STRATFORD COUNTY COUNCIL

Taranaki Daily News, 18 August 1919, Page 3

STRATFORD COUNTY COUNCIL

MONTHLY MEETING. i The monthly meeting of the Stratford County Council was held on Saturday. Present: Councillors Walter (chairman), Were, McKay, O'Neill, Baskln, Worthlngton, Coleman, and Anderson. The engineer reported that he mid prepared an estimate of the coat of the Esk Itond bridge, which ho found could not he constructed for leas tlum filial) or £7oo.—The ehalrmn said the amount on the estimates was £450, and the bridge could not lie proceeded with till the settlers Interested had signed an agreement to find the balance by means of u special loan.—lt was decided lo leave further consideration over till Cr. Mackay was present. Later, Cr. Mackay said the settlers should ap-' proach the Council with a requisition for a special rating area with a view to raising a loan. Ho undertook to see the ratepayers and further explain the position, The ongincer said he was prosecuting one man on three charges for defiance of the heavy traffic regulations. ENGINEER'S REPORT. The engineer (Mr. J. W. Spence) reported as follows: North Riding (East) .—Repairs had been effected on the small bridge on the Croydon West Road. During the progress of the work the foreman m{t with an accident, which necessitated his aßsenee from work for the past three weeks and he had been removed to the hospital. The work of rolling tlie Manganui Road, owing to the. width of melal and state of the road had not been satisfactory. North Riding (West) .—ln connection with the motor traffic on the Mountain Road several conditional permits had been Issued to motor lorry owners, and the roada had not suffered to any extent thereby. There Is no doubt that the heavy mall car travelling to timetable is having a bad effect; no ordinary metal roads can be expected to stand the combined weight and speed of the cars used. The Railnot Road Is In parts in a verv bad slate; while the road Is admittedly weak, the firewood carting which is going on Is completely cutting the road out. quite a considerable amount of patching has been done on this road,, and the supply of maintenance metal has run out. In order to hold the road It lias iieen found necessary to borrow metal for this purpose. South Riding.—Jour sets of Sin. pipes havei been set In the Wingrove Road. A start' was made at cutting back several banks at bad turns on this road, but was temporarily abandoned to enable surface repairs to be effected on this and other roads, A portion of the Warwick Boad had been scarified and rolled. A length of the Victoria Road will be relaid. *

East Hiding (Toko) .—Practically the whole of the maintenance metal on the western end of the Ohura Road has been used up. On the Aliuroa Road east considerable patching work had bene carried. On the Station Road some damaged pipes had been replaced. Work on the Skinner, Beaconsficld, and Ahuroa Roads will bo n#t In hand during the present month.

East Riding (Douglas)—A quantity of metal was carted by lorries from tho foot of the Strathmore Saddle to the horseshoe bend for repair work. A considerable amount of time was lost on this riding, owing to tno Illness of the foreman and surfaceman. A few days prospecting was done on the Gordon Road, shell rock face, and a continuous and apparently solid face hna been traced for some distance East Riding (Hulroa).—A SBt of 18-inch pipes had been set in the Mohakau Road. Two stringers were taken from Toko to tho Makuri Road Bridge, and from there to the wooden bridge opposite Mr. Stockley's on the Moha-kau .Road. Mr. J. M. Hill had been appointed foreman.

West Biding —The Opunake No. 3 Road had suffered very much from the carting of shingle from the Kapunl stream to the Rowan factory. The flrowood carting was tolling gteatly on the weaker roads. About 41)0 yards of buuklers hod been taken out of the Kapunl stream and placed on the side of the lower rainier Road. A greater quantity would have been placed on tho crushing site had one of tho teams not withdrawn from the job. Mangoeim Riding.—The present foreman has asked to be relieved of his duties about September 20th.

Bridge Work—The culvert on tho Douglas Road south had been repaired, fresh hardwood stringers and new ducklrig being used in the work The old bridge on the Esk Road had been stiffened up and should servo its purpose arrangements can be made to erect the new bridge. In the bridge on the Ma.kurl Road, known, as Boaucliamps' Bridge, had been placed under the stringers making the bridge safe for truffle for a time. General.—Extra louvre ventilators had been placed In the benzine shod to Insure a reasonable amount of air circulation. The repairs and overhaul of the crushing plants were Rearing completion. Considerable delay had been cused through difficulty in obtaining necessary material.

Cr. Anderson pointed out In reference to the damage done through the cartage of (Irewood on Radnor Road that. Ihe Council had the power to call upon anyone to cease using the roads if it could be shown that the traffic was responsible for the damage to the road. He cited a case In which £4O had to be paid to repair damage caused by heavy traffic.

The engineer was given pow<>- to stop any traffic which In his judgment j,. unduly damaging the roads.

It was docldcd that the rldlns members report re Gibbs' royalty at the nest meeting. Tn reference to the South Riding, Cr. O'Neill drew attention to a dangerous cornet on Wingrove Road near the school—The engineer said the men would bo put on the road again shortly. Tho report xvas adopted. CORRESPONDENCE. Tho secretary of tho Tarannki Counties Conference forwarded copies of resolutions passed, under which a remit was to be sent to the Dominion Counties and Municipal Conferences, recommending that in order to abolish tollgates and eliminate objectionable traffic bylaws, and to enable local. bodies to successr fully copo Willi the over-increasing motor traffic, the Government bB urged to Increase Ihe present local body subsidies to 10s In the £ on all general rules collected, and that as a means of providing the necessary funds the Government be asked to sufficiently increase: (1) The existing motor tyre tax, and (2) the existing totallsator (ax. Tho chairman said that at present they were only paid 5s subsidy on a %d rate. The proposal received the unanimous support of the conference.

Tho clerk said that at present they collected £15,000 In rates and only received a subsidy Of £6OOO.

On the motion of Cr. Were the delegate to tho Dominion Conference was instructed- to support tho remit.

Prom tho Department of Internal Affairs respecting the proposed addition to tho inglewood County on tho eastern side. The matter would receive consideration.—Received. Prom the Stratford Railway Leaguo asking the council to affiliate with tho league and soliciting a donation to the funds.—lt was decided, on the motion of Cr. Coleman, Seconded by Cr. O'Neill, that the council affiliate and make a donation of £1 Is !o the funds. From the New Zealand Atltomqblle Union urging that the approaches to all bridges should be painted white —Jteeeived. From Mr. W. D. Blonnerhassett drawing attention to the condition of the lower end of tho Victoria Road, particularly the bend and culvert approaching tho railway line—The engineer reported that the matter had been attended to.

From the Manawnlu County council asking co-operation In demanding a subsidy from the Government to repair the serious damage done to the roads by the mall service and other motor vehicles which were «t present conducting through truffle—lt was decided to comply with the request. From six ratepayers on Derby Koad, voa Mldhlrst, complaining about -the damage done to the road at the York Bond end through the cartage of straining posts and firewood by a resident of York Road. The road was the only outlet to the Tork creamery, and when ;t ralr.ed the place would,be a regular bog and ihey Would not be able "to get through. The chairman said the matter was covered by the resolution already pnssed.

Froni Mr. C. A. Lehmann, Brooks Itoad, asking for six 12in. concrete or earthen pipes.— Left in the hands of the engineer.

DEPUTATION. Messrs C. A. and C. Marchant waited upon the council and asked that a portion of Cardiff Road lio metalled. It was pointed out Hint the road was an important thoroughfare and was the only cross road running north and south abovo the Mountain Itoad. It was largely used by business people, drovers, and the general public.

Cr. Anderson: How much would the metalling of the road shorten the distance between Kaponga and Midhirst? Mr. Mordiant: Very considerably, and It would also relieve truffle on the other rood. About hiili'-a-mile of metalling was needed.

The chairman said there was a resolution on the minute-book that the council shall not undertake any work not on the estimates. They had adhered io the resolution, but In some cases there was a possibility of transfor. Unless lb.it could lie done there was little chance of the work being undertaken this year. Cr. Anderson said au Inspection of the road had been made with a view to its Inclusion In ihe big loan proposals to be placed beforo the ratepayers shortly. The chairman: If the loan is carried it would see Mr. Marchant and his sons out of their difficulties

Cr. Anderson moved that as they had a loan proposal covering the request which would come before the ratepayers shortly the mattu •= ta& ms Its tht ri«hM.—CuiM.

A TETITION. A petition was received, from a number of ratepayers In connection with the formation of a special rating area for the Waihapa Road bridge loan. There were about 20 signatures and the area concerned was 3329 acres. The chairman' said that a deputation, of six had waited upon him and Mr. Were and had stated that they had been Induced by misrepesentatlon to sign ilie petition. Most of them were new residents. ...They were told that if they did not come In voluntarily they would be compelled to come in. They were also told that the highest amount that would have to be paid in rates would be 28s and the lowest 20s. He had pointed out that they would be very lucky- to get off with less than Is an acre.

Replying to a question the chairman said the amount of the proposed loan was about £400(1.

Cr. O'Neill said that had he thought there had been anything wrong about the petition he would have had nothing to do with it. There had been a Utile irregularity in approaching the chairman and Cr. Were. The names of these men were on the list, and if they wanted them off they should have appeared before the council.

After further discussion it was moved by the chairman, and seconded by Cr. O'Neill, that they hold the Atttion over for a month with a view to learning whether there had been misrepresentation and so that the petition could be put in proper form. The engineer said that In order to get*tiiiy grant on the supplementary estimates'lt would be necessary to give an assurance that the work would be done before March 31 next. Cr. Were said the ratepayers were, expecting a grant of £2OOO from the Government, The motion was carried.

GENERAL. Accounts totalling £ 1551 15t lOd were passed for payment.