WAIPA BOUNTY COUNCIL.

Waikato Argus, Volume XIX, Issue 2980, 13 September 1905, Page 2

WAIPA BOUNTY COUNCIL.

fur; monthly meeting of the a hove was held yesterday at, Ohaupo There were present; Councillor,! Kndn-r IChair-i man), Ryburn, Allen, Steele, MeKmder, Kullerton, Viekera, aud JlidJ. The Supervisor's, lep/ft. via a read a:! follow;! ; It. is very s.af.iela.et.ui / t.u be able to report, that, ov/irig t.u the exceptionally fine season our roade are much better than in usually I.he elite at I.hi--, time uf . the year. Mxeeptieg minor repair;, I hut. little road work in,■: been dune 1 through the past month. Goodwin baa ; made good progress with bis contract [ for construction of the RjMe Range \ Road, near Krankton, and a go-si bit of work has been done in trie neighbourhood of Krankton itself, fourteen : chain swamp drain : 'ln I hr Kith of last j month Messrs Steele, Kullerton. and ' myself met Mr McCarthy at Krankton > an'l together inspected the •■•.it/; of the proposed gravelpit at liitiedaU-.’n bridge and also the new outlet, dram at the 1t chain swamp, which I reported last month as having been blocked Regarding the sandpit it, was agreed that Mr McCarthy should submit, a written offer, and his letter voll be read later on. Regarding the drain, we went down to the bottom end, where it. con nccts with the old “ 1! ” drain, and the fall at the lower end of the new drain is very good indeed, so much so that five chains up from where it, starts the water is flowing freely along the bottom of tin; drain, so that there in not much danger of silting up. Indeed, so tar as this drain is concerned it answers the council’s purpose nearly as well as if it had been carried on as at first proposed. What it does not do is that it does not improve matters at all so far us the B drain is concerned, whereas had it been carried on as at first proposed it would have given a proper outlet to the creek for both drains. Still it appeared to us that Mr McCarthy had done all that was practicable under the circumstances, and the land through which the extension would have passed having now changed hands, we think that the fairest way would be to arrange the business by paying the promised contribution in part, and we recommend that a sum of XSO be paid to Mr McCarthy.—Oam-bridgo-Rangiaohia road: Regarding the work suggested by Mr Storey last month, I have been over the road with Mr Storey, and there can be no doubt that the proposed work would be an improvement. Its principal effect would be to throw the line of traffic further away from the edge of the drain. On certain parts of the road a lot of stuff was thrown up in the endeavour to extinguish the fires last summer, and this should certainly be removed. The length of the road on Storey’s boundary is between 70 and SO chains, and I do not think the work could be properly done much under (is per chain, or, say, X 22 10s for the whole job. The larger part of the work would be in the Kangiaohia riding, and the balance in Pukekura.— Burnt clay as metal: The information I have been able so far to gather goes to confirm what I have previously stated as to the usefulness of the material. As to the question of cost I would like to get further information. The cost of coal slack is 2s per ton on the truck at Huntly, and the freight to Prankton is 2s 9d per ton. The average cost of carting from the station out to the road might bo set down at Is, thus bringing the cost of fuel on the ground up to 8s Od per ton. It is estimated that 10 tons of coal would burn 100 cubic yards of clay, and upon this assumption the cost should be about as follows :—For 100 cubic yards of burnt clay, 10 tons coal slack at 8s 9d, £4 7s Gd; quarrying 100 yards at 9d, .£3 15s ; carting and spreading at 15d, XG ss—total, Xl 47s 6d; equal to 2s lOid per yard laid upon the road, say 3s. It might, however, be worth considering whether it would not be better, before entering upon the experiment, for me to go and see for myself in some of those districts which have already had actual experience.— Old Mill Culvert, Paterangi: As yet nothing has been done in the matter of replacing this culvert, and the work ought to be shortly taken in hand. I would like some intimation from the Council as to whether they are willing to have a permanent structure put in, supposing the cost does not exceed Xl5O. Alexandra Bridge : Shortly after last meeting the contractor for erection finished his job and I passed the work, which I consider has been successfully and faithfully carried out.— Re employment of road grader: As instructed at last meeting, I have looked into this matter, and unfortunately it seems to be mainly one of finance. Several of the riding accounts are already overdrawn, and others have contracted liabilities that will soon make them so. Not only this, but it must be borne in mind that, unlike previous years, the bridges account will this year be considerably over-

spent, as we have not only the Alexandra bridge expenditure, but an unusual number of the county bridges are recquiring repairs this year. The most important works which I think it would be desirable to do with the machine, if it is thought that funds will allow, areasfollow :—Tuhikaramea Riding; About two miles of re-forming on the road between Tuhikaramea and Whatawhata. The cost 1 estimate at 3s per chain, .£24. The riding has now a credit balance of £77 12s Sd, and the only prospective liability, so far as I know, is in connection with acquiring the proposed deviation on the Tuhi-karamea-Hamilton road. Mangapiko Riding: There is something over a mile of re-forming required on the road between Ohaupo and Paterangi; a good deal of the road between Paterangi and the Ngaroto railway station would be the better for re-forming, and several places on the Low road require repairs which could be done to advantage with the machine if it wore in the neighbourhood. Towards the end of the season much good might be done by scraping in the sand on this road. I estimate the cost of the above works on riding roads at .£27, and on the district roads .£lB. The riding has now a credit balance of £254 5s Id. The Mangapiko Outlying District has a credit of X 239 15s 3d. Against this must bo set the cost of renewal of the culvert at the Old Mill and also the .£IOO to ho contributed to the cost of the Alexandra bridge. Kaugiaohia Riding: 1 think itvould be good economy if a side track wore levelled wherever practicable on the road between the railway station and Kihikihi, along that part between the station and Te Awamutu. Now that the centre of the road is metalled it would be a groat convenience to have a good side track for summer use. Further on, in some parts where the traffic takes the side road in wintoi, it could be much improved if levelled with the machine ; also a certain portion of the grading required in connection with the loan works might be done advantageously with the grader. Then, again, there are certain parts of the road between Te Awamutu aud Ohaupo which badly require re-forming. In connection with this road, Mr Turney tells me that if the council will again call tenders for cutting down the hill near the top of the Lake Road, he will himself give a tender for the work failing any other offer. Owing to the heavy expenditure in metalling the Te Awamutu-Station Road the riding is in a bad position, the. account being at present XU2 lus 10d overspent. Against this there are refunds amounting to £249 due, so that the real indebtedness at present is XI3 10s lOd, There is, however, about XlO still to bo paid for limestone, Xl2 10s proposed to be spent as per Mr Storey’s suggestion on the Cambridge Road, and about the same amount on necessary repairs on the same road ; cost of hill near Luke Road (if done), X3O. Pukokum Riding : The road between Rangiaohia and Cambridge near the Rotorangi station badly wants reforming, and this is about the only machine work urgently required in this riding so tar as I am aware. The riding account is overspent X 37 IDs Bd. The bridge upon the Ohaupo-llamiltou road near “ Lochiol ” must he either rebuilt or extensively repaired; 1 estimate the cost of rebuilding at £293, and repairing at X 54. Kstimatod cost of

work suggested by Mr Sotrey, XII 10s. Also, there is a sum of X 7 or XH duo to the Pukekura Hoad Hoard for repairs to Putney Hoad.-—Hamilton Hiding : I do not suggest any re-tormiug with the machine, unless it is the work already authorised to be done on Carey’s Hoad, which is an outlying district road, The

riding has a credit balance of £Hi Is lid. and tin: outlying district a credit, of Jj|i;2 I Is. The work aow going on in ilio neighbourhood of Krankton will take most of the money. —Newcastle Riding : 1 do not think much re-form-ing recoiled in the riding, but good woik could be done towards the end of the season scraping in sand. The riding has a credit balance of XM 5s ad. Tnere is, however, a considerable prospective liability in connection with the drain on the " 1 f-chain swamp,” llarn/lt/m-Whatav/hata road, {it should be borne in mind that in the various balances given above, accounts to be (and at, to day's meeting are not incl u 11’/1 j. J he report was adopted. a ■; xa* r io.o or iiounoaries. ,Vlr (,ar.g, .’<l 11 It., wrote acknowledging receipt, of letter of f tth August re a I .■ ration of Waipa County boundary, an i stated that, he immediately brought the matter under the notice of the Co -.r.iai ileeret.ary and the department, f. nde.r bate August 30th Mr Lang again ■■ -r,v, cn/.losing a letter from Sir J. G. Ward acs-novrledging receipt of ststing that, the Waipa County Counci#® desire that a portion of the County or n West 1 au[,o may he included in the '■Vaipa County, and asking whether under the circumstances the West Taupe County is excepted from the o (/-.rations of the Counties Acts; w nether a. Commission can be appointed by the Government to arrange a boundary between those counties, or whether the alteration can only be effected by legislation. In reply Sir Joseph wrote that legislation would be required in order to alter the boundaries between the counties. A further letter was received from Mr Lang stating that if the Council would furnish him with the description of the boundaries of the portion they want to be included in Waipa County he will do his best to induce the Colonial Secretary to either place a clause in the Counties Act to meet the case, or introduce a special Bill.

The Chairman said that the boundaries should be defined by Commission and then legislation introduced.

On. the motion of Cr. Steele it was decided to apply for a Commission to arrange preliminaries and fix the boundaries, and to suggest that Mr Ken- , sington be one of the Commissioners, and that the sittings be held at Kihikihi and Cambridge. HANOI AO HIA BIDING LOAN. ' The Auditor-General wrote regarding the loan of .£IOOO that he did not feel justified in consenting to the pay- ; mont of the interest out of the general | fund. —Letter received, and to be sent ( to Mr Lang to ask the Minister for his reasons. HAMILTON TRAFFIC BRIDGE. [ A letter was received from the Town , Clerk, Hamilton, stating that the . Borough Council had determined to , erect a traffic bridge across the Wair kato River, and asking whether the Council will be prepared to contribute - towards the cost thereof by guarantee- > ing one-fourth of the annual interest on [ the loan proposed to be raised, viz., . £ IF,OOO. An application had been , made to the Government for £ for £ , subsidy. If granted this would reduce f the contributions of local bodies. f The Chairman thought the Waipa . County should not be liable for oner fourth. He thought the local bodies on , the east side of the river derived most advantage, and should contribute more. 5 That principle had been acted upon in ; other cases. He suggested that atten- ! tiou be called to Clause 133, and that the Borough Council be asked to com- [ pile a list of the bodies interested.— [ Agreed to. 1 kihikihi-te awamutu road. : The Treasury Department wrote that : the special order making the special > rate for payment of interest on the . £IOOO loan for metalling this road had ) been gazetted.—Letter received. . rating value. 1 Messrs Wynward and Purcbas wrote * asking whether their client, Mr John • Dolbell, of Paterangi, would pay rates ■ on the old or the new valuation. 1 It was decided to reply to the effect ■ thst the Council can only rate on the ; new valuation. DRAIN CLEANING. Mr Robert Crickett, of Eotorangi, - asked the Council to do some drain 1 ■ cleaning near his property, and stated ! 1 his willingness to do half the work. i The whole length of the drain was 45 ■ chains, and it would cost about £9. — To be informed that the Council has no ' money to spend on such work. ■ j Willoughby’s bridge. I Mr T. A. Alexander wrote protesting 1 against the proposed footbridge at Willoughby’s bridge, stating that it would be more or less useless to settlers. , He suggested that the vehicular bridge be put in order instead, and remarked that Cr. Steele had said he had interviewed all the settlers in the vicinity, but he had not seen him, and the bridge was near his property.—lt was decided not to do the work. ROAD AT BACON FACTORY. The manager of the Waikato Bacon Factory wrote asking to be allowed to open the road near the railway gate, opposite the factory, to take waterpipes across and along the north side of the Hamilton-Whatawhata road for about 100 yards.—Referred to Supervisor to report. ROAD METAL. The Railway Department wrote with reference to a letter of the 2oth ult. asking for a reduction in the freight on road metal, for better facilities for the supply of trucks, and an alteration of an existing siding. In reply it was painted out that the road metal for local bodies is already carried at halfrates, and the present rate could not be reduced; that the concession was granted subject to the material being carried at the convenience of the department ; the matter of the siding is under consideration, and advice will be forwarded later. Messrs P. W. Lang, W. H. Herries and W. T. Jennings, M’s.H.E., wrote stating that they would support the application.—This they had done, and the thanks of the council was accorded them. The chairman thought that the Railway Department had made a mistake. CAMBRIDGE BRIDGE. The Cambridge Borough Council wrote replying to the previous letter, stating that the Cambridge Borough Council referred only to the transference of the control of the bridge over the IN aikato at Cambridge from the Waipa County to the Cambridge Borough ; also advising that the plans for the high-level bridge had been approved of and that tenders are being called for its erection.—Letter received. Constable McNamara is to be asked to enforce the by-laws referring to the Cambridge bridge. REFUND OF RATES. 1 he 1 uhikaramea Road Board pointed out that that portion of the Tuhikaramea Road District known as Wellington’s property had been included by mistake in the Hamilton Eidinowhen valued some two years ago. This had now been corrected by the Government valuer, but the board asked for a refund of the rates for the last two years. !t was decided that £5 8 S id be transferred from the Hamilton to the Tuhikaramea Koad Board. ° I‘IRONGIA BRIDGE. It was decided to open the PironHa bridge with some ceremony on the 2/tn inst. ROAD MACHINE. The Supervisor reported that Mr booth had given notice that ho would not work the- machine any more, and that ho had offered the job to Mr Mawlnnney at £<) per week for tho services of himself, a man able to plough and four horses. HAMILTON TRAFFIC BRIDGE, It was decided to pay the borough’s claim for the maintenance of this bridge, provided the clerk to the counoil certifies to it as correct. ACCOUNTS. The following accounts were passed tor payment:—G. Teasdale, H. Schneider 10s, Thompson Bros. £2 12s Waikato Argus £5 17s 9d, W. m’ Howe £6 5s (3d, T. 11, Hinton £3 4s Od, A. l-’orkert Ss, ,1. Hammond 7s 6d H. Booth £2 10s, A. 0. Hluok £1 4s (3d. R. Vou less £23 ss, Ellis and Burnand .bills Bd, L. Cowley £3 Us 6d, J. F. Goodwin £3O, G. Miles £l3 7a lid, by grove £2 12s 3d. T. Bainbridge Ss (id. Hospital Board £IOB, Burns and Co. £SO Os Od,