The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1897-07-02
TIE FIRST MEETING HELD
BY TIE NEWLY CREATED BOARD OF
FINANCE LAST EVENING.

Observation-Disclosures in Amount N Needed to
Sprinkle Paved Streets Until November
15-Transfer of Board of Health's Funds
Communication from City Clerk.
finance, as made up u few days ago,
under the new city charter, was held
last evening with a full membership
present the members being Mayor
Farnsworth, City Comptroller Benja-
min E. Brown, w. H. Forsyth, Cap
tain e. S. Dove, Burton Mansfield,
Henry c. White and Reuben H. Brown.
Corporation Counsel Ely was present to
direct the gentlemen ON points arising
under provisions of the new charter,
and the gentlemen proceeded slowly
and carefully in the business of the
meeting, feeling their way carefully so
as to conform to the charter, SO far
as it covered the business of the board
The first business brought up was
the opening of bids for the bonds of city
officials. The cost of furnishing these
bonds is to be betrayed by the city un-
der the new charter, and so the board
of finance advertised for bids on furn-
ishing the bonds. The lowest bidder
was the Fidelity Casualty and Trust
Co., whose bid was $275 for each $1,000
of bonds furnished, providing the COM
pany was allowed to furnish the bond
of an official during his entire term of
office. Corporation Counsel Ely gave as
his opinion that the board of finance
could simply recommend as to which
company it thought best to take the
bonds, but could not order that any
officials take bonds with any particular
party. 1t was voted to instruct the city
| comptroller to notify eacn city official
whose bond Is now due that he is ex-
pected to file his bond so that it can be
approved at the next meeting of the
board of finance.
Mayor Farnsworth then brought up
a question which has arisen under the
provision of section of the new char
ter, which states that "the board OF
finance may provide at any time for
the diScounting at current rates of IN
terest of all sums assessed for taxes,
but yet payable" The mayor stated
that a citizen had called upon him
yesterday and announced that he had
offered the amount of ms taxes to the
collector and asked for the rebate, but
had been told by the collector that he
was not ready to do business under
that plan.
Comptroller Brown thought that his
matter should be considered carefully,
He said that he did not understand how
| a discount on taxes could be given and
then the amount desired be realized
| from taxes.
| It was voted to defer the considera-
tion of this matter to some other meet
| ing no definite meeting being decided
upon.
Mayor Farnsworth announced that
Mr. Beecher director or public works
and City Engineer Kelly had consulted
with him during the day on the matter
of the street sprinkling contracts. The
old contract for street sprinkling ex-
pired on June 30 and 1t now becomes
necessary to make new contract. The
mayor read a communicate tion from City
| Engineer Kelly in which that gentle
| man stated that the board of public
works had received bids and awarded
| to the New Haven Street Sprinkling
Co. the contract for sprinkling the paw
ed streets of the city. When the oppo-
stion for paved street sprnkling was
made by the court of common council,
1t was specified that the appropriation
should apply on contract to November
Is, 1897 and the lowest bidder for doing
the sprinkling on week days, July to
November Is, 1897, is s15.61905, and in
Guiding Sundays it is s1S.222 3o.Of the
original appropriation only $4,000 re-
| cd t1arefprn
proposed to make a contract for sprink-
! ling until October Is, and contract
was so drawn The corpora ton coun-
sci. however, advised that such a con-
tract would amount practically to over
running the appropriation, and could
! not be made
| Mr. Kelly then called attention to the
| fact that it would be necessary to pro-
vide the additional $4, 922.30 necessary to
pay for the sprnkling until November
| Is.
The matter was discussed by the
board and it was decided that the only
way in which the extra amount needed
could be provided was by transferring
| it from some other appropriation.
Comptroller Brown knew of no ap-
preparation from which the amount
| cOulO De transferred uHleSS SOiile OtilcI
work was dropped.
| AT this point the mayor read a state
! ment from the board of public works
| showing the amounts of the appropria-
tions for the various departments un-
| der the supervision of that board and
| the expenditure already made in the
seven months passed.
| The statement showed that the uneX-
pended amount to carry on the WORK IN
the various departments during the re-
! mainder of the year is very meagre and
| the mayor wondered where the new di-
director of public works was to get
money to carry on his work for the
rest of the year.
He then spoke of amounts appropri-
ated for the hardening of several
streets and said that bids for the work
had already been opened and that 1t
I had been found that the appropriations
| were insufficient to do the work for the
lowest bids, except in the case of War
rem street He thought that if the ap-
preparation were not sufficient to har-
den the streets that it might be trans
ferred to be used to pay the extra
amount needed in sprinkling. Mr.. For
syth thought that the common council
| would not consent to pass over the
! hardening of the streets and thought
onproprio tinpc bat ro1rnoen