BRUCE COUNTY COUNCIL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21973, 7 June 1933, Page 10

BRUCE COUNTY COUNCIL

SOUTH OTAGO

ANNUAL MEETING The annual meeting of the Bruce County 'Council was held at Milton yesterday. There were present Crs Wilson (chairman), M'Gregor, Boylen, Moore, Sheat,. Allison, King, Renton, Driver, Clark, Gardyne. In a brief review of the work carried out in the county during his term'of office, the retiring chairman said that the payment of wages.under the No. 5 scheme for the end of the past financial year amounted to £2868, against £2470 for the previous year. Outstanding rates for' the •year 1932-33 totalled £2975, against £ISOO last year and -£4170 for 1930-31, The antecedent liability loan had been paid; off. from/funds available for that purpose, while arrangements had been made for a loan of £2500 for the payment of the Clutha River bridge account; The year, ended March 31 last closed with a bank credit of £3871, as against;£27oo for.the previous year, the interest for the .overdraft being £lO4, as against £264 for the. previous year. Receipts from the general account amounted to £13,383. ; 4s Bd, com- ' pared with £14,425 lOsVld for the previous year, and the expenditure was £7702 -Os 9d, : against £8591 14s' 8d last year. A general reduction in rates wag made last year. Considering the times which were being, experienced, the speaker said; he thought the council lwd had a successful year. 'ln'conclusion, he thanked the councillors for their co-operation during the. past year. ' . _ . y r _ s.'. A vote of thanks was carried to Cr Wilson for his services to the county as chairman. ' <- ,- . "■.'• ■».■

The county clerk took the chair, and ’called for nominations for the. position of chairman. The nomination of Cr Driver was the only one forthcoming, and he , was duly declared elected. The newly-elected chairman, in’ appealing to the members of the council for their co-operation and support during the coming year,- said he felt that they had turned the corner, and better times were ahead. MONTHLY MEETING. < The monthly meeting was then proceeded with. CORRESPONDENCE. J. A. Fiddes applied to have a few loads of metal spread' on the road in front of his property.-—lt wag decided to attend to the matter as soon as possible.' The Manawatu County Council wrote requesting support for an endeavour which was being made' by that council to bring about a reduction in the scale of charges made by the Audit Department. —It was decided that the council should give its support to the proposal, A letter was received from the district engineer of the New Zealand Railways in regard to a drain at Crichton. It was stated that the drain was specially cut to meet the requirements of the Bruce County Council, and the department could not accept liability for any drains off railway land.—lt was decided that the matter should be held over for one month. A. 0. Rutherford- (Inch Clutha) applied for a supply of pipes in order to drain an old water course across the road and into a ditch, the writer stating that he was prepared to cart the pipes and put them in—Cr Renton explained that this work should have been carried out when the road was made. —His action in promising the applicant a supply of pipes was endorsed by the council. John Williamson', who stated that he •was a subsidised miner, applied for a remission of the rent of a sea beach claim at Measly Beach, as he had no hope of paying the amount in question.—Left to the inspector to make the necessary inquiries. Thomas M. Ball, (he Highways Board's representative on the No. 17 District Highways Council,'wrote stating that the amount*for the Miltou-Balclutlia section of the Dunedin-Invercargill main highway had been increased so that the local body’s share would he £4OO, and the board’s share £I2OO. The writer also asked for information as to the amount which had been spent on the Taieri FerryMi Iton section of the main highway.—Received.

A letter was received from the same writer stating that the unemployed in the Bruce County would receive sympathetic consideration when labour was engaged for the reshaping work on the South road. As no accommodation was at presept being provided, workmen living nearby or those with their own means of transport would be given preference.— Received.

Mr Ball wrote further enclosing a copy of a report made, by the clerk of the Waitaki County Council on the first year’s result of the joint traffic inspection scheme, inaugurated by the local bodies of the No. 16 highways district. The waiter expressed the hope that, the Brucp

County Council would sponsor a siiAilar, scheme for the No. 17 district; —Received.The commissioner of transpoi't wrote stating that at a recent conference* held to consider the motor vehicle regulations, it was agreed that, while a speed restriction ,of 40 miles per hour was justified under'the present financial conditions, yet certain highways, where maintenance costs were relatively low, should be exempt from this condition.> The writer asked whether the council wag of the opinion that the following highways should be exempt from the.restriction:—The PictonBluff main highway and the ClarksvilleSpringvale main highway.—The opinion was expressed by - councillors that 40 miles per hour was a high enough rate of speed for these roads.—-It was decided to reply stating that the council was. Oft the opinion that a speed over 40, miles per hour was excessive. The Bay of Islands County Council wrote asking' for support for- a resolution -passed by that council urging that county councils throughout -th,e Dominion .should approach their respective meim . bars of Parliament with thte: request that, irrespective of party politics, they would give i guarantee to press-for the complete derating of farm lands for road purposes.—lt was decided to support the proposal. : ~ '■ A request for a donation was received from the manager of, the Children’s Rest Home (Mr S. Dunkley),—Received. Cunningham Bros, applied for an increase in the -.price of .the contract for grading the. Balclutha-Clarksville main highway, as they had been carrying out the work, it was stated; at a loss. —Cr Renton said he did not think the council codld see its way clear to grant the request, as it would not be fair to any tenderers who might have been very little -lower in their price.—lt was decided not to grant the request. GENERAL. .. Cr Clark gave notice that he would move at the next meeting that a general rate of |cl in the f should be levied oVer the whole county. ! Mr W. A. Boylen waited on the council on behalf of Messrs Throp and Boylen, with the request that permission should' be given to increase the weight of loading on the road between Messrs Throp and Boylen’s. mine and Kaitangata. Mr Boylen said an undertaking would be given to make any reasonable repairs to the road if the request Were grauted.VCr Clark said-the road in question would not stand heavy traffic ; in frosty weather. —Left to the inspector and Cr Clark to make an inspection of the road and decide on the action to be taken. The honorarium for the retiring chairman was fixed at the same amount as for the,previous year (£SO, less o per cent.). . v TENDER.' The tender of Messrs M’Farlane and M’Ewan at £26, for the erection of the Sawmill road bridge, was accepted. Cr M’Gregor said he had been asked by the local Unemployment Committee to bring before the, notice of the council the amount of alcoholic liquor that was being taken into the district by irresponsible persons and the extent to which local relief workers participated in the consequent orgies. The speaker asked for the support of, the council in bringing the matter before.the Unemployed Board—lt Was decided to give the council’s support in the matter. ; RANGER’S REPORT. The county ranger reported having found 27 head of cattle and two horseswandering on the county roads. The report was adopted, f. ■ . FINANCE. The financial statement showed receipts amounting to £1897 7s'9d and expenditure totalling f Jj3o2 16s. The balance at April 1;' 1933, was shown as £3871 9s 2d and receipts to date £2106 10s 4d. The expenditure to date was £7064 16s Id and the overdraft £IOB6 il6s 7d. . ;: , . ' -INSPECTOR'S REPORT..,

The county inspector submitted the, following report on the state ~of works in the county for the month of May:—

Balmoral No. 1 Riding.—Surface work has been clone on the Tuapeka Month--Newton road, and 145 yards of gravel used in patching between Waitahuna bridge and Puketi School. The Punt road has been graded.

Balmoral.No. 2 Riding.—Twelve yards of gravel have been spread on the Barnego Flat road.

Crichton Riding.—The Lovell’s FlatKaitangata road has been graded throughout, and notice boards erected limiting loads on this road to two tons. Two broken-down culverts on this road require to be renewed with 12in and 9in pipes. Matau Riding.—View street, second extension, Stirling: There are two fences with gates erected across this street; if these are removed five chains of boundary fencing will be required to complete the fencing on this street. —The drainage nuisance at North Balclutha is caused by the drainage from two houses flowing into the side channel on the main highway. The bank repairs on Lakes canal have been completed, but several of the lock doors are leaking and require. to be.lifted off

for repairs. The gravel on Benhar road* has been brushed up with the grader. Inch Clutha Riding.—The riverhank on Randal’s road has slipped for about a chain, and requires to be protected to save the roadway from damage. Kaitangata Riding.—One hundred and eighteen yards of gravel have been used in patching between Wangaloa and Bissett’s, and 62 yards on Sutnmerhill road. Good work' is being'done on the Coombe Hay road with labour under the No. 6 scheme. ‘ ' . •

Waihola' Riding.—Gravel patching has been done' on - the' Upper Narrowdalee road, in addition to, surface work. on Scott’s hill, Waihola. . ~ _ , Mount Stuart Riding.—A culvert of 6in pipes has been put in .at Adam’s Flat, and surface work and gravelling done on the Mount Stuart-Adam’s Flat road, under the No. 5 scheme.

Tokomairiro Riding.—The culvert on Murray’s road has been completed and the road is open' for traffic. Maintenance gravel has been put down on France’s road. Good progress is being made with the gravelling contract on the Circle Hill road, but weather conditions have delayed the metalling contract on the Fort Hill road. ' ■ :

Main Highways.—Dunedin to Invercargill: ■ The Milton-Balclutha section has been graded three times during the month. Cobblestones have been taken out on Matheson’s hill and 74 yards of Cameron’s gravel spread betwene Clarksville and Crichton, in addition to 40 yards of Clutha gravel between Stoney Creek and -Balclutha.- Balclutha to, Tuapeka Mouth: This, highway has been graded twice and 35 yards of gravel, have been spread in Balmoral No. 1 Riding. Balclutha to Kaitangata: This highway has been graded and watercuts have been opened out. Stony Creek to Hillend: This highway has been graded and 300 yards of Clutha River gravel has been spread, between Bishop's and Stony Creek Sqliqol. Clarksville to Springvale: This highway has been graded twice and the corner .«at Mount Stuart railway ■widened and improved. Cr Renton ; moved that the man responsible for placing the gates on View street (Stirling) should be given four months’ notice to remove them—The motion was carried, and it was also decided to request the persons responsible for .allowing drainage to flow into a side channel on the main highway, as mentioned'in the report, to' desist from this practice.—lt was decided that the’ inspector: should be instructed to' have repairs to the lock doors on the Lakes'caPal put in hand. The report was adopted. -