The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1898-12-15
ON
Ordinances
FILES TWO REPORTS
As to Placing Authority For
Street Openings.

The move to make Street Commits
sioner Wright S. Prior solely and
singly responsible in the matter Of the
use of the streets of the city, as recon-
mended by the majority report of the
committee on ordinances and framed
by Councilman George c. Hunt, is to
receive strong opposition, and yester-
day Alderman Burton w. Potter, chair
man of the committee filed a minority
report which is also signed by Alder
man James H. Mellen.
According to the majority report. an
amendment of the ordinances of 1895
chapter Al, relating to the use of the
streets, is to be made in three sec
tons, the first of which is as follows:
The street commissioner shall issue
permits to any and every person. cor
poratlon, department or company max
ing application herefor, who is au-
thorized in the premises to open, dig
euib or obstruct in any way the
surface of any highway or street IN
the city Of Worcester.
The next two sections provide that
no department of the city and no part
nership or person shall open the surface
OF the streets without first obtaining
therefor written permit from the
street commissioner, and that before is
suing 'such permit where the LAYING of
maeadam or paving is involved, the
street commissioner shall notify the
abutters, requesting them to execute
any work that may be desired of them;
and lastly, the the surface of the mac
adamized or paved street shall not be
dug up within five years without IL
cense from the board of aldermen.
The order 70 be offered by Alderman
Potter with the minority report pro-
Vides that there shall be merely writ
ten notice to the street commissioner
when the street is to be first opened.
and then again when the work is done.
the notice being left at the commits
sloneTs office at the city hall in such
form az he deems proper
The order accompanying the MAORI
ty report makes Commissioner Pryor
the absolute arbiter whether a street
shall be touched or not, also gives him
absolute power to grant permit or not
at his own pleasure. Alderman Pot
ter's order made it obligatory for the
stree commissioner to be informed
that the work which would necessitate
the tearing up of the street is to be be-
gun and again when it is completed
Alderman Potter, in his minority re-
port, filed yesterday takes the stand
that the first paragraph of the pro
posed ordinance makes If q parfi1nc-
tory duty of the street commissioner to
give q permit to every applicant who
has already received a permit from the
proper authority. This seems to be an
unnecessary addition to the red-tape
rules already existing in the citv hau
for why should an applicant who has
been to the trouble of getting a permit
from one official be required to hunt up
his first permit.
Then again the authors of this pro
posed ordinance are not satisfied TO
make an applicant get two permits to
do the same thing, for under the terms
Of the second paragraph he must get
third permit before he can begin the
work covered by the two first permits
1t is a novel proposition in nunicipal
government affairs to give the head of
one department the veto power over
the work of the other departments. bllt
this ordinance goes farther than this
and undertakes to give the head of this
favored department a veto power over
the government itself.
To illustrate the working of this or
dinance: A householder aDplfes to the
superintendent Of sewers for a hermit
to drain the sewage of his house into
the sewer in the street. The superin-
LOOKS lie
there is merit in the apnlieatfon and is
sues the. permit. The ho1seholder then
finds that he must apnlv "a the sfraat
for a similar hermit from
him He now has two nernits to enter
the street sewer but when he gels
ready to put in his drain pine he finds
he must secure another owritten ner-
NIT" from the street commissioner in
addition to the other two nermite ba-
fore he begins the work ana he il
liable to have this third hermit covered
over with such restrictions and limi-
as the street con,93iseionar
NAV see If to innoea ana ,,assiti,r ~
would moi 1--WE him = ny
nit to do the work at ali in when rasa
he would be without remedy bacei1se
there is no appeal from ne daoisio1, ~
the commissioners.
Alderman Potter then nroceeds n
show how This ordinanca n,ie+bt 49,, -
to nullify an act Of tbe citl ro,,y,oii -
self. Suppose the council shoIjid arIa,.
a water pipe laid in some sfTeet IN, ~