Waimate Road Board.

Opunake Times, Volume I, Issue 38, 9 November 1894, Page 3

Waimate Road Board.

♦ A special meeting of the the above Board was held on Friday. Present—Messrs McKeown (chairman), McCarthy, Mudford, Henson, and Borrie. SPECIAL RATES. Resolved, That the special order striking special rate of Ijjfd as securiiy for the Rowan Road loan of £4OO be now confirmed. (McCarthy—Henson.) Resolved, That the special order striking special rate of in the £ as security for the Auroa Road loan of £9OO be now confirmed. (Mudford — Borrie.) The ordinary meeting of the Board was then held. OEO ROAD. Mr W. H. Young presented a petition asking for a loan of £6OO to be raised to form, culvert, bridge and metal the Oeo Road from the Eitham Road to the Opunake-Stratford Road, a distance of about IX- miles. Resolved, That tire foreman be instructed to inspect the road and report to next meeting of the Board. (McCarthy—Mudford.) MANGA WERO ROAD. Mr J. W. Falkner wrote asking the Board to put a culvert on creek over the Upper Maugawero Road. Resolved, That the foreman make out an estimate for the work and get Mr Falkner’s cheque as security, and call tenders for the work if satisfactory arrangements can ..be made. (McCarthy—Henson.) KIRI ROAD. Letter and account attached from George Davey for felling on Kiri Road; amount of account, £9 14s. The Foreman reported that he had not authorised work. The Chairman stated that Mr Barton bad been instructed to get other work done on Kiri Road, but had not authorised Mr Davey. Resolved, That that the clerk inform Mr Davey that the Board cannot recognise claim, as work had not been authorised. UPPER PALMER ROAD. From W. Lauglands, enclosing R. Dingle’s account against him for carting at culvert on Upper Palmer Road. Resolved, That as the contract had been settled a long time ago the Board could not recognise the claim. OEO ROAD. From Mr W. H. Le Fleming, asking that metalling be done on the Oeo Road out of land fund. The foreman reported that tenders were out for the work. SPECIAL LOANS. Re Kiri road loan of £IOOO, Resolved That a special rate of 8 9-16 d in the £ be made as security for the Kiri Road loan. (McKeown —Henson). Re Mangawhero road loan of £llOO, Resolved That a rate of 2£d in the £ be made over the Mangawhero Road special rating area as security for a loan of £llOO. (Mudford —McCarthy). The Board went into committee to open tenders. The following wore received : —731, Oeo Road, gravelling, 8 chains, Cameron (accepted) £3 15s per chain; Cubbin and Dale, £4 per chain. 732—Rama Road, 8 chains gravelling, Holmes (accepted), £3 17s per chain. 788 —Rowan Road, 15 chains gravelling, Cubbin and Dale (accepted), £2 19s per chain ; Warner, £3 7s 6d; Melville, £3 ss.

78-I—Oeo Road, 17 chains gravelling, Cubbin and Dale, £1 per chain ; Holmes (accepted), £3 15s; Desmond and Co. (informal). 735 — Nopera Road, 12 chains ditching and culvert, Edwin Barlow, ditching £1 7s 6d per chain, culvert £2 10s; Blachall (accepted), ditching 18s per chain, culvert £3 ; Burgess, ditching £1 5s per chain, culvert £3. Rogers and Julian, ditching £1 ss,’ culvert £2. 736 — Watino Road, 40 chains ditch improvement, Harrop 18s per chain ; Rogers and Julian (accepted) 15s per chain. ROWAN AND AUROA ROAD LOANS. Mr Henson considered that as the Government had gazetted the Rowan and Auroa Road loans, it was advisable that the work should be got out at once. It was decided that the clerk find out from the Treasury when the money would be available, and get out tenders before next meeting, if there was sufficient time. MERGING. Mr McCarthy said he wished to say a few words about the merging question, and stated that the Hawera County Council wanted to have control of all road work, and that the Council had ignored the second petition of the Waimate ratepayers, and he considered that the Board should protest against the action of the Council, and particularly against the member who had worked up the merging question. He would move that the Board protest against the action of the Hawera County Council, as it is not in the interests of the whole of the ratepayers that the district roads should be worked by the Council. He considered it unfair to mix up the Waimate roads with the Mokoia roads, as the latter country was not fit for roads, and it was better for Waimate to be connected with Opunake country than Hawera. Mr Henson agreed with Mr McCarthy, as he felt sure that merging was against the interests of ratepayers. Mr Mudford stated that he was in favor of merging, aud quoted how well the same had worked in Manawatu. He would vote against the motion, but would not agitate the matter.

Mr Henson said that in Manawatu the merging was done conditionally, but the present merging was to be done without any reserve whatever, and he would not be surprised, if it went tl rough, that the ratepayers would before long have a IXd rate on them.

Mr Borrie said that a lot of people had signed the petitions without knowing the substance of them. The Chairman stated that it was impossible to know what the majority of Waimnte ratepayers wanted, and he did not think the Board had any power to comment on the action of the Council. For his part, he was against merging, but he considered it was wrong of the Board to pass such a resolution as proposed, and he should vote against it. , A lengthy dieeussion then took place, and Mr McCarthy’s motion, seconded by Mr Henson, “ That this Board protests against the action of the Hawera County Council in passing a resolution that Waimate district merge with the County without the consent of the ratepayers,” was put to the meeting and lost, the mover and seconder voting for it.—Star.