WAIKOUAITI COUNTY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23691, 24 December 1938, Page 3

WAIKOUAITI COUNTY

MONTHLY COUNCIL MEETING At the final meeting for the year yesterday of the Waikouaiti County Council, the chairman (Cr E. Laley) occupied the chair. Others present were:—Crs C. T. McCallum, W. Lee, D. Young, and D. McLachlan. Finance Accounts amounting to £469 0s Id were passed for payment. The debit balance at the bank was stated to be £2llO 8s Id. Correspondence Messrs H. R. Crossan and Dr MacDonald wrote drawing attention to the state of the road from the top of the hill down to the river leading to the former's property. It was stated that it was unsafe to drive a lorry on the road, as many of the bends were so sharp, accidents having been narrowly averted on several occasions.—Cr McCallum said that the request was a reasonable one, as heavy lorries had difficulty in negotiating some of the bends. —It was decided to make a start with improvement work as soon as possible. The district traffic manager. New Zealand Railways, Dunedin, advised that the Otago Electric Power Board would erect a light at Michie's Crossing at an annual cost of £4 10s.—Received, and terms to be agreed to. Messrs W. H. Hughes and Philip Powell, Waitati, made application to erect a swing gate across the road leading to their properties.—Permission was granted during the pleasure of the council. Mrs J. McLachlan. Purakanui.* wrote advising that several bluegum trees in front of her property were likely to cause damage to her house if they were not topped in the near future.— It was decided to call tenders for the removal of the trees complained of. Dog Tax Collector Mr D. T. Schaumann was appointed to act as dog tax collector for 1939. It was mentioned during the discussion on the appointment of a collector that the fee payable in respect of the supply of the approved regulations for the prevention of hydatid disease would be Is for every person registering a dog, provided that for each dog registered for the first time after the month of July in any year the fee should be 6d. The fee payable undei the regulations should be paid to the registrar at the time of registration. Inspector's Report The county inspector (Mr T. Lang) reported as follows on the work carried out since the last meeting:— MAIN HIGHWAYS Evansdale-Merton (via Seacliff) Highway.—Several small slips which came down on this road have been cleared. A culvert between Omimi and Seacliff has been re-covered with timber, and the road has been graded this week. Dunedin-Waitati (via Leith Valley) Highway.—Very little damage was done to this highway, with the exception of the upper ford being washed out and the lower crossing covered with boulders. They are now in good order. A few loads of grave] were carted out to fill potholes. Port Chalmers-Waitati Highway.—A number of slips came down on this road, causing the water to run and carry away the side of the road at three different places. Some of the slips have been cleared and the remainder widened. Port Chalmers-Aramoana Highway. —Water tables have been cleaned out near Grassy Point, and holes filled with metal. RIDINGS Hawksbury Riding. Considerable damage was done throughout the county by the heavy rain at the beginning of the month. Several small slips occurred in this riding, and gravel was scoured off 'several roads. Mill road, OrbelFs road and the road to Buckland's Crossing have since been graded, and repairs are now being made to Mount Watkins road. The timber wall at the approach to Orbell's bridge was washed out, and temporary repairs have been made to keep the bridge open. Forty yards of rotten rock have been carted out and spread on Quarry road, and 66 yards of Shag River gravel have been put on the Boundary road. Tije bridge at Eldorado has been repaired, and the road from the crossing to Mount Watkins has been surfaced and a culvert repaired. Merton Riding.—Several slips on the road near Garden Bush caused long stretches of the road to be scoured, but the worst of the damage has now been repaired. A washout at the creek crossing and the road at Rollins's Hill have still to be attended to. A slip on the road to Kiatoa woolshed has been filled in and other work done oi, the road. The wing timber wall at the bridge on McGillivray's road was washed out and a temporary crossing has been made over the gap A portion of a deep culvert on Pryde's road collapsed, but has not blocked the road. The culvert, which is about 48 feet in length, will have to be re-covered throughout at a cost of £4O. Some parts of this rosd have been repaired with rotten rock, and water tables have been cleaned out.

McGralh's and Gilchrist's roads have been graded since the heavy rain, but require 50 yards of gravel. Improvements have been made to the grade of Pentland street, Karitane, and footpaths have been cleaned and gravelled. Blueskin Riding.—A slip on the Deborah Bay-Reynoldstown road completely blocked the road, but a track has been cleared through it. PuraJkanui School road. Donald's Hill and the short cut to Waitati were badly scoured, but have been partly repaired. The widening of the curve near the end of Purakanui road is finished, and some work has been done on Kawarika road. North-East Valley Riding.—Two chains of pipes have been laid in the George street drain, but the work had to be postponed, as the men were required to repair flood damage. Some sharp curves on Pigeon Flat road have been widened, and Manson's ford has been repaired after being washed out by the flood. The report was adopted.