TAIERI COUNTY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23897, 26 August 1939, Page 23

TAIERI COUNTY

COUNCIL’S MONTHLY MEETING EFFECTS OF RECENT SNOW ■ STORMS The recent snow storms figured prominently in the business at yesterday’s monthly meeting of the Taieri County Council, which decided not to be caught napping next winter and to purchase two snow ploughs for attaching to graders. Present at the meeting were Crs. G. Stevenson (in the chmr), J. Gow. F. Howell. W. Nichol- J. Wither. C. Findlay, T. McMillan,, and J.. Sutherland. The chairman extended a welcome to Cr Sutherland, who was recently elected to represent the East Taieri riding.; , -Clearing the Snow ‘ ' Cr Howell referred to the' manner In which the. inspector and his staff had dealt with clearing the : snow from Country roads and he congratulated everyone of them on their work. Other councillors expressed appreciation of the way in which the work had been carried out and a letter was received from the Automobile Association (Otago) congratulating the council on its work on the Outram-Middle-march‘highway./, ■; Noxious Weeds InCounty

At the invitation of the council, the inspector of noxious weeds (Mr J. F. Boss) attended the meeting to discuss the question of noxious weeds in the county. • ■: - ’ -v ■' 7VThe chairman: said that the ’ council was having a'lot of trouble with broom and gorse on many roads in the county. Broom: had been allowed- to grow oyer some roads until there was barely enough room for a car to be driven through. The council, he said, would be glad to know what the inspectors of noxious weeds were doing about the matter. ; !

Mr Ross said that the question was a very big one, but he promised to do everything possible to assist the council. He suggested that the council should supply him with the names of offending ratepayers ' and he , would take appropriate action. Cr McMillan said that a typical example was Dalziel’s road, concerning which a letter had been received from the secretary of the Roslyn and Kaikorai Ratepayers’ Association. Broom had grown so far over the road, he said, that cars could barely get through.

It was decided to ask the City Council to have its portion Of the road cleared and to supply the . names of the county ratepayers concerned to Mr Ross. Traffic Inspector’s Report The traffic and , building inspector (Mr C. A. Aitken) reported that nine new applicants for drivers’ licences had been tested and granted licences. Twenty-five drivers’ licences and one heavy traffic licence had been renewed. He was on duty during the snow. Three applications for building permits had been dealt with and permits to a value of £6O were granted. Wandering stock had been removed from county roads. N The report was adopted. Correspondence The town clerk. Dunedin, advised that the City Council would accept the Taieri County contribution of £SO to the improvement of Riselaw road—Received. Mr H. J. Carmody, of Berwick, wrote asking that the road from Berwick to Henley and the road to Otokia be repaired as there were big lumps of metal on the surface—Received. Miss J. H. McColl (Brighton) wrote requesting the council to attend to the Creamery road to Brighton, which required a coating of fine metal. It was decided to have the matter attendee! to. . . Mrs Margaret Kovaleski (Allanton) wrote asking that the street in front of her property be gravelled.—The request was left in the hands of the chairman and the inspector. A request that the road in front of the Coach -and Horses Tea Rooms at Fairfield be gravelled was received from Mr H. B. Paulin.—The request was referred to the chairman and the inspector, Mr C. J. Hobbs (Brighton) wrote seeking permission to form an -n----trknee to his property.—The matter was left in the hands of the chairman and the inspector, ... A request that, the council should examine the foundations of the walls of stone at the approach to the Brighton bridge was received i from Mr D. McKenzie, who said that he thought more concrete should be used to prevent the stones from being swept into the waterway.—Received.

Mr W. G. Newman, of Middlemarch. wrote asking that repairs be effected to roads leading to his property.—The request was referred to Cr Howell and the inspector. Nine ratepayers of Middlemarch wrote expressing appreciation of the council’s attitude in regard to the costs of street lighting in the Middlemarch township—Received. Mr C. Freeman, of Abbotsford, wrote asking that the road to his property be repaired.—The request was left in the hands of Cr McMillan and the inspector.

Inspector’s Report

The inspector (Mr A. W. Findlay! reported as follows on work carried out in the county during the oast month:—

Owing to the heavy fall of snow, and the difficulty in keeping, the highways and schedule roads open in the northern part of the county, it has impossible to carry out the ordinary routine work. The heavy expense and the number of men required to clear the roads of snow within the county during the last three falls, warrants the purchase of two snow ploughs, which would be attached to the graders. These ploughs can handle up to three feet of snow, and, although it would be necessary to utilise man power in the deeper drifts, the plough would prove a considerable saving of time

and expense. With one plough stationed at Middlemarch and the other at Outram, the highway could then be cleared from both ends, and," once cleared, the ploughs made available for the clearing of the county roads where ncessary; the one plough to concentrate on the Middlemarch end. and the other in the Kaikorai and Otokia Ridings, or wherever else that should be the most essential. He would, therefore, recommend that an order for the two snow ploughs be placed so that delivery could be made before next winter.

Strath Taieri Riding.—Practically all work this month has been held up by snow, all surfacemen and others that were available being employed on clearing the highway, after which they were placed on opening the roads to settlers wherever possible. After the highway was opened those men who were employed had returned to their farm and their visual occupations, and it was found necessary to obtain more men through the Social Security Department to carry on opening the roads to isolated settlers, these men being 'diverted back to the highway , when necessary. . V: ■ Deep Stream Riding.—The same conditions apply to this riding .as to Strath Taieri. except that the schedule roads—Clark’s to Rocklands road, and Outram to Hindon—were twice cleared. Hindon to Boyd’s was cleared after the first fall and Hindon to Molineux’s was opened up last week. ments have been made to assist other isolated settlers as soon as the men are available off the highways. Maungatua Riding.—Snow clearing and general surfacing work have been carried out, A culvert on Mitchell’s road was washed out, and was completely relaid and back-filled. Outram Riding.—Snow clearing and general surfacing have beenattended to. The AUanton r ßerwick ;yoad was graded and scarified as far as Momona. . East Taieri Riding.—Clearing the main roads of snow was, practically the only work carried out in this riding during the month. The drag-line completed the break in the- Silverstream; and is at present taking out gravel at the Silverstream factory dUmp. :.. ■' . North Taieri Riding.r-All the main roads on the flat were cleared of snow and grading done whenever the grader was available. , Kaikorai Riding—The Green Island Bush and Kaikorai Valiev roads Were cleared of snow and graded. A blocked culvert under the filling out at Geodesy collapsed, and a complete new 18-inch concrete pipe culvert was laid. General surfacing was maintained wherever possible.,"' - Otokia Riding.—Snow clearing where necessary was carried out. A wash-out on McLaren’s Gully road was attended to, and a collapsed culvert at Allanton was replaced with a three-inch concrete pipe. ; ' - Highway ■ Mosgiel-Middlemarch-Dunback Highway.—This highway was twice cleared of snow in the-past month, this making the third time that the highway had to be cleared in six weeks. Extra men for the work were necessary and were obtained through the Social Security Department. A gang was collected around. Middlemarch, and any available men were employed. The two ■ county graders were concentrated on the highway, and did valuable work wherever, they could cope with the depth of snow. General surfacing work between snow storms was carried out. Dunedib-Duke’s Road Highway.— This highway was graded and surfaced from No. 2 highway to the aerodrome corner; ' v ; 7 , Outram-Berwick Highway. This highway was cleared of snow, and later graded and surfaced throughout. Green Island-Taieri Mouth Highway. —This highway was cleared of snow and several slips and wash-outs porarily fixed. The big slip at Messrs Crawford brothers' property has been cleared and battered back. . , Kyeburn-Middlemarch HighwayThis highway was graded throughout. Gladstone Highway—'This highway was graded from Duke’s road to Sharp s Corner. Messrs Keogh Brothers’ contract has been held up at times through the adverse weather conditions, but where possible satisfactory progress has been made. . . Allanton-Outram Highway. “This highway was cleared of snow and .twice graded, .throughout. ~ , The need for the council to own two snow ploughs before next winter was stressed by councillors. Cr Howell suggested that the inspector make Inquiries concerning the doughs used in the Mackenzie County, which, he understood, were made in Timaru. It was decided that two. ploughs be procured and the insoector was asked to make a report to the council on the best type to purchase. . ~ The inspector’s report was adopted.