STRATFORD COUNTY COUNCIL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 96, 16 April 1914, Page 2

STRATFORD COUNTY COUNCIL.

| MONTHLY MEETING. The nxeeting of the Sh-atford County? Council was held yesterday. Present: Crs. W. Hath:nv:ly (olmirman), J. Smith, E. Andmson, J. Christ;ot}'ol, ~'J‘. Thomson, .1. Young, E. \V'aéii2el'"amJ W. Engineer's Report. The Engineer (Mr E. C. I{ob?.nson) ' reported : Tenders: 'J‘endel's have been invited for the I'e—deckiug of Puni Creek bridge, I’uniwhakau Ro.'ul, and are now before you.

Applications for foreman; Applications for the position f, working loroman for the East Riding have been invited, closing fen-day, cud are now before you.

Aluvroa, Stream bridge, Stanley Roiid; The plans for renewal of this structure are well in Irani t.nd will be completed shortly, Stanley Road steel bridge; This structure is commencing to corrode freely and it is vitally necessary for its safety that it should be cleaned and tarred or painted without delay. Metal for Croydon Road South:Who metal authorised for this road was purchased at 8s per cubic yaid. The amount available was 30J cubic yards. | Tally of Traffic. As instructed I have ha.u a tally of traffic taken on Ohuva and Beaconsfield Roads, and am handing in the result herewith. I South Riding boulder contract: This contract is about completed. T have measured up all the stacked heaps except those on Cheal Road, and the latter will be attended to shortly. Makuri Road West: I have again been over this road and instructed the foreman what to do in the nature of repairs. The heap of metal opposite Huiroa railway station is being used to effect same and can later be replaced when metal is railed down. In the meantime, it will not be required elsewhere. s . Toko Road boulders: Tenders were invited, closing ten days after last meeting for supply of 200 cubic yards of boulders on this road, but wore declined on account of being too high. Wingrove Road bridge : The renewal of this bridge is about completed, but the road has still to be raised, metal straightened and approaches fenced. Crushing operations: These have been completed in West Riding, and the crushing plant brought in to Stratford to be taken on to Skinnei Road when required there. The roller has finished work in West Riding and lias been sent into South Riding, whore it is treating part of Finnerty Road.

Bridges, Ohura Rond: Tho small bridge on this road near Waiwiri Road corner and also the one nearer Toko will both require renewing very shortly. When the roller was at work in that vicinity I had them both temporarily strutted to take its weight, but this cannot be depended on for any length of time. Labor employed in the County: In accordance with your instructions I have reduced the labor employed to the narrowest limits. The labor now employed is: North Riding, west foreman and two men, east foreman and two men; East Riding, foreman (Toko) and one man, foreman (Douglas) and one man, foreman (Huiroa) and one man; West Riding, foreman and three men; Mangaehu Riding, foreman and two men; South Riding, foreman and two men.

’ Decisions. Stanley Road steel l>ri(li;r,e: The Engineer said the bridge had been up for about ten years. The scraping and painting would costihetween £3O and £35. With careful maintenantrei the bridge could be made to last for several years.-—-It was decided that the work be done, tenders to be called for it. Bridges, Ohura Road: Cr. Were said the foreman had been for a long time appl_ving‘fm‘ material to repair the bridges:-The Engineer said the trouble was that the stringers were rotten” and would not hold any new (le(-king put on.—lt was decided to renew the bridges in concrete. Foremen’s Reports. ; North Riding (West).-——Mountain! ‘Road: The banlcing, along ]’iukml flat is almost omnpletecl, the earth bein;:; obtained from Qnoen’s Circus, Midhirrzt, nnd the bank at corner opposite Beacronslield liond lowered snllieiontly to see over it now. Monniolitli. Road: This has ljieeii rnketl of loose stones and the lower portion banked. York llozulz Some stone has been broken and repairs made to upper portion of road, whilst the hlincling of new metal on lower portion lms. been eompletetl. “Derby Road: Repairs have heen made to some small lirirlges on this road. I\'orth Riding; (East): Most of the month has been Ispeiit in cleaning watel'tahlos on Ci'()ss, S'¢lllSl_)11l"V, Kent 'l'el'race and upper end of Beac-onsfield Roads. Croydnn Rotitl, from Ai.-kland Rozul to M:.1l<:1r:.1 stream has been blinded and \\':ll.ei'i,:ilil(2gl tlirongliolit. llllllfi lwicltge fl(‘(',l{ll1g nrrivr-d i~2u'l_v in the month. liigglitzmxn planks were used in ('7ro_v(lon Road ln‘i(l{_{e and one in StanIvy Road briil,rz,e, the renmining 29 piet-es being Htzir-l«:ed at the County slim], Midhirst. Mr IB.'lsl{in has taken four one-foot pipes to be used at tho ontr:mr-e to the (-ometeigv.

South Hiding,—During the month cuttings have been widened and metal hanked on Climic, Mountain and Warwick Roads. On lower Cheal Road Mr Mehrtens has dammed hack a creek to make a watering-place for stock, to the detriment of the road. Similar cases exist on Skinner and Warwick Roads,, but I do not know the names of the settlers concerned. Complaints have been made about Mr Spa rices’ barbery hedge on corner of Finnerty Road, stopping the view for traffic. East Riding (Toko),—The past

month has been spent in raking, blinding, and general maintenance work on the various roads under my control. The small bridge on Ohura Road, near Waiwiri Road corner is in a dangerous condition, the top sides of the stringers being so rotten that the nails will not hold the dock planks I firm and the latter tend to become displaced by traflic. East Riding (Douglas).—-During the jmonth we have raked loose metal, Jone banking, patching and watertabling on tiie Douglas and Main Roads. i East Riding (Huiroa.) —Necessary repairs have been carried out on the following roads: Tunupo, Douglas North and South and Malawi East and West. A start was made at carting material lor patching purposes on the Makuri West Road and will be proceeded with when weather permits. A 26ft IS by 12in. culvert was put in on Douglas North Road near Mr Baker’s woolshed, and 18U sup. ft. of timber was also carted from Huiroa for the renewal of an old culvert near the bop of the saddle. A further renewal is needed at an earl/ date. The whole of the new deck on Tunupo Road suspension bridge has been securely spiked down. Two stringers were found to be unsound and wore replaced with now timber. The approach guard fences have also been re-erected. The necessary bolts for fastening down the wheel-guards are to hand and will be put in as circumstances permit. Akaina Road: A portion of this road for a distance of about a chain has become rather narrow for wheel traffic. I propose having the road widened out to about 14ft and a fence erected along the edge of the filling to avoid a repetition of the trouble. Makuri East Road: Raking up loose stones and hanking up the metal is proceeding during the broken weather. It will be necessary to engage a horse and cart for a few days to deal with the fillings. Eight concrete pipes are wanted for the purpose of renewing in old wooden culvert near the railway station. I would point out that there are several watercourses in this district which are filling up through the constant drift of silt from natural causes. I would like instructions on the matter.

West Riding: Crushing operations in this Riding are now completed. The lollowing roads have recently been remetalled: Hastings South (about 40 chains),Waingongoro (about 30 chains), )punake No. 1 (about 15 chains). Maintenance metal has been put out on the various roads and the watertabiing will now be attended to.

Mallgaeliu Riding: During the month i gzeneral repairs have been made to all ‘ the roads. The Taihore Road has i been opened for wheel trallic. 4 The i metal on Manguehu and Mangaotuku Roads is getting very thin win’ places and will take a lot of repairing this winter. Only the ordinary road work is now being proceeded with," p ' Decisions. Dams on roadside: Notice is to be p given that the natural waterway must 9 be opened up.‘ _ O Hedge, Finnerty Road: Mr Sparks tto be asked to cut his hedge down to lft Gin high. 1 Silted \Vatercourses (East Riding): ,Settlers to be notified to clean out fwatercourses within Oa. month; l Ranger's Report. ‘ The ranger reported: On the '2Bth ult. I impounded during the night Ifrom Skinner Road eighteen bullocks [belonging to Messrs Grimm'9=' and ‘Chamberlain. On the 30th I impoundred one horse from Waiwiri Road. On ;the 3rd l got two cows in Midhirst. ilieloiiging to Mr Reid. On the sth I got one horse in Miclhirst belonging to Mr Parsons and two weaners on Cross Road belonging to Mr Levan(lowski. On the 9th I got eiglit bullooks on Ahuroa. Road belonging to Mr Beav:_ln..s'. On the 13th I got one horse on Wingrove Road belonging to Mr Ruebe and three weaners belonging to .\leSsl's ML-Kinley Bros. ' Skinner Road Quarry. The Town Clerk, New Pl_\flnoutll, wrote: As you probably are aware the Public Works ])epartment have taken under the Public Works Act that portion of our entlowment reserve near Stratford, cornprising what is known as the Skinner ltozul quarr_v. We are claiming conipensation for the land taken and also for Vmatorial removed since the Department first entered on the property. It would be of some nssistmiee to us; if we could obtain information with regartl to stone sold by the Department to local bodies. I am therefore directed to ask whether you could see your way to supply details of any metal supplied to your Council from the quarry since .l:nm—ary, 1903, and the pt‘i(‘e per cubic yard c-llar;r,ed by the Department. The information to be supplied.

Standish Road Drains. Mrs C. Hodglcinson wrote ol)j<,‘(rbin;: to :1 (-harge of £317 for draining work done on her farm on Stamlisln Rnml. I-ler hill, including rates and drainage, was £54., She ofl"ered to pay half the lammmt in full .~:'ettlem(.-nt. F The Engineer said the work'w.'ls :1 ;_r_no(l thing l)0t.l1, for the Council and the owner of the land. The m:lttm- \\'2lS.l'Cf(‘l'l‘o(l to the County solir-itnr. Stanley Road Matters. illessrs (1. A. l\1:n'cl1:1nt and F. lllarn. ‘lmy, rntepzlyors on Smlllo_\’ RO-'l~'ll wait-ed on the Council with I'(>l’cronr'«‘ to the renewal uf the Ahurou st.l‘o=HH l)x'i(l;;(‘. . Mr M:u'(-luult expl'esso(l tlm.nl<'~. M the (/‘mmr.-il and to Mr Hine for ’l''** ofl'<n-its in ;;'<\Ltin;: a gr:-mt of ;f:‘.?“U l’='~«'* the (]lovennn<mt for tho l.)I'i€l::U. 11-" 11I'<,v;c-<1 tlm Ctmllcil, wlwn (~mlsi(l<>‘l'l‘H.L'. Llw ;,r(-noral finzuxcinl position, to tnkf‘ into (-mlsiclorationl the question of inst,itntin_9; {L ln-idge rate in the Nortvll Riding. ll‘ this was not done the l”{i<lin;,;"s finance would always he in (lwp wntor. 'l‘lloro were :1 1012 Of Y»:-i«l,t;'(*.< in tho Riding whioh Ilfloflml

constant repairing ami would ultimately have to lie renewed. Mr Marchant was informed that the necessary arrangements had been made to proceed with the bridge. Mr Mackay sked for a grant for metalling on Stanley Hoad, but no action was taken.

General. F. Pedersen, Denbigh Road, wrote objecting to a demand tor rates being sent to him while the Council stood indebted to him. —Referred to the clerk, The District Health Officer recommended that a certain nuisance in Douglas township, reported on by the Health Inspector in August lust, be abated.—Recommendation to be given effect to. G. K. Noble forwarded a cheque, part of his contribution to the cost of building a bridge at Makahu.—lt was decided to allow until January let next to complete payment. ft was decided to take the noces- : ary steps to secure a loan lor renewing the bridge on Tntutawa Road. The tender of W. R. Davis lor redccking of the Finn crock bridge, Fmiiwhakau, was accepted. It was decided that notice he given that overhanging trees on Ohura Road just outside the Borough .boundary must 1)0 cut down. The Engineer was instructed to give .attention to the drain on Sangster’s Hill .the pipes at each end having been broken. 'I he Engineer was instructed to supply a few planks to repair the decking of the Puniwhakau bridge.—Cr. Young said that if this was done the bridge would last for another year. The Inspector of Noxious Weeds wrote that he had served a notice re anxious weeds in respect of a section n Pembroke Road, and if the work was not done he would apply for a > rosec ut ion.—Received.

M. Korrisk, Huiroa, objected to bis section in Huiroa Township being rated for the metalling loan. It was a corner section, and he could not consent to pay more than half rates in each road.—Received. The Public Works Department notified that unexpended balances of £SO mkl £IOO for the Huinga Settlement and Heao Roads were available, and iteps would be taken to issue the 'ocessary authority to do the work after the Council submitted proposals. —Referred to the East Riding members a nd the Engineer. F. E. B. Lovelock, Palmerston North, asked that rates on his Waipuku property should be allowed to stand over, as he had exchanged the property for another and litigation following on the exchange was not completed yet. To be notified that if the rates are not paid within fourteen days the matter will he put in the hands of the Council’s solicitor. The Minister of Defence wrote asking the Council to suggest some moans by which conscientious objectors to military training might do an equivalent amount of service for the country.—The chairman said the best scheme would be to send the objectors out of the country. It was decided to reply that the Council could provide no work' of a suitable nature.