STREETS IMPROVEMENT

Waipa Post, Volume XXIV, Issue 1691, 26 November 1925, Page 5

STREETS IMPROVEMENT

EXPENDITURE OF XOAN MONEYS. AN INFORMATIVE REPORT. At the meeting of the Te Awanmtu Borough Council a fortnight ago Cr J. C. Montefiore found occasion to criticise the engineering department for an alleged failure to show councillors, and especially himself as a member of the works committee, figures bearing on the progress of expending the streets improvement loan of £40,000, authorised by the ratepayers. The engineer replied that the figures were always available to councillors, showing the allocation and expenditure on each street. At last Monday’s meeting of the Council the tabulated statement prepared by the engineer was submitted, in his regular report, and we give the extract for general information. It is as follows: (Attached is a statement showing the progress of the expenditure of the streets loan votes. Each street for which any funds are provided is mentioned in the list in alphabetical order, together with the amount voted, and the expenditure to date. Any councillor interested in the progress of the expenditure on any particular work may visit the treasurer’s office and 9ee the figures go up like the figures on a totalisator board, sometimes fast and sometimes slow, according to the /Council's orders. There is thus no need for anyone to be in ignorance of the Council’s finances. On the other hand, the Council will always be warned before the event in any case where the vote is hopelessly inadequate, as in the case of Puniu road. The work will not be started until the Council is properly advised where it is financially. In estimating costs now metal may be taken as averaging about 16s per yard, against 22s per yard last year, so that things are brightening considerably:-

It will be noted that Mr McCurdie has tagged Cemetery Road and Hairini Road as having seceded from the borough control, being in the area transferred to Waipa county control as from Ist April, 1925. It had been proposed to expend £2427 18s on "these thoroughfares. Apparently he has omitted to similarly tag Ohaupo Road, for that also is in the area transferred. .Expenditure on that road was authorised to total £1458, thus bringing the aggregate for the three roads to £3SBS 18s 6d, not one penny of which has, for reasons quite clear, been spent by the borough. An arrangement has been come to by which the Waipa County Council will administer the expenditure necessary to make these roads a great deal better than they have been for years—a consummation that all users of the roads named hope will not be long delayed. Excluding the three roads referred to, there are ten roads or streets in the borough area that have so far had no expenditure of loan money upon them. They are: 'College, Herbert, Jackson, Laurie, Upper and Lower Mutu, Pakura, Redoubt, and Tawliiao Streets and Park Road. Some of the streets already attended to have had almost their whole allocation expended. Arawata Street apparently has exactly still £IOO available; Carlton and Mandeno Streets (which for construction purposes are combined) have had within £6O of their allocation expended. The full allocation for George Street has been spent. Mangapiko Street will still have about £l7is available for expenditure. Young Street, it may be noted, is the only thoroughfare where expenditure has “ over-run the constable,” for there between £7 and £8 more than the allocation has been expended. To date the expenditure of loan moneys in various parts of the borough has been £10,806 7s Sd. A good deal of preparatory work has already been done in the two sections of Sloane Street, at an outlay of £1372, and there is yet approximately £1450 to be expended there. It will be of interest to more than councillors to note the figures presented from time to time—'figures that the engineer says will “go up like the figures on a totalisator board, sometimes fast and sometimes slow, according to the Council’s orders.”

Expended ■Street. Authority. to Nov. 14. £ s d £ s d Alexandra .. 2572 6 0 1304 3 3 Arawata .. . 2262 11 0 2162 11 0 Brady 497 18 0 23 17 11 Carlton a n d Mandeno .. 1399 17 6 1340 1 10 ■Cemetery (seceded) .... 1170 15 0 College .... 1566 s ■6 George 1211 14 0 1211 14 0 Goodfellow .. 861 14 0 482 16 2 Hairini ( s e - ceded) .... 1257 3 0 Herbert .... 101 9 0 Jackson .... 175 1 0 Kihikihi .... 3528 18 6 ICS CO 16 5 Laurie 236 5 0 Mahoe 1984 12 0 1 4 5 ■Mangapiko .. 9S5 .1 0 809 13 2 Market 616 17 0 60 4 0 Mutu (lower) 472 4 6 Mutu (upper) 2574 1 0 Ohaupo ... 1397 2 0 Pakura .... 1458 0 6 Park 139 5 3 6 Pirongia ... 271.1 15 0 6 10 11 Puniu & Bank 333S 15 0 347 14 0 Rallies' lAv’nu’ '201 18 6 60 7 9 Redoubt .... 453 18 0 Roche '763 3 0 65 11 7 •Sloane No. 1 1829 18 0 774 9 1 Sloane No. 2 997 2 6 597 16 8 Tawhiao .. . 720 6 0 Teasdale .. • 2061 4 0 99 5 2 Young 964 14 0 972 10 4