GERALDINE COUNTY BRIDGES.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 12978, 18 May 1906, Page 6

GERALDINE COUNTY BRIDGES.

£IO,OCO LOAN PROPOSED.

At yesterday's meeting of the Geraldine County Council the chairman made an important statement regarding the county finance and the demands fox bridges. The Council was already, be said, committed to £I2OO for the Hanging Rock bridge, £IOOO for the Opihi bridge at Fairlie, and £SOO for the protective works at the Opihi Main road bridge, these three items more than absorbing the £2416 which would be produced by their usual farthing rate, 6o that nothing would be left for other works or for carrying on the office. There were other proposals which would probably be pressed upon them in the near future. If the application for a bridge at O'Mara's crossing was entertained, that would mean •£2OOO at least. Then the Opihi Main road bridge must be reconstructed" withan two years. The cost of this would depend upon the kind of work adopted, the least cost would be, £SOOO, and it might be £IO,OOO, to be divided between the two counties. Seeing the great importance of this bridge, he thought it should be reconstructed in a most substantial manner, costing anything from £BOOO to £IO,OOO. The Temuka* bridge also would need rei constructing in the near future.. It was therefore quite out of the question to carry ion with the usual Tate of id in the £. He had in the past, rather deprecated the idea of going for a loan, but looking at fthe present aspect of the finance and seeding bow bridge questions' were being concentrated upon them, he was inclined to ' think they should go. in for a loan. (Hear, hear;-) Some of the bridges' were a necessity, and it seemed w,ise to provide themand let the public have the benefit of them. (Hear, hear.) The terms of the Government loans to local bodies were 4£ per cent, for interest and sinking fund, and of the various works asked for, the interest charge would be £3OO to £350 a year, and the Council could! pay that and carry on as usual with a farthing rate. That was the alternative to increasing the rate.

BRIDGE FOR MILFORD. At this stage a deputation consisting of Messrs Twentyman, Pye, and Donnithorne, waited on the Council to ask for a bridge ever the Opihi at O'Mara's crossing, about five miles below line. Mr Twentyman stated that be and others had waited on the Levels County Council with reference to this matter. That Council expressed sympathy with them, and asked how much the Bettlers interested would contribute. Mr Twentyman suggested thai they should be put on the same basis as the settlers concerned in the Hanging Rock bridge, who were giving £SO out of £2OOO. The bridge at O'Mara's was estimated to be 400 ft long, and the cost of 50s or 60s per foot, say £I2OO. There would be no difficulty in raising an equal proportion. He (the speaker) was a Levels ratepayer, and Geraldine ratepayers were much more interested than those of Levels County—Geraldine people as far as the Rangitata were whilst only a few Levels fauaere would to benefited by the bridge. Mr Kehnan suggested that the first thing for tha settlers to do was to get their Members to get a grant from the Government. '

The chairman said the crossing had been known as a dangerous one and it was more and more used every; year j but this was the first time the Council had been asked for a bridge there. It had been stated that the bridge would be 400 ft long. That seemed -a veiy sihort bridge, when it was started that 1000 ft would not be long enough a few miles higher up, and the Temuka river joined below that. It must therefore be a dangerous crossing if the river was only 400 ft wide. The first step of course was to get a Tough sketch and estimate. It woojfd be premature to dis : cuss how much the settlers should be asked for, until they had decided whether the bridge was necessary, and if so what the j cost would ba, and what the Government would give towards it. The Council should aid the applicants in bringing pressure to bear upon the members for the district to pre« for a Government grant. Mr Kelmars said the bridge mu#t be more than 400 ft long, as bewides the two riven* the tide backed up as far as the crossing, and it would take very long piles in the middle. ALLANDALE ROAD BRIDGE. A deputation consisting of Messrs Jas. Wilson, Isitt, Robertson, Bartrum, Bother-

way and R. A. Dixon from the t side of Mount Peel riding, waited _ OQ Council to urge their claims for B early construction of a bridge over Opihi at Fairlie. They -were introd ced b j lr W. Dixon who stated that t deputation reprinted four-sevenths of m ya . ue of Mount Peel riding h( f read a letter from Mr A. Hope his ability to form one of (fce depntat B ion writing strongly mf? of * he brid ' I' J"? f 15 * * ** Cosiness bv reading £ ? statement. the matter was brought before t (Qnnica the Mackenzie Council had taJ iWI a of the ratepayers on raising a loan of £IOCO towards thf, c f bridge, and a* an wnnty, not vitally interested, v f* s * much, the deputation asked that t ae Geraldine Council should take the £ orlr - ja fl and and push it through. The Gorernment had voted £SOO, and though tjiia might have lapsed it could be renewed, and even increased to £IOOO. They desired to leave the room with a definite promise that the work would be -undertaken. They believed that more traffic passed over that ford than over any other in Canterbury, and the river was a treacherous and dangerous one, and to leave it abridged wag a disgrace to the Council controlling it, as it was a great drawback to agricultural 'operations, as one never knew when sending drays a long way, whether they ■ would be able to get across the river. Mr Wilson said that several other ratepayers would' have come down but that it was too far. For that reason the Council had been asked to visit the • district to see for themselves the area to be benefited by the bridge. All the fat" sheep from that district had to be put across the river,, as they were railed now instead of being driven.

The chairman described the financial position of the Council, and explained that to erect this bridge must mean either an increased rate or a loan.

Mr W. Dixon said it did not matter which; they wanted the bridge. The chairman said the people of €tie district had not pressed for this bridge very much. " '

Mr WCson said the present deputation had come a long way for the purpose of pressing it. He asserted that in proportion to amount of traffic and the degree of danger, this bridge ought to be built before any other the Council had spoken of. Mr Isitt remarked that the Mackenzie County ratepayers voted for a loan of £IOOO for this bridge because 'it was lumped with loans for two other bridges that they wanted; otherwise they woidd have v<oted against it, because it was not much required by, Mackenzie ratepayers. Mr W. Dixon said a number of ratepeyera were willing to contribute double rates ,to help the Council. A little discussion took place on the probable cost of the bridge. There was no? thing definite available on the point, but |£3ooo and £4OOO were mentioned.

Mr Robertson spoke strongly of the need for the bridge, and asked for a definite promise that one would be erected forthwith.

The deputation then retired, and the Council discussed their representations at a later stage. On the Council taking the discussion on the deputations representations, the chairman made a few remarks in favour of raising a loan. He moved that the Council affirm the principle of raising a loan for the various bridge works requiring to ~be undertaken in various parts of the county; and this was carried. Mr Dixon moved and it was carried that Mr Marchant be instructed to prepare plans and estimates for a bridge at Allandale crossing.

The chairman made up a list of the sums likely to be reqniied, including £SOOO for Opihi Main road bridge, and £IOOO each for four other bridges and £IOOO for contingencies; £IO,OOO in all. He moved that the necessary steps be taken under the Local Bodies Loans Act, 1901, to borrow £IO,OOO for the purpose referred to, spread over a few years, and this was carried. The chairman recommended a conference with the Levels Council regarding a bridge at O'Mara's crossing, the conference to be held at the spot if possible. This was agreed to. HANGING ROCK BRIDGE.

One tender was received for the erection of a bridge at Hanging Rock, but this was so greatly in excess of the engineer's estimate, that it was decided to advise the engineer to call for fresh applications.