The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1897-08-25
Over the Street Paving Assess
ments BY the Council.
WILL GO INTO THE COURTS
Many Property Holders viii Object to the AZ
sessments- Mayor Evans Talked On
the Subject in HIS Message.

been made mai against the p Npsfty
owners. At the next nesting of the beard
of aldermen, which will be held Sepgem-
Der J. many other citl lions will be made
final against other property owners. Il
has been intimated that the city viii meet
with determined opposition, especially
along Fifth avenue. This officers have
been buayan the last few days issuing no.
tees to the different property holders
to appear before the board of alderman
at their next meei ing to specify the rea-
sons why the citations should not be made
final 1t is said hat quite a number will
do so and attempt to show why thay
should mot be made to pay for the i'm
provemenIts they claim are unjust.
Along Fifth avenue the work is almost
complete. and some portions of the work
is ready for delivery to the ci,y. An Oh
lection ito the work on the ground of it
being needless ard expensive will be
made by several of the property own
ers along this thoroughfare. The side
walk tern away 10 make room for tie nav
one is said to have been a good one. The
claim is made that 1t was up to the grade
and that it served all the purposes for
which the new one Is Intended. Met only
this, but it is saEd that it did not detlsact
from she peatness and cleanliness Of ths-
thoroughfare.
Anlcng the many objections made is
that the new sidewalk is not up to the
grade, and that The old ones were correct.
Tt is said that in some places little or no
excavadons were made for the new ones,
and that the dividing or supporting sleep
ers are placed in position on top of the
gravel of The old sidewalks, and thus
raised from enc to three inches above the
grade. This is said to be especially no.
ticeable on lot between Eighteenth and
Nineteenth streets.
Men who were formerly In position to
welcome such improvements now say
their financial comdi Ton will not allow
them 20 mee. the necessary payments
ard they fear that the city will foreclose
and sell their property willis they are in a
virtually helpless condition. Rare. in
stances are dted where people had pre-
viously placed a sidewalk of the character
Of the new one placed in by the city, and
these men are mo- interested in the CD
.jectionls of the vast ma jority of those so
far heard from.
The Directing property owners are in
anything but an amiable frame of mind
willis engaged in a discussion Of the i'm
provqments and call attention to the fact
that the contract for the work was not
awarded to the lowest bidder. 1t is al
legged that the successful bidders wsre
Dunn &c Leland Bros, who were the
highest bidders. They were awarded the
contract, but at this time the contract was
awarded 1t passed the meeting of the
board of aldermen by small majority.
These. same property owners have be-
come possessed with the idea that the
city was about to replace the present ex-
cel.ent macadamized road on Fifth
avenue with an asphaltum one. This,
they say is contemplated for the. use of
bicyclists. The chances are the city will
meet with determined opposition if it
attempted to change the condition of the
road.
When seen yesterday Mayor Evans said
that his opinion now was the same as at
the time when he wrote his ssmi-annual
message He is heartily in favor of i'm
provements, and considers the new side
walk a step towards a great improve
ment in the appearance of the city.
When asked for his views of the side
walk Mayor Evans turned to his desk and
took out his last annual IMPORT. Opening
this he turned to the paragraph headed
| Fifth Avenue and uiid that was his
opinion. The paragraph is:
"In considering any matter OF public
Improvement those exercising authority
in tha premises should seriously consider
first. the necessity for the work; second,
th. ability of the people to pay for it,
and third their desire to have the inn
proyemsnt. Any proposition that might
be made fer the public Improvement of
any part Of the city would ssicounter Pc
| titions innumerable, and to hear 10th
sides eff The question al issue would likely
remove far from you q point of decision.
| In such matters you can only use your
| best Judgment. always considering WEI
| the three points suggested above. Some
| desire has been expressed for competing
| the work Of improving and bsautltylng
| Fifth aventra, by contracting fer pavifg
with aspbaltum the entire thoroughfare
| from Fifteenth to Twsnty-sixth streets.
At a glance this would seem Herculean
| task, and one which would seem to work
| an undue hardship Just now upon the
| thoroughfare and I would not advise
hasty action upon the matter. However.
the expressed desire for 1T Is worthy or
yolr consideration. ard should a large
majority of thu residents and property
holders along the proposed line, by vote.
express Il desire FOR tine work. | see TO
rea SON why this board SHOULD not uader-
take 1t. THE engineer informs me that the
cost would be about 500 fer each. City
foot lot, and that some contractors agree
to execute the work ur,jer the law which
authorizes the issuance eff Improvement
bonds. payable in annual assessments of
ten 90 years. at per cent. inter st. This
would make a charge of $50 and interest
ner annum against each residence lot Of
fifty fest"
Some of the property holders along
the avenue have decided to appeal their
case to the committee appointed by the
board atits last meeting for adjustment.
| If this committee decides against them
| they will appeal 1t 20 higher court.
| They say that the city should have given
| the work to the lowest bidder or that