TEMUKA ROAD BOARD:

Timaru Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 3557, 2 May 1901, Page 3

TEMUKA ROAD BOARD:

The monthly meeting of the Temuka Road Board was held on Tuesday. There were present—Messrs J. Talbot (chairman), A. Bisset, J. Maze and W. Snell. ACCOUNTS. Accounts amounting to £IOO 8s lOd were passed for payment. CORRESPONDENCE. Correspondence was read and dealt with as follows : From the Lands and Survey Department relative to a road to the beach, Native Reserve 914, by way of Opihi river. The Department, is prepared to agree to the work being carried out by ordinary contract instead of under the co-operative system, but: other conditions already, mentioned could not .be agreed to. Unless the Board were prepared to waive the stipulations, the matter would have to drop.—Tilt, chairman explained that the Board would be losers if the rights applied for were not granted, and it was resolved to take no f-rther steps in the matter. From Mr M. Martin, consenting to a centre channel being cut. in the Temuka riverbed. From the Agricultural Department, intimating that delay had occurred in carrying out the original arrangements with respect to the registration of slaughterhouses, etc., under the Slaughtering Act, forms for which were to be procured from the Stock Inspector, and the requisite forms would be sent to Road Boards and County Councils. The letter was received. This Board issue no licenses. Mr J. Macaulay waited upon the Board, and asked if amy arrangements could be made for diverting a drain near the farm leased by him. He suggested that the overseer inspect and report.—The suggestion was adopted. TENDERS. Tenders were received' as follows: Contract No. 5, 300 yards shingle, Casey's road :W. Casey, 2s 9d per yard; D. Leary, jun., 2s 7jd per yard (accepted) Contract No. 6, 8 chains forming and shingling Kakahu: . D. Gregan, forming 15s per chain, shingling Is yard, £l4 10s; D. Leary, 8s and Is 6d, £l2 4s (accepted). Contract No. 7 : Grubbing gorse and cleaning drain, Millinkin's road :—No tenders. OVERSEER'S REPORT.

The overseer's report dealt with the work of the day men, who had been chiefly employed spreading shingle, scraping the channel at Manse ford, breaking stones in the Canal road and boundary road. Contract No. 20, stone breaking at Rangitata, was still unfinished. The contract for carting shingle at Newlands' was progressing favourably. Carting shingle at Rangitata. had been commenced. Contract No. 3, carting shingle at Mackay's, had not been started, and contract No. 4, stone-breaking at Rangitata Island, had been commenced. He had taken the liberty of having Rolleston's road, from Orari bridge to concrete culvert, shingled. The cost amounted to £2O 3s 6d. (The overseer's action was approved). The alteration to the north approach to Orari bridge had been effected at a cost of £8 10s, after allowing 15s for pipes removed and utilised elsewhere. About 15 chains of road leading to the beach near Mr Gilliatt's needed re-forming badly. (Work to be done.) It would be advisable to secure about two acres of land on the east side of Temuka river near Manse ford. (The overseer to write to the Land Board.) The rates collected to date amounted to £2145 3s 8d and uncollected £172 3s 4d. The credit balance in the bank was £53 7s 7d.

GORSE. The overseer received general instructions to have gorse oil roads removed. The Board then. rose. j At the statutory meeting of the Temuka Road Board, held at noon on Tuesday, Mr J. Talbot, the chairman, submitted the following report:— On behalf of the Board, I beg to report for the past year as follows : —Financial. — The total receipts amount to £3148 Os 2d, and the expenditure to £2854 17s 6d, thus ■ showing a gain in favour of the account of £293 2s 9d. The outstanding accounts, are, however, about £IOO greater than last year, but against this we owe to the land fund account £317 15s 6d at present, as against £373 9s 5d at this time last year, or £55 14s 5d less. The rates outstanding for collection are about the same as last year, namely, £IBB 10s 9d now, and £l9O 18s lid then. The condition of the account therefore shows a very substantial improvement. The chief items on tlie receipts side are : Rates, £2309 19s 3d; Government subsidy, £499 13s 6d; grant from Geraldine County Council, £l5O, towards the cost of destruction of small birds; and miscellaneous items £ll2 7s 2d. On the expenditure side new road works and maintenance cost £I3BB 5s sd; Harbour Board levy, £728 Is 8d; hospital and charitable aid, £261 2s lOd; salaries, £168; small birds' nuisance, £160; and miscellaneous items, including adver- j tising, £l7 12s 3d, and petty cash £2O, amount to £ll9 10s 9d. The above figures present I think, a fairly full statement of the present financial position, and will serve to show that if the present demands from tlie Harbour and Charitable Aid Boards are not materially increased in the future the rate struck last year of three-fourths of a penny in the £ should be sufficient to meet the requirements of the district in the way of road making and maintenance. As usual the cost of road works is largely one of maintenance, involving a considerable amount of day labour. Contracts, however, are let as far as practicable, numbering for the year for various descriptions of works 21. Nearly 10,000 yards of shingle ha« been used, and about li miles of formation done. A large amount of drain-deepening, stone-breaking, and culvert-Tjuilding has been done. The destruction of small birds is, as usual, accountable for a considerable expenditure, and the worst feature about it is that the efforts to decrease their numbers seem to be attended with indifferent success. Tins matter formed one of tlie subjects of discussion at a meeting held last week of delegates representing the various County Councils

of South Canterbury, when the_ result arrived at was a recommendation to the various local bodies interested to purchase birds throughout the winter in addition to buying eggs and young birds in. the summer months, and to pay 9d per dozen during the winter. It appears to be a pretty general conclusion that the attempts at poisoning have proved altogether unsatisfactory, and if the foregoing recommendation is adopted it will involve the discontinuance of the practice so far as the laying of the and its free distribution, is concerned; the poisoned grain may, however, be sold at about its cost price. If the system of buying in winter is adopted it will be a question whether the Board can stand the extra expenditure and still buy the eggs in summer, and it might be found advisable, both on grounds of cost andi utility, to leave out buying the eggs and go for the birds either old or young all the year round, paying the same price for the young ones as at present or possibly a slight increase thereon. Eleven ■meetings of the Board have been held during the year, and members have generally been in attendance. I have pleasure in Baying that in my opinion Mr Cooper, the Board's overseer, has continued to carry out his duties during the year faithfully and efficiently- I