WAIKOUAITI COUNTY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23203, 29 May 1937, Page 19

WAIKOUAITI COUNTY

ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETING The annual meeting of the Waikouaiti County Council was held in conjunction with the monthly meeting in the Waikouaiti, yesterday, when there were present Crs A. Gilmore (in the chair), H. Box, C. T. M T Callum. E. Laley, D. M'Millan, and W. Lee. CORRESPONDENCE The sanitary inspector, Department of Health, wrote drawing the council's attention to the difficulty residents of Sawyers' Bay were experiencing in disposing of domestic waste, and recommending the construction of a drain. — Received, the council to take action when notified by the residents as to what steps they were prepared to take. Mr J. W. Cowie wi;ote making inquiries about a section cf land he had acquired.—The letter was received, and the council decided that Mr Cowie .be notified that the by-laws could not be broken. Mr John Allan (Merton) wrote drawing the council's attentk to the way the creek was destroying the road through his property and also asking for the bridge to be repaired.—The council decided to attend to the matter.

The hon. secretary, the Seacliff Ratepayers and Householders' Association, wrote regarding improvements to roads and footpaths and the lighting of Kilgour street.—The council decided that the roads and footpaths be attended to and that two lights be put up in Kilgour street. The secretary, Otago Hospital Board, wrote asking the council to pay the levy at the same rate as that fixed last year.—Received.

Mr Alexander Cuthill (Warrington) wrote regarding the bad state o? the road leading to his property.—The matter was referred to the inspector for report at the next meeting. Messrs Tonkinson and Wood, solicitors, Dunedin, wrote regarding the claim for half rates on the property of Mrs E. J. Clerk, Waitati.—The council decided to hold the.matter over until the next meeting while inquiries were made into the matter. Mr J. R. Smith, Top road, Port Chalmers, wrote asking for permission to erect a garage on the roadside. —The request was not granted. The hon. secretary, Aramoana Progress League, wrote drawing the council's attention to the condition of the Port Chalmers-Spit road.—Received. The chief traffic inspector, No. 4 Transport District, wrote regarding tests for drivers of motor vehicles.—lt was decided that the county's inspector be retained by the council, at the rate of 2s 6d for each applicant tested by him. The county clerk, Makara County Council, wrote asking the council to support his council's resolution regarding the amalgamation of local bodies. —The council decided to support the resolution and to write to the district's parliamentary representative (the Rev. A. H. Nordmeyer) according to the terms of the resolution. The Rev. A. H. Nordmeyer, M.P., wrote enclosing a letter from the Minister of Public Works (Mr R. Semple) dealing with the proposed extension of the Orakanui bridge/—Discussing the matter,- the council decided that as flooding caused by operations of the Public Works Department necessitated the extension of the bridge, the department should take steps to rectify the damage. A pound for pound basis would hardly be satisfactory, but it was decided that the bridge and its environs be inspected before any definite proposals were made. The board's representative, No. 16 District Highways Council, wrote regarding the proposed track for horsedrawn vehicles on Goodwill Hill.—The council decided that it was absolutely necessary that there be facilities for horse traffic on both sides of the hill, and voted a sum of £Bo—£4o to be expended on operations on each side of the hill. The district engineer, Public Works Department, wrote stating that as the council was not prepared to contribute more than £25 towards the cost of the repairs to the Karitane beach, the department proposed taking no further cess to genuine settlers.—Received. The district engineer, Public Works Department, wrote asking for details from the council of every unmetalled road in the county which provided access to genuine settlers.—Received. The secretary, New Zealand Counties' Association, wrote giving details for applications of delegates to the 1937 conference.—Received. '

The secretary. New'Zealand Counties' Association, wrote regarding the observance of the King's Birthday on June 9. —Received. Circulars were received from the New Zealand Counties' Association dealing with the General Labourers' Dispute Committee, the carpenters' dispute and the clerical workers' dispute. —Received. A circular was received from the Transport Department regarding alterations in the law relating to motor drivers' licences issued after June 1 1938.—The council emphatically protested against the alterations, which meant the loss of a considerable amount of revenue for the upkeep of county roads. A circular was received from the Transport Department drawing the council's attention to the exemption of any motor vehicle or trailer designed and used in agricultural operations from licence fees.—Received. A copy of an action, Miss E. M. Freeman v. Eketahuna County Council, heard at Wellington before Mr Justice Smith and a jury of 12 on March 3. 4 and 5, was received. A circular was received from the Transport Department regarding the 1937 traffic sign regulations.

ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN In accordance with the procedure of the annual meeting, a chairman for the ensuing year was elected.to succeed Cr H. Box. who, as the retiring chairman, thanked the council for the way it had conducted business .during his term of office. The only, trouble had been the extra expenditure incurred through the various, slips that had occurred on county roads during the year. He was of the opinion that the Government would have to come to the assistance of the county in the matter of the Lower Harbour road in the Blueskin Riding, as the council could not be expected to repair, without outside assistance, the damage caused ■ by foreign traffic. Cr A. Gilmore was then nominated as chairman for the ensuing year and duly elected. He thanked the council for the honour it had conferred upon him, and promised to do the best he could for the council during his year of office. The business of the monthly meeting was then resumed. FINANCE Accounts amounting tp £304 17s 4d were passed for oayment. GENERAL Cr Lee suggested that applications should be called for a new surfaceman, but after discussion it was decided that the matter be left to the inspector for inquiry, and that surfacemen be returned to their respective ridings as soon as possible.

Cr Box moved that the Transport Department be asked to limit the speed on the Port Chalmers-Aramoana road lo 20 miles per hour (on the grounds that the great number of bends on the sea side made the road dangerous), and that the Automobile Association be asked to support the motion. —Carried INSPECTOR'S REPORT

The county inspector (Mr T. Lang) submitted the following report on the works carried out during the? month:— Hawksbury Riding.—Three hundred yards of gravel from the Waikouaiti River have been spread on Mill road, but the gravelling contract is held up owing to the road to the gravel bed being impassable through the wet weather. Thirty-five yards of rotten rock have been spread on Quarry road, water tables cleaned, and a wash-out near the plantation has been filled in. Repairs have been made to the bridge at Mount Royal, and running planks put on this bridge and on two bridges at Flag Swamp. Merton Riding.—About 260 yards of river gravel have been spread on the road and footpaths at Karitane, but the gravelling contract is stopped at present as the road to the river is impassable Water tables have been cleaned out on the road between Deep Creek and Merton. and a slip near Kenyon's has been filled in. Repairs

have been made to Pryde's road, but half a mile of this road above the dairy factory is in a bad state through the road breaking and slipping. The worst part will require about 60 yards of stone to fill it. A culvert was repaired on the road between Merton station and and a part of the road surfaced. A wash-out on Allan's road at Corner Bush requires immediate attention, and the bridge on this road requires piles, as the ends of the beams are rotten. Twenty yards of metal are required for the roads in Seacliff, also a few yards of screenings for the footpaths. Blueskin Riding.—Two hundred and fifty yards of metal have been crushed at the quarry and spread on Purakanui road after the road was scarified and graded. A few yards of metal have also been put on Hayward's Point road and Mihiwaka Station road. Surface work has been done on Purakanui Station road and on other roads in the district. Water tables have been cleaned out on the road between Waitati and Kawarika and on Quarry road, and a slip above the quarry has been partly cleared. The road between the Main road and Orokonui bridge is very bad with pot-holes, and requires scarifying and about 40 yards of metal. North-East Valley Riding.—Man - son's ford has been put in order after a flood on the river. The bridge on Reservoir l'oad has been repaired, and culverts attended to. The gravelling of the footpaths has not been done yet as the surfaceman has been engaged at other urgent work. MAIN HIGHWAYS

Evansdale-Merton (via Seacliff) Highway.—A subsidence on the road between Seacliff and Puketeraki, which has been filled several times, and which made the road nearly impassable after the last heavy rain, is now being filled with stone from the crossing on the Waitati River. The road is cracked and broken in several places between this place and Evansdale, but they have been scarified and patched with metal. Several small slips have come down on the road. Dunedin-Waitati (via Leith Valley) Highway.—The-broken portions of the road near Burns's Creek have been improved by spreading 42 yards of metal over them. Several slips have been cleared, and water tables cleaned out above Burns's Creek bridge. Port Chalmers-Waitati Highway.— This road has been graded and parts scarified. Three hundred and fifteen yards of metal have been crushed at the quarry and spread on this road recently. Port Chalmers-Aramoana Highway.

—A number ot small slips have occurred on this road, but a few days ago a slip at Pulling Point completely closed the road for a day or two, but is now being removed. The road was graded last week. Fifty yards of metal would cover the pot-holes over the worst section of the road near Deborah Bay. . The report was adopted.