TAIERI DRAINAGE BOARD.

Otago Witness, Issue 2848, 14 October 1908, Page 53

TAIERI DRAINAGE BOARD.

The ordinary meeting of the Taieri Drainage Board waa held on Monday in the County Council offices at ilosgiel ; pre£ent— Messrs D. Barron (chairman), Charles Findlay, W. Snow, Jchn Callander, R. A. Kempshall, H. Maeandrew, J. T. Gibson, and D. T. Shand. kotnihan's dam. Messrs Duncan and MacGregor wrote with reference to Moynihan'e dam, advising that by removing the dam the board would be literally construcing a public work that would certainly give riso to clainr.6 of a very serious nature; and they reminded the beard that by the construction of the drainage works the volume- of water in Moynihan's dam was greatly increased after the construction of the dam, and that by | removing the dam the board would be j taking the responsibility of diverting this i additional water from Duck Creek, and j dacharging it upon the lands lying below the dam. ■ The Chairman remarked that he had been J assured by Mr Frae&r that the claimant's for [ compensation against the board in respect I to Moynihan's dam were prepared to let j the matter stand over in the meantime, j until the board a-soartaitied its exact posi- ; tion. { Mr Snow said he had a motion to bring i forward, notice of which he had already J given. If carried, a bono of contention | that had been a eource of trouble for a j great many months would be removed, for, by making provision for the water he referred to, a great many persons living lower down would find their anxieties lessened. His motion, too, was quite in aceordanoa with the recommendations of i two engineers — Messrs Bsal and Hay. The motion was as follows: — "That the watercourse or old channel below the dam a-t Moynihan'e be eleamad out and extended as far as the ©onth boundary of section 36. and a drain cut alongside the said boundary and connected with the Duck Creek canal." Mr Callander seconded the motion. I The majority of members spoko strongly i against the proposal, stating that no good purpose could be achieved by carrying out the work suggested. The mtion was lost by six votes to two. The letter was received. GEXEBAL. Messrs Donald Reid and Thomas Maci fceazie, M.P.'s/ wrote with reference to ! drainage board finance, that a bill dealing with the subjcot had passed through Parliament. — The Minister of Lands wrote that an alteration suggested by\the board in the bill, that the- amount mentioned ehoulrl be £5000 fnsrtead of £20,000, had been noted by him to be dast-lt with when the bill was in oSnimitkee. — Keceived. i Messrs R. Craigie and Sons, Henley, asked that a small box culvert near their property, washed out by tho recent flood, be repaired.— Dealt with by engineer. Messrs- Mondy a:ncL Stephens wrote in reference to the works being carried out by the board in and adjacent to the propeTty of Mr Torn Hewitt. The board' had taken out a culvert in the road, and partially cleaned the ditches, making their client's land liable to be flooded should heavy raias occur. Thair client had in the past ahvaj-a taken measures to protect himself in such a contingency, but if tha board took over the ditches he v.ould not have power to do so, and would, of course, havo I a claim for compensation again3t the board. — Dealt with in engineer'a report. The Secretary of the Treasury wrote demanding from the board the sum of £164 Is Bd. He stated, in reply to the- board's contention, that a-s it had not yet the power to levy a rate it could not meet this demand, that the recognised security fc.itha loans were tho special rat<?e, winch w«re originally struck by the late l>oard<?. The payment of the half year's interest, duo on the Ist . August last, should not bo contingent upon the board being empowered to levy a rate, as the rates already struck -should bs> collected in time to m&et the payments of interest as such became dv«. — Received. A formal resolution was pawed by which the- board gave- iteelf power to continue to collect a numbar of special rates imposed by the nowclefuiKrt Henley River Board. MaungaUsi IJrainage Beard, Ofcokia Drainage- Board, Berwiok Drainage Hoard. a.n<l West Taicri River Boards, for tho purpose of paying interest or* special leans obtained. In accordance with the solicitors' recommendations, it was resolved tliat the board do not admit liability in respect of the clainfa made against it in connection with Moynihan's clam. The fpecial committee set up 1o incjniic into tiic matter of wcurins suitable offices for the board, reported that it had Loen unable to mako any sati.-factorj- arrangements v. hereby a building or rooms could be leased ; it recommended that th-a board purchase a shitabls nite for office*, ard proceed to orort the necessary building itself. — Ir iva= resolved that an aicbitccfc be a-sketl to prepare specifications and an estimate of cost (not to exceed £500} of tho required offices, and that the board take into consideration tho question of obtaining a site. Accounts totalling £15*5 15s 9d were passed for payment. j Mr Snow tabled the following- notice of ' motion— '• That a suitable dredge be purchased for cleaning out and desrwninu all channels, cireks. and rivers in the Taieri , drainage district." j EXGI VEER'S REPORT. I The acting engineer repoit^xl as follows: I ''All contracts, excepting 1 No. A ombar.kment at pumpjntr station. aiv» nov» com- j pJeted. This work remains in the same j position as at last meeting, the contractor being unable to compete the eml>anknwiit until the timbc-r outlet Las been inserted at Renlon's drain. The construction of' this outlet is being carried out by day labour, and will be completed in the co'.irse of a few days. Tho work carried out by the various pumping installations , has been satiafaotorv, and there are now only a few hundred acres of swamp land and lagoons to be drained. Several of the private pumps have been stopped, the Berkley pump 13 running eight hours every other day, and only Robinson's, M'Lean'e. and Buchanans pumps are being worked

♦ continuously. Of the boardjs pumps the 10-inch centrifugal at the county hut has worked continuously, but difficulty is now being experienced in feeding this pump, and it "will probably be necessary in a few days to erect a second pump further up the drain, ■co as to create a greater fall. The pump' on B -drain .at Craigie's is being worked half time, and on completion of the timber outlet at Reid's I propose to shift this pump to the C drain. The Maungatua Board's wheel has been reduced in diameter, and is now working satisfactorily, and the improvement effected in the area served by this pump is marked. A 12-inch centrifugal was ereqted a'.ongsidji of t.ha wheel, and worked for a fortnight, but has now been shifted to the Lake bridge to replace Geary's wheel. With favourable conditions, the plain should be dry at next meeting of the board. Attention is now being given to the drainage of section 2, of 20, block Vl, Maungatua district. Of matters which were referred to me for report ,1 have now to advise you as follows : —Messrs Callander, Kempsnall and Gibson, who inspected the portion of j the river bank eroded by the Taieri near B road, arc of opinion that my original recommendation to the council for the reinstatement of the bank and protection of river slope should be adopted. They were further of opinion that the work of repair to the box at A drain outlet should he put in hand at once, and that the County Council should be asked to subsidise the work. I propose cutting the Henley-Berwick road near the Lake bridge to drain George's property, adjoining Berkley Estate. I have instructed my foreman to put back the pipes that were lifted at tho road crossing at-Hcwift's ditch which places mattens in the same position aa they were before the flood." — The report was adopted.