GERALDINE ROAD BOARD.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1557, 16 September 1886, Page 3

GERALDINE ROAD BOARD.

The monthly meeting of this Board was held on Tuesday nt the Board's office. Present—Messrs W. U. Slark (Chairman), J. Kelland, L. Grant, and F.R. Flattnan, •:-MINUTIB. The minutes of th« preyious meeting were read and confirmed. TENDERS. Ihe following tenders were opened and dealt with : Contract J*o. 192—Culverts nnd earthwork »ear Patricks, Kakaho.—No tender was received for this contract. Contract No. 193—Formation, fords, etc., near Cooper's C'eek; P. Burke, £llO ; J. Webb, £99 10s ; M. Low, £B6; R. RaiDe, £B2 10a (accepted). Contract 194—Shingling Morrison's road, Waihi Bush : J. Fiwfield, £35 ; D. Gregan, £3l 10* (accepted); J. Webb, £297 Contract No. 195 - Shingle repairs Fairfield road, and Wooding'e road : P, Burke* £190; A. Lyaaghtnnd W. BeDnett, £167 it ; J. Webb, £ll7 10a (accepted). CORBBSrONDBNCB was read and dealt with as follows: From MrR..H. Postlethwaite, apologising for absence owing to indisposition, and suggesting thjt the mntter of the new pound be gone on with if possible. From MrF. Brown, Winchester, asking the Board the road past his property at the Riilway crossing near Mr L. A. Barker's, as it was nearly impassable, —lt was decided to make the road passable. From Mr Collier, Orari Gorge, complaining that some of the persons to whom the Board had supplied poisoned wheat had not been careful as to its distribution, and he had lost some fowlg and turkeys thereby, and that his wife had been nearly poisoned by unwittingly using the fowls.—The Board decided that the remedy did not lie with them. From Mr W. Cameron, Gapes' Valley, drawing the attention of the Board to the gorse near Mr Moore's bus«, Gapes' Valley, and stating that the Board were distributing the seed among the shingle they placed on the road, and asking to have the gorse grubbed up.-Decided that the letter be not entertained. From W. Hawke, Geraldirie Road, asking for his name to be struck off the rate roll, and Mr L. Grant's substituted, for 75 acres near Cooper's creek; also calling attention to the m«nner in which Mr Lewis was cutting tin gorse on the ] road opposite his (Lewis') land, as he was I cutting the big gorse a few inches above tli* surface, leaving the stumps protruding fo the danger of cattle and horse.— It was decided to write - to Mr Lewis instructing him to clear the whole of the gdise from the road fronting his section, to do it in a iroper manner. Members expressed the opinion that decided steps should be taken to compel persons jto jceep the gorse in front of their sections 'olear, It was decided to send notices to Veveral persons to remove the gorse, and also to advert*** ia the paptrs a notice to

that effect. In the event of the gorse not being cleared proceedings to be tak<«n. From Rev. J. Preston, bringing the case <>f d. Waller befoie the Board, recommencing him for charitable aid, and iiskirg the Board to remit the rate on his cot'age. —Decided to remit the rate. From Mr Badger, re the publication ol his book, «' The Ratepayers' Manual,' ■ind soliciting orders for the same. —It •» us decided to order one copy. From Mr Vtilliam Coltman, thanking i the Board for the use of their office for ! holding the annual meeting of the Geraldine Dairy Factory. From Mr J. Murray, Orari Gorge, asking permission for a gate to he erected on the road leading to Mr Si erratt's ro*d to section No. 28437. Granted.on condition that the Poard have power to remove the gate at any time, and the owner to bo held responsible for any accident which may Mcnir. The Clerk stated that Mr Tripp was the only person in the district who had complied with the conditions of placing notice boards on the gates- erected on public mads.—Members expressed the opinion that some measures should be adopted to compel thoso persons who had gates upon mads to see that they were properly bung and the notice boards attached. Mr Gruit proposed, Mr Kelland seconded, audit was carried—" That all gates on public roads be removed, if the regulations be not complied with within one month."

From Mr L. Duncan, Kakahu Bush, •isking the Board to lessen the danger of the upper crossing of the Kakahu River, 'txting that he had a narrow escape of being drowned there on a recent date. — Tho Clerk stated that the crossing certainly was rather a dangerous one during fl iod time. At the same time, Mr Duncan had attempted to cross the river when it wns in flood, which he should not have done. The only way to improve it would be to erect a traffic bridge, which would cost between £4OO and £SOO. It was decided to inform Mr Duncan that the Board recognipe the danger of avyone crossing the Kakahu River in a flood, and consider it imprudent to attempt it. From Mr C. G. Tripp, Orari Gorge, with respect to the work being done near his property by the Board's men, stating that the recent wet had prevented them working more th»»n eight days during the month. He asked that the Board's men be allowed finish the work. He also stated that the Ashburton County Council had forwarded him a plan of the Ashburton County scheme of irrigation, which plan he presented to the Board.—The' Clerk was instructed to reply. From Mr J. McCVkey, asking the Board to put a cooking range in the Board's cottage occupied by him ; also asking the Board to repair the dividing fence between the Board's section and the next.—Decided to accede to the request. From Mr Bennett and fifteen other ratepayers, asking the Board to ease the grades of the cuttings on the Pleasant Valley road, and to shingle the road, as it was needed by the farmers in the district to get their produce away. At a previous meeting of the Board this request was granted, if Mr Earl did not object to the soil from the cutting being thrown over the side.—The Chairman stated that Mr Earl had objected to tha earth being thrown over the side, as it would destroy his feed.—lt was decided to have the road up to the cutting surveyed at the first opportunity. From Mr J. Ellis, Urari, asking the Board to let him the shingle reserve adjoining his property, Geraldine Road.— It was decided to let Mr Ellis the reserve for twelve months ; the Board to reserve' the right of taking shingle therefrom. From the Commissioner of Crown Lands with reference to the moneys due to Road Boards. From Hon. T. Wigley, calling the attention of the Board to the dangerous state of the road near the Opnha Homestead, and asking to have it repaired,—The Clerk stated that he had attended to the matter. From the Secretary of the Temuka Road Board, asking the Board to exchange maps of the respective districts. —The Clerk stated that he had attended to this matter. From Mr C. G. Tripp, complaining that the plank over the creek near the Orari Railway Station was not sufficient accommodation during wet weather,—No action was taken in the matter, A number of disclaimers for rates were recived, and the Overseer was instructed to attend to the same. INTERVIEWS. Mr B, Taylor waited upon the Board and asked them to repair the road by Rut's, and shingle the hill on Taylor's road, as it was impassable.—The Clerk stated the only thing was to cart some shingle on to the road and then force the people to clear the creek, as every time it ove rflowed the shingle was washed off th e j o ad.—The matter of shingling the bin W a» held over for a future day. It wa 8 decided to give Mr Rae notice to clear his creek. The Clerk was instructed to have the repairs on the main road carried out. Mr R. Hammond, Rhubarb Flat, asked the Board to deepen the drain running paßt his frontage, —The Clerk stated that they were now waiting for permission from Mr Dawe to carry the water across his property so as to get an oatlet for it. OVERSEER'S REPORT. The Overseer'a rsport was read as follows j:— "J have the honor to report for the information of the Board as follows ; The large quantity of rain that has fallen during the past month has interfered considerably with the progress of the varitos works in hand, thereby'causing delay in the completion of the cootracts in the specified time. None of them are, however of very great importance, and the Board will not suffer by the delay. The late rains have upset most of tup crossings. A. number of men have been put on to do the work as expeditiously as possible. No serious damage has been done to any of the permanent works, but the rivers have in several places changed their course ; in some cases the fords liave been much improved, and in others made Considerably worse. At the bridges over the Hae-hae-te-moana the water has taken a decided set over t"> the norther" terraqe and outflanked, the shingle apr proaches. I have bad the shiugle approaches replaced, but some kind of protective work** will have to be erected at the upper bridges for the purpose of shunting the fl >«d wate-. If this is. not done the n&xt heavy flood will necessitate'tbe extension of both these bridges. £skabu River—This riyer was rery high,

Mid hits crried away sever*! acres of land i'puri Mr Sharp's and others. As the. river flits here are composed of sand and Bill it is only a qneetioti of time when thoy will disappear altogether. The cause of this is the cut*ir?sc down of the bush, Hie cultivation of the land, and the fencing of the head waters of the riv«r, thus oansing iho water to come down in a tenth of the time that it used 10 do. The booms placed iu the river above Sharp's bridge, and the willows and poplars planted by Mr Sharp were all washed down to the bridge, and obstiucting the waterway caused the river to breach the approach on the south side, leaving a gap of about 30 feet. The stock bridgo will have to be extended by two 20-feet spans. The river is also making a strong set against the south bank above Mr Kellaud's. The road here will have to be diverted, or costly protective works carried cut. This would be in the Temuka Road Board district. This will require attending to at nnce or a similar flood to the recent one might take away the whole of the road line. I should recommend the road, line to be diverted in preference to protective works being carried out. This would carry the road through a portion of the Education reserve occupied by Mr Kelman. The bridge near Seid'a will also require eome boulder repairs. The temporary bridge at the Limekiln Flat ha« again been washed down. Ido not think it advisable to#rect temporary bridges of this kind, as they are so often taken away by floods. Several of the booms above the Orari bridge were washed down. I have had them replaced. The road between the old station aod the Raincliff Junction requires repairs. As there are no reserves in the neighborhood and the gravel on privateproperty is of inferior quality, I would advise that the work be done with brokeo metal. Russell's Creek —These fords are continually getting scoured I should advise that they be pitched with stone. 1 have Had a large quantity of'gniin poisoned during the month. Three ot four of the culverts on the boundary road require taking out. Owing to the unremuuerative price at which contractors have taken work lately [ find great difficulty in getting the work carried out according to specifications. If the penalty for non-completion were carried out it would amount to a considerable portion of the contract money." jRe. the bridges over the Hae-hae-te-moaoa river, it was decided to have the work done. The Clerk was instructed to communicate with the Temuka Road re Sharp's bridge ; also with regard to the river encroaching on the bank near Mr Holland's. It waR decided to do the work required at Reid's bridge ; also to call •tenders for broken metal for the work on the Raincliff road. With regard to the ford at Russell's creek, it was decided to get Messrs Patrick's and Findlay's consent for the suggested work to be done. It was decided to givo the Temuka Road Board notice and call for tenders for the work on the boundary road. Mr Kelland moved—" That in view of the difficulty of building a bridge over the eastern bend of the Kakahu River that would be likely to answer any useful purpose, the Board would respectfully ask Mr Wigley to grant permission to form a narrow track along the terrace to enable the children to get to school independently of the footbridges, which' are maintained at a great co3t to the ratepayers " Mr Grant seconded the motion, which was carried. Mr Flatman drew attention to the state of the road from the Rangitata Bridge to the Star of the South Hotel.—The Clerk was instructed to report on the same. NEW POUND. The pound site having been gazetted as vested in the 3eraldine Road Board, the subject of the present pound came up for discussion. It was resolved that the representatives, of the late Mr McK>nz<e ffe paid for the plans prepared by him for the Board. It was decided to postpone the discussion on the question of erecting a new pound till a future meeting, Mr Andrews to act as poundkeeper pro Um. ■ birds' eggs. It was decided to leave the appointing of a person to receive the birds' eggs collected till next month. ACCOUNTS. Accounts to the amount of £229 10s were passed for payment, and the Board adjourned to October 12th.