LEVELS COUNTY COUNCIL.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13873, 8 April 1909, Page 7

LEVELS COUNTY COUNCIL.

MONTHLY MEETING. Tho monthly meeting of!the Levels County Council was held in the Council Chambers yesterday. Present — Messrs C. N. Orbell (chairman), R. . ±*arry, T. B. Garrick, J. Mahony, T. VW. Mee, S. Cain, and J. Stewart.

- CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT. The chairman said the Council was in a somewhat new financial position, - in that it had a. credit balance of £154. Since last meeting a meeting of local bodies between Rangitata and Waitaki had been held in order to discuss the demands of the General .Labourers' TJnion. They had only received notice on the Monday, and as the case came on/ on" the following Thursday there was no time to prepare a defence. It so happened however that this did riot matter much, as the . proceedings before the Conciliation Council had fallen through, and as'"far as he could see, there was no -possibility of an amicable .settlement/being arrived at. The case would have .ik) go to the Arbitration Court, lind the County Councils should take-united action with a view to gaining' exemption from any award that might be made. From the Wellington and Nelson "awards, County Councils had been exempted and why the TJmbn.should seek to have them included, in South Canterbury he was at a loss to know. The Court could surely not go back on its previous judgments. The Telegraph"- Department had removed \the dangerous post which it ' had erected at the Waimataitai. corner near the store, but there were three or "fpur other posts which were liable to cSiise an accident at night, if not painted white. The Council should ask that the posts be so minted. Hj. understood that the Te Ngawai bridge was not safe for traffic,-, though the Council had lately spent a. good <3eal on redecking it. f The understructure was said to be weak. V *

Mr Garrick considered "the -bridge safe for ordinary, traffic, and Mr Mee said it had always swayed, even under light loads..,- ' .. The surveyor said that there were notices up warning people against taking loads exceeding 5 tons over the bridge.

It was resolved that the surveyor should examine the bridge and report fully at next meeting. CORRESPONDENCE. . The Valuation* Department advised that it was now engaged revaluing the Te Ngawai, Point,' TV aimataitai, Seadown, Claremont, and Otipua ridings, and asked the Council to appoint an assessor to represent it on the Assess-ment-Court.—Mr D. Stuart was appointed. 'Another letter was received from the Valuation Department drawing attention to the alterations made by the Consolidated ' Acts. of 1908 in reference to the authority to make and levy rates. The Timaru Harbour Board wrote asking to be furnished with a statement .of the rateable value of the property in .Levels County from April of this year to March of next year. - The Mackenzie County Council wrote soliciting the assistance of.. the Levels Council in getting the Railway Department to alter the time for the departure of the Fairlie train from Timnru. by starting it at 4 p.m. instead of 4.45 p.m. The Council decided to support the proposed alteration in the running of the train and to send a request to this effect to the Minister.

The "Waimate ' County Council forwarded a petition it had received from 45 ratepayers in the Lower Pareora riding asking for a traffic bridge across the Pareora. river at the Southburn crossing. It was said that there is a bridgej (the Upper Pareora bridge) within two miles of where the new one is &sked. for, but the surveyor said, that this bridge was just about done. After, a little discussion it was decided to hold the matter over in the meantime.

' 'lJie Cave Saleyards Company wrote -drawing attention, to the inconvenience 'to traffic caused by the open drain crossing the road leading to the sale yard and asking that the culvert be com-pleted.-^—Surveyor to report. The town clerk forwarded a plan of the - proposed formation of .part of the south town belt, which is a boundary road, and advised that the estimated cost of forming 40 chains, including necessary culverts, and sumps, was £IOB3 6s, half of which would be payable by the Levels Council. It was said that the work is quite unnecessary, and that the way it was, proposed to be done —at a cost of £25 a chain —was absurd. Mr Mahony said that so long as a clear road was maintained to the cemetery that should be sufficient, and before anything else was done the Borough Council should cut down the trees which shade the road at the south end of the park. On the motion of Mr Mahony, seconded by Mr Garrick, it was resolved that the Levels Council should notify the Borough Council that it; does not agree to ttie proposal to form the south town belt in the manner proposed. Mr Alex. Beck, Maori Hill, wrote stating that as a contractor of nearly b0 years' standing on both sides'of the globe, and a ratepayer in South Canterbury for over 30.' years, he .would like to ask a fen - questions re contracts. (1) Why did the Council set a time for starting contracts and then allow contractors to start weeks after the work should have been finished? (2) Why did the Council not cancel such contracts and call fresh tenders? (3) Did they think it fair that certain contractors should be allowed to hoard up contracts at their own sweet will ? (4) And was it fair to the ratepayers that these contractors were not made to lose their deposits ? The chairman said the Council conducted its business in the py it thought best, and he did not see that it was called upon to give explanationa to. letters of this sort. In. the particular- case under notice, the contractor referred to had worked for the Council for many, years and had taken up contracts when neither Mr Beck nor anyone/else would do so. From what lie ha-d • heard it appeared that Mr Beck and this particular contractor had fal-

len out, but the Council had nothing Ho do with that. The Council however, should see that contracts were not allowed to extend over an unreasonable time. . . Seven settlers m and around the Upper Limestone Valley petitioned the Council to expend another £4O in cutting down the hill and putting a good crossing over the creek at the foot of the hill. The member for the riding, Mr James Stewart, and the surveyor, Mr Black, had inspected the place and were agreed that the work was necessary.

It was shown that over £325 has already been spent on this road but it was decided that further work be done at a cost not to exceed £4O. WATER RACES.

A deputation consisting of Messrs G. L. Twentyman, J. Devon, R. Edgar, W. R. Clark, and P. Brosnahan, waited on the Council "to ask that a better, supply of water be given for their lands at Sea down. They explained that they got plenty of water in the early spring, late autumn, and oil through the winter 'but in the middle of summer when they wanted it most the races were always dry. This they attributed to the nature of the ground and the fact that there were holes in the race every here and there. -They had no fault to find with the Council's officials who did their best to keep a good supply of water, but for some reason it always stopped running in the summer, though they paid rates for it. The chairman said that- although the Council had charge of this race it was not really a county race, and the bylaws "distinctly stated that each property owner must look after his own race. The races were made by the Geraldine County Council aud the Levels Council simply took them over. The Council could not use the general coifnty funds on the race; aIL they cQuld spend was the rates they received from the races'. He thought it would •. have been far better had the Council been made responsible/in the first instance for looking after these races. The Council collected £159, from the water races, out of which they paid a ranger £l3O a year,'thus leaving only £29 a year for repairs. The rate struck was 2d, and they had power to strike up to 2Jd, but this would only bring in an additional £4O a year. He recognised that it was a serious thing and was anxious to do everything he possibly could, but it was a difficult matter "to know what to do, the land being rotten in parts so. that it) would not carry the water. The ranger was called in, and he suggested as a possible remedy, that the defective parts should be plugged up and filled in with a hard bottom by tramping 4 with a horse. There were holes in the race for a distance of 3J miles, from Arowhenua to Mr Twentyman's place. The more it was cleaned the worse it became. It was getting worse every year. A long discussion took place as to how to effect a remedy and finally it was agreed to try puddling the race (every man to do it) and the cliairman said that the Council would do this: It would insist on aU the races being thoroughly cleaned between now and next spring. If any man did not clean his race, the Council would put on men to do it and charge the property owner.

The deputation thanked the Council and retired.

The water race ranger reported tliat the supply was fairly satisfactory. The fresh in the river after the late rains had washed away one dam. The heavy wind of Sunday night blocked several places, but these had all been cleaned again. Mr D. Shaw, jun., Terauka, wrote asking to be given a better supply'of water to one of his paddocks. This would mean lengthening the race by about 10 chains in all, and the owner of his land (which was leased from Mrs Quinn) was willing to pay the cost up to a stated figure. The water race ranger approved of the alteration, and it was sanctioned, subject to the approval of the county surveyor. _ NOTICE TO CLEAR A ROAD. A motion was passed directing the surveyor to serve notice on the South Canterbury Dairy Company, in terms of the Public Works Act, to clear gorso and broom on the road at Maori Hill fronting the reserve, held by the Company. The surveyor said that there was work requiring to be done on this road, but it could not bo taken in, hand until the Dairy Company had cleared this obstruction. SURVEYOR'S REPORT.

The County Surveyor (Mr T. Black) reported on work done in the county during the month. . The heavy rain of last week had made a lot of repair work necessary. The various contracts in progress were reported on. Sugrue Bros, were making good progress with shingling contract on Hall's road. A Vincent had made all preparation for bis contract on tho back Limestone road. P. liooney was making fair progress with his earthwork contract at Salisbury, until delayed by rain. He had not yet commenced getting metal for road at Fairview Hill, but stated that he had arranged to get metal from a quarry in the vicinity, and when lie was ready to start lie found that the quarry owner and lie could not agree over the price of the metal. Since then however, he had made other arrangements for stone. The works to be reported oil, included a. footpath at College road. Full details were given and an estimate of cost this being between £IOO and £l5O. Mr F. \V. Merchant had pointed out that it Mould greatly benefit the Opilii Bridge Saleyards'if the decking received a good tarring and sanding. As the Geraldine County had a gang of men with the necessary appliances now carrying out this class of work, Mr Marchant offered to have it done. The willows of the protective fences at this bridge required topping. It was agreed that if Mr Rooney cannot satisfactorily show to the surveyorthat lie can obtain metal and start his contract before next meeting, his contract will be cancelled. Mr Mahony made a. further plea'for the formation of a footpath in College

road, emphasising the danger which existed there to sciiool children, and urging that it was only fair to give consideration to pedestrians as well as to vehicular traffic. It was a matter of urgency; children attending three 'schools travelled via this road, and the Council should not, in a matter of thisi sort, allow pounds, shillings and pence to stand in the way.—Mr Mee said he = did not think the expenditure would be justified, whereupon Mr Mahony expressed surprise as he said that College road carried a good deal, of traffic from Mr Mee's riding, and also from the Otipua riding. * Mr Mahony proposed that tenders be called for the work. Mr Garrick seconded pro form's', bub in being put to the vote Mr Mahony's hand was the only one held up in favour, and it was therefore declared lost. . . ' It was decided not to tar the Opijit bridge near the Point, iVTr expressing the opinion that tarring did no good, while it made the bridge slipr pery for horses. £ It was decided that in terms of tlie surveyor's report of January last, 66 chains of the main south road from J. rvmitVs Hill to the Three Bridge Flat, be re-metalled, the jnetal to be P ro ~ cured from the beach ivt the bottom of Ellis' road, where there are bti lders which are to be broken Ly the Gounoil's crusher. TENDKKS. For the erection of a bridge ft O. Blackler's, Hazelburn, the following tenders were received:—AV. IT. Tubb Mmber) £lOl lis 6d, i & "VY J ' Black (tinißer). • £133 ft* m i-oncrete. £U° 3s 6d (accepted). SMALL BIRDS. . ' , The Council decided to fi.v.e v.ntep. rates for the heads of small 'birds as from date, Accounts, amounting^ to were passed for payment, and the Council rose at 3 p.m. f