TUAPEKA COUNTY COUNCIL.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1162, 15 July 1885, Page 5

TUAPEKA COUNTY COUNCIL.

The following is a more extended outline of some of the business (summarised in our Saturday's issue) transacted at the last monthly meeting of the abovenamed body :— Mr*Michaetfasked l^the Ohkkmari had*' Igstrilcte'd 'liro'^rMemeH m*-@abriels^ Riding, tpwork at the. bridge at Hopkins' cro^ibg.' 'He> ribWcedt J jjhree surfacemen^ and two draymebemployedat the (bridge. The Chairman intimated that when calling for tenders the protection of the earthwork was-omitted,_and.ihe surfacemen were engaged at the bridge securing the earthwork in case of flood. THE DAY-IiABOR QUESTION. Mr/ottdaille)safdlnWnotice\i jrilthe last , -month's return that in some of the Ridings £60 and £70 was put down for day-labor. Despite the efforts of Councillors, day-laborers were being constantly employed. He did not know whether the Chairman or Engineer was to blame. After the Works Committee passed a resolution that a certain number of surfacemen were to be employed, it was really too bad that such a state of things was alfowed to pass unnoticed. He asked the Chairman for an. explanation.^ j The (Jhairman f rei)liepthat'a few extra men w6re employed in fixing the new wire-roTOS?t < ;the/Roxßurgh ? punt,|and&l.so't for removing some slips above but bejybnd these, which -were , works of necessity/no ei^jmett'weE6 employed.,.,:; Mr ©ndaille^eraming) asked, %tHhe day-laoor returnnf or Jast month belaid on the table.;,, On the production^ of the-4re-turn, l^r .Oudaille pointed out that eleven surfacemen wefeput" down against. James - Riding^ If these works were to be dpney they should be tendered| I .for^iri. l^rm£(?p i f resolution, otherwise/^eachQ Councillor would be. resorting to tfiis obnoxious style of doibg^'^things. HeS,askfd that the Engineer jjbe called ia**to explain why these extra surfacemenjwere^employedin James Riding. [TherEngine^r stated that extra men" had to be/employed to put the road in passable 'order at Matheson's corner. .The Riding, was a very. extensive one, and the mentioned was" one- "of urgent^ necessity.] v TheVe was another item B|r, pudaffle noticed which required some e^fflanation — i.e., £50 for gravelling in Waipori Ridingl He never voted againsfN^rks being done if done in a legitimatc^ray. The expenditure referred to in wafpori Riding, he maintained, was not authorised by tb.e"Work's/ Committee. There were othei^mpre important works than thisAhat were allowed to stand over.. He disajtooved; of .works being done in this; way, wfien] the Council expressly resolved that anyJwork exceeding : '£lo be tendered for. J) \ '-. 1-^ . ; The @hairlnan3aid.that.he was assured, by themsmber for the Riding arid the Enginee^Biat tfie'wofk was passed to be' Mr Gjqtton sAtated'that, the gravelling done was merejyjn bad places and not a continud^B wbrk, arid it wasSdone at a cost offaMutVlOjs^pet^hain. The^jrorF was passecrto^Be'done a4ong time ago>--^to^hatrman— remarked -that it was stated by Mr Cotton and .the Engineer that the work wpuld,be done cheaper s by the daymen. 1 At* "'"' '/' 1 \" : :" Mr maintained that the Chairman had x nb 'right to -deviate, from. regular" rougne. *^9e (the Chairman) was ' there to carry out the instructions of .the Council. He (Mr Oudaille) wanted to get a small work done, at accost of r £2^ which was passed by theJWprks .Cbm^ mittee, but it had not been undertakenye't;'.\\\\.'> ' \'IV v.- i\'\' "' . •' Mr Michael, said he felt .aggrieved because the surfacemen were'shifted about filling, in holes,. <&c, which 'neither the Cnairman nqr^Cpuncillors knew anything about. . He^tijbngly disapproved of works being* clone out of the Usual routine. .' p ~iS3IEWIT TO ROXBURGH. ! Mr Smith (member for Teviot Riding), in moving that the Council request the G/overnment to extend the railway to' Roxburgh, and that Messrs Brown and ijyke, M.H.R.S, be asked to do all ffoey; can in the matter, said the^maintenance of the mam£»r^!r^vrbad* wW% : large ■itetn^ railwayTas communication \nth the Jeabord was absolutely necess&ry^ v? iSo f:: a£t6' get a market for the settlers' produce. B[e . considered it was partly* thd fluty of the" Oouncijitojassis.t'the ratepayers, #10 tfoned^tnOTTie^as rejguestedat' a T fiuttic. aleeting held at RSxWurgh*lo r brnigAtHe^ matter <beloce^ Ooujflcil r and,he Jtruated. ; JMr Benn^iJxorfcfedHhe':mojtion;rfHej said that recently 10,000 acres of land naT l 'Be J en**ttffswlß" spen"for"'application along the intended route of the proposed "t^r^layton saicl that some yews a^bjhe m,«itioned arid advocated the cgnensibri of thprailway to Roxburgh with the /then pMpriptor o^thiß; TjaAPjaA TMBS^Jut ti^gentlemli coulTnotßee that it would benefit Lawrence,, but thought it .would haS eo^ary'M^- ,fhe mat%fiad Ijeeij advogj^ v^ngfy;^%at : Ot tunp, ; TAeuAWPnesswjij rwimtoteViteißßf *»<■ hjafcia dQUtfy »^cUutre beoaanadßT «nUJ itwou^dhave been a great boon to the woula be 01 immense uen^fij;K*Qothe County.iti<BEex»ensiyftsUnej wauiJWßt) neeeßsary r -l>ata.railway..was l essejnual to intLttCß s^BSr 'The valley, of -,£Eel Molyneax3Masc»ery terfciie, and/.the jwil

remarkably rich. He would prefer thi line being extended from Lawrence. Mr Smith said that the people wen so anxious for a railway that they preferred leaving the route to the Governmen engineers to decide. If the line were extended from Lawrence, although it may not pass directly through many thousand acres of agricultural land, there were thousands of acres of good agricultural The motion was put and carried

The Chairman Haid that the Council . would require to consider about calling foe ' applications for an Engineer. Since lasn i meeting of the Council, he had sent a letter to each Councillor, accompanied byj a copy of an advertisement calling for ap-' plipjrtidns for an engineer i Sufttelufr, JaM . nosed^pubtishing if the Councillors were Mr Oudaille thought the Council) had considered this matter before dia-; pertring^i^jthe^^in^er'a services, and that It was purely on the score of economy! that the new arrangement was being! made. He failed to see where the saving would be effected. He considered that £200 for an inspector was ho much money wasted. It had been tried before, and the put , a man. beyond the reach of temptaitib'nl^^Tlle'PbuncircWuld riot 'possibly get' ]ofae)man. <,tp> $$tb,e ityork. satisfactorily, because 1 where masonry work was being done, a man required to be there all the .time to see_that_the proper materials were used. The engineer could visit the works occasionally. Mr Fraser was in favor of applications for, >thei]osce -,gf '! engineer, surveyor, and inspector combined. Me M'Farlane favored the idea of an, inspector being appointed to carry out! the works, and a surveyor and engineer to; prepare plans and specifications. Mr Oudaille asked if it had been considered whether or not it would be cheaper; to have the work done at a fixed salary or; on commission. _, The Chairman remarked that i£ was for the Council to "suggests Hef&cn&idered: the advertisement met' the caseX 1 * ; v Mr Michsfel thought, that the matter! be carefully thought over by a fulUCotiflcU. Tv \} C\J it V s i tMixClayton ajsid. ,thereJw,oul4 bp a considerable saying in not combining the, [offices of- ; inspect and; engineer, as "probably before many months the CouncU would have but, little money to expend, and .could do without the sejfvjces of an ■engineer. The present position 1 of thei Council showed that- the revenue c was all required to meet existing liabilities, which , amounted" to something .between' £7000 j "aha" £8000. Theyjdid not want to be paying a high salary' for "an official to be' walking about' with . Mb.. hai|dß yin his pockets for the. want of something to do. His own opinion' w£s that the pouncii j could afford toiabse. the establishment for , the next 12 , 0r 18 months.,. The? require- 1 monts; of [{he 'ratepayers were increasing, and the funds were, decreasing. Jj Mr "{Smith, suggested' that applications be called for the offices separately and coin bine'd/ whicH'was agreed to. \ % ' MrjFrasfcr adked if r any arrangements; had bqeh- made for carrsfing/6n the works , during the present trio'nffi. ' He,said there were,,twq works, in -Clarks Riding which required' to ] be ", pushed ahea'dJ \£i the services -of the," Engineer "wpre retained for the' present montii, thesel works could be gone on with, and other works s now in hand could be.. completed.' : TheVe^ would be £2;soo available unde,r the "Rjoacls and Bridges ".Construction Act " Ky next meeting, plains for which could be prepared at .<Jpfl.ee .and.tJiejyork^.Qp.ujd be'gp.qe oA with ; .or, if not, the work would be delayed for a month or two[, He considered the action taken ,bv.|he Co.uncilat la^fmeeting was rather, hasty;. ,;Htf thmight 11 a matter of the:: kind should* be done more systematically, which would give greater satisfaction^ito, the 'ratepayers^ Some works could oe done better in Hhe winter time than in the summer. The road deviation through Livingston and Cameron's land ceuld be gone on with at once. .He believed the plan, were ready/ , *-$ , i The Engineer/ who was called" in/ said that plans were prepared in 1 terms of the Act, v but the working <plans ;were not prepared. Mr said that, under these circumstances, he would move: "That wthe;EngiiMer be asked to retain office till jxext meeting, as there was a lot of work to be, finished.'' -Thergwas £800,,0r £900 of deferred-payment money to be expended on Run 106 ; the plans of works could be got ready,' and it would be a great advantage to the ratepayers. ( ' ' Mr Oudaille seconded the motion with pleasure. He was not opposed to^ the Engineer's dismissal if the Council" diß- , missed him after due consideration, And on the score of economy ; but he failed to .see what saving was likely to be effected ? when the Council so liberally gave Mr : Slaaill £75 in addition to his salary to : part with him. Mr Snaaill had been in th'9*empj[byni)f4the Council eighfc'yeara, and .had; unUt^egentlyMbe^ womsejl as a 'first-class'Mngineer f but *au at once the ;' t,Cp"unJSlTdeci.df to dispense with him, because, he (the speaker) supposed, he did : inbfc please v aoirie<one.' : It had been aaid that,the t Engineer t^as toOi elahorate with , 'his % plans, but he iieserved.credit for the substantial my in- 'which He^<krried out he (Mr Oudaijle) , n was member^ qf , Jlie wotdd " flupport permanent 'works/ •^feftbelieted I \hjL doing little it well. He could not "see why the Engineer could (be far astray with his- plans, as under xhe "Roads and Bridges Construction A"ct" jlud no^ ty IE s in justijficatlbn of rawderedjxhe \k incil did a wrong j thins uve^Eid at least three monMs' that lie coulAy have looked; ;joiut gmr angler (appointment. He beliSved I seeing the finances were so low. k ?^r £ Wayton_. i giq.;,not coincide with th e ; rSl^^?4^AYipUS-flpe<kerfti i ddhie. member f orJ^lStf^tuj^a J ,Mtt'aiithol:ity:a¥l6 what the Council should do. The ratepayers^ ,wdr,evth& pwtiw^o done" he was quite willmg to iwCvew^TOem i itosSle^deßffceiher heAad done right or .wrong. j^atevej^e^dj^^wajj.~don«tdßi~ ntn^iaterest oi {the' fatepaVersj Regretted very>muo^tnat ha^hM' to tfpea'k

on this matter, but he contended thu Council did wrong, in granting the Engi neer £75 alter dismissing him. The £71 was given him because certain plans foi had to be sent .to Government the end of June, ai?d the Engineer! M^luiektfto get them ready unless the £75 j*as grisSted. He considered if many a "man hid held the that Mr Smaill 3^<siiiiie> he)#p^ld^hjftve'perforrijed the, •Work referred' tb'wlthout' payment^ 'seeing! ithe position the Council was in. ' He did; not see any harshness in the way Mr! Smaill had been dealt with. He accepted his position under the County tbye-laws; which |proyide that a month's .notice be given in case of dismissal. ' • ."MrFraser said, in justice to the rate-i payers, he hoped the Council would not' ■go agaihst his motion. ' ",'The Chairman put the motion, whiehi was declared , ;