BOROUGH WORKS

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 64, Issue 4533, 6 February 1942, Page 5

BOROUGH WORKS

REPORT BY THE FOREMAN IMPORTANT PROPOSALS At the meeting of the Tte Awamutu Borough Council on Monday night, the foreman (Mr R. H. Close) reported .as follows: “The following work has been done since the beginning of the year:— Putting in a concrete crossing for Rickit and Sons, building a loading bank at the pig pens, cutting back the corner of Mutu and Mangapiko Streets and erecting a picot fence, cutting back the corner of Paterangi Road, putting in 50 feet of kerbing and building a concrete retaining wall, fencing off two and a-half acres of the Mangapiko Street property for tree planting and is now ready for ploughing, repairing boundary fences, have fenced off the new road through Burchell’s property and removed all trees and stumps, .this being now ready for formation, and have cleaned up Selwyn Park and the builders have finished the job. We are now re-grading College Street hill. All the water meters were read on 2nd and 3rd January, 1942. The swimming baths have been cleaned out and refilled regularly. The general maintenance work has been attended to regularly. I would suggest that the lining of the tunnel on Pirongia Mountain be left for a while owing to the present shortage of benzine. This job would entail a good deal of carting and we would not have sufficient benzine to keep us going. 1 am waiting until the water gets lower in the dam so as to be able to place the sluice valve into position. I am hoping to do this after about another month of fine weather, as there is a big flow of water going over the spillway. TREE PLANTING “An area of about one and a-half acres which was planted with pines last year is full of fungus. This attacks the roots of certain young trees, with the result that we have only got about two par cent. You sometimes strike patches of this disease in fern country; fortunately this does not attack Oregans or Cedars. WATER “The previous Council discussed and decided to replace the water main from Raeburn Street to one chain this side of-the railway crossing, Alexandra Street, a distance of 21 chains. The present size of the main in this section is four inches. If the eight inch main running along Frontier Road to the Big Tree corner has to be cut off at any time, the whole of the town supply passes through 20 chains of four inch pipe, which is quite impossible to handle the requirements of the town. At the present time we have a seven inch main running from Frontier Road along Pakura Street to the corner of Raeburn Street. It reduces there to four inch to the railway crossing. This should be replaced with a seven inch and the four inch main that is there at present be used to improve the supply to the following streets:—Herbert Street between Roche and Palmer Streets, a distance of five chains, and from Jackson Street to Sloane .Street, two. chains; also, from Roche Street along Redoubt Street to Palmer Street to make another circuit there, a distance of five chains, and from the corner of Young Street along the drainage reserve joining the six inch main in Fraser Street, five chains. The six inch main along Kihikihi Road should be continued another seven chains so as to enable us to scour Kihikihi Road area into the big drain in the gully. There is also now a water service required for a new house going up in that area. A scour valve is essential at the bottom end of Bridgman Road and at the bottom end of Carlton Street. An estimate will be given for this work if the Council decides to proceed with same. I have not been able to place the stop valve in position as I am still waiting for the adapter joints. These were promised to be delivered before the holidays. The workers in connection with the E.P.S. have offered to come and help put these into position so as to get some idea of our water works fittings.

SEALING OF STREETS “I want to point out that the estimates were a little on the low side on account of the Tribunal not setting the price of cold emoleum and hot bitumen until the middle of December. I made enquiries last June about the price of cold emoleum and hot bitumen this season, and the manager of the Waikato Bitumen Company told me he expected a penny a gallon rise on all grades but the price went up two and a-half pence on cold emoleum and Sixpence a gallon on hot bitumen. I would also point out that £7OO was spent on the Main Highway this year and I consider the criticism against the chairman of the Works Committee was unfair.” “ The following streets were sealed, and I am giving the square yardage of each street which was covered:— !£ s d

“ The total amount for the streets is £1136 12s lOd, and for main highways £648 IQs.” THE DISCUSSION Cr Dalton: I would like to ask to what criticism of the chairman of the

Works Committee he refers. The foreman: To £4OO being overspent. . Cr Dalton: That was not explained at that particular time. It is now covered in the rises of 2id and 6d. I’ve worked it out on Fraser Street, and it comes to 5d per square yard. That is as light as can be expected. Cr Les. S. Armstrong thought, in regard to the water supply, that the Council should endeavour to expedite the work, which was very essential, especially if a crisis came along. He referred particularly to the necessity cf increasing the size of the pipe from Raeburn Street to the Railway Crossing. The Mayor said that all Councillors could see the wisdom of carrying out the work, but they had to consider finances. Cr Spiers said, the cost would be roughly £BOO. Cr Dalton said that considering the Japanese were knocking at the door the Council should not embark on new expenditure, but if the work were essential it should receive preferential treatment under war conditions. On the motion of Cr Les. S. Armstrong, the foreman was instructed to provide an estimate of the cost of the .work from Raeburn Street to the Railway Crossing for the Finance Committee, which will then investigate the matter and report to the Council at a l.’.er date. The report, as a whole, was then received.

Carlton St., 2420 sq. yds., 22 yds. sand used, labour £5, and 800 gals, emoleum at Is 5d a gal. Cost of the . street .... 72 13 4 Fraser St., 3732 yds 76 13 4 Young St., 3388' yds 78 13 4 Brady St., 880 yds. 29 15 0 Herbert St., 440 yds. 13 17 0 Mutu Street, 832 yds. 38 5 0 Mangapiko St., 28i6 yds 63 5 0 Wynyard St., 1848 yds 43 6 8 Mahoe St., 1320 yds- 2 coats 31 11 6 Tawhaio St., 1320 yds. 23 8 4 Sloane St. footpath, 1232 yds., 2 coats 32 16 8 Puniu Rd. Highway, 1680 yds., hot bitumen 81 0 b Widening Alexandra St., 3080 yds., 3 coats 223 7 11 Goodfellow St., 3520 yds., hot bitumen, 2 coats .. . 144 2 0 Raeburn St., 880 yds. 20 0 0 Paterangi Rd., 1100 yds. 27 14 4 Pirongia Rd, Main Highway, 4224 yds 264 0 0 Jackson St., 2680 yds., 2 coats 67 11 4 Walton St., 17G0 yds., hot bitumen 102 0 0 Roche St., 3168 vds 110 0 0 Raikes Avenue, 2640 yds., hot bitumen, 2 coats 161 0 0