Councils & Boad Boards.

Otago Witness, Issue 1586, 15 April 1882, Page 22

Councils & Boad Boards.

TAIERI COUNTY COUNCIL- \ ' , ,The ordinary monthly meeting of the , Taieri County Council was held on Thursday t afternoon, when there were present— Council; ' lors Snow, Findlay, Bunting, Charters, Graf i ham, and Thomson. , f i In the absence of the Chairman (Mr John Roberts), Cr Findlay was appointed to the chair. * MINUTES. . t j > The minutes of last meeting having been read, Cr Thomson objected to the minute authorising the Council to defray half the costs / of prosecution by tlie objectors in the case of the Brockville road jand on a resolution being i carried, on the ' motion of Cr Snow, that the ' minutes be adopted, Cr Thomson signified his intention of entering his protest,' submitting that the motion embodied in the minute had been- passed illegally, no notice of it having been given, as it was' opposed to a resolution passed at the previous meeting. , ' REPORTS. The engineer reported that the bridge at Mosgiel was completed as far as the present contract was concerned, but its general appearance and utility would be greatly improved by a further addition on the north side. Slow progresswas being made with the stone bridge at Green Island, and he was afraid it would not be completed within contract time, as there was a difficulty in getting masons. The Lee Stream footbridge would be completed in about 10 days. Some difficulty had been found in obtaining a good foundation for the_ pier, which had to be altered from stone_ to timber. The Brighton road was still unfinished, and nearly all the pitching would have to be re-set on account of the inferior manner in which the work had, been carried out. While travelling over the Strath-Taieri the other day he had noticed that a portion of the river-bank, near Cottesbrook, was cut into very deeply, and a ' large portion of the road had already been carried away. If something was not done f ortli- , with to remedy the matter the Council would require to' purchase land for a new road. Thebank was now perpendicular, but if sloped back and planted with willows a future considerable expense might be saved to the Council. The cost now would not exceed £10, and the neigh- / bouring proprietors wouldundertake to supply and plant the willow-cuttings. He had been over the proposed routes of roads through the deferred-payment blocks, and had reported thereon to the Chief Surveyor as follows :— j The Taieri County, Council, at your request, authorised'me to report on the routes and approximate cofet of the proposed roads through the deierred-paymeAt blocksin the Strath-Taieri district, and I have now the honour to forward the results of my inspections. J The ' crossing at the Neuthorn, near Mount Stoker Creek, Is very precipitous at present, and in wet weather impracticable, ; but by working up the sidling ground on either side a very fair grade of, Bay, one Jn eight is obtainable'; and 'by crossing' the stream five or six chains above the crossing now in use an excellent site lor a bridge is gained, and for this I should recommend one of two spans of 40 feet each, of timber superstructure with stone piers, the material for the. latter being in abundance and in close proximity. The. cost dfthiß structure, together with the approaches and culverts on either side, I estimate at £1.400. On completion of this work the agricultural-settlement block will have' a passable communication with the' main 1 road on the Strath-Taieri. ' ' j For the proposed road between the Strath-Taieri and Moonlight Flat, through the pastoral deferredpayment blocks, I should recommend that the ridge on the east side of the Moonlight or Sheepwash Creek be followed, as, with the exception of a 20-feet span over Moonlight Creek, near Conic al Hill, the ro&d ' would follow a leading ridge right into Moonlight Flat, thus necessitating very few culverts. The distance would be about nine miles, and the road mig(it be generally opened up for traffic for the sum of £1800, the grades generally being easy. , : I would also suggest as a needful work, in order to fully open up these roads, that the Sutton. be bridged at one of its crossings. The Deep Stream having been spanned by, the county, this is really, with the exception of the Taieri river, the only stream of any size that proves itself obstructive to traffic in times of flood. The estimated cost, with approaches, is £450. If required, I shall be glad to afford any other information you may wish in connection with the proposed works. „ I E. Hay, County Engineer. The report was adopted. The Inspector for Works (Mr J. Davidson) recommended that 351 cubic yards of gravel be granted to repair that portion of the Berwick road between Thomson's road and the culvert near Greig's, the length being about 26 chains. Posts and rails were required to repair the pro-tection-fences at Otakia and Henley. On the , Outram-Hindon road repairs had been effected and culverts erected. Surfacemen had been employed on the Whare Flat, Rock and Pillar, and Strath-Taieri roads.— Report adopted. ; DEPUTATION. • Messrs Henry Clark (chairman) and J. W. Wilson waited as a deputation on behalf of the Bruce County, to urge upon the Council .the necessity of steps being taken for the erection of a new bridge over the Taieri river, at the Ferry ; also to ascertain what steps would be taken by the Council in the event of the toll at the present bridge being abolished. Mr Clark said the present oridge had been in use for about 18 years, and a new bridge was urgently wanted. The money required to keep the bridge in repair would go a long way towards paying the interest on the amount 'ye- , quired for a new structure, and the two Councils might concur in requesting the members for the districts to use their influence in, obtaining assistance from Government for the carrying out of the work. With regard to the toll at the Taieri Ferry, lie was desirous of ascertaining to what extent the Council would contribute to the cost of keeping the bridge in repair provided the toll wore abolished. Mr Wilson referred to the dilapidated condition of the present bridge, and expressed hi« ! ; opinion that the cost of a new one would bo ' ■ £7000. I The Council decided that the county engi- I neer should confer with the engineer for the , . Bruce County and report on the state of the j : bridge, at tho same time furnishing an estimate j of the cost of a new one. They further agreed i to abide by their previous resolution with roference to the toll, which provided for the con- i tribution of half the cu&t of maintenance in tho j ( case of the toll being abolished. I COIUiESJPONDKNOB. i \ Mr E. F. Menzies, of Napier, agent in New 1 Zealand for a London firm of financial agents, i wrote stating that he was in a position ou their , ; behalf to undertake to procure any sums from j £60,000 upwards that the Council might, re- ;

quire, on security of county revenues, at moderate rates of interest. — "Received. In reply to a communication from the county clerk Mr P. Leitch, clerk to the Kuri Bush Road Board, stated that no valuation of the district had been made, in consequence of the non-election of a road board, the settlers being unanimously in favour of the Board being done away with, and the district taken over by the County.— The clerk was instructed to take steps to obtain permission to have the district valued. >

The clerk to the Bruce County Council stated that at a previous meeting of the Council a* resolution had been passed asking the Taieri,' Clutha, and Tuapeka Councils to take joint 1 action in the reduction of ■ hawkers' licenses to an equable fee in such counties.— Received. With reference to the circular from the Southland County Council, it was agreed to' support the Council in having the grant of 20 per cent, of the land fund restored. ' GENERAL. ' On the motion of Or Charters it was re- r solved— " That the clerk write to' the station--master at Mosgiel requesting him to keep the! trains clear of the county road." Accounts amounting to £620 16s 3d were passed for payment. The following tenders were accepted for surfacing contracts : — ; No. I.— From' boundary of Caversham to the 11-mile post : M. Lynch, £44. ' Nq. 2.— From the 11-mile post to the East Taieri Ferry : Joseph Johnston, £48. No. 3.— From Saddle Hill Junction to West Taieri bridge : John Reagan, £48 15s. ; No. 4.— From West Taieri bridge to Whare Creek Hotel : Robert Buchanan, £54. J No. 5. — From Whare Creek to bridge at Lee Stream, and from the junction to county boun? dary on Waipori road : Andrew Wilson, £54. \ No. 6. — From the boundary of Roslyn tQ junction of Saddle Hill and Waipori roads': William Dolan, £53 15s 3d, • No. 7.— From Fairfield to Taieri Mouth at Brighton : W. Little and Co., £49 ss. TAIERI ROAD BOARD. This Board held their monthly meeting on the sth inst. Mombors present-— Messrs M. Carmichael (chairman), R. Muir, J. Wylie, J. Sutherland, S. Turnbull, J. Millar, and Wi Kirkland. The following resolutions were passed: — ' That J. Connell deliver gravel to the amount required to complote Muir's road.' — 'That tenders be called for formation of Anderson's road.' — 'That tendera be called for part formation of Buchanan's road.'— 'That the clerk call tenders for gravelling about 15 chains of Wright's road (for next meeting). The following notices of motion were given for next meeting: — By J. Sutherland— For gravel ; J. Millar— For 200 yards metal ; W. Kirkland— 2s yards metal for Owhiro. ' Accounts were passed to the amount of £48 11s 9d. I