INANGAHUA LOCAL REVENUE BOARD.

Inangahua Times, Volume IV, Issue 4, 18 April 1877, Page 2

INANGAHUA LOCAL REVENUE BOARD.

A special rueet.H£ >:? the members of the above Board was. \:~\ 1 at the officp, i Broadway, on Monday last, at three o'clock p.m. There were present Me-.5.-s Aiken, Brennan, M'Lean. K«%, Daves, the Boad Engineer, and the Secretary. The minutes of th« last general meeting, as-riso of a special meeting held sub* ■equently were read by the Secretary, The Secretary announced that on the 91st of Ma«* last tliree of c members of the Board-»Me6srs Brennan, Kelly, and Franklyn-»r#tired by eftiuxion of time, and that an election had subsequently been held to fill the vacancies ' thus occasioned, when Messrs Brennan, Kelly, and John Dick were returned. On the motion of Mr Aiken, seconded by Mr Kelly, Mr Brennsn was re- elected Chairman of the Board. The minutes as read were confirmed. COBRESPONDBNCE. Letter read from P. M'Tnerney, requesting an advance of £15 on maintenance contract. 1 •Prom James Connolly, requesting permission to occupy as a grass paddock a piece of land on the river bank, betwe en Black's Point and Crtubington, From John Dick, Black's Point, oalh attention to the condition of a br:,keo culvert in Fi'anklyn street, Black's Point, and to the fact that a portion of the road in question was being fenced across, so as to prevent access to his premises, and representing that there were fifteen rate* payers in the street. From — Patterson, requesting the Board to construct an approach to the river for drays, at the head of the protective works. From Reuben Waite, Landing, repre* tenting that the road about to be constructed there was not wanted at present and could be done without for at least six months to come, as drnys could now pass down the road without difficulty, and the expenditure was more urgently required in other places. Further tbat in any case the work could be completed very much cheaper than had been represented. The construction of the road in question would have the effect of cutting him off from his means of livelihood, add finally recommending the Board to send down some other person than Mr Carreras to report upon the "Fork. From Dash and party, calling attention to extra work necessitated in their contract by the action of the late floods, and requesting a sum of £100 to cover the cost of the additional work required. From O'Neil, Italian Gully, asking the Board to grant him compensation for forming a track between Boatman's and Lnrry's. The track had been cut by him twelve months ago, and hfirl sioce been used l>y the public. He asked for the sum of £20. From Bins JacHsen, ca)) ing attention to certain coulrorfc w>rk in Sinnamnti street, which he nllfged had been slummed. From Franois Courtney, intimnting that in consequence of a deviation having been made in the line of proposed road at the Landing, he would be unable to carry out the work at the sum originally agreed upofc, and expressing willingness to take up the contract at a reasonable advance. Memorial from the inhabitants of Bridge street and Upper Broadway, praying the Board to widen the formation to the full width, and fill up certain holes in those streets. This was the whole of the correspondence, and on the motion of Mr M'Lean it was received. Relative to the application of Mr M'lnerney for an advance of £15, Mr Aiken moved that the sum be granted. Mr Davies would like to known, before the money was voted, how far the payment would compromise the Board in relation to Mr M'lnerney's maintenance contract. The Chairman said that if the money were voted as an advance it could in no way compromise the Board . There was a considerable sum due to the contractor, and the amount asked for was so small that no harm could be done in voting it. The motion was seconded by Mr Kelly and carried. In reply to a question from Mr Davies, the Secretary stated that the Board was £25 in debt to the Bank, but there was a sum of £200 still to collect in respect to i special rate. Discussion ensued respecting Gonnolley's application for leave to occupy some land between Black's Point and 1 Crushington. 1 The Chirman stated that the land applied for had been selected by the Independent Company «• a machine site, bit be thought the Company would have no ' objection to the occupation of the land , temporarily. i Mr TJavis questioned the power of the > Board to grant the application. ' It was eventually decided not to entertain the application. In reference to the j complaint of John Dick, Mr Davies i moved that the Engineer be instructed to lay off the road in, question and prepare '. an estimate of the expenditure, Report I to be made at the next meeting. Carried, i Patterson's and Dash's application were i similarly dealt with. . , The Board declined to entertain the application of Q'Niel relative to compensation for track between Boatman s and Larry's,

Wi'b e^ard to the letter of F:auk Court nty Mr Davies tnored and Mr fCeli; i.e. on«!pd, that Cour.iwy's contract for read at Landing be rescinded. Carried. Discussion ensued upon the memorial of the inhabitants of Upper Broadway and Bridge- street. The Chairman considered the application a very reasonable one, and if the funds of the Board would petmit it was in favor of the work being undertaken. Mr Dunn, one of the peti tiouers who was present, stated that they did not ask the Board to interfere wHh the footpaths, bat merely to level the I'ne below the footpaths and the road. There were several holes along the roadway which i were very d«T»ge?ous. ' Mr M'Gmre, another of the petitioners, also supported the petition. Messrs M'Lean, Kelly, and Davies also spoke ie favor •>{ the petition, and ultimately it was m>ved that the engineer report upon the matter and prepare an estimate o* cost, by Mr Kelly and ear lied. Mr Butler, County Engineer, presented his report upou ihe condemn of County roads, from wbieh we take the fo lowing:— Black's l*oint I rack in fa;: 1 eoDdnbn. I wo cuir^ns requoeti and i.;-ox vrq\«red widening. 'j.s -I'! Wealth of Jiafioa's tracks in r?!?S.'. " r^ndi* <*». Boa "lans ro«<1, near Just-in-Time battery, rcqnired wi'e'isg 4l*t. Cutting to be made into 1.3 n~Hd rock. Eoad between Boatman's and Gallagher's required two culverts and one outfotl drain. At Gallagher's the road reqni-ed wideni ing acd stumps removed, so :s to enable I waggons to turn ; cost li^ht. On the Buller road from Gallagher's northwards several cuttings required widening end reduced to a proper batter. Bridge 60ft span required across Boatman's Creek— oost about £340, and the north Hack of the creek required protecting. Swamp culverts required near liarry's Creek, width Bft, and approaches to be properly filled in. Stringent regulations to be en* forced as to the removal of boulders from the crossing at Larry's Creek. Bell's and all other creeks to have band bridges. The road thenoe to Christy's in good order. From Christy's to Coal Creek road had recently been repaired (Courtney's contract), and was now in good order. Damage was being done to the road at Cronadun in consequence of the road ditch being used as a mill race. At Fern Flat the road was in bnd order, and required one mile of road being formed before the kn<l was fenced off on both sides. Smith, Bridge, Chnroh->streef, and Broadway required repairing, all big stones to be picked out an<i morn metal put on and inequalities filled up. Inangalma suspension bridg-? required new centre supports of totar*, supports an 1 wires, bolts, &!. The bridge in its present condition was not safe, there being too much vibration. The gangway also needed strengthening, Grey road (M'lnerney's contract) required two new culverts. Culvert at bquaretown Creek rotten, and must be repaired at once. Sharp incline at Saddle required reducing. Spurs require 1 outtiug off, so as to diminish curves in the road. Bridge of 20 feet span required repairing and strengthening with longitudinal and diagonal braces. According to the specifications the contractor is required to put 6in of gravel on the road with a 9in crown. The oontraecor had been in the habit of taking the stuff off the sides of the road and throwing it into the ruts instead of putting on new racial. There were rats on the road from 9in to 12in deep. Hand bridge required over small creek. This concluded the report. Mr Kelly inquired whether all the maintenance contractors, bat M'lnerney, had carried out their contracts up to the specification^. Mr Butlev said that they had pretty well acted qp to specifications, but as they had been very poorly paid not much could be said. Mr Kelly replied that M'lnerney 's case was not exceptional, as he had been perhaps more poorly paid in, proportion to the work to be done than any other contractor under the Board, and he (Mr Kelly) did not se* why M'lnerney should be singled out for attack. Mr Butler wished to explain that he made no particular attack upon M'lncrney's contract. The Chairman inquired whether the work required had been pointed out to M*lnerney. Mr Butler replied in the affirmative. Mr Da.v;es inquired whether the cul* verts required were in M'lnerney 's contract. Mr Butler replied taa,t they were. The letter of Reuben Write, which had been held over fojr consideration untii after Mr Butler's report, was re-read. Mr Butler said that he had carefully examined the piece of road which it was proposed to have constructed at the Landing by Mr Courtney, and he could inform the Board that there whs not the I slightest necessity for the rend to take \ the direction proposed, namely, over the terrace. The road could be carried under 1 the terrace at half the cost. The Chairman inquired whether there was any chance of the road carried under the terrace being washed away. Mr Butler said there was not the slightest possibility of such an occurrence.

The following accounts were then r«ad over and passed for payment:— ■-■■* •. a. M'Sherry A Co. •» ™8 ° Sutherland .3 0 0 Hampson ... ~. W . 0 0 Temptrley «\f ° Hall #,0 Neilson a, W?P <> Tilbrook and Mirfin ... W^l * Cox 14 16 0 Patterson 2 14 6 Survey work 5 13 4 | Masters 912 0 Alexander 10 0 0 Molloy 31 0 0 Salary Secretary ... 19 12 0 M<[nerney 14 0 0 I Dash & Co. „. ... 370 0 0 Travelling expenses ... 40 14 0 TOO 16 6 The meeting then adj mrned.