WORK OF THE MOHTH

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 53, Issue 3822, 16 October 1936, Page 12

WORK OF THE MOHTH

IN OTOROHANGA COUNTY. ENGINEER’S REPORT. At yesterday’s meeting of the Otorohanga County Council the engineer (Mr G. A. Jackson) presented the following report dealing with work undertaken in the county of Otorohanga during the past month:— Since last meeting weather conditions have been very unfavourable as regards road maintenance, and the whole staff has been kept busy effecting repairs. The difficulty on Pirongia-Kawhia main highway was overcome by installing a crusher at Mangati bridge, and the road is in passable condition again. With a view to getting grant works started early, the necessary surveys have been done as time could be found to attend to them, but this work has been interrupted by a new ragwort eradication scheme. Operations have been begun on ragwort destruction, but the position is far from satisfactory. The scheme has been undertaken at the instance of the Department of Agriculture, but although conferences have been held and letters have been written, we are still awaiting definite details as to how the scheme is to be run. In the meantime 100 tons of lime and 10 tons of chlorate of sodium have been procured, and 22 men have been engaged in two gangs of 10 men, with one foreman to each gang. These men are being engaged on farms of which the owners agree to pay 3s per day per man plus cost of lime and sodium chlorate. Later it is proposed, in the case of those farms where farmers neglect to avail themselves of the opportunity offered, to clear up the farms and collect the cost from the farmers in terms of the Noxious Weeds Amendment Act. The treatment of Crown and native lands has yet to be decided upon. In the matter of grants, the following amounts appear on the main Public Wlorks estimates, and will be available for expenditure this year: Nga-hape-Korakonui Road, £2OO, free; Puketarata Road, £3OO £2 for £1; Tapuae Road, £4OOO, Council to contribute; Tauraroa Road, £240, £3 for £1; Te Rauamauku Road, £l5O, £3 for £1; Wade’s Creek bridge, £6O, £1 for £1; Waitomo Valley Road, £175, £1 for £l. Advice has been received from Mr Wj. J. Broadfoot, M.P., that the sum of £5OOO appears on the supplementary estimates for Turitea Road, but we have not yet received a copy of the supplementary estimates. The appropriation for main highways has not yet been received. In respect of the proposed metalling of Puketarata, Tapuae, Tauraroa, and Te Rauamauku Roads, it will be necessary for the following resolution to be passed before the expenditure can be authorised. Respecting the metalling of a portion of four above-mentioned roads, in expenditure of the grant appearing on the 1936-37 Public Works estimates, it was resolved that the Council agrees to efficiently maintain in future to the satisfaction of the local representative of the Public Works Department the roads metalled under these proposals.