WAIKOUAITI COUNTY COUNCIL.

Otago Witness, Issue 1950, 4 April 1889, Page 10

WAIKOUAITI COUNTY COUNCIL.

The ordinary meeting of this County Council was held in the County Chambers, Hawksbury.on Friday last. The members present were:— The chairman (Mr James Green), and Ors J. 0. Buckland, J. W. , Bolt, J. Crickmore," J. Porteous, and J. B. Ritchie. inspbctob's repobt. The inspector reported as follows :— Ward and Henderson's Application for Charitable Aid.— Both these men lived in Deborah Bay, and have done so for some time. Ward was old andpast work, and a person deserving of aid. Henderßon, until lately, had been employed at the heads at 7s and 8& per day for, .nearly two years, and was now employed as a fisherman, and was earning fair wages. He was ablebodied, and capable of supporting his family.—Received aud approved. Reservoir road, Sawyers' Bay.— On the examination of this road, the inspector found a difference between the old road and the present survey of about five to seven links, and the old road to be this distance north-east of, the old fences. He saw no necessity for offering any objection to the line as 1 now surveyed as far as the sections referred to in a letter from the registrar of deeds, the survey interfering very little with the existing road opposite.— Received ; and the council resolved to reply to the registrar, of deeds that they had no. objection to offer to the survey shown on the tracing forwarded by him. Road through Mr Holmes' land.— As the work of laying off a track or road and supplying a tracing through this land would take considerable time, the inspector suggested that the matter should stand over for another meeting to enable him to ascertain what Mr Holmes proposed doing with the land and . where a road would be most suitable.— Received, and request granted. Pine Hill road.— The distance unmetalled on this , road was 24 chains. The road was formed many yearß ago through a thick bush, and . most of the timber and 'stones found on the line of formation had been used iv filling up holes and levelling the road to render it fit for traffic. Nearly all the timber had decayed, and the road was now very uneven and roiogft* *hs o\A stumps standing up here and there forming wry awkward obstacles on the line of , traffic? TJielfhafe of the 24 chains would require to : be reformed before any metal could be put on. The > inspector was of opinion that more harm than gpo<* would be done by, formation at this time of y * the winter rains probably would make thp ' - ar > formed road an impassable bog during tK - newivmonths. It would be better to let *' -*™sj •« until the month of September nez' -ne road alone necessary s formation wa» give^ -• 1™ cost of the metaHing £45. if the settlor- :* ff f °f J* 22 qs' q 5 ' «? ceived and approved* •> carted the Btones.-Re-MotKnheS^'-North-Biast Valley .riding: audonlmaa^ mtbiß riding were in 'fair order, bliiabTeL »» ' «d been employed for a few days only. geSr * dm S s The roa 2 8 ln * hiß £ di . n B were Kr y in fair order, and considerable lmproveZ w nad been made on the Purakanui roads during > j month, where most of the surfaceman's time nad been spent. Attention was drawn to. the necessity of providing a quantity of maintenance metal for the main road during. the winter, so that it could be spread in wet weather. A considerable portion of the road between the Wesleyan church at Blueßkin and the junction of the North-Bast Valley borough was worn very thin and hollow, and 500 yards at least would be required to keep the road in fair order. Merton riding : In this Viding the district roads were mostly in fair order, and the Main road was being attended to. A culvert on the distriot road near Bowling's required renewing, and about 30 chains of the road also wanted repairs before the rains did more damage. Cost of culvert and ■ repairs, from £10 to £12. Hawksbury riding: The roads in' this riding In good condition, except the Main road, which was a source of great complaint,. If the conncil intended to gravel any portion tenders should now be called.— Received, and tenders to be invited for the formation of 15 chains of road referred to. FINANCE. The Finance Committee recommended the payment of accounts for the month amounting to £125 12s Bd. CONTRACTS. Tenders for the following works were opened and the lowest accepted:— Contract 842, building timber and iron bridge across the Waikouaiti 'river at Ballingdon Ford— Klee and Morris, £186 J7s. Contract 345, supplying metal in the Asylum road, Seaoliff— A. M'Kenzie, Is 5d per yard; W. Ward, Is 8d ; Russell and Kerr, Is B£d ; Bond and O'Connell, Is 9d ; G. and H. Bland, Is lOd ; John Allan, 2s. CHARITABLE AID. The committee having considered the application' of four persons at Deborah Bay for out-door relief, furnished by the trustees, of the Benevolent Institution, and having inquired into the circumstances of the applicants and given the fullest consideration, could not recommend the trustees to tfrant the relief asked foi. NENTHORN ROAD CONTRACV. Mr Charles Bond having waited O'j the committee, and aeked to have an additional sum granted to him for chipping tussocks ou the Nenthorn road, the committee, after considering the matter, could not recommend the council to accede to the application.— Received and adopted. CORRESPONDENCE. The Hon. Matthew Holmes, Dunedin, wrote pointing out that he had paid taxes on 755 acres of land in the county for several years and no effort had been made to give him access to it by even a moderately good road, which prevented him from imp>»ving it, and recently he had purchased some land between his first holding and the main road to facilitate road making. He asked the council to lay off the road, and to assist in making it.— Received, and referred to the inspector. Mr A. Clark, Waitati, called attention to the road leading from his place to Stewarts, and asked to have It made passable.— The inspector waß instructed to report as to' the work absolutely required to be dona, and the cost thereof. A letter was received from Mrs Mary King, Sawyerß* Bay, intimating that ,DrDrysdale had reported that her chil-lren were suffering from diphthoria - , m . The manager of the Trustees, Executors, and Agency Company of New Zealand, Dunedin, wrote, on behalf of Mr Schultz, calling attention to the state of the roads surrounding Cherry farm, gorse being allowed to spread thereon to such an extent, as to make them covers for rabbits,— Referred to the ohairman to ascertain the powers of the council and to report to a future meeting. A letter from Mr H. Clark, Blueskin, was received drawing attention to the road between his place and Blueskin, and pointing out that the water tables required cleaning out, the ruts filled in, and the steep pinches made fit for tramc— Referred to the iuspector to call for teuders for the most necessary work, if the coat was not excessive ; otherwise to submit a report thereon at the next meeting of council. A circular was read and received from the Property Tax department, Wellington, forwarding statement of values of real property in the county commencing Ist April 1889. Mr James Cowan and five other ratepayers in the Blneskin riding asked to have the road between the two metalled portions at Morrison's land repaired. — The council agreed to call for tenders for gravelling the piece of road referred to. The Crown Lands department, Dunedin, forwarded statement of moneys received on account of small grazing ran fourths between the 29th October 1888 and the 26th January 1889-^-viz., £43 2s 6d Hummockside, and ? £1 ltfa 4d Waikouaiti— and requested the council! to forward ' plans of roads' on which it ■was proposed" to' expend the amount tor the approval of tbe Land Board.— Received, and the request to be complied wjth. ', • '■* '„_„.,/ ./, -The Marine idepartmeiit, Wellington, requested the jCQotfell to: forward as soon at pouible any «oggestlon* or remarks tb.ey>ightMyg tp makex>n the, Fiah'erfeYßUlt at the Govemment^wished to have it prepared, for Introduction next eenlon, and the dark

! was instructed to reply that the council' few! none £? 1 make.* ■ l'■ ~ " ' *' ■■•-'-• - < Mr William Thompson, Sawyers' Bayv renewed hf§. .application "for the opening of the, road' from the railway station to his place, section Mi. Since the last 'application he had let' the premftes fronting the , road to a person who had commenced' thereon the manufacture of Bheep dip, and unl«s» access to the railway station could be had by the road referred to the success of the industry would be seriously interfered with; He asked the removaT of Mr Cameron's fence, and the cost of making the road would be borne by hlmßelf and others*— The clerk was instructed to reply that the matter was in the hands of the county solicitor, 1 with instructions^ to secure the opening of the road and the removal of the obetruction therefrom. , , , Mr John F. Campbell, Sawyers' Bay, wrote pointout the necessity of opening the road next the bay along the foot of Messrs Cameron and Captain Thompson's properties, as it would be a great convenience to him in getting his goods to and from the railway station to. the premises occupied by him in Captain -Thompson's, paddocki— The clerk was instructed to. famish a reply similar to that sent to Mr Thompson. Mr A. D. Bell, Shag Valley station, intimated that run 121b had been surrendered by Sir Francis Dillon i Bell, and Bhould be struck off the valuation roll accordingly.. The run had since been taken up himself at a rental of £120 a year, and he asked that it should be entered for local rating purposes at the statutory rate of £2000.— The' council agreed to make the necessary alteration onjreceiving.notice from the Property Tax department." A circular from the president of the New Zealand Exhibition, Dunedin, was read, asking the chairman, j in conjunction with the "mayor of Hawksbury to J to form a looal committee to secure the proper representation of the district at the exhibition. — The council agreed to co-operate with the Borough Council. The secretary to the Charitable Aid and Hospital Board, Dunedin, wrote asking the council to furnish him with a return of the ratable value of the rateable property in the county, to enable the board to fix the proportion of the expenditure to be contributed !by each local authority. He also forwarded a list of i persons in the county who were in receipt of outI door relief up to February 1 last.— The information to be supplied when valuation roll certified. Messrs a. and H Bland, Blueskin, applied for permission to remove soil from a bank in Brown street, Murcheston.— The application was referred to the chairman. A ; letter from Mr John Duncan, Cherry farm, asking when the council intended fencing the Steep Hill reserYe.was received. Mr W. H. Groves, Sawyers' Bay, applied for a renewal, and Mr C. Watson (Nenthorn) and Mr A. White (Mihiwaka) for the granting of slaughterhouse licenses for their respective premises,— TV application in each instance was granted., * d

MISCELLANEOUS, The Chaibman reported that at a >*" w?n w, oo hti« of the ratepayers of the Hawkabu-" jfthS Sn the 16th inst., the following w . '/"^IJSS S Mr W. M'Dougall, and eew- ' ufc ft n ' FWZ^n was carried unanimous ad ,?&£ y f M f r h AI Sf» me Hne fhmnfrh ennHnna O * .iV:— 'That toe road line Survef diSb • . 10, 43, Block 111, Hawksbury by the 7 ooun? oe closed."- Received and adopted aino!?-' 00 -JOoH 'agreed to pay Mr W. M'Dougall the ra f- J ac offered to him as compensation- viz., at the * ,c of £H per acre— for the land taken for a road ohrough section 44, block 111, Hawksbury Survey district, when the conveyance of same was signed. An application trom Mr K. B. Ferguson, Blueskin, was granted, to be allowed to erect a fence 3ft on road Hne to protect live hedge on boundary line of sections 8, 9,-U, Warrington. - Resolved, on the motion of Cr Pobtbtts, seconded by Or Bom— " That tenders be called for cleaning out the water tables arid removing the slips In the Main road, Merton riding." Sergeant Finnegari reported with respect to the nuisance and the state of the oreek at Sawyers' Bay, caused by drainage from the creamery, which' was received ; and the council expressed & hope that the department would take the necessary Bteps if the nuisance was not abated.

Special Mebting. The council held a special meeting, at which the following resolution was adopted :— " That the fee to be paid within the county for the slaughtering of oattle be 20s per annum." The council then adjourned.