Los Angeles daily herald., 1874-11-21
Common Council Proceedings.
FRIpAY, Novembcr goth.

bers present: Councilnfen Beaudry,
| Chavis, Valdez, Workman, Dock
weller, Sabichi and Huber Absent:
DeCelis, Gerkens and Mascarel.
Minutes of previous meeting were
read and approved, with slight corrcc-
| tion.
The Marshal reported the collection
of 2,119 Is OH account of city taxes
since last report. Placed on file.
The Marshal presented general re-
| port of collections on account of the
city tax this year. The total assess
| inent was $45, ,897 46; amount collected,
| S37,S0S 81; leaving delinquent, SS,-
OSS so. OF the amount delinquent,
some $1,000 of the assessments are on
| mortgages which are now in dispute.
| Nest of the balance remaining will
| doubtless be collected. The report
| was placed on file.
The City Attorney reported that the
| law regulating the tax on mortgages
was not very definite, but doubtless
| favored the refunding of taxes when
they clearly comprehended q double
| assessment. AS the amount involved
| is very large, however, the Attorney
favored the plan of retaining all taxes
| collected on mortgages until the mat
ter is settled by the Court. Report
| adopted.
The zanjero reported that Mr. Gay,
| in excavating for the Main street
sewer, had undermined zanja No. s,
| thereby causing the Zanja to break
| through its banks. On motion, the
| Zanjero was ordered to repair the
| zania at once.
| The Committee on lands reported
in favor of granting deed to Paul de
Tourniel, rs petitioned for. Report
| adopted. 49,.
The Committee on Lands reported
| in the matters of Messmer and Me-
Laughlin, recommending that both
petitions be granted. Report adopted.
| The Committee on Lands also re-
ported on the petition of Mrs. Ruiz,
stating that the petitioner had not
submitted an abstract Of title to lands
for which she claims deed, and rec
ommending that no deed be granted
| until such documents are submitted
and city ordinances complied with
Report received and approved.
A report of the City Attorney on
this question to the committee was
also read and placed on file.
The Committee on Lands presented
a report, signed by Mr.. Beaudry,
which was as follows:
TO the Honorable, the Mayor and
Common Council:
Your Committee on Land, to whom
was referred the petition of the Los
Angeles City Water Company, asking
for the use of lot s, block G, Fort Hill,
would report as follows:
We do not believe it will be advan-
tageous to the city or water company
to grant the use of the said lot for res
ervoir purposes, or to build reservoir
at all on Fort Hill; because the water
to fill it must run through an
open ditch two and one-half miles
from their present reservoir, which is
proof to any rejecting mind that it
must contain such an amount of filth
as to render it unfit for domestic pur-
poses. Or il must come from the
swamp on Alameda street, which is
unfit for use, were it sufficient in
quantity, which is not the case, as the
whole amount could pass through IL
tWo-inch pipe; and animals of various
kinds are pastured there, which in
itself would render the water unfit for
! domestic use.
The water company propose to build
q reservoir of less than One-half an
acre in extent, while they already
have six and one-fourth acres which
| they can use, without calling OH the
city for any more land.
AL of which is respectfully submit
ted. =. BEAUDRY.
Mr.. Chavis, another member of the
Committee on Lands, who was pres
ent, stated that he had not signed the
report, as il was contrary to his opin-
ion.
| BY permission, Mr.. Miles addressed
the Council, attempting to controvert
the statements OF the Land Commit
| tees report. He stated that an orig
inal grant of six and one-fourth acres
had been made, but owing to the
space taken up by streets, sufficient
| space had not been left for the reser-
| voir. AS a matter of necessity, the
company were obliged to place their
reservoir on tho highest available
land adjacent to the city, and this is
Fort Hill. Instead of running muddy
water in azanja, the company pro-
pesed to furnish the reservoir with
! pure, clear wateTin pipes.
Mr.. Workman asked the reservoir
was only calculated TO cover half an
acre rs stated in the report. Mr.. Miles
| answered that the reservoir ut present
in contemplation would only occupy
that space, but the plan comprehend
ed Il system of reservoirs to be con-
structed eventually which would oc-
cupy all of the space. Mr.. Beaudry
| asked how much fand was claimed by
| the Water Company. Mr.. Miles and
DR.. Griffin answered, with full eX-
| plantations regarding the land already
held-six ana one-fourth acres-and
the necessity of receiving the grant of
! the lot petitioned for, as the reservoir
| could not otherwise be built. The
plan adopted was to pump spring
| water and elevate it with pumps in
manner similar to the system used by
| Mr.. Beaudry in his water works,
emulating his example in enterprise
and engineering skill. (Soft-soap for
| Mr.. Beaudry.)
Mr. Beaudry stated that the Water
Company, while he was connected
with it may have had the assurance of
all the land which they might require,
| but he did not remember it. AS far
| as he was concerned he was in favor
| of having reservoir on the high
lands, in fact, he had offered pre-
MUM to the Water Company several
years ago if they would construct such
u reservoir, but they had failed to do
so. He thought that there were
| other places much better adapted to
reservoir purposes than Fort Hill. The
high lands over the Arroyo Seco he
cited Us an available location. In the
Of @fr o,,tf ft,cr ho nriuilana N Tho