RANGITIKEI COUNTY COUNCIL

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXII, Issue 19478, 22 December 1925, Page 5

RANGITIKEI COUNTY COUNCIL

MONTHLY MEETING. The monthly meeting of the Rangiti- ; koi County Council was held on Satur- ■ day. Present: Crs A. G. Simpson i (chairman), A. Stuart, K. W. Dalrymple, J. Brice, A. S. Coleman, and G. E. Anderson. Leave of absence was granted Crs. Belk, Pedersen and Dali ziell and Doole. Address Unknown. The Health Department wrote asking the Council to servo notice on the owners of Wharepu No. 3, Tiniwaitara, to demolish a building occupied as a dwelling on the property, that the Department is to be informed that the Council is unable to locate the owners. Lorry License Fees. The Wanganui City Council wrote concerning the distribution of motor lorry license fees and forwarded a cheque for £1265 Is sd, being the Council’s share of collections returned to the Wanganui County Council to September 30, 1925. Works and Loans. The Public Trustee advised the payment of £lOOO on account of the loan of £4OOO, Erewhon Riding, and stated that the loan of £3OO, 10 per cent, additional on the loan of £3OOO for Ohaumoko Road, and £2500 for Vinegar Hill bridge would be considered. The Public Works Department advised the payment of grants, Erewhon bridge £9 16s, and Alauhuhu Road £25. The Public Works Department sent authority for a grant of £2500 (£1 for £1) for the Rangitikei bridge at Alatawhero crossing. The Main Highways Board wrote stating that the Council’s application to have the Turakina to Cliff Road declared a main highway would be considered next year. The Hawke’s Bay County Council wrote stating that it had been in communication with the Public Works Department as to a grant towards the cost of Kuripapango bridge, and that a grant of £2OO (£1 for £1) had been I paid. Property on Offer. The .Marton Methodist Church trustees offered for sale land and building at Upper Tutaeuni for £6O, reserving the right to remove the pulpit and all moveable furnishing. The Council decided to leave the matter in the hands of Crs. Coleman and Simpson and the overseer. Dates for meetings in 1926 were fixed as follows: Thursday, January 28; Thursday, March 4: Friday. April 9; Thursday, May 6; June .10. July 8, August 5, September 9, October 7, November 4, December 2 and December 20 or 21. Fees and Kates. Dog registration fees were fixed as follows: —For all dogs used exclusively for the purpose of herding sheep or cattle, or for destroying rabbits, 2s 6d per dog; for all other dogs, 10s each. Mr Harold A. Truman, of Taihape, and Mr Richard Dukuson, of Hunterville, were appointed regi. trars.

The Council intends to make an additional charge of 10 per cent, on all rates unpaid after six months and fourteen days from date of demand. Half-Holiday. Wednesday was declared the statutory half-holiday for the county. Turakina Matters. A deputation from Turakina, Messrs Glasgow, Johnston and Sim, waited on ! the Council. Air Johnston asked that | a committee have control of the Town Hall, which was not in a good state, i They were prepared, if allowed certain ! control, to raise funds for improve- , ment. ■ Cr. Stuart is to confer with regard to the appointment of a committee, which will be expected to pay a small rental, expend surplus funds on the hall and keep it. insured. .Mr Sim asked that a committee be permitted to control the Public Library, which residents have brought up-to-date. It was decided to allow the committee to have the use of the building free of charge, subject to lhe committee insuring it in the Council’s name. On the motion of Cr. Stuart the Council decided to apply to have vested iu it an old courthouse at Turakina. General. The Registrar of Motor Vehicles sent advice that the number plates for next year will be white figures on a black background. Public Trustee reported that interest allowed on sinking funds had been increased by I per cent. Messrs A. Bennie and C. Brickland applied for a lease of a reserve at Ohuto. Cr. Belk was asked to deal with the matter. Mr W. McA. Duncan was granted permission to erect a private telephone from Mataroa to Ruanui. The Council decided to support the Wanganui Hospital Board in effecting economy in hospital administration as indicated by the Director-General of Health. Finance. The treasurer reported that the debit balance after the previous meeting was £20,412, and the amount paid during I the month £1404 18s, making a total of £21,817 13s 4d. The receipts during the month were £3535 18s 3d. That day’s payments were £4176 10s, leaving a debit balance of £22,457 .17s. ENGINEER’S REPORT. Mr Mair reported:— Rangitira Riding.—No. 1 grader has trimmed up Rata-Huntcrville Road. Si I verhope roads are being dressed with line metal and grit from Kakariki, and metal repairs are in hand on Aidworth Road. Wangaehu Riding.—Good profgress is being made with Ohaumoko formation contract. The first H miles has been completed. Proposals for rebuilding Wangaehu River Bridge at Kaungaroa have been approved by the Public Works Department. Copies are now being lodged to obtain a Government warrant to proceed with the work. Ngaruru tunnel has been completed and water turned through. The > contractor lias commenced filling in the ' old stream bed. Washouts on Manga hoe and Turakina River Road have been timbered up. Shell-rock repairs on River Road will be carried out after the New Year. Otairi Riding.—No. 1 grader has trimmed up roads around Otairi. Fair progress has been made with the roller, trimming and remetalling Vinegar Hili Road. It is expected to finish this work soon after the New Year.»; Heavy wool lorries have broken one of the

.main transoms on the Vinegar Hill I Bridge and rendered the structure danIgerous. Notices have been posted on | the bridge limiting the gross loads to i three tons. This should be confirmed 'by resolution of the Council and advertised. Street drains in Ohingaiti township have been cleaned out. I Te Kapua Riding.—No. 1 grader has [completed trimming up roads around • Pukeroa and Pohonui. Good progress has been made with Pukeroa metalling contract. About a mile at lhe top has been completed. Fair progress has been made with metalling at Papanui. This work should be completed by the end > of January. It is then proposed to roll it down with the wide-tired drays used iat Ruanui. L | Ruanui Riding.—The stock paddock '! at Ruanui has been fenced. No. 2 grader has completed trimming Hihi- • tahi-Oaea Roads. Kakariki ballast, has been dumped at Hihitahi for backloading by sawmill lorries. Owhakura, > Koukoupo and Kaimatawi Roads have ■ been rolled satisfactorily with the i wide-tired drays. > Erewhon Riding.—Fair progress has I been made with the Rangitikei River > Bridge at Matawhero. The contractors have made a good start metalling on Tutupapa Road, Pukeokahu. Reforming Tarawarau Cutting has been completed by No. 3 grader, which has now returned to Moawhango. Saw1 millers have commenced repair mctal--1 ling on Wainui Road. Awarua Riding. Widening and 1 metalling of Foley’s corner has been completed. Corners are being widened on Puhirua Road South. UtikuTaihape Main Road is being top-dressed I with Kakariki metal. General Matters. —Good progress is ' being made by the contractor in buildr ing the Taihape office and machinery sheds. The contractor for the Otaihape tunnel and embankment has made e fair progress. The work should be II completed during January. Kakariki Mill. —The plant, has had a 1 ‘ fair run during the month ami 2940 cubic yards of all classes have been I sent out. The old track cable gave lout, so the new rope on hand was put I into position. It is proposed to close t j the mill down between Christmas and a New Year, as there will be congested II traffic on the railway. This will give the staff opportunity to make some necessary adjustments ready for a fresh . start on January 4. T Alain Highways.—Maintenance and general work on main highways has (j continued throughout the count-y. The I Main Highways Board has agreed to p the balance of the subsidy for the Tun taenui Bridge at Bulls being expended lin sealing the road approach opposite e i the Rangitikei butter factory. Proposals are being submitted for the r Board’s approval. r ’ Auckland-Wellington Highway. Bulls to Wangaehu. —Owing to the increasing

motor traffic the maintenance of this road has become a serious burden, notwithstanding the increased subsidy now paid by the Alain Highways 80.. rd. To compare the annual costs of a reconstructed and bitumen surfaced firstclass highway, with present maintenance costs, a hurried inspection was made over the length and the depth and width of present metal tested. The Alain Highways Board specifies first-class double track main highway as follows:—formation width 24 feet, metal 18 feet, metal depth 9 inches. The formation of this road varies between 18 and 30 feet, while the metal is on air average 14 feet wide and 6 | inches deep. To bring the road up to I the first-class standard considerable expenditure would bo required in widening both foliation and metalling, and jail old timber culverts should be re[newed in concrete. The present metalled surface would also require strengthening with an average depth of three inches of clean, crushed stone and [chips from Kakariki, before a bituI men surface could be applied. The i estimated cost of completing the forma[tion and metalling, culverts, etc., up to first-class standard is as follows: Frmation and culverts per mile. £120; local metal per mile, £200; Kakariki metal per mile, £880; total construction cost, £l2OO per mi 10. When thoroughly constructed, it is policy to “surface” the metalling to preserve it from disintegration by motor traffic. The recognised practice is to give the clean swept metalled surface an initial coat of (a) prepared tar; (b) road oil; (c) fuel oil; or (d) bitumen, coated with clean chips. This should be followed later with a good coat of bitumen thoroughly gritted. This should cost Is 6d per (square yard, or £792 per mile. The 'surface should be, sprayed every three .years with a light coat of bitumen at i a cost of 9d per square yard, or an anI nual cost of 3d per yard for maintenance. The total capital cost of I constructing and surfacing the road | is:—Construction, £1200; surfacing, £792; total per mile, £1992, or, say, £2OOO. Comparative annual costs of the present road and the road as re-

constructed and surfaced to £2OOO per mile are as follows:—(J) Annual mainteanace (based on past nine months) per mile, £146; (2) construction £l2OO per mile, loan 36A years at 7 per cent., £B4, surfacing £BOO, loan 20 years at 10 per cent., £BO, tri-yearly maintenance at 9d per square yard (annual cost), £132; total £296. Balance over present maintenance, £l5O. These figures show that the actual extra annual cost of the reconstructed road is £l5O per mile per annum. However, the direct saving on wear and tear of vehicles and the indirect comfort of a good surface will make up a portion of the difference. The total length of road is, by speedometer, about 3 9 miles. The total estimated cost of construction and surfacing this length is £38.000. The total annual cost of a lean of £38,000 is as follows:—19 mih's at £2OOO at 7 per cent.., £1596; 19 miles at £BOO at 10 per cent., £1520; annual maintenance, £2508; total annual cost for 19 miles, .£5624. The total present annual cost for 19 miles is £2796. The extra annual cost of 3 9 miles as constructed and (surfaced is £3,828. The forgoing figures should be sufficient to guide the Council as to the advisability of adopting a programme of surfacing on this read, or as an alternative, a better class of gravel chip maintenance. TRAFFIC INSPECTOR’S REPORT. Air McKenzie reported that the total number of motor drivers’ licenses issued to date was £1232 and the total fees £3OB. The total number of heavy traffic licenses issued was 52 and the fees £607 36s 4d. The adjoining counties had signified their intention of paying the cost of erecting signboards, and the work would be proceeded with as soon as possible. As the Council had taken over the Lethbridge Town Board he suggested that a speed limit should be fixed by the Council under its bylaws to regulate traffic. As a result of the conference at Wanganui better conditions should now prevail. With ATessrs Fear and Delves they had toured the district and found that four motor lorries were licensed in a lower

class, and notice had been given the owners to take out new licenses dated

'back to April 1 and pay the difference , in the fees. OVERSEER’S REPORT. I Mr A. Thoms reported:— J Rangitoto Riding.—Only ordinary repair work has been in hand during the month. The lorries and roller are all up in the northern end ~of the county. The surface of the roads has been covered with grit; but the heavy gale prevailing, which have been more continuous than for several yea past, have been very destructive on the main roads. An approximate test made of the quantity of metal on the BullsWangae.hu Road recently shows that the metal from Bulls to Turakina is very weak in places. Air Dalrymple asked for a return of the average cost per mile for maintaining certain roads. Buils-Wangaehu main highway, exclusive of the Bulls and Turakina bridges, cost £2596 5s Sd. The approximate distance is IS miles and the cost works out at £144 per mile, including remetalling over a mile of the road from Mr Gudopp’s towards Turakina and all the work recently done in the Lethbridge Town District. The total cost of mainta fling the highway from Bulls to ATr Arkwright's gate on the Cliff Road was £524 3s 4d. The distance is approximately 6 miles, and the cost works out at £S7 6s per mile. There was a good deal of new metal put on this road during the year. The cost of maintaining the Pukepapa Road from its junction with the Bulls-Tura-kina Road to the Marton borough boundary works out at £l6 2s 7d per mile.

Otakapu Riding.—The main roads are all breaking owing to the continuous gales. The road has been used on the Alarton-Turakina Road. The shape of the road is too round for the drag to do its work well, and the weather has undone most of the good it did. It was probable they would have a lot of trouble with the road this summer Some trucks of crusher chips have been procured from the Kakariki crusher, and put on the worst places, which will assist to keep them in order. If they could have been got three months ago they would have been more successful.

Porewa Riding.—The roads in this riding are in better order; but arc beginning to break up in places. Some crusher chips from Kakariki works would be useful for some of these roads where they are getting very bare of binding. The point on Galpin’s Road has not yet been taken off; but will be started by the roadman just after the New Year. Air Galpin agreed to this work being done then. Lower End Wangaehu Riding.—The grader started work in this riding, but owing to repairs required on the tractor not much. progress has been made. The roads generally arc in fair order. Lower End Rangitira Riding.—The roads generally are in fair order, but require attention in places. A few trucks of crusher chips from Kakariki have been put on the worst places.