LEVELS COUNTY COUNCIL

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13665, 6 August 1908, Page 7

LEVELS COUNTY COUNCIL

"-■;— —: — m .•— —— •.-.'■"■' The monthly .meeting,' of the Levels County Council was' held '.'yesterday. 'Present: Messrs C. N. Orbell' '(chairman), 11. Parry, T. B. Gavrick, "J: Mahony,. J. Stewart, T., Mee, and W. Barry. The • chairman' welcomed. Mr parry as a member of the Council,: for Otipua Biding in place of Mr. LeCren,''.--resigned::-'.. Mr Orbell said that he. had known Ab- Parry in connection • with other, local liodios, and knew that he would make a very useful meinb:'i*. Ihe Otipua riding was father a difficult one to look iafter .on .account of the' Waiuiate.traffic crr,ssirig Over it. Howevefj lie- had no doubt 'that Mr Parry would occupy the-seat -with credit to liimself?*and benefit- to the, riding. ':'" ; ; Mr Parry thanked the-chairman for his welcome. DAMAGE BY FLOODS. The chairman, on opening' the >meeting made some .remarks on ■ the. coiissquences of the floods of last month. .'The damage done, he was glad to say, w,as not'eo bad as might have been expected 1 ; ; the county had escaped very well,- compared : wjtli others. Two or three bridges had" suffered and must be repaired. .The. Washdyke bridge was one *f these, and the Council should consider whether:* the bridge had not better be widened while they were;at work upon it. If-the Council considered the bridge needed widening, now was the time to do it. Another bridge, in Levels Valley, had! been damaged, and the surveyor thought a ford there would do for heavy traffic, and the bridge could be repaired for light traffic. The greatest damage in aDy one item, had occurred in the Rosewill iSettlement. It was not mueh\to look at, but it would cost £l2O to repair. BOROUGH EXTENSION The ihainnan remarked that there appeared to be a fresh agitation for extending the Borough of Timaru. ; He did not know how far-it was going, bitt this Council should have-some voice-:; in fixing the boundaries. The . Council ought to have a voice in every such case. They had no say in fixing .-the- boundaries .of Pleasant Point township, for instance, -The County Councils .should have power, to take a part in fixing-the boundaries.. Mr Mahony said that he-had a meeting at Waimataitai.cn Monday night; when several proposals- were made, and : the meeting paid the County, the compliment of preferring to remain under county rule. . It was mentioned there . by - a borough councillor that- there were. three petitions going. about for annexation to the borough. He thought^that if the. Borough Council had any hand in these petitions, they ought 'to consult, the County Council! about boundaries. This trouble was mentioned at-the last County Conference by Mr Harper, of Ashburton. - " It was resolved, on the motion of Messrs Mahony and Barry, to .ask the . Timaru Borough Council as to the propefied boundaries of. proposed extensions of the borough;'by inclusion of portions 1 of the county.' '■'■'•. '■■.'.- VAGRANT i RIVERS: V - ; Mr: ■ D. T. : > Carter, of /Rogkpool, Pleasant Point,' Wrote that during!the late flood the Opiiii tlfrew a: large'stream' of water to hia side-of the river, ;niaking the road impassible foi; some days. .He anticipated

a repetition of this action vliun the snow ou tiio ranges melted, and feared that- the change might be xiermaiient; He therefore asked that the surveyor be instructed to take remedial measures. . The surveyor explained; that .the river swung from side to side, as the Opihi or Opuha, was. in strongest flood. No' small work would do any permanent good, it would be well for the Council ~to visit the spot and see how peculiar the circumstances, were. Mr . Garrick thought the best remedy would be to buy a new road. The chairman said they had bought several new lines before. A long embankment would cost £7OO or £800; a new road would cost a large sum; -if* a.temporary diversion could be made at a moderate cost, it might be cheaper to make such diversions from time to tilne as required. . ■'. it was agreed that the surveyor should report fully oh each of the above ingestions at next meeting. - , ■ A SMALL BRIDGE WANTED, Mr T. D: Robertson, Cave, applied for, a new bridge over the Tengawai to replace the one washed away. He had obtained an estimate for one, at £75, The surveyor said a better bridge was asked for than the £3O bridge that .had been carried a way. (This only w-ent from a high bank across the low stream). Aj suspension bridge on wire cables could b» erected' there at a moderate costy but Mr Robertson's ■estimate was far too low.■ It would have to be of two spans of two chains and one chain, st parated ;• by - about a chain and a half. . The chairman said that suspension bridges were not good for either horses or sheep—dangerous for horses, which were apt -to get scared at the swing. It was -agreed that the surveyor should give a report and estimate'at next meeting.' '■ --;,.;: -v.; CORRESPONDENCE., '"- :.-.:, Certificates of renewal .:. of slaughterhouses at.Temuka, Otipua, Pleasant J'oiiib ; and' Cave, and of the two freezing.: wbrks were received ; .from the , AgriQultur.il Department. . ■■:-'..'• .',■_ "■■'' -'■'■■ The Valuation Department' advised'■:, (he , payment of £395 7s lid, balance of-the £1572 17s lid., ■ payable to the'/County as subsidy on rates. ■'■■'■'■■■■■'/'",.'-'.*'''■>'■ The clerk' Keasaut Point Town Board wrote accepting, but " without prejudice," the Council's terms, of settlement, of 'liecounts between the two -.bodW. (The Council pays £BO 5s lOd to the,- TownBoard, and a. share-of dog tax yet'to ba ascertained).—The Council declined' to: accept an•' acceptance " Without prejudice," and -decided that the; offer was..final'-and must be received'.as final, or theV'chet}ue would not be paid:'. .' , - A circular' from - the Waimate, County Council asked for support to' a 'request for amendment of the-Public Woi-ks'Act,; regarding the . proceedure • for .'taking .landstor roads.—The local' Members to be asked to support the amendment. Messrs Webb and Kempthqrne,:'for the owners of the property'in Buchanan 5 Paddock, drew attention to- the .-defective drainage of a. part •of \ the roadway of Craigie Avenue, as a result of which' a house occupied by Sergb. -Major Healy. was flooded during the late rains. In the- event of future damage' the Council would be held responsible.:—The surveyor said that the Borough' Council's men were-now dig-, ging up the drain to relay it. vi ! ". Mr G. T. Baker, Albury, - asked for a new cutting oyer the Tengawai. at his! farm, the flood .haying destroyed the old one. A temporary crtosiilg couid;be mad* for about 30s. j and 'the proper ."cutting made later.—The' surveyor had arranged for the- temporary work. ■■ .'. Mr. G.. R. Pannett applied for some work to be done on The. Biotlieis road, and for shingling on Paddy's Hilly—Slips have been attended ifo : ; shingling- to be done later on. i . ; Mr Job Hopkins wrote asking that the Council should instruct one of ■ Iris! neigh.-' bouis, Mr* Blair,- to/divert "istoruv.- water from- his section so that it would riot flow on to h.B (the wiilei's) land—Sui\eyor to sto Mi Blan Mr W Bonk,, fceadoun, asked for a temedy for a defective vwitei l.ice, the oveiflow floin whieli had mined hie jens of potatoes —The idee langtr v\as called in, and he evp ained that the watei was shin>.off the races duung the'flood, so that it must have been flood wateis that did the damage Mi Bowie had not been there long, had not seen a flood before, and mistook- the stoim water foi lace watei i TENDERS Tendeis weie received »s follows. — 1200 cubic yards of shingle foi main Totalj, load—J Caitwnght £77 ICb (ac ctpted bv lot), G Beck £77 lCs buciue Bio« £BS, W J Bhuk £lO5, D Ross £ll2 lCs 300 j aids bhicM.one met il for mam Gleniti * load J Connor £97 10s (ac cepted). A Vincent £ll7 I*.*, A Beck £127 10s. Tenders weio cideied to be called fm ntx.t meeting for vioik on Moig.th's road Accountb amounting to £1406 woo passed for payment OPIHI BRIDGIJ Mr Mahopy suggested and o.heis agreed that if possible this Council should meet the Geialdme CounU Council to conoid* i the tenders foi the Opihi Mam Road budge, to savo the that would be lost by waiting till the next muit l.g of the Levels Council. INTER COUNTY TRAFFIC The Council spent some'tune m di& tutting in committee the subject of the request made to the Waimate County Council, and the lattei's leply, concerning the rceonstiuction and upkeep of the Beaconsfield flat load to the Upper Paie ora bridge The Council' had asked for half cost of putting the load m good ■older, and one fourth of the cost of up keep theieafter The Wajmate Council leplied that thtv were willing to pay one fourth of the cost of upkeep Ihe chairman pointed out tint if the load wis put in piopei oidei, with a good coating tf theie would be no upkeep outl «v to speak of foi soux> yeai 1 -) A fch.uo of the c<t>t for lecortstruction should be pies~ed foi It woa stated that nhe chainnan of flic. Waimate Council had said that their ■offci included the- reconbtiuction, though the resolution did not say so in terms The Council decided that the offtr khould be mote precisely made, and that it must be increased b"foie it can bf» ic cepted and wiHi a view to an amicable NPt+lem-ni) it wao dicided to invite the Waimate Council to send a deputation to discuss the details. The Council lose at 3 p m