TAIERI COUNTY COUNCIL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2210, 9 July 1896, Page 11

TAIERI COUNTY COUNCIL.

An ordinary meeting of the Taieri County Council vraa held on Friday, and attended by the Clwirmiin (Mr J. Graham), Crs Cbisholm, S:.ow, Harrison, Samson, Todd, Ougatoo, end Nichol.

ikspectob's bepoht.

The Connty Inspector (Mr John Whyte) reported th*t the metal for Mr Bruce's road and three tracks of Otakia metal were net yet to hand. It eeemed fch&t Mr Palmer ould nob overtake all the private orders on account of his Guv<sri.m<'ub engagements. The gravel contracts were nearly all flni-hed, wiih the exception of Outram to Berwick.- The contractor for the latter was unable to prccure suitable' gravel at M\D:armidV, aod *as going to arrange vitfi .the We George Ttomsou'a tiustets next Monday for a supply from (heir property. ri->ar th'tf Maiingatua smithy k • In the event ef food gravel being. got, be augg«t that the^counoil aroin^e &tnut & pit. 'Ihe gravelling work at Wood>«ide was cony p'etevi, and Falton's bridge h»d been repaired, while the roa'A through the bash wa- ia a bad ttite. He did not think auj thing short of a coat <f blutfctoce inefc&l would make a road, us the ground . was naturally bad. Some more pateuiug would ht>va to be done neai' Bentfskiu and rtuod ti Wyllic's Crotsiug. If Messrs Murray, Roberts, and Co. fenced off their paddocks $omt thing more.weuld have to.be done in tbe way of ditching and bankings tbab ihe read might be opened up. He had made an estimate ol the proposed culvert at Castledine'B placi. A [culvert 22fb long with 5 t opening would cost in wood £21 ; timber top and concrete vra'is, £22 10s ; masonry work and rubble incemeut, £30. The masonry, work -was more costly on account of the .distance to cart the atones. There was an old box through the liter bank near Berwick which was used to drain the road ditch and the township water combined. The settlers applied some time ago for & new box. He understood that if a larger box was pub in by the county the settlers would be willing to pay half the cost. ' Re the river bend above the Cottesbrook bridge, there were five chains which would require to be protected with cr*tc3 and willows ; while at Mr Allan's farm »t Longford four chains would require proteotion. The cost- of crockery ware crates in Dunedin nts It each, and the railage to JHiddlemarch was 34s 4d per toD, so that they would, not cost more than 2s 6d delivered. He thought this would be a very cheap and effective plan. . The bends on the opposite side should bedoosened with the digger plough, so that the pressure would be taken off and tbe river made to run in a straight direction, It was resolved that the inspector prove the gravel pit oa the late George Thomson's property at Maungatua and- report to next meeting ; that tenders lie called for culvert with conorete walls acd timber at Castledine's, Strath -Taieri ; that the box into the river at Berwick ba removed, provided the scttk ra contribute half the ccst of the work; thab the inspector's report with jespect to protecting tha county road in tha

Str&th-Taieri district from an encroachment by tho Taieri riv«r be adopted ; that tbe matter of making a water table near Mr Jaffray's be referred.to the inspector to act ; and that the road ot Hindou, referred to in Mr D. Mic-

donala'd application, be graded.

CORHESPONDENCE.

A memc was received from tho county solicitors, who forwarded a lttter from MesTi Stout, .Mcudy, and Sim, intimating thab they had been instructed to take Bfcep3 to ab oDce force paymont of def«ndnn-'» costs in the case of the SjJicitcrgeneral v. Smith.— The Ciuiiuian reporled that after coutu liog with tie o^taor councillors in tbe mult^r, a <heq<ie for tbe amount of the costs had been forwarded.— The ch&irmaa's action was approve!.

The Stew Ury of the Cbaritable Aid, Board and l^ospital Board wrote forwarding accounts for £674- 14s H and £239 13s lid, on behalf of .the re*p€c f ivG bodies, bsiog the .amount of the council's contribution for charitabld aid for tie text year —lt was ivgolved.tbat payment bo tnaie by equal monthly initshnsnfcs. • The Cleik «-por!e I that an area of 3 acres 35 pales, in Euct;ou 19, Green Island Bu'h district, was purchased by the Provincial Government in 1660 for the purpose of ft quarry reserve.— lt was resolved— "That the engineer 'be instructed to make a survey of the qusrry, end that application be made to the Government to lmve it visaed in tha council."

Tho F*cbor cf- the Presbyterian Church Trustees wrote re disposal of drainage water passiug through the chuich land occapied by Peter Murdoch— lt was decided to take no action in the matter.

Theßarewood Quartz Mining Company wrobe stating ihab the company would be careful to comply with the conditions upon which the 'council gavo their consent -to the erection of a weir in the Taieri.river. — Received.

The Colonial Secretary wrote intimating that an Order-in-Council had been issued extending the time for preparing the Taieri Council rolls until the 18th of June. — Received.

Tho Caversham Borough Cjujcll wrote stat : ng thst complaints had been made with respect to the bad smell -arising from Ellis's nightsoil depot-.— Referred to the inspector of nuis&cce3 to act.

Mr A. Fleming wrote reminding the council of its promise with respect to the road to Otakia Cemetery— "Received. Mr W. West wrote requesting compensation fcr the Unß of a portion of his land for a road for the convenience of settlers in going to and returning from tbe Saddle Hill church and .school under an o'd agreement wiih the Seaside Road Board.— Referred to the chairman to report to r.-xfc meeting. Mr J. S. Nichol wrobe calling attention tothe spread of gorae 'on the roadlines in the Brighton district.— Referred to the inspector to act. Mr W. A. Milne wrote resigning his position as poundkeeper of the Henley pound, as from July 1. — The resignation was accepted, and it was decided to appoint Amos M'Kegsr, jun., as poundkeeper. |£c Bnherfc Haxver wrote stating thab ho w*B

billing to pay half the co>t of providing a bor as cu'.let for the water on the land below tectiou 12, block 11, WtJßb Taieri.— Referred to the inspcotor to act. Mr B. Galeg^r wroba wibh respc cb to tbe propoied deviation through his property in block VII, Straih-Taieri.— Referred to the inspector to fscfrtaiu if a bttfcer road tunn the surveyed one could bo procured in block VII, and report to n^xt meeting. % Mr 11. Charters hiving waited on the cc uiicil with reference to c'e»ring Dike's road ditcb, it wp.s reso'ved to refer the mttber to tbe iueptrtor to ascertain the width of the road, the question to be further considered at a special meeting of the ccuacil ou«tfridfty n<»xh. Mr Wa>. K'rkUnd wrote r<-que*iing the use of "tha cvUi.ciTa road grader and surfacemen to form about 400 yards of road from Longford towards Gkdbrook. — The application was granted. A petition wss received from ratepayers in tho Strath-Taitrt riding pointins oub tbe urger-t necessity of forming the utiformed portion Of the Centre roid from Midnlem*rch to Blair- Taitri.— Referred to Cr Harrison to •leport to ntxtmeetiog.

bngineeb's »epobt.

The engineer's report with referee cs to the taking of l*nd for a road to Waipori Buih, wfei«u was presented at task meeting, was adopted.

GE^ERAI. AND CHAItITABIiB AID BATE.

It w»6 r< solved tbab the. g- neral rate for tbe year ending March 1897 be $d iv the pound on the rateable value of property ia the county, and' that the charitable aid rate levied under tbe authority of " The Hospitals and Charitable Instibutiocs Aob 1885 ": ba -Jd ia the pound.

OTAKIA DBAINAOE DISTRICT.

Cm Snow and Chisholm reported with reference to sn application from the Otakia drainage trustjts for the consent of the council to their cleaning out and en'argiag drains, and aleo for some es istance in clearing out C drain and forming C drain road. They advised that the council give consent to the trust e3B to clean out and maintain the several drains in their drainage district, a* ib seemed of tbe utmost importance tbab these drains be kept clear in order that the water might get to the venous outlets as quickly as possible. Bat as the original drainage district was already indebted to the county fund in the sum of £179 Us, as the ratepayers in that district refused consent to the council to raise a lMte for the maintenance of theee drain*, and considering the low state of the county fund, they (Meairs Snow and Clmholm) could not alvise tbab v assistance be given for the work iv question. — ' The report w*s adopted. The Otakia Drainage Board wrote requesting tb&t t^e boxes in the C drain ab Anderson's «nd ai A. C. Thompson's be thoroughly repaired, a* they were leaking and required attention. — Referred to the inspector to have the box*e pub in order. • •' - THE COUNTY SOLICITOUS. Cc Samsoi* moved — ''That the present county solicitors (Messrs Smith, Chapman, and Sincluit) receive notice thab theic services will ba dispensed with, and thab the council proceed to appoint aaotber solic'tor in the oapacity of county eolicitor." The motion was seconded by Cr Harbison, and lesb by cix vctea to two, only the mover and seconder voting in favour of it.

FINANCIAL.

The bank bcok, which wts lsid on the table, showed a debit balance of £4207 14s Id.