The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-12-02

the delivery Of water at an elevation that
would require the maintenance or q
pumping station, and this should, under
every circumstances, be avoided. Under
Plan "a" the city will be wholly supplied
with water without the expense ct pump
ing, and l therefore recommend that bids
The paragraph reading: aBidders under
Plan "a must also state a price for
which the city can buy and own the water
works, water supply. water rights, lands.
right of way and all appurtenances and
easements necessary to fulfill the require
ments of this specification to the. extent
of fifty million gallons of water daily; said
purchase to take effect on completion and
acceptance of the works If the city shall
| give notice of it's intention to purchase
Within one year after date Of contract"
should be stricken from the specifications.
1t should not be within the pow
&c Zee % Of s an Intention 1tsy e to siT purch aes
works that have not been tested. The
city, under this paragraph, is to give no.
year after the date of the contract, tina
is, when the works are about half con-
structed, and eighteen months before the
first gallon Of water is to be delivered. If it
is said that the city would never give this
notice, we have only an additional reason
for striking out the provision. Where
the exercise OF a power cannot work bene-
fit to the public, the power should be
withheld.
Under the heading Time to Complete. .
it is provided that the contractor shall
| nave lWO years dllQ SIX UlODlUS from Tue
date of the contract to complete the work
and furnish water. / think this time
should be reduced to two years. but If this
change is not made the penalty. for each
days delay should be raised from two
hundred to one thousand dollars.
The section under Amendment of con-
tract reads as follows:-
IF the engineer shall certify that the
contractor has abandoned the work to be
done under the contract, or hat said work
is being unnecessarily or unreasonably de-
layed, or that the contractor is wilfully
violating any of the terms, covenants and
agreements of the contract, or is not
executing this contract in good faith, or
is not making such progress as to indicate
its completion within the required time,
then the Board of Street and Water Com
missiOners shall have the power and night
to notify the contractor to discontinue all
work or any part thereof under this con-
tract, and upon such notification said con-
tractor shall discontinue said work or
such parts thereof as said Board may
designate, and said Board Shall have the
power to reject the work or any part
thereof and to complete the same at the
cost and expense of the contractor, and
the expense SO charged shall be deducted
and paid by said Board out of such money
as may be due or become due at any time
thereafter to said contractor under this
contract or any part thereof. In case
said expense is less than the sum which
would have been payable under this con-
tract If the same had been completed by
said contractor, it is agreed that said con-
Il I CSloA oioA W SAtALASo W liS
difference; and in case III expense shall
exceed the sum which would have been
payable under this contract If the same
had been completed by said contractor,
then said contractor shall pay the amount
of said excess to said city, on notice from
said Board of the excess so due"
This section means that if the contrac-
tor shall abandon the work the city shall
complete it. The objections to this propo-
sition are, first, that the city is wholly
without power to do anything of the sort:
l cnnan6 tho CaRfian lie ca 6r1 uyn Tint if fhn
contractor should abandon the work be-
cause he had underestimate the cost or
found insurmountable difficulties, the city
would be bound to take up this unwise
speculation and attempt to carry it out.
We are not, as / understand the project,
about to advertise for the construction of
works for the city, but for a supply of
water, with an option to purchase a COM
pleted plant. Where would the city OBJ
ain the funds necessary to complete an
abandoned or unnecessarily delayed con-
tract? The only way to protect the city is
to provide such a penalty for non-per
Torrance by the contractor as will put
performance beyond doubt. This should
be done by providing, in words susceptible
of but one construction, hat if the con-
tractor shall fail to complete his contract
within three months after the time given
him By the contract the city hall have
the right to absolutely abandon the con-
tract, retaining, however, its rights under
the bond given for performance.
The specifications are, in my opinion,
faulty in that they do not provide that
the source of supply shall be wholly
within the State of New Jersey. This
would seem absolutely necessary to give
the city power to prevent pollution of the
water. The arms of our legislative or jul
dicial departments cannot reach into 9TH
er States, and we cannot too carefully
guard against the possibility of pollution.
The specification for Location of Plant"
should be amended to provide that all re-
servoirs and storage basins shall be To-
Gated wholly within the State OF New
Jersey. .
The specifications provide hat bids shall
be accompanied by plans and drawings OF
the proposed works. In order that these
may be properly compared they should
be drawn on the same scale, and L sug-
gest that the scale be fixed in the spec1-
fications.
a minimum supply of twenty million gal
Ions of water per day. We are now using
twenty-seven million gallons OF water per
day, and while that amount could prob
ably be reduced by strict supervision of
waste and consumption, it seems evident
that we will need more than twenty-five
million gallons per day in 1900. 1t may pc
that the city would obtain more advan-
tageous bidding if the minimum supply
was placed in alternative form, so that
bids could state prices on the basis OF a
minimum supply of twenty, twenty-five
and thirty million gallons per day.
You provide hat the right of way for
conduits shall in no case be less than
forty feet in Width n H. nro Taeomme ea;ns a re- re-
L Y Ah4O W 1880 -
yised that thirty feet would be ample.
The city does not need any greater right
of way than that obtained by Newark.
and unnecessary condemnation will of
course increase the price to be fixed for
the plant. Before final determination on
this point, I suggest that you consult the
city officials of Newark, to ascertain
whether the width asked for is necessary
to meet any possible contingency.
In making these recommendations I
nave used gathered from
various sources, and trust that we shall
reach an early agreement. Desiring the
opinion of an eminent engineer, whose at
titude would be that of a critic, l sub
mitted the specifications to Mr.. j. James
R. Croes. While he made several sug-
g~estions of change in detail, 1 am pleased
to convey to you his opinion that "the
area of watershed required, the amount
of storage necessary to be provided, the
| character of the materials and the work
manship demanded are all very fully and
explicitly set forth in the specifications,
which, On careful examination, appear to
be framed with great care, and In accord
with the latest experience and Informal
ton in engineering practice
Respectfully submitted,
EDWARD HOGS,
Mayor.
The communication from His Honor the
Mayor was received and laid over until
the next regular meeting, and the sub
ject matter referred to the mml
of the Whole.
The following resolutions, requiring the
concurrence of the Board of F~inance We're
received from the Board of Street and