WAIKOUAIOI COUNTY COUNCIL.

Otago Witness, 5 December 1900, Page 30

WAIKOUAIOI COUNTY COUNCIL.

The annr-al statutory meeting of this County Ccrancjl was held in the Council Chambers, i Hawksbury, on the 23th ult. There was a full council present — viz. : Crs Dyke, Graham, ; Foote, Or bell, Porteous, and Sotiter. I The Clerk presided, and read the section of the Counties Act xeterring to the election of chairman, after which he invited nominations ( for the position. > Cr Foote, the retiring chairman, said he had , very great pleasure in proposing Cr Duke as chairitnn for the ensuing year. Cr Duke was a man of considerable business experience and intelligence, and he felt, sure that he y,-ould discharge the duties of the office as chairman with credit l>o himself and satisfaction to the council and ratepayers generally. ; Cr Porteous seconded the motion, and in doing so remarked that Cr Duke was in every i respect well qualified to occupy the position of chairman. ' Cr Souler moved, as an amendment — " That , Cr Orbell be elected chairman of the council. ' ; and referred in veiy complimentary teims to ' the experience Cr Orbell had gained as chair- , man previously, of the ability he had brought ! to bear in the discharge of the duties, and of . the general satisfaction he had given during the term he occupied the position. Cr Giaharn seconded the amendment, and said that he endorsed all that Cr S outer had ! stated with regard to the manner in which Cr ] Oibell had presided over the council. j 'No other ciuididates being nominated, ihe ] Clerk colled for a show of hands, which he declared to be equal, each candidate receiving three votes. A ballot was then taken, with the result chat Cr Duke was declared elected. Cr Duke then took the chair, and in doing so thanked the council for the honour conferred upon him. He expressed a hope that he would discharge the duties of chairman to the satisfaction of the council, and in the best interests of the ratepayers generally. That he would receive the cordial assistance and support of the council he had no doubt, as had been tendered to his predecessors, smcl that the county business would be carried on in the same amiciMa spirit as had been a prominent characteristic in thejproceedings of the past, he also felt assured. At least, it would be his study to work in harmony and good feeling ■with the members of the council, his object being to see that even-handed justice was meted out, and that a fair distribution of the funds of the council throughout the county was made. ORDINARY MEETING-. The ordinary meeting of the council was then hel3, which consisted of the following business : — FINANCE. Accounts Jor the month amounting to £32i 15s were passed for payment. INSPECTOR'S KEPOE.T. The Inspector reported that the recent heavy rains had done considerable damage to some of the county roads. The Hawksbury Riding had not suffered so much, with the exception of a few slips, and some of the clay roads that had got conuiderably rutted. A large quantity of gravel had collected at the upper -foi-d of the Waikouaiti River, "that would xequire to be removed. Ixl the Merton Riding some of the clay roads also had become very much rutted, and some small slips Jiad taken place. The Bltieskin Riding, however, had suffered the most. The Waitati-Wakari -road was completely blocked by some half-dozen slips, and some of them rather extensive ones. The bridge at Downes's Ford had broken down, and half of Mitchell's bridge had been completely swept j away. The footbridge at Hanson's had been washed down the river for some distance. | Some slight slips on the Main road and on the | Lower Harbour road had occurred. The NorthEast Valley Riding had not suffered much, j There were three slight slips on the Waitati- : I "Wakari road, and on th« new Pigeon Plat road, i and also on the newly-formed road on the Mount CargiU, estate. Tkeae were all of. any, im- ;

portance. There were several culverts that could not carry all the flood water that accuinu- ** lated, and as a consequence the water flowed' '" over the roads and washed out some of the fine '"- metal. — The report was approved, and the chair-f ~ man, inspector, and Crs Foote, Graham, andfPorteous were appointed to meet at Waitati! ■ on Friday, the 4th December, to examine tha damage to roads, etc., and to decide what was best to be done under the circumstances. CORRESPONDENCE. Mr A. J. Park, Hawksbury, wrote drawing! -': the attention of the council to cattle grazing on! the roads. " One person had 11 head he was herding, and had been doing so for six months, and wjien remonstrated with had replied that' he would herd the cattle in spite of the county, , ranger. He expressed a hope that the council would do something to put a stop to the practice. — The council decided to instruct the ranger to impound the cattle straying on the county] roads in the Hawksbury and Merton Ridings. The Under-Colonial Secretary, Wellington^ wrote stating that the Minister had under consideration ceitain applications from local bodies for the issue of Orders-in-Council to rectify errors and omissions made in the discharge of their various legal functions, and as there seemed to be much misapprehension on tha part of such local bodies on the subject, ha desired to explain that Ministers could advisa the G-oveinor to exercise such remedial powers , only when the matter was one properly calling for attention, and then only upon a full statement of all the facts which rendered . such , action necessary. — Received. i Mr E. G-. Allen, M.H.R., Port Chalmers, I wrote enclosing a letter he had received from? ; | the general manager of railways, Wellington, } in reference to an application from the council * j ior a cart approach to tho oassenger platform „ ! of tne Merton railway station, stating that there ! were no funds available this year to undertake > I the woik applied for, but that the matter woul<s - ; be kept in mind when next year's requirements , to railway stations were under review by the j Minister of Railways.— Received, j Mr J. Sutherland, Purakanui, wrote drawing I attention to the dangerous state of the road ! leading to his property, and pointing out that ] the slightest divergence ai the place indicated would precipitate a vehicle over a steep em- ' bankment. — Referred to the inspector to report. The Secretary, Treasury, Wellington, forwarded a voucher for the payment of £2 0s 3d, \ rate 3on Seacliff Asylum reserve, section 48, ! block XII. — Received. | Mr R. Russell, Seacliff, wrote calling atten- ! tion to the disgraceful state of the SeacliffMerton road, which, on the Merton sid<>, was I utterly impassable for traffic in a number of places. The road had never been in such a disgraceful state, the water being allowed to flow down the road for months, completely spoiling I it. and, in many places, washing holes 3ft deep. | — Referred to the insnector to attend to. j Mr J. Golightly, PuraTianui, wrote drawing i attention to the urgent need for something being done to render the bridge passable that crosses the Xiong Beach. At present the bridge was utterly useless, on account of its condition, [ and the ratepayers were put to considerable inI convenience, and at liigh floods and heavy rains j they practically had no means of ingress or ( egress. — Referred to the inspector for an estij mate of the cost of the work, j Dr King wrote pointing out that the Puketeraki road continued to be quite impassable, and trusted that something would be done to render is passable for wheeled traffic. Owing io the small quantity of broken metal available, he was afraid they would have to wait another year until enough metal was broken, unless j the council made some fresh arrangements. He > ! called attention to an impassable piece of road j above Mr J. Pratt' s, and several places near ; Seacliff, where deep holes and ruts had been. j formed. — The council resolved — " That as the Natives were not doing the work satisfactorily, the inspector be instructed to get the work done."

Mr W. Somerville, Waitati, wrofe asking ths council to close a culvert which, at present discharged storm water collected on the road on to his property — section 3, block 111, — and inflicting considerable darnsge. The culvert was no use in its present position. The w.xter must be stopped from flooding his land, and would' run into a creek if conducted down the road about 100 yds lower. — The consideration of tha matter vras deferred in the meantime.

Mr W. Pullar, se'eretary of the Bluesldn Cemetery Trustees, forwarded the resignation of the trustees, consisting of Messrs T. M'Connell, G-. Sutherland, J . Downes, E. Sutherland, and W. Pullar. — The clerk was instructed to write to the tiustees for information in reference to the appointment of their successors.

The Secretary to tlie Land Board, Duiiedin, forwarded statement of "thirds" and "fourths " accrued for the period from July 2 to September 29. amounting to £261 2s Id. — Received. Mr A. Heckler, Hawksbury, applied for permission to put his horse on the section in which! the County Chambers stood, which was securely; fenced, and he undertook to see that the ccu~cil sustained no damage. — The application was de> clined. • - r The Milburn Linie and Cement Company forwarded a circular containing piices of cement and lime. — Received. Sergeant G-ee-ria, Port Chalmers, forwarded: the monthly return of the number of cattle, great and small, slaughtered within his jurisd'etion in the county, with the fees received. Circulars were received from the Secretaries Benevolent Institution > and Dunedin Hospital re the appointment of delegates to represent tho county at the annual meeting for the election of trustees, and Cr Graham was appointed to represent the county. CONTRACTS. The following tenders were accepted: — Contract 742, P. Collins, £70; contract 762, T. Browß. £73 lls ; contract 764, T. Howiston, £38 10s. For contracts 757, 758, 759, and 763 there were no tenders. MOTIONS. Cr Orhell moved and Cr Souter seconded — • " That the county solicitor be instructed to write to Mr Jeffries requesting him to remove and burn all gorse on the road line adjoining his property, Flag Swamp, and failing compliance within 14 days after such notice, the solicitor be instructed to issue a summons."—" Carried. Moved by Cr Porteous, seconded by Cr Souter — " That this council has decided to instruct the clerk not to pay any money to anyone but the person to whom it belongs without a proper order." — Carried. Moved by Cr Orbell, seconded by Cr Grahaml — " That all who desire to take out slaughterhouse licenses for the year commencing January 1, 1901, can apply for same at the meeting of council in December, license fee to be enclosed." — Carried. The council then adjourned.