TAIERI COUNTY COUNCIL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2691, 11 October 1905, Page 25

TAIERI COUNTY COUNCIL.

The rcguiar meeting of the Taieri County Council was held at Mosgiel on .Friday afternoon, there being present — Mr Miller (chairJnian), Cra Samson, Gibson Dow, Harrison, M'DoJMiid, Blackie, and Christie. The finance Commnttee recommended ihafc 4553 18s 3d be passed for payment, and rerorted that of thds £525 8b 9d was from general account, and JEB »s 6d from " thirds " and " fourths." The receipts for iho month of September had been £544 14s 10s, the chief sources being — General rates, £419 J2s 9d; Mfcagier quarry, £45; and Charitable Aid rate, i>s2 4s 4d. The bank overdraft stood at £2407 10s 9d. Seeing the poisoned grain had nor'i top*n co successftil in the destruction of small birds as the council could wish, tho committee recommend'etf ibsA '2d per dozen bo offered * for heads and eggs, delivered at the Council Oharobers.-AA.dop ted. The •"comandtte© ' appointed to peruse the agreement with the Waipori Falls Electric Power " Company reported as follows-: — A. letter was received from Mr Goodman, electrical engineer for the Dunedin City Corporation tramways, intimating his desire, • on' behalf of' the "City Council, to meet the council and discuss fiho proposed transmission line. A meeting of the council was he-d on September 27 .to "consider and peruse plan of route submitted. It" was decided th*t another meeting be held on the evening of Thursday, October 5, to further consider the matter, and that Mr 'Goodman be notified the council .bear Him at the ordinary meeting on October 6 to- further discuss' the subject, and that Mr Goodman be asked .to attend. Mr Goodman attended, and submitted plans of route, 'towers, poles, etc., and after discussing «,nd considering the proposed route we recomanend that the chairman, Crs Dove and Gibpon, ihe county engineer, and Mr Goodman inspect the proposed line of route at oeirtain places indicated, to see whether poles can be erected,, and repprt.to next meeting of the council, — Adopted, it being understood that a, special " meeting of {he council " would bo called if necessary.— Adopted. It was resolved that the clerk be instructed to write to the City Corporation asking when it was going to make an offer of one-fifth cost of electrical installation in terms of the agreegnent with the Waipori Company. The Sanitary Inspector reported that the Kaikorai Stream continued in very good condition, the floods having produced a very great improvement. In the case of a summons issued ■aaider the heavy traffic by-laws, the defendant had taken out a license, and paid. costs, and the summons had therefore been withdrawn;— : Or Blackie expressed a desire 'that' .the inspector should' ,, report periodically' upjm- .the 'State of tthe~ water -in tb? Silyer.Btream, which he - understood was ■ being used "by persons for drinking- purposes. ' The water' had -been, getting so bad that the horses would not -dfink.it.— The report was •dopte'cfc'an'd it was that the in'speetor; bb requested' to furnish reports on the Sflverstream.' The "-Engineer (Mr B. B. Couston) reported *& follows: — ~ ; "Contracts and Works: Contracts Kb. 32 (water ppeiang Strath-Taieri), No. 18 (gravel Duke's road), "ana ISm. 19 (spalls Saddle Hill) »r& completed. Contracts IJo. 8 (metal Outram Kidmgy and No." 17 (gravel Berwick) are in progress. Contracts Nos. 14 and 15 (West Taieri \oxp) are nofc w yet started*. Arrange-zuc-nts have been made to commence delivery immediately the roads are in> a fit condition for receiving the metal." — Adopted. "Fresh tender^, are -called for the/ construction of water -.opening on Lee Canal road, for which the contract time has expired, and for the gravelling of road to Gillies*s sections at r Strath- Taieri, which was left in abeyance till some arrangement -jpas arrived at for the eupply cf gravel." — Adopted; deposit to be forfeited. " Tenders are also invited for scour"A' drain, Henley, this jwork being subsidised pound for pound by Crossan and party. The xc-ads damaged by the excessive traffic of the Mosgiel Borough have been repaired to tho extent .of the- borough's contribution of £50. . Th'o Boait Harbour bridge, on Brighton road, iias been strengthened by the erection of a centre support, which should serve for this bridge till next year's allocation, when it is proposed, to renew the w<hole structure. Roads:. The county has been twice visited by floods during the month, and a number of *Hps "and washouts have occurred in every riding. The roads of Strath-Taieri hare been badly scoured, the road at M&iochy Gully carried away sit one place altogether, the Silvers-treain footbridge, on Wingatui road, undiemunedi and canted down stream, and an old busti culvert, at the back of Lee Smith's, carrying a 15f& enmbankment, destroyed. There has been a decided settlement of the whole ' slip area at Saddle Hill, but trafEa although inconvenienced, -his not yet in any case been stopped, altogether. These slips cannot be properly dealt "with till the slip material has been drained and to some extent consolidated. High School Board: During <t2io mpnth 1^ paid a visit of inspection to Jfitflillemaarcli^in company with an officer "of tho High School Board, and also waited on tho governors with regard to the many complaints from the board and its tenants regviding the flooding of the Village Settlement at Middlemarch. Unfortunately those concerned" axe not of one mind regarding the dealing with the flood waters, and I am i£/b (prepared to meet the views of one portion of the ratepayers by a nactoon that would bo , resented by others, and would probably be the subject of litigation. The council is being asked to interfere in a question that should fc-3 settled bj those suffering damage either "by private treaty or by an action for damages •w»tn a restraining injunction as might seejn jiroper to those concerned. "Walton Park Estate-: Messrs Hercus and Co., on behalf of Mr James Ross, ask that the private road forming tihe eastern boundary of this estate shc\ild be taken over by the coxmcil. The road is 60 links wide, partly formed and metalled, and, by registered deed of covenant is maintained at the expense of the adjoining owners. The road is in no way one for •fch<s convenience of the general public, but is » private road in every sense of the word. The titles to the allotments of the subdivision anay be transferred when ' The Public Works Act, 1905,' becomes law. I do not recommend -the council to take over the road. Mount Ross road: The portion of this road which was the subject of a petition from Mr •Elliott, has a gradient of 1 in 6. To make thia road suitable for present traffic the grade should be improved to at least 1 in 10. Thia would necessitate a rock cutting of Sit on one side of the gully and 6ft on the other. The cost would be £150. A better road might ba obtained by crossing the gully about 20 chains further up, and the cost of the formation of this deviation would not be so great as improving the present road." — Adopted. The Treasury wrote th*t the application

> by the County Council for a loan of £577 fo I road construction had been approved pro i visionalry on the council taking steps neccs r s&ry to comply with the provisions of lh< Local Bodies Loams Act. — Engineer to cal for tenders for the work as soon a3 authority I was to hand. ' J. A. Park forwarded a circular as to tin amendment of the law dealing with the stih- ' division of lands, and -the laying out of town ships. — E«solved that the council did noi approve of power being given to local bodies . to regulate the width of street lines. F. W. Matthews, Brighton, wrote re stag . nant water lying at the comer of his section, the cause of this being that the imtuxai channel was filled up recently during the road-making operations. — Received. Several ratepayers drew attention fo ihe bad state of the road from Brighton to Mi Fagan's house. — Left in the- hands of the engineer. A. E. Lcbb, Otokia, applied for the year's rates he spent in making the road from the cemetery to the* Otokia quarry passable. — To ba informed thut the road was a private one. J. M'Coll, Saddle Hill, wrote re slip on rosd near his property; a.lso the necessity for gravel nea,r bridge. — Request granted as regarded the slip ; 20 yards of gravel to be supplied. Charles Tenmson applied for alteration to culvert near Cottesbrook bridge a.t~ Middlomarch. — Dealt with in the engineer's report. John Grant, on behalf of the "West Taie'-'i Drainage Boaord, asked for soms pipes for a culvert across road near J. Sutherland's and P. McDonald's — Resolved " that the council supply pipes at half cost at the County • Council yard. John Batligute, Outrani, wrote asking fo hi supplied with 37 3ft by 2ft pipes for a road through his property. — To be supplied at half cost in the County Council yard. Donald Millar, Oiiitram. wrote re dirain near his property, which had become inundated -with water. — Received. A petition was received from ratepayers re grading Off portion of Berwick-Outram read ; also that a culvert bo enlarged to prevent flooding their properties after a heavy fall of rain; also two culverts on road between Messrs Oarruthera and Brown's. — Referred U> engineer to report. F. Heenan, Deep Stream, petitioned for a> passable road irto section 200 a, Hedgehop* ; els©, for an inspection of gates on any roadlines in that section, avid any necessary alterations stated. — Received. Attention was called by several ratepayers to 4hc necessity for grading the road through sections 20 to 27, block IV, Sutton. — Matter to be attended to when the grader was in the district. A. Blackie, "Whara Flat, wrote making the council the following offer: — That if the county find on survey that the acquiring of a road through his property at the foot of the hill was mere advantageous than the present route he would exchange road for road without compensation, council to pay cost of transfer, but not of fencing. — Accepted, siuvcy to be made. The Minister for Public Works stated ihat as soon asv a report was received from tho District Road Engineer at Invereargill on proposed road .through "sections 11 and 12, block TO, Easf Taieri, the' matter would bo "■ firally dealt with.— Received. John Gamble complained of damage done to his -land through someone tamp a* ig with the bank of the Mill Creek^near the bridge. — 1 Received. ' ■Ma- D. Reid, M.H.R., advised that the following vo-ies had been placed ou the Estimates: — Moonlight to Rock and Pillar, £200; Hindon slip, £100; Taieri bridge to Pukekura, £100 ; West Taieri bridge to Outrani £500; "Waipori bridge, Berwick, pound for pound to flOO.— Member to be thanked for his efforts in securing the votes. Grace M'Master, Burnside, wrote asking that a street be formed and a culvert put in fronting section 10, block V.— Engineer io re-port. D. Reid, M.H.R., wrote re a siding to the Mosgiol quarry. H© had seen members, and Sir Joseph "Ward had prorni&ed to receive a deputation. — Received. The Town Cierk, Green Island, wrcte re gravelling and kerbing footpaths. Owners would pay half ccst, which would leave £1 5s per chain for local bodies to pay. — Tho council decided that no money was available for the work. A number of ratepayers at Mount Hydj wrote asking that all obstructions on the roadlmes between sections 33 34, and 35, block IV, be removed. — Engineer to report. H. Lethaby, Dunedin, asked the council to take over certain streets in Burnside. — Former decision to be adhered to. Several ratepayers at Middlemarch wished the engineer or some member of the council to visit their properties and note the damage done through small culverts and badly-kept water tables. The latter had been blocked by some person or other. — Dealt with in the Engineer's report. \ D. T. Shand, Wyllie's Crossing, wrote, stating that at a meeting of those interested in tho cleaning out of the Silverstream the ■following motion was cairied: — "That this meeting approve of the scheme prepared by Mr Couston, provided provision is made for a box in the cut." — Received. It was resolved that all persons having gates or fences across any county road who had not applied to, the council for permission to construct the same receive notice in accordance with clause 10 and subsection 4 oi the Public Works Act Amendment Act, and that the solicitors be asked to draw up a legal form of notice. It was resolved that tenders be called for Three o'clock bridge, and that, if the engineer was satisfied with the legality of the position, the member for the riding and the engineer open tenders and accept one if satisfactory. It was also resolved that the engineer and Cr Gibson report on the overflow "of water on the road near Glasgow farm. Also that the engineer inspect the bridge known as .the Double bridge, Outram, and leport as to cost of a single bridge to next meeting. That the engineer report to next, meeting the cost of making the Owhiro-Gladfield road fit for light traffic. The engineer was empowered to call for tenders for the necessary gravel for repairs to the North Taieri roads. One month's leave of absence was granted the engineer. The following applications* for permission to erect gates across county roads were granted:— R. H. Hmiter-Weston, Wm. Bennstt, Duncan M'Donald. P. Ralston, R. Law, A. Blftckie, J. Sutherland, W. Adam, J. Deans, J. Elliott, W. E. H. Elliott, M. Graham, Murray, Roberts, and Co., John Elliott, R. Finnic, J. W. Harrison, M. Hanlon, D. M'Place, D. Grieve, R. Beattie, C. Dore, C. Cattanach, Allan Bros., and F. Aitkinson. The following tenders were accepted: For the supply and delivery of 200 yds of gravel, Middlemarch, M. Moynihan, £25 16s Bd^ for scouring "A" drain, Henley. Jas. E. Sinclair, £23 143 6d.

A Paris bicycle thief who had stolen a bicycle belonging to M. Marcel Brunavd", was impaled on a mechanical poniard which the owner had concealed in the saddle of the machine- i