Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1880-01-28
Proceedings
OF the Board OF Supervisors of
Jefferson County.

insert in salary of keeper of poor house
$3.50 in place of $3.50. The ayes and
noes were ca He'd for with the following
result:
Ayes.-Coburn, Spangler, Hopkins,
Millard, Hoskins, Reed, Powers, Bogie,
and Mulberger.-9.
Noes Sell, Woodman, Cooley, Hueb-
ner, Haskell, Ostrander, Grimm, May,
Hull, Rogers, Mills, Kennedy, Whittet,
Faville, Bond, Wollensack, Habhegger,
Bieber, Brook and Wood.-20
The amendment was lost. On motion
report was adopted as reported by the
committee.
Mr.. Mulberger, chairman OF the COM
mittee on county buildings, offered their
report on court house as instructed under
resolution No. 2, as follows:
TO the County Board OF Jefferson
County.
The special report of committee on
public buildings and property respectful
ly shows:
That they have carefully examined in
to the matter especially committed to
their charge by andAunder resolutions No
2, to-wit.
The advisability and necessity of build
ing a new court house, and that, as far as
time at there disposal would permit, they
have consulted many OF the tax payers of
the county, and from all the aforesaid
bearing upon the subject and obtained by
your committee, they are OF the opinion
that it is both advisable and necessary to
build new court house without delay,
and for the following reasons to-wit:
[. The present court house is entirely
unfit and inadequate for the business of
the county. Its dilapidated condition
render further attempts to keep it in even
a passable state ofrepair an obvious waste
of money.
II. A secure, fireproof, and convent
ent repository of the public records OF the
county is imperatively demanded and re-
quired. At present the records of the
county are kept at four different places
in Jefferson. The Register of Deeds and
Circuit Court records being deposited i'll
the old building built for that purpose in
the court house square, the County
Clerks and County Judges in different
apartments in Stoppenbach's block, and
the County Treasurer's in the Jefferson
County Bank building. All these records
are now exposed to immediate danger,
both from fire and theft Neither OF the
repositories in which they are now kept,
unless it be the Jefferson County Bank
building, is either fire or burglar proof
A loss of these records or a considerable
portion of them would entail upon the
tax payers of the county an irreparable
loss, such as the citizens OF Dodge county
are now suffering from and should they
or part of them be so destroyed or lost,
the people Of the county would very Just
ly lay the blame upon the County Board
and the several members thereof
III. The records of the county and all
the public offices thereof, should be in
one building. The convenience of the
public requires this. People called to
the county seat from different parts of the
county to do their business, should not
be compelled to waste much time, as is
now the case, in going to different locali-
ties for that purpose.
". The supplies of the county, such
as stationery, record books, coal, &C., if
the offices were all in one and the same
structure could be purchased at greatly
reduced rates, as then these supplies for
all the offices could be bought in one pur-
chase and delivered at one point, and the
use and consumption of the same could
then be better controlled and much waste
avoided and saved.
V. Jefferson county is one of the old
est and ranks among the first and best
counties in the state. Many of the
younger and less wealthy counties have
already supplied pleasant, convenient
and secure buildings for the public busi-
ness thereof, and it i'll comports with the
standing and rank of Jefferson county
to longer delay the erection of suitable
building for the accommodation and
transaction of its public business.
vi. A longer delay to build will GER
tainly increase the expense of building
such structure, owing to the recent
great rise in iron and nails, to a consider
able rise in lumber and other building
materials. A building suitable for this
county, that could have been erected last
year at from $4,000 to $4,000 will
now cost about and not less than $35, 900.
We have no reason to believe, that there
will be any decline in prices for several
years to come, but on the contrary have
every reason to anticipate that prices of
all building materials as well as of labor
will still further advance. Your COM
mittee is, therefore of the opinion and do
so report, that a new court house should
be erected at once and inclusive of cost
of heating apparatus to heat said court
house and Jail, plans, specifications, SUI
perintendance, and of furniture, and
ready to use at cost of not exceeding
1876, 900 in all, and that the means to pay
for it should be raised by tax upon the
property liable to taxation within the
county in four annual installments of SO,
600 each, the first installment to be plac-
ed into the tax list for 1879, and that the
bonds of the county bearing per cent
interest may be authorized to be issued
as required to pay contractors and other
expenses of the erection of said building,
but that such bonds shall not be negocia-
ted at a less rate than at their par
value.
We would further state, that we have