SOUTHLAND COUNTY COUNCIL.

Southland Times, Issue 3568, 27 November 1879, Page 2

SOUTHLAND COUNTY COUNCIL.

Special, ordinary, and annual meetings • of the County Council were held yesterday. Present — Messrs Cowan (chairman), Mac Gibbon,. Kinross, ,. Smith,- Thomson, Richardson, "and Baldey. yAXX :A. SPECIAL MEETJHS.J; ; . - ...... The first business brought before the special meeting was the. passing of a formai amendment in the. bye-la ws:ena.bling the -Ranger of the county ?s commonage at Switzers to keep sheep off the commonage. A resolution effecting * the desired, amendment was passed without dissent, on the ; motion of Councillor.MacGibbon. 'The Council then. proceeded to consider: the scale of fees, and charges proposed to be levied at all the pounds in the Southland county, these being based on those mA-vogue under the Otago Impounding Ordinance, which 7. had i hitherto been in force in the county. After : desultory discussion, the. schedule fixing the charges on ; the same ratio as heretofore was passed with one slight-amendment. • ANNUAL MEETING. -The election of chairman was then proceeded with, Mi Cowan being again unanimously cl osen, on the motion of Councillor Thoiiison, seconded by Councillor Smith. Thb. Chairman elect briefly returned thanks for the confidence again reposed in him; } .-.yy ORDINARY MEETING. A deputation from Winton was introduced by Councillor Thomson: They brought under the notice of the Council the necessity for some ' improvements b^ing effected on. the road between the OtapTri river and the railway crossing. The road,, were it rendered passable, would open up a large amouat of land, including-, a lot o£ deferred payment allotments, besides allowing the settlers to get their produce to market. Councillor Thomson, the member for the riding, thought the Council had already expended a good deal, on this road, but he would not object to a small grant being made, say £50. This the deputation thought scarcely sufficient, believing that £200 would be none too. much. The Council decided to vote £100 for the execution of the necessary repairs. Mr Stuart, solicitor, appearedin reference to the closing of an outfall drain leading from the county road on to Mr Hannah's property at the Waikiwi, and suggested that the matter should be left to the member of the riding aud himself to arrange. Councillor Kinross thought that the question should be settled by the Council, since a precedent would be established. Councillor Baldej thought the matter should be relegated to a committee. Mr Stuart said the drain, which was partially filled up, was of no use whatever, and was merely a cattle-trap. ' ' The -Chairman said that since Mr Hannah, in one of his letters to the Council had threatened to fill the drain up, he should be allowed to take that course, since the drain might be dosed without disadvantage to the county. Aftei discussion, it was resolved that permission oe given to Mr Hannah to fill up ihe ditch in question. . 7 Mr .Black appeared on behalf of several Lumsden .residents 'to complain of the opening, of ! a gravel pit on one of J the •streets in the centre of the tqwnship, the safety.of the residents of which was endangered through the unprotected state of the 'pit in question. The Engineer was called in, and reported that the Contractor Was not encroaching ; on the street, anil consequently could not be brought to. book by the Council. Mr Black said that what they wanted was that no. further gravel be taken from the pit, and that a slope should take the place of the dangerous face that existed at present. The Chairman assured Mr Black that the Council would prevent the contracter removing gravel from the pit in question for works under the Road Board, he only having permission to do so for County works, and doubtless the Waste Lands Board, in which the land probably vested, would be able to set the matter at rest. With regard to the gravel reserve at the Now Rivex, and some objections made by Mr Carruthers to the construction of a siding thereto, Councillor Kinross moved that the railway authorities be asked to grant the siding without further delay, m order that the Council might procure thenecessaiy gravel for road works this summer. Councillor Smith thought the Council would/not be allowed to construct a siding into the reserve, since were gravel taken from it in. all probability damage would accrue to the railway line through the scour of the river that would . necessarily ensue. The motion was agreed to. The Chairman 'mentioned that he had had an interview with the Mayor of Invercargill in regard to the alleged illegal collection of dog taxes by the Municipal Council. In the course of the .conversation they had, it transpired that the.Town Council had become the recipient of several fees from country residents which should have come into the county funds, and the Mayor had promised that, the tiling should not occur again. No refund' had been made, however. After discussion, it was resolved to' make application for a refund of .the taxes received by the Corporation in error. The Under-Secretary wrote, acknowledging the receipt of a petition signed by a number of electors resident in Waikaia and Gore Ridings, praying that that portion of the district might not be severed from the Southland" County and go to form a part of a new county, and in reply stated that no petition for a new-county had yet been received. When it came to hand both would be considered.' . A letter was received from the N.Z. Agricultural Company agreeing to the exchange of road made on the property formerly held by Mr G. M. Bell, of Waimea Plains. It was pointed out in the letter that the surveyor when laving off the road made it two chains wide, while the original width of road was only one chain, the Company tluis losing about thirty acres of -ground. The Council resolved that since the road ' liad'beeh -laid off under 'instructions from j the former holders of the property, they should be asked to reduce it to the original width. :X * The Tapanui Council forwarded a. letter stating that a petition was going the rounds of that county, asking for a repeal of the land tax 7 The Tapanui Council re- . quested the co-operation of that of Southland. Cr. Richardson thought the Council should not meddle with these matters, which were altogether out of their line. * The receipt of the letter was ordered to be simply acknowledged. 7 *•■ Replying to a telegram from the chairman, Mr Shanks, M.H.R., intimated that it was probable Mr McCaughan's Bill, re light tramways, would not pass thissession, some arrangement having been made with the Government; Tlie Ranger of the county commbnage at Switzers requested information on various points. His interrogatories were considered seriatim, and the replies ordered to be forwarded tb the proper quarter. A letter was received from Henry Lap-, ham stating that he could not carry out ; bis offer to, make the necessary valuationand •oihpile .^ the Troll -jforj ' the Waikaia Riding at the rate tendered, £IHOs. The

Chairman intimated thafc^ni** the receipt the -letter' lie lia.l arranged with Mr IMdliean,: the next tenderer, to do the worifcA |7 It was intimated '- : jthat Mr Dsvereux, of fWintoii'i : had offered the usepf his yard on IcertainAconditions as a public pound at - l^yihtbh. It Was de&ided7tliat some agreeIdignt' should be with M«* Devereux foftlie- use of the pound, he to be appointed ; poundkeeper and.receiye the.fees.7. . ; y Mr Malone, of Lowther, drew attention to the fact that several persons in that township occupied Jpremises situated on the main road running through the ■ vill age, vthus escaping the payment of^ rates ■ and taxes. , The .^ Engineer reported that he believed the. cbniplaint made_J>y Mr Malone was well founded. Councillor Richardson said one of the houses com- . plained of (Mr Howarth's) was certainly on the road, hut it had been built before the township was surveyed, and^conseqiiently hid not been deliberately placed there. It did not interrupt traffic in any way. He characterised Maioae's action as a piece of spite against Howarth It Avas decided to take no notice of the letter. The report o£ tlie siib-committce^ap-pointed to arrange , matters in connection with the Fortrose jetty was brought up. It recommended that a goods-shed should be erected on the reserve, find that the reserve and jetty shonld then be offered for lease of seven years. The report, which included an elaborate scale of charges to be levied on all goods received and shipped atthe jetty, was adopted. Mr Muir, of. Fortification Station, re- . quested that some repairs might be effected on the road leading to the Waikawa Harbor. Councillor Richardson said the rpad was not a county .one, and was' conse- ' quently out of their jurisdiction. He would suggest that a small sum be voted, provided the residents would look after the expenditure of it. Doubtless Were Mr Muir communicated with he woxild name the amount and fix the committee to whom the expenditure should be entrusted. The suggestion was acted upon. Leave of absence from Council meetings was granted to Messis Shanks ' and McCaughan, during the present sesssion of Parliament.. '•• ■"■'-.'-' i 7' y:7 A. An application by the County Clerk, for fourteen days7leaye of absence was referred to the chairman. In reference to the. report: that the Fortrose jetty had recently been injured through the scour, the Engineer reported that it was perfectly sound. He mentioned, however, that some crafts were in the habit of discharging ballast alongside the jetty, thus lessening the depth of Water. It was decided to obtain the opinion of the County Solicitor as to: the - power oi the Council to prevent this. . Intimation was received from the Treasury to the effect that the sum of £9926 5s 5d had. been placed to the credit of the County fimd account in the National Bank. It was intimated by the Chairman that £3740 of rates still remained unpaid. The County Solicitor. was instructed to at once take legal proceedings for their recovery. Accounts to the amount of £1125 2s 2d ivere passed for payment. The Finance Committee, in recommending these pay ments, drew attention to the fact that the member for Winton Riding had expended something like £100 on works in his riding without receiving the necessary authority to do so. The payment of this sum was authorised,' a motion being passed tothe effect that in future the resolution of the Council limiting such expenditure to £50 be rigidly enforced. Councillor Richardson complained that the information placed at the disposal of contractors under the county was hot sufficiently explicit, the Engineer's specifications' in too many instances, being mere guesswork. Thus the contractors, having nothing definite to go upon, were frequently compelled to put in high prices, to the loss of the county.. He argued at some length in favor of some reform being effected, and concluded by moving a series of resolutions calculated to bring this about. Councillor Mac Gibbon seconded the motion, concurring with the remarks of Councillor Richardson. Councillors Smith and Kinross supported the motion, which was unanimously carried. On the motion of Councillor Baldey it was resolved that £20 be granted to the Makarewa Road Board as a subsidy of £1 for £1 for the purpose of gravelling a portion of the road in Wallacelown, near the gravel pits. It was also resolved, on the motion Jof Councillor Baldey, that the Engineer be requested to prepare plans and specifications, and invite tenders for 100 chains of ditching on county road from Mossburn Creek through Grove Bush, ,and near Mr Dunlop's. 7 Oh the motion of Councillor Mac Gibbon the Engineer was requested to .prepare an ; estimate of the cost of improving the road from Waikaka to the Pyramids, more especially that part near Mr James Dickie's farm, cost-not to exceed £100. Councillor Richardson moved, and it was agreed to, that the Bluff Harber Board be asked to allow Captain Thomson to inspect and report upon the Fortrose Harbor. ; Certain work on Wilson's road was ordered to be re-advertised. Tenders were ordered to be called' for various works in the Wyndham Riding, namely: — Cabbage Tree Hill, cutting and metalling road north of Shirley's; toad, Wyndhain to Mataura: metalling 20 chains near Kiwiwai Bridge. The Council then adjourned.