the road in front of section 13, block y.:\yoodl4nd, for the purpose of trolleying timber.—Granted during the pleasure of the council; and provided crossings be put in, to tho satisfaction of the engineer.' R, M'Nab, Minister of Lands, wroto acknowledging, reo»ipt of letters asking for an:-official, reply in connection with the pledging-of Crown lands as security for the' Owaka ..yalloy lean, 'and intimatifig that the desired information would bc'serit as.sooi as possible.—Cr Saunders said he was anxious to go- on with the work, but : until,they .received a favourablo reply siich a -course, twos impossible.—Decided to await • the Minister's reply. xnoinekk'b EErOIIT, '/■ ' ;. The ; Engineer (Mr W. R, Lccdcr) reported as follows: — The following is a brief report on roads and. works for tho period ending this date: — During (he month--! Jiave journeyed through and inspected works in South- jfoiyiieux, Kithardson, Canton, Pomaiiaka. Waipalli, .U-ioilkflliich, Clydevale, and Clutbn Ridings. On the Waikoikoi-Merino Downs road some: grading is. urgently required, and depres'.sioiis in various piaccs want raising. This' is all a clay r&ad, and is very bad in wet weather, and it is very important that it be kept well- rounded up, On Forbes vend ;work-..is. progressing:.satisfactorily,' The car-penters-have mado. a start.-to', effect repairsto the Pomahaka bridge, and are pushing on iwith the work, whioh*l hbpo: to'.see 'completed-- at. an early.date. The niotal-breakers in : S : teot*a ( .quarry are', making gocd progress iwith their >wprk, and a 'start, has been, made .to distribute the metal on the ClintonPomaliaka road; and on/various others roads iri this -locality a fair amount of maintenance metal has been 'distributed. Contract for maintenance metal on - Clifton road is ori tho .'point of completion. In the Clydevale Riding upwards of; a mile of now grading • has been very expeditiously carried out by day labour, and a long stretch on various oilier roads,hag been rounded up and-water--tables v cleaiied, etc. Kepairs to the bridges on Ciinp Hill road aro under way, and the metal 'contract at the goodsheds is well in 'hand. \About, 12 chains of metal are urgently, panted on tlie River Bank road, beginning >t the bridge just north of tlie Dip, and going south to. connect with the old metal. On the inain Te-Hoiika road the maintenance metal is progressing satisfactorily. Thetimber to" reconstruct a bridge on the Otinlon-Puerua road has been carted out to the site, of the work, and a small bridge on White Plat road has been rebuilt. Cleaning waterdables and rounding, up the I'ucrua Valley road is under way. On the Clinton-Oyiaka road there are some very bad •places—from- Purekireki to Capamagin's. Grading- and tabling is very urgent, and I recommend that you endeavour to get this work put \ through during the summer months, Bepairs to tho Owaka Valley road— filling Holes with rotten rock, etc.—has been | completed. Work on the Waikawa road, at 'Ratanui, ( is progressing as well as the inclement' .weather will permit, and some minor repairs to' Short's Creek road have also been effected. On Birnston's road some trees have ' been removed, water-tables cleaned out,' and holes filled. A number of small, jobs-about Owaka have also been completed.- I have to repor) that Jaa. ll'lntdsh, one'of< the'surfacemen- in South Molyneux Kiding, has resigned. This man was a very capable and- .conscientious workman, and I recommend bis resignation be accepted with regret. With regard to opening the roadthrough: sections ,1, 3, and 5, block XLV, Clutha surrey'.district, no reliablo survey o! this ■ road can, so far, be found, and in the. meantime it must necessarily remain in abeyance. 'On 'ifiddle road, Kaihiku district, there, is a small timber bridge which is quite rotten, and must be renewed at once. The necessary material has been ordered,' and I hope to have the work in hand at an early date. .There is another bridge on the K-aihiku- School road that requires a centre pier and two new beams, and I-recommend .that you have fheso repairs carried out in concert with the work on Middlo road. I further recommend that a bridge on the Waiwera-Kaihiku road bo reconstructed, and thit concrete abutments be put in the place of the old timber piles. A ( few chains of metal on Mr Alex. NichoN road is urgently required, and I recommend this be run out when the metalling on Waiwera-Kaihikn road is completed. The report was adopted. GEXERAL. The. Clerk reported the receipts for the month as £583 15s sd. and the expenditure as £739 l?s 6d. Tho outstanding rates. amounted to £6236 6s 9d. The payshect was passed for payment. Tenders, were nccepled as follows:— Contract No. 330, Gwyn and Hughes, .up to £W; No, 323, John Ta-vlor, £52 3s 8d; No. 33*, H. Hogg, £65 1&; No. 335, S. Dynes, £70 16s 8d; No. 336, A. Smith, £135; No. 337, A. Smith, £30; No, 1a •ITaumata Settlement), A. Smith, £28o! In the case of. contracts 312, 325, 331, 333, and 335 power was given to arrange for the work to be done, and fresh tenders were ordered to be called for the unlet contracts. The tender of H. R. Bell,(Clinton) was accepted for dog collars at 46s por 100., Tlie dog tax for next year was fixed at 2s 6d, and it was decided to call for applications . for next meeting for collection of tax. '- Cr Edwards referred to the damage done by tractiop engine traffic, much of it i hrough careless driving, but he thought there should be some restriction as. to tho weight of load, In tho winter and in wet weather they should not bo aJlowed to pull out with 10 or 15 ton leads. He thought tho engineer should make inqiiiricsj and bring in a report that would fcw> the basis of a by-law.—Cr Clarke said that some drivers were very careless. In tho Waiwera district some time airo a driver put spikes on- the wheels, «limli tore up tho road and did great damaye.— Several councillors said the party r.fibnld 'we, been prosecuted—Cr Q.oii said the \q the xoftds by tectfon

was very great in his part of tli'e country.' He mentioned partioular cases where heavj damage was done to roads and bridge*. There should bo a stringent by-law. The Government had promised to introduce a suitable by-law on the subject, but, like most of their promises, they had eomo to nothing. Ho agreed with Cr Edwards's proposal, 'vhich was agreed to. Cr Clarko brought up the matter of. the £3(10 Government Tote, Taumata-Clinton road. The settlers thought that that sum would be enough, but, as a matter of fact, >t would lake about £600. He' though' they should proceed with the work' and secure the £300, and perhaps get more next year.—Agreed to proceed with tho purchase of tho land and the fencing of it in. Moved by Or Cumming, seconded by Cr Clarke--*'That the engineer hive the £150 Government vote expended on Waipahil ukerau road."~Carried. Moved by Cr Cummin?, seconded b'v Cr yum- That the engineer call for tomlerd 'or metalling fire chains on Waipahiloinahaka road, cost of same to be equally borne by Waipahi and Poiiiohaka Ridinys." —Carried. It was decided to hold the next meeting Z\l r . h r 18 lllc ordinil,, y dllt « falling on Christmas Day.