MOA ROAD BOARD.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 282, 21 April 1913, Page 7

MOA ROAD BOARD.

MOA ROAD board. The monthly meeting of the Moa Road i Board was .held at Ingle wood 011 Saturday, when there were present: Messrs.] H. Trimble .(chairman)., A. Corkill, A. E.' Laurence, \V. 13. Bishop, M. Hopson, J. j Williams, J. Collingwood and A. Chard. ' FOREMEN'S REPORTS. Foreman Wilmshurat reported that lie ] had been employed at '.various repairj work on the Upland Iload North, where! he required an additional 12 yards of metal, which lie could obtain from Mr. j Taylor's paddock, Mr. Taylor having' given him permission. J .Swan had com- : pleted his contract for 'l2O yards of metal on the King Road,' and also an .additional 22 yaii'ds given in free labor. With the assistance of three men lie had' repaired the Ivaipi Road. Some of the pipe culverts he discovered were com-. pletely silted 2 feet under .the ground, i He had also replaced an old wooden culvert. Metal was all knapped on the 1 "Windsor KoaA Pipe 'culverts on the : Windsor, Upland South and "Egmoiit North roads had received attention. The ; contractor had '7O yards yet to complete his 150 yards of metal oil the Kgmont i South, and there then remained the Gov- : eminent grant of 100 yards to be carried out. This would probably throw! the contractor beyond the time'aliotved ' for bullocks. He had received an offer ; to have the metal crushed and carted j for 7s Jul per yard, if too late to be I knapped. j Foreman Jones reported that a culvert ! on .the Junction Road near Mr. ITeaPs Ind* collapsed. He had temporarily repaired it with planks, but pipes were 1 urgen'lv required.

Foreman W. Bennett had been ew'ploved at maintenance wort; on the Mana and Kohete Roads. Various metal contracts had b2-?n completed. Foreman Knofflock reported that he had been engaged at various maintenance work. He had. put down metal on the Bristol West, Wortley and Tvalmata North roads. He asked the Board to hurry on the contractor on the Bristol Road East. Work was required on the Lincoln and Davis Roads. LOANS TO LOCAL BODIES.

The Superintendent of the Advances Board wrote that the I'oard regretted that owing to funds for investment being limited, it could not accede to Hie Board's application for a loan for £3OO for grading and metalling a hill oil lie Ratapiko Roa<l. The letter stated 'hat it was understood that the Public Trustee had funds for investment, and a suggestion was made that the Board should apply to him for the loan. Under date of April 14th, the Superintendent of the Advances Board wrote that it had been decided at the last meeting to grant the Board's application for a loan of £l3O, being an additional 10 per cent .on the £ISOO loan previously raised to deviate, form and metal the Upland Road north of the Junction Road, as previously promised, but held over owing to shortage of funds. Interest would be at the rate of V/, per cent., and with sinking fund the half-yearly repayments would be £2 lGs Id.

A special resolution was passed raising the , rate, of interest in accordance with the price, charged, for the money. .. ' • ; KING ROAD.

■The' .Chairman- reported that lie had .been waited upon by Messrs.- Laird andLongstaff, :\vho informed him that the /new gravel pit'ha'd bpened up in ore satisfactorily than was anticipated, and asked that more metal should he put on than ' was contemplated; Mr. Longstaff offered to forego his claim to the sum of £lO which the Board had agreed to pay him. lie accordingly arranged for 120 cubic yards of gravel to be placed on the Worst parts', anil the contractor also gave two days' free carting. The worst parts had now been gravelled, but »he cost would preclude any further expenditure on it for the next two years. —The report was adopted.

KOIIETE ROAD. The Chairman reported that villi Messrs. Coikill and Laurence ln> had visited the Koliete 110-.ul. Tile-,- lmd decided- that it would I>p advisable to replace the bridge near Bint's with a 3feet ])i])e culvert, and the second bridge with a concrete culvert lift by 4ft. As. however, the road would be damaged laear Li ng. it would be advisable to hold the work over until early spring.— Adopted. MONTHLY STATEMENT. The monthly statement showed that the receipts for the past month had amounted to £203 (is lid (rates £H)O 10s 7d) and the expenditure to £412 t)s Sd. The bank balances showed credits as follows: (ieneral account. £1987 7s 7d; loan account, £ll7 18s od. MOTUKAWA BRIDGE.

Mr. A. C'orkill reported that he had inspected the bridge on this road commented on bv the foreman and regretted to state that it was absolutely rotten and beyond repair, lie .suggested that it should be replaced with a concrete arch and that the work be put in hand at the earliest possible opportunity. The road was in lirst-dass order, and with the exception of cleaning water tables would not require repairs for some years, and practically the whole of the rates could be earmarked to build the new bridge.

The Chairman stated that he had at once authorised Messrs. Itobinson and Christophers to inspect the bridge. They submitted a report that, after careful inspection of the locality they were of opinion that the cost of a concrete culvert would lie comparatively high on account of the difficulty and perhaps impossibility of obtaining good material ~for concrete within n reasonable distauee. It would, they suggested,, be possible, to drive a timitcl for diverting the stream at about £">o less than the cost of erecting a concrete arch. Mr. E. ('. Itobinson waited on the Board and explained the position.

Mr. C'orkill stated that he had never considered the question of driving a tunnel. It was, however, necessary that "steps should be taken to at once remove the danger that existed over the present bridge.

The Chairman's action was confirmed, and tenders will be called for the work, to close at next meeting. It was reported that the net cost of repairing the swing bridge on the Bedford Road by placing a concrete pillar under it was 7s (id.

C EX Ell AT,. The Chairman reported that with Mr. Gorkill be had examined the culvert on the Dudley Hoad East, which Mr. J. Taylor had complained precluded hint from draining a swamp. Mr. Taylor had oll'ered to deepen the outlet if the Board would lower the present culvert, and this was agreed to. The Chairman's action in authorising an expenditure of £1 in addition to the amount of £"> authorised by the Board on the Ratapiko lload. was confirmed. The Uml'v Sccretarv of Public Works forwarded the usual circular asking the Board to f orward particulars of any grants they may be desirous of obtaining from the (lovernment.

The Treasury Forwarded a voucher for £2 being liirs collected at the Inglewood Magistrate's Court. Mr. J. It. Magce wrote Offering to supply crushed . metal for the LepperCarrington lload at 8s per yard. He could then do the work in a few days.— The offer was declined.

Tho Chairman reported tlwt he had

accepted a tender from Rowan and I Thoinason for the supply of 00 yards j gravel on the Lepper Road between the j creamery and Mountain Road at 7s per j i'il.— Confirmed. j Mr.'M. Hopson wa« appointed to exercise tin; Board's vote at the Borough election, and was instructed to vote against the Saturday hall-holiday proposal.

Accounts were passed amounting to J Us 3d.

VALEDICTORY.

Saturday was the last meeting of the Moa Road Hoard as at present constituted, for the whole Board retires by effluxion of time and a fresh election will be held for nine members on May 3rd. There will he several alterations in the personel of the new Board, as ■some. members are not seeking re-elec-tion. Some of these members have given their services to the ratepayers for many I years gratuitously, for through some ini explicable reason members (of jßoadi Boards draw no expenses, whilst members of other local bodies do, although the former often travel sixteen and twenty miles to atten (1 the meetings. At fthe conclusion of the meeting on Saturday, the members fraternised for a while, when Mr. A. Corkill, who has been a member of the Board continuously during the past eleven years, intimated that he would not be seeking re-elected for the present, as he had decided to retire from local polities for a spell. He hoped that lie had been of some service to the ratepayers, and stated that though there was some loss of time the friends he had made more than compensated for this. He thanked the chairman, the secretary and the press, and, in concluding, proposed the health of the chairman, Mr. H. Trimble, stating that the ratepayers were very fortunate in haying such a capable man, who devoted so much of his time to their interests. Mr Trimble had been a member continuously for over fifteen years. He also eulogised' the work of the clerk (Mr. Ogier). Messrs. Hopson, Lawrence and A. Chard endorsed these, remarks, and the health was enthusiastically toasted. The Chairman, in reply! said that he , considered that he had only done what a chairman should do. Whoever occupied that position would have had the j same amount of work to do. He had j always tri«d to do what he had believed right in the interests of the. ratepayers,! and had never spared any time necessary in tlicir service. It a man took up a publie position, he must he prepared to put iiis tune into it, otherwise he should not take up the position, Not only was this a tax on his time, hilt he had been foolish enough to, undertake the chairmanship of another body, and, lie laughingly added, he was unfortunate in 1 striking those to which no pay was attached. The work, however, had been a pleasure, and he hoped that he had made friends, and though he had at times differed with people, he hoped he had made no real enemies—that is people who thought he had done harm to the ratepayers. Hr was going to offer himself for re-election, and if re-elected would do his best in the interests of the rate-. pavers. )

Mr. Oorkill's health and that of the press was tlicn toasted. Mr. CorkiH. in responding, intimated that later on he might re-enter local politics. Messrs. A. Chard and ,T. Collingwood also intimated that they were not seeking re-election.