COOK COUNTY COUNCIL.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 12199, 15 July 1910, Page 4

COOK COUNTY COUNCIL.

MONTHLY MEETING.

The ordinary meeting of the Cook County Council was held to-day. t 'A'R^ e were present: Hon. Captain W. H. Tucker, M.L.C. (chairman), Crs E. B. Boland, T. Holden, A. F> Matthew*, 1,. J ex-Blake, R, Sherratt, T. Fraser, and H. White. t The assistant Under-Secretary of jthe Public Works Department notified tiiat, a report had been received from the Resident Engineer regarding ,the ; flood damage in the county, the total estiranted damage being £$640. The M|.irf«t<* had considered flie report, and ..»! grai^t of £2800 (£ for £) to assist tke Oouncil had been approved.— The Ckrk pointed out that the schedule included £805 ivv damages in the Waiapu County. Bfl had advised the Department of thisv — The Chairman : i^kink the Minister has behaved very nicely to us. — Councillors agreed. — Cr SHierratt : And he has given us what ho said he would, — At \ tho Chairmarfs instance, it waß decided to convey/the Council's appreciation of tho Minister's action to him. Ttte secretary of the Cook Hospital ana Charitable Aid Board forwarded a <lcmand for £1810, being $6 in the H 6n the rateable value, £3,482,487, to provide for the requirements oi the Board "for the year ending March 31, 1911.— Received. " : . •

The Pon. R. McKenzie- advised that he waft enquiring into the matter of tbe acquisition of the Papatu quarry site and an adjoining strip of land, And would be able to reply more fully later on, — Regarding the same questioil, the assistant Uridor-Secretary of Public Works implied stating thai the* matter was under consideration. — Received. • The clerk of the Bruce County Council forwarded a, resolution passed by that body in connection with the coljleption of rates. — It was agreed to cb-fjjjfcrate in the matter. , ' , ; ' ; Mr Herbert MaSon wrote compjainihg of cows straying '-on S'teele and Matthews roads.— The Clerk said the rangers daid the cattle were in charge of a boy^-^The tehairman : If they arp £i6t in charge of hnybody he can' impound, "theni Sxittimlh VMr J. B v Kells wrote? 4i t : ;haV© been informed by Mr D. Courtney, dn old 'employe of Council, that there exists at Waihirere a face >of rock of good limestone 40ft in height. This is situated sorne distance higher Up the creek than the experimental quarry open* ed by the Borough Engineer, and, so my informant states, is of very much superior quality. As the metal questibii is a most important one, I Am bringing the matter under the notice. of your Council in the hope that you wijl h^v? the locality thoroughly explorecL and have the vexed question of Waijiirero metal settled definitely." — Oh the hibtibn. of t?r Matthews, .it -was decided to ask the Engineer to inspect the locality. The Commissioner of Crown Lands forwarded schedule ' of Hhirds" and '"fourths" that had accrued from it^nuary ix> May 28, 1910, and requested \. tho Council to submit proposals forth* expenditure of the same. — Information to be supplied. f \. . : Tho Council's solicitors, Messrs deLautour, Barker, Stock and Matthews, forwarded an advice as requested in reference to damage done to County roads by the Borough Council's waterpfpe line. Regarding, the point as to whether the Borough < Council or contractors wei<e liable for the damage caused to the roads by excavation and laying of the water pipes, the solicitors said they saw no reason for altering their previous opinion on the matter. If it could be proved that the laying of the pipe line hid caused a greater damage than would have been the case if greater oa^e hud been exercised, and negligence could be proved, such .damage would be recoverable against the Borough Council. (-8) The damage done to the roads caused by the carriage of pipes,' Would be recoverable from the .Borough Council. (3) The cost of raising or lowering the pipes by reason of. lowering or raising the road must be borne by the County Council. (4) Tho question whether th© County Council could compepthe Borough CoUhcil to reduce the height of tho manholes to the present level of the road,i they becoming exposed through subsidence or other causes, was answered in reply' to question 3. The solicitors said the wholo matter was of such impoilanoß that if the Council thought advkabio they would lay it. before some eminent counsel in New Zealand.— Cr Jex-Blak^r thought it was understood .Unit. Outside opinion was to have, been obtained, and understood that that was what they wers waiting for. — <3t Matthews thought a, proper engineer's report should Ijie received as to the actual existing state of affairs before an opinion was obtained. The whole thing Would hinge on a professional report.— Cr Jex-Blafc© dotniled the damage done 4uice the waterpipes Were laid.— Cr Whit© pointed out that it was not a matter of damage; but as to *rho was liable.— After furtW discussion, it Was decided on^the motion of Cr Jex- Blake, ieconded by Cr Holder to refer the matter back to the solicitors to obtain an outside opinion. The chairman aud Crs WMte, .Holden, and JexBlako were appointed a committee te> wait on the solicitors and placo before them the points they particularly wißhod an opinion on. . The engineer was instructed to mako a report every 31 days as to the condition of .the Te Ami road. The Borough Engineer notified, that tho men had been instructed to, carry out the work at the water work* iti accordance with tho County, engineer's request. ■ T , . Messrs Ohrisp and Colemau fdrVarded x« *r °l d *dtoatio&- of Hill street by ? i^i .J^McCliskie,-It Was decided that the Council accept the deed of dedication, but that it be held until tho amount of the cost of work conhidored necessary by the engineer, w aß deposited .Several Om;ond settlers wrote drawing attention to the bad condition of the culvert at Parihimanihi.— The chairman read a letter from Mr G. Witters, who wrote- on behalf of the ratepayers, ?™V}}s attention to similar troubles iu the Gisborno riding.— The\ engineer was instructed to give such temporary! relief >as he. thinks sufficient. ' ■ In connection with Mr H. Hei's letter ro wages alleged tp. be due, to a' party of Kfl V€B^T ork ! Ing1 ng / on * he Rotor «» «Wk track deferred from last meeting, until Uv Sherratt was present, the clerk said tnq amount was about £93.— The Chairman pointed out that Rua had promised to contribute £lsot owards tWS^ ihe matter was deferred for further inlorrtiauort, . .■■;•■

'The baJance-sheet for tho half-veav f,"* 1 ? ft" 6 ,?' 191Q, was return^ S the Auditor-General, containing sever*" | tagj. „3 nun £ er \ oi counsels' opinioilh on various County matters w«r6 received t f F°™ the New Poland Counties' AsS The monthly financial stntemeiit was ViJSS y 'A s 'l9 fmdnii June ' 1B ' I^XO, £36 17s Id- charitable aid rate, £4 3* fd; special rate, £98 10s Id- hotel licenses £p ; billhird room license M, ¥n f.^'.-.W-.Oi 6d ; «0e of stone is^ 16s od Required to-day, £1366 4* Bd; gwrdnrft July 16, 101i:^lt,4tt fSI l% 8d \ ® uh * id * «PpHed for,. £630; bridge fu,nd applied for, £ITSDThe Bnnf tdry Inspector (Mr K. Thelwall) reported that three infections Si had been notified sime his last rqwrC Ranger Parsons reprted haviii E ini- • Pounded 73 animals tfuring the njohtli. u Mr R. Berry wrote *u>Td ng that th© Wairoaroad near Txmroto be letjaired ~ No action taken. The engineer's report (published elßfewhere) was, £ead and considered.