WAIKOUAITI COUNTY COUNCIL

Otago Witness, Issue 2516, 4 June 1902, Page 14

WAIKOUAITI COUNTY COUNCIL

The ordinary meeting of the Waikouaili County Council was held on Friday ; present — Messrs A. Graham (chairman), "W. Souter, A. S. Orbell, C. Duke, J. Foot, and J. Porteous. The Inspector reported that lie had visited the site of the proposed reduction of grade at Baiu'a Hill, but msterd of a 6ft reduction he recommended that the road should be deviated, which would be a much greater improvement. Ihe settlers would agree to form the road if the council would carry out the deviation. .Regarding the co^nplaint about the Almond street culvert, lie had found that the culveit was on the natural watercourse, and as the road wps not a county road he did not think ihe council could interfere. The road I leading to SeacliS from Karitane was in a very j bad state near the Springs. There had been | a>i arrangement about two years ago to have ; seme work done on this portion of the road, but, with T:he exception of two or three days* •work nothing had been done on the road i since.— The clerk was instructed to communicate with the owner of section 15, block 11, with a vie-.v to malting the necessary deviation [ at Bain's Hill road. It was decided to call for | tenders for the necessary work on the Seacliff- ; Karitane road b&lore next meeting. — The re- ! port was then adopted. | A letter was received from the Mayor of Dunedin regarding the fallen soldiers memorial, *nd enclosing the resolution carried at thf recent meeting. — The circular was received, and it was decided that the council would co-operate vith Dunedln in the matter. ' Sir J. G. Ward's eireuiar telegram regarding plague and necessary health precautions was received. j A letter was received from Messrs Calvert' and Brugh, solicitors, legsrding a conveyance to the county of a roadlme, and it was decided to pay half co3t. ! William Harper wrote requesting the council to metal a short section of the KaritanePenmsula road, and it was decided to instruct j the inspector to carry out the work. Several ratepayers wrote asking the council to clean out a watercourse on the Main road at Merchiston Township, and the inspector was instructed. to meet the petitioners with a view to carrying out the work. J. M'Jtinley requested the council to open up a road to his property at Evansdale.— The inspector was instructed to report at next meeting M. Solomon petitioned the council to have seme metal placed on the load in front of his iropeity, Mansfordtown. — The inspector was requested to attend to tho work. The Dunedm City Council wrote guaranteeing to lea\e all county road?, after the laying of pipes for the watci works extension, in the sime condition as formerly, and thanking the County Council for its courtesy. W. Warren, Upper Waitati. forwarded £2 towards metalling the new formation between" M'lnto-ih's and Ileirry's properties on the Pigeon Flat road. — The council decided to proceed with the work. A. Moore requested repairs to a road leading from his place to the factory at Merton.— The inspector was instructed to attend to the work. W. E. Griffin, Macrae?, drew attention to the state of the road leading through run 1221 cto lun 22VF, and asked Lor repairs.— lt was decided to reply to tho effect that a contract had been let for the work. L. O. Beal, jun., requested repairs to the road from Macraes to lUe Bonanza mine, and it was decided to attend to the work. It was also decided to attend to some repnus necessary on the Isenthoin road, regarding which Mr W. E. Griffin had petitioned the council. Statements, agieements, etc., were received fiom ihe Minister of Land = , conveying the information that bo proposed placiiiglthe following sums at the council's disposal ifoi the works mentioned — Prydc's road, Merton, £150, Heyv/ard's Point i"o*d, Purakamii, £175; Murdering Be.i:h loud, £100, Knmmockside District, Liock IV road, £8-2 3s 4d; Lower HarLour ro:-d, i"150 ; WaiUli-Waikare (Main load), £150,— total, £G57 3s id.— The chairman was authorised to ?ign the agreements. It was decided, on the motion of Cr Foote, to instruct the in->pectoi to have the Main road em faced from We<t'.her=tone's to Bunce's pror/cities. On the motion of Ci Portenu%, the inspector was requested to %end the suifacemen to clear uuay a slip on the load leading to Mr Barnes's pioperty, and to repair the Native road at the railway crossing, near Mr Pratt' s property, I'uketeraki. The inspector wis also instructed to make certain repairs to the road in front of Mrs Fiiidoa's property, and to put in certain cul\cits on the Purakanui Station road. A letter from Messrs Kenyon and Hosking, the council's solicitors, regarding the dispute between the council and the North" East Valley Borough Council as to the maintenance of the boundary road, wps taken in committee, and it was decided that the chairman and Mr Orbell should be appointed a. committee to represent the council at any confer- ; once that might be held between the bodies interested, with power to act. In the yearly leturn, laid on the table, it was shown that the number of ratepayers was 1067, and there were 1447 rateable properties j£ tlie couutg uot iscjiuled in iQag oj tawa

districts. The general rate was ga j u pound. The extent of the Toads maintained by the council totalled 2027 milas, and there were no roads in tbe county maintained by the G^ eminent. The total receipts for the year ending March 31 had been £UW 12s 9d, and tha total expenditure £'Ul7 6s 21, leaving a cicdifc balance of £43 G3 7d. The expenditure included survey and construction of roads £14.06 l L )s 7d, and repairs and improvements £1935 Os lid ; salaries had amounted to £278 6s Sd, travelling expenses to £112 7s, and interest on loans to £24 ss. The receipts included the geceial rtite on £484,206 (amounting to £1593 2s), licenses £122 4s 6d, other taxes £124 7s 6d, " thirds " and " fourths " £17 7s 8d and £441 9s lOd, goldßeids revenue £14 ss, subsidies under the Local Bodies Finance and Powers Acts £500, special grants from Government £1110 17s 9d, subscriptions from ratepayers £67 4s 6d, contract deposits £77 7s, and the balance at the beginning of the year had been, X 363 9s 4d. The cash assets at the date o£ balancing, including the accrued sinking fund amounted to £174 3s lOd, the estimated assets to £6-12 10s sd, and the liabilities at the date 01 balancing to £764 Ss. The assessed value of licensed houses in the county was £3650, and there were four licensed houses and two with, conditional licenses, the amount of fees being

On the motion of Cr Duke, it was resolved ..hot the council should appoint Monday^ June 9, as a date of meeting between the committee consisting of the' chairman, and CrslToot Duke' and Porteous, and Mr E. G. Allen, M.H.R.' at Waitati railway station, when the committee would point out the" places -where tha Government votes had been spent on the Waitati, Wakari, and Merton roads, and,, also what waß required for other -works.'. . r The committee appointed at a previous meeting to meet the settlers in *€gard to the fords on the Flag Swamp Creek reported ,thaf to make bridges would mean too much expense-, considering that the fords wera generally good! and passable, but recommended instead a deviation of the ro?.d near the fords. — It was de» cided that the clerk should write to C. Beid'a trustees, and inquire whether they would grant a deviation through sections 10 and 14, block 111. Hnwksbury, for the purpose of forming 1 a road for the convenience of. settlers, and, if so, at what price per acre. It was also decided that Messrs T. and A. Dempster should be informed that they would nave to remove all obstructions in the creek that were at present damming the water back on the road.

Accounts amounting to £442 16a Id -wera passed for. payment. The following contracts were let:— 2oyda rotten rock on White's road, at 5s per yard; 300 yds metal, Pryde's Toad— Messrs Reid-anct Downes, at 7s 6d per yard (both in Merton. Riding) ; lODyds metal, Main road, Mount Oargill—a. Wilson and Clark, 6s 3d per yard; 110 yds metal and formation, Heyward Point road, Blueskin— P. O'Farrell, metal 4s 9d.per yard and formation £10; 324 yds metal, Wai-tati-Wakari road — H. W. Brook, at 5s 6d per yard; 350 yds gravel on the same road — H. Bland, at 2s lOd per yard. The nest meeting was fixed for Tuesday, July) 1, and the council then adjourned.