The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-05-11

The East Jersey Water Company,
through it's counsel. Corbin & Corbin, also
sent a communication to the city today
| on the water subject.
The text of it is as follows
New York. May 5. 1893.
TIC the Board of Street and Water Com
missioners of JERSEY City!
Gentlemen The East Jersey Water
| Company respectfully calls your atten-
ton to the fact that the sum of S14o,25o.3o
remains due from the city on account OF
water delivered for the last quarter Of
1897, and the quarter ending March 30,
1898, to which sum will be added interest
at 6 per cent from the date at which
these unpaid bills became due. We UNI
derstand hat no provision has been made
to pay these bills, although under the
terms of the contract they are payable
at the end of each quarter. These arrear--
ages, together with other arrearages OF
your Water Department, we are informed,
| make the total existing deficiency about
5000, 900, all of which is practically an ar
rearage of last year. and by the end OF
the present year the deficiency, unless
provided for, is likely to be not less than
$500, 900.
The annual revenue of your Water De-
| p~artment, as at present administered, is,
| we are told, about $I65. 00o. This sum is
| ample to pay for the water furnished by
this mpan (the cost of which amounts
to about S380,000 per year, to pay for adj
ministering the department, and to pro-
vide for the ordinary annual extension
of water mains, as required by a normal
expansion of the system. The shortage
arises out of the fact that the city has
a large water debt, the interest on which
is about S31o,000 per year, this debt hay-
ing accumulated during the past forty
years, and representing a plant, a large
part of which is now obsolete and not
available for the supply of water. More
over. much of the plant represented by
this water debt has persisted in the using.
The city has, we believe, made nc ma
terial additions to Its jumping plants,
reservoirs or conduits for more than
twenty years, and yet the water debt has
not been retired by any adequate sinking
fund, but has been allowed to remain,
while the works were deteriorating.
1t is quite clear that the situation. is
daily growing worse and that the burdens
which are thus placed upon the annual
| water revenues are greater than they will
bear. The failure of the city in the past
to retire its bonds, is, of course, the di-
rect cause of the trouble at the present
moment
the city to max the water revenues
| equal to the disbursements, the present
situation will drift into one that will be
extremely embarrassing to the city as
we'll as to this company.
The prices being paid by the city for
water are. perhaps the lowest paid by
try, being ss7 per million gallons for the
| present year and $36 per million gallons
until September q, 1900. and $50 per million
first contract, made October IL, 1895. pro-
vided for giving Jersey City the surplus
waters from Newark's. supply until Sep
forded a supply which it was thought
would not be sufficient, the second con-
tract was made in April, 1887. providing
for suplementing the supply with water
from the Passalc River above Little Falls.
The second contract also provided, at the
option Of the city, for continuing the sup
/ are ~terminable by the city on notice, but
the company is bound until 1902 to furnish
the city witt a full supply Of water. The
contracts required very heavy expendf-
lures by the company
First-For the pipe line from Newark
4 of BelIeville.
Second-For an emergency main some
three miles long. built in 1897, from Pater-
sons high service works to the Newark
pipe line near Little Falls; and
Third-For a pumping supply station at
Little Falls, to ensure Jersey City a full
supply.
The company agreed to make these ex-
penditures relying upon the agreement Of
from time to time. when the bills fail
due, but they lave in this been much dis
appointed. and the outlook for the future
is no better. No aymen has been made
to the company within the limit Of time
provided in the contract, and only two of
the quarterly bills have been paid any
/ where near the time when they were due
payment of these bills having been made
about a month after the limit Of time had
expired.
We refer to these facts. not for the pur-
pose of complaining, but to set forth the
situation as it is It is most desirable
that something should be done speedily
to relieve the present state OF affairs,
Obviously a tax levy of about 100000 per
year to pay a part Of the interest on the
City's water bonds, would accomplish
this.
We venture to make several sugges-
tons, which we think would tend to re-
lieve the burdens of the Water Depart
ment:E
First-We are delivering water to the
city at Beleville, at a pressure equal to
800 feet of elevation. II the city Will
avail itself of some of this pressure by
connecting the service pipes on Jersey
City Heights, directly with the large
mains, the pumping at Bergen Heights,
which now goes on, can be entirely done
away with. Which would we presume,
save the city at least $20,00o q YEAR
Secpnd=We fhdnk Jersey City Is using
more water thai IS necessary and that q
very large a1rouzlt ID being wasted, Ifi&
IS practically demonstrated " several