CLUTHA COUNTY COUNCIL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22353, 29 August 1934, Page 5

CLUTHA COUNTY COUNCIL

MONTHLY, MEETING The monthly meeting of the Clutha County Council was held at Balclutha yesterday, and was attended by the chairman (Gr W. J. MTvenzie) and Crs Maginness,- Jack, Gumming, Brough, Brown, King, Wilson, and Thomson. , FINANCE. ■ ■ It was reported that the receipts for the past'month, amounted to £3063 17s sd, and the , expenditure £2820 3s 2d.—Approved. CORRESPONDENCE. The Public Works Department forwarded authorities for .the following undertakings:—Tahakopa River bridge, £3OO . (£2 for £1) ;■ Newhaven road, £lO7 18s 0d (free). —Received. ' ... The chairman of No. 17 District Highways Council (Mr T. M, Ball) forwarded particulars of a traffic census that would be taken from- August 25 to August 31 at Owaka, Waiwera, and 'Paipahi.—Received. • -.<■■■ v-** 'U Mr Ball also advised that no subsidy would be, allowed for travelling allowances to surfacemen in charge of highways, and no horse allowance would be paid from now on.—Received. The Minister of Pinance (Mr- J. C. Coates) wrote stating that owing;to the present state of the. Dominion’s finances he could not make any recommendation towards obtaining legislation requiring' the Government to pay. rates on Crown properties or on, properties mortgaged (A Government Departments. The Government had: already ;taken steps tor obtain for local bodies an easing of their financial burdens by. having, interest rates reduced, as well as by other means. He .mentioned the fact that the setting rip of a coritmisaion was pending with'the object- of ; investigating local body matters, and until further information was available it was not advisable to take any action ip respect of any particular aspect j of 'tbe subject.—Received. ■ “ A‘letter was received from the Minister of Public Works (Mr J. Bitchener), who stated that after making inquiries he was of the opinion that there was no great urgency for a bridge over, the Kaihiku River on the Clifton settlement road, and he therefore could not ; See his way to accede to the request 'for .a grant for that purpose. The settlers had an alternative metalled’access which was only about two miles and a-ha]£ longer, while the ford was closed for only 25 to 30 days each year.. He regretted that the cost.pt approximately, £ISOO for a bridge was not justified—-The opinion was' expressed t that the Minister had over-estimated the cost of the bridge, which would actually ■ be about- £l2oo.—Cr Thomson said the settlers were at least entitled to a light stock bridge.—Cr Wilson said he thought the council, should pursue the matter with the Government and endeavour to have at least a stock bridge erected. He moved in that direction—Carried. . ! Advice was received- from the Lands Department, Dunedin, that Mr H. Wright, of' Clifton settlement, had applied to have the road that intersected his. property closed and included in his lease.— It was decided to forward the councils approval to the proposal. The clerk of the Tuapeka County Council (Mr ,R. ,F.! Batchelor) wrote inviting two representatives of the Clutha County Council to attend a conference with* the Bruce and Tuapeka Councils' to discuss the question of a suitable site for a bridge over the Molyneux, River to replace the, punts at Clydevale and Tuapeka: Mouth.— Cr King- said the settlers of the district were, quite’prepared to leave the selection of a site to the Government. ■ After that had been done a ! discussion.of the counties concerned could be held with regard to the cost, etc.—Cr Brough said he thought the three contributing bodies should meet beforehand with the object of making recommendations concerning the' site, - type of bridge, etc.—lt was,'decided to'meet ■representatives of the two other, counties, the chairman arid Cr King being appointed to represent the council. A suggestion was made that the conference should be. held at Balclutha on September 28. . Mr F. O’Donnell (Puerua) applied for; permission to ■ fence off a seetiori of land adjoining-his property, and also some land belonging to Miss Dent, whose authority was forwarded.—Granted., : Mr A.- G. Baker, Owaka) applied for a. billiard room license. —Granted, subject to usual conditions. , , A letter was received from Mr B. Brownlie and eight other, ratepayers of Newhaven, who expressed pleasure at having met members of the council on; the road. What they now wanted to know was what would happen to the deviation if nothing was done to stop 'the erosion at the.river bank. Three houses were threatened with destruction unless they were removed, and sooner or later the river'would cut through the new road. In their opinion it would be better to save the old road. —Cr Brough said that; in his opinion, it would be best to erect a scrub fence round the worst part of the road in order to prevent the erosion.— Cr Wilson favoured the erection of a groyne, which, although it would be more costly, he thought would be more effectual.—Cr Maginness said they had to contend not only with the-sea but with the river, and he thought the only, way to save the road would be to erect groynes. He moved that the settlers’ petition should be forwarded to the Public Works Department.—Cr Gumming seconded the motion, which w-as carried. Mr W. Beatty (Waitep.eka) wrote requesting that the fence erected across the road by Mr Neil Gunn he removed, as it prevented him from obtaining wood.— Referred to the member for the riding and the engineer- . , ■ • A petition was received from Mr D. Tilson and eight other ratepayers of South- Molyneux Riding drawing attention to the unsatisfactory state of Brookdale road. About 20 chains of metal had been carted free, and they thought the council might have the rest of the work done by contract.—Referred to the member for the riding and the engineer. Mr A. M’Lean (Madennan) wrote suggesting that the council should apply for a Government grant of £BO for the purpose of forming and metalling 20 chains

of Rewcastle road.—lt was. decided to forward the letter to the Minister - dr. Public' Works. . , . „ , .; , ' '•, Mr J.. Calder (Owaka) wrote asking that the fence across the road line' opposite his residence be removed^.— Request eI A petition was received from Mr PM. Renton and 53 other residents of Owaka' drawing attention to the unsatisfactory state of the , portion of Ryley street leading from the railway station to the hospital, and requested that it. should be metalled.—lt was decided that the matter would be attended to when labour, was available. ENGINEER’S REPORT. The engineer .(Mr G. S. Gould) preeeiited the following report' on the work done in the various ’ ridings ■ during the past month:—. Main Highways. —' Dunedin-Invercar-gill: The bad weather experienced during the month .*? catised- ‘ considerable surface damage,, chiefly by’the overflow; of rivers and small* streams;, Gradipg and general repair -work-is at .present in, hand, and it is expected the surface will again be in ’good ■ running' order by‘the, end pt this week Gravel also in: hand where required.—-Ralclutha-. Papatowai:. : Considerable' damage" wns caused to this ifoad; by ; the {recent: floods, there being {numerous.-, slips -. and wvashouts, chiefly on Gibb’s Hill, : and /.adjacent > Gatlin’s Lake. : In some, leases...a .large portion of . the road has slipped awaj, making "it necessary; to widen along tpe batter line.' The? necessary' repair work is at present .in hand. 1 Grading !ti>e;gepQral maintenance workbas been,continued, and aboiiti 250 . cubic . yards of grayel has been .used ,in repairs, , chiefly, in the vicinity ; o.f , Romaakpa sand Glenomaru, With We exception of ■ the Owaka-P.uke-tiro section this' road is at present.,in good.; ofder.-~Cw'ak'e-Rurekireki: This road ;is being graded, ajid,maintained as l required, more than;{grading '.Stjcir'k- has been ■ carried out, hilt'the -surface :as- in, fair ■ running order, gravelling, in parts,;.which work, WilLP?* undertaken extensively about November. In the meantime all 'urgent repairs . will; be'- attended to.— Waiwefa-Glydeyale and:; ClintomWaiwerar;- Light work only >has bpeh undertake*! on these ■roads, but they are. at present-■ in fair order. —Waipahi-Pomahaka:, This.road ;is. in fair order, pitted in parts, • and the .-necessary: repairs will be . gnder-, taken - at a ' favourable M‘Nab-Edievale.—The broken? eulvert'-ngt . Baxter’s Creek has . been replaced; w>Jn,concrete pipes, and 'is’ now in good order. The intake ‘ and outfall' .also "cleaned out,*, aiid l tlie ■ road. sutracc , raised and widened!; , Very little v d'atpdge..' ; wiiß caused during the, recent .ffipods, -. and The surface generally, is-in , fqirv ai ; kaka-Kelsb: This road has. been , recently graded and repaired, and is in tair order throughout; Clutha Riding.—The surfacemen .haye been chiefly employed in constructing a hew road at Rosebank,. -and i u_6enera repair work on Rosebank and Tushiaie . streets, ' and Hospital , Te Houke roads.-' Repairs to-Kaihiku-Wanvera rpaa arc'at present in hand. , , .* Clydevale Riding,—The work of gravel surfacing and generally repairing roads throughout the { riding has been ' continued, and Vduring the past two ' months about 1000 cubic (yards have been usiea in repairs to Clydevale-Rongahere, Bunns, Powell’s, Lambourne, • Wharetoa School road, and others; Similar, work is now in progress on Clintoh-Clydevalo road. Plans anti specifications of Washpool Creek bridge have Been prepared and tenders invited. - " • .; • , . ’ ■ Gatlins Riding.—Work.-has been chiefly, confined to- quarrying stone in Gatlins bridge .quarry - for ; repairs to various roads in that locality, and at least 300 cubic yards . have been quarried anti spawled ready for crushing. The crushing plant is mow. being transferred from Pualie road, ■ and it _ia expected ‘ that crushing operations will be commenced within a few days.? Good progress. is now being made with: the construction of Moore’s suspension bridge, Gatlins Valley road, and it is expected the work will be completed next week. I have to report the dangerous state„of the : Gatlins river bridge, Hanning’s road.' 'This is a truss bridge of '6O feet span, and owing to the bad condition of ?ome of the, chords has sagged badly at the centre, and is likely to collapse at.’.anv 1 time. As the, bridge is carrying very little traffic, and'would be costly, to replace, I would suggest that towers be. erected at each end, and 1 the superstructure:-? suspended from cables iti the manner of a ‘suspension’ bridge. This should extefid the life of the bridge at least three years, and it could-later be converted into a suspension bridge, the towers, anchors, ropes, etc., being already in, position. The immediate cost would amount to approximately £IOO. ■; if 1 • ■? Clinton Riding.—The work of mejtalljng Clintoh-Wyndham; road 1 ' ‘'hasV-been con-, tinned, and’has more recently been com fined ;to re-metalling a section of about 60 chains adjacent to Pun vegan, and which will be completed early next'week.. The formation work on Mile (5 will be completed shortly, and the men will,then be . employed in completing the metalling to the Hokopui Sawrailling Company a mill, a' distance of about 50 chains-. . , ? Glenkenich. Riding.—Grading and general repair work has been carried: opt on Kirk’s, Kelso-Koi. Kelso-Maitland, Telegraph, Merino Powiis, M’lntosli's, and other roads. The contractors have commenced the erection of surfaceman’s resi-', dence on the council’s, lease i»t, Glenken ich. ’ Maclennan Riding.—The metalhpg work on Puaho road was completed last week, and previous to removing the 'crusher about 250 yards of metal; was crushed' and used in repairs to Papatowai-Taha-; kopa.road, and an additional 40 cubic yards for main highway. Relief workers were also employed in general maintenance work on Papatowai-Tiihakopa. PapatowaiChaslands, Back Creek, and Centre roads. The completion of Puaho road metalling has released ■ the, county )orryand kdnumber of relief workers for. very necessary repair work throughout the‘riding. Pomaaaka Riding.—General repair wbrk-

has been carried out ton" Clinton-Porna-haka, Clintou-Taumata,' CarrUthefls, Miller’s, Diver’s, Ashley Downs, and Old Wairuna School road. Repairs to,-various other roads are at -present -in.Jiand. Richardson , Riding.—The surfaceman has been chiefly employed in quarrying meter at Albert’s Cap for repairs ,to various roads in the Waiwera district* and in general maintenance work on Hillfoot, Corydon, and White Flat-roads.’ South Molyneux Riding-—The recent heavy rains caused a number of , slips on Kaka. Point to {fteggets road, but these have since been . cleared, and . the road opened to traffic; 1 Repairs have also -been made to Sandy Bay road, Ahuriri Flat, Wright’s track, Karoro CrCek road, Cheet■wo.od, Puerua Valley; and other roads. An inspection of the approaches to Paretai ferry was recently-made by the Work# Committee, and it was decided ;to recommend- -the: fencing'- off of; the roadside drain, and to , provida; dofible gates at the junotion of tlte Rlverband road. The distance to be fenced .ifi.-afabut four chains, and" the i fencipg; wilb:beio£", the. post-and-rail type;j4ft+6iu ,ili;heigat,lwith i ; posts six feet. to ’eight. feet ; :agfarß. estimated cost is'approximately £3O. r -.- Waipahi' Riding.—General, maintenance work has. been, carried/.oute,on Glenehee, Shenriap’s, Arthurton : landslip. WaipahiPomahaka'Downs,'-. Conical;‘Hills . School road, and others.- - ■ W Dragline ? Excavator.—The committee also ; inspected.' ”f& ’{dragline. {excavator plant, and the .river .{in ' ttye{Vicinity; with a View 'to selecting' a' ; more' favourable site,*' but after; oarefixl ’ inspection: it wai, or oqe that would. warrant, the cost of removal?- It - is, recommended that the pjant remain. as that some f«U possibilities of the J 6ite.’.,,Fpnsome time there has 'been? a,' gradual increase, of depth in the near?: chanricl? and: tevery indication that the main,'current' ie’ gradually returning to - its original; chaimeV nearer the plan,t. ,Tt- is by removmg - a :snikll-{j^ir^'-‘i®^i||nißg l or- - other means, and by dthe work if neoeesarry? the main.i'-'cha'nhel ' can be -.bronglit;river, or stilea'st witßintela%{ißeacbf of* the plant. The Veporr ’ adopted,- •,