WAIKOHU COUNTY COUNCIL.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 12665, 19 January 1912, Page 5

WAIKOHU COUNTY COUNCIL.

(Special to Herald.) TE KARAKA, this day. The monthly meeting of the Waikohu County Council was held at Te Karaka to-day. Present: Mr W. D. S. Mac Donald, M.P. (chairman), Crs A. M. Lewis, A. Hegarty, T. B. Spence, H. Telford and A. Mortleman. Tlie monthly statement was as follows : — Overdraft December' 15, 1911. £3214 4s' 4d, collected £410 Os 3d, required to-day £1537 15s 2d, overdraft January 19, 1912, £4341 19s 3d, advances £3619 17s lid, rates outstanding £3904 Os Id. CORRESPONDENCE. 1 Mr J. Hutchinson wrote, asking if the Council could see its way to put the grader on the road from Otoko to .Rakauroa, which was in a very rough state. — It was decided to attend to the matter. Mr V. V. Thomson, secretary of the Motu Farmers' Union, wrote asking if the .Council had the sum allocated by Parliament for Neil road in hand. They looked upon the metalling of that road as one of the most important works in the district, and they very much regretted the vexatious delay in commencing operations. — Decided to reply that there had been, vexatious delay, but that the work was being attended to as expeditiously as possible under the circumstances. Replying to the Council's letter of the 9th December, Mr J. W. Poynton, superintendent of the State Advances Office, stated that the Council's application for a £9000 loan for deviating the Kanakanaia road was submitted for the consideration of the Advances Board on December 18. The Board resolved to decline the application, as preference was now being given to applications for loans of and under £5000. — In reply to a subsequent communication from the Council, . the Advances Office notified that the application for £5000 for the Kanakanaia road loan would be submitted to the Board on January 8, when the application was approved. The Advances Office further notified that the application for £2000, MatawaiMoanui loan, had been finally approved. — Received. The Valuation Department, in reply to the Council's inquiry, stated that every effort would be made to let the Council have the rolls in time to enable the county rate to be struck by June Ist. — Received. The poundkeeper reported that nine cattle and fourteen horses had been impounded during the month, the fees paid amounting to £2 11s. The Eingineer's report {published elsewhere) was read and considered. It was decided to call for tenders for /the completion of Armstrong road, and also for the formation of another two miles of the Kanakanaia deviation. In connection with the latter 1 it was decided to call for tenders for the right to cut firewood from the road line when the road was formed; ' ■ The chairman referred to/the necessity of repairing, ithe decking of the Kaitaratahi bridge. "Once you start pulling up the decking you never know where it will end," was the warning note sounded by the Engineer. He stated that the bridge was done; the piles in the riverbed were hollow with, only about four inches of hardwood on the outside. He suggested putting down white pine traffic sheathing where the wheels run. This course was agreed to. It was stated that ithe bridge had been in use for 23 years, and the" loan would expire in about four years; after that the question of erecting a. new bridge would then be considered. Or Lewis pointed out that the Cook County Council should do something to the small' bridge near the Kaitaratahi hotel, as it was unsafe for traffic. The question of raiting on the unimproved value was again considered, and it was agreed that steps should be initiated to have a poll of the ratepayers taken. All Councillors considered it was .the most just and equitable system of collecting rates. It war pointed out that it required a petition signed by about 60 ratepayers to be forwarded to the Chairman of the Council, requesting that a poll be taken. -. It is probable that a poll will be taken early next month. It wae decided not to re-open the Wh.ata.tutu pound. At the instance of Cr Hega.rty, the Engineer was instructed to report ?s to the cost of providing a roadman's win re. at the junction of Armstrong and Mangatu roads. . _ ■-.••■ It was decided to inquire from the Resident Engineer as to the position of the grant for metalling Motu Valley road. Cr Mortleman gave notice of motion that £50 be spent on metalling the Motu Valley road, "and that an extra permanent surfaceman be placed on the Mata-wai-Tahora-Moanui road. Oln the motion of Cr Lewis, the Engineer was instructed ' to report on the question of draining Cr E. Thompsons property. , , It was decided 1 , at the suggestion of the Engineer, to ask the Hawke's Bay Land Board to dedicate a portion of section 3, block 10, Ncratapa S.D., for the purpose of a stock reserve.. . Several Te Karaka ratepayers wrote, complaining about stock being allowed to wander in the township at night. — 'Received. - # /;. A special order, authorising the raising of a loan of £6000 for the purpose of the' new Hospital building was confirmed. It was resolved to make a special rate of l-20th of ' ld in the £5' over the whole County to provide interest and sinking fund fori^he Hospital loan. A special order was made authorising the raising of a loan of £200 "for the purpose of constructing a traffic bridge over McCredie's crossing in the Wharekopae rive*. ' It was resolved that the dog tax for 19l£ be at the rate of 2s 6d for sheep and cattle dopss and 5s pe rhe&d for all other •dogs, and that Messrs H. *G. and J. Bennett be appointed collectors.