The herald., 1898-02-01
OuncilDefineSItS Position
On the Question
THE PROGRESS ALREADY MADE
A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF
THE SITUATION
Opinion of the City's Legal Advisers
as to Methods Pursued-Seven
81 Members Sentiments

Below will be found the report In fu
of the water supply committee of tn
city council as presented to that body 9
yesterday afternoons session. Will
mittee alone, Messrs. Nickel, Toll an
Blanchard, it was compiled as the au
thoritative statement of the majority c
the council on water matters and the po
sition taken by the members as to mu
nicipal ownership and the means TO
facilitating that end Although upol
reading the document was but receive
and filed, later in the session 1t was for
mally adopted by every member of tn
council save one, Gridar being absent.
sent.
The report goes eXhaustively into eV
cry move made by the present council il
the water question. and is as follows:
Your water supply committee to whom
your honorable body has entrusted from
time to time the matter of conducting
negotiations with the Los Angeles City
Water company, looking to the taking
over by the city of the Improvements added
during the term of the existing lease by
said company to the original water plant
OF the city, and to whom also was en-
trusted the matter of estimating the cost
of "a new plant, as well as estimating the
value of the above mentioned improve
ments made 10 the old plant is impelled
at this time having in mind the best in
terests of the citizens of the municipality
which you have the honor to represent.
10 make the following report of the work
accomplished by this committee and the
city engineer acting under your valued
instructions and the advice of counsel
representing the city. and also 10 set forth
for your adoption a declaration of the
most effective line of action 10 pursue in
order to accomplish the most speedy reali-
zation of the peoples desire for munich
pal ownership of the water system of this
city.
The instructions received by this com
mittee have always been positive as to the
unanimous desire of the council 10 bring
about actual municipal ownership at the
earliest possible moment. Expression has
never been given by any member, either
in committee or in discussion of the ques-
tion in open council, of sentiment mega
tive 10 the one ardent desire for munich
pal ownership. In the various reports of
this committee the presence of this senti-
ment has been frequently referred to, in
fact the basic question of municipal own
ership was atlirmatively settled at the or
ganzation of this council and has never
since then been reopened by word or act.
The water supply committee is provided
for in the code of rules governing the or
eanization of your honorable body. and
TO it are naturally referred all matters
pertaining to the water supply of the city.
This committee having been constituted at
the initial meeting of this council Jan
uary 4. 1897, 1t was on January II. 1897, the
time of the next meeting of the council
fully prepared to receive any instructions
the council might wish to give It, hence the
motion of Mr.. Blanchard introduced at the
last named session was deemed perfectly
proper and was accepted by the council
as the initial step toward the accom-
plishment of municipal ownership. Said
motion was follows:
Mr.. Blanchard moves that the water
supply committee be instructed to confer
with the city engineer and report to the
council as to the best procedure for ac-
quiring water plant to be owned by the
city"
So acceptable was this motion that its
adoption was without debate or dissent.
Later in the same session Mr. Grider. after
having voted for SSe Blanchard motion
which empowered the water supply COM
mittee to take the matter up introduced
the following resolution:
Resolved. that public interest and ne
cessity demand that the city of Los Ange-
les should own a complete system of water
works for the use of said city and its in
habitants; and to the end that this coun-
ell may have prompt and full informa ton
in the premises as to the best and most
available system and the cost thereof
whether constructed by said city or ac-
quired by purchase, it is ordered that the
city engineer of said city do Immediately
N q latn MIA
iirely new system sufficient in all respects
10 furnish said city and its inhabitants
with an abundance of pure water. and that
said engineer DO also report to this coun-
oil Herewith careful estimate of the cost
of such new system"
This resolution had been rendered so
clearly superfluous by the previous adop-
tion of The Blanchard motion as to make
ii impossible for the council to seriously
consider it. Had the Grider resolution
been presented first it would. after amend
ing, so as to very properly refer the matter
10 the water supply committee for joint
action with the engineer. have rendered
the Blanchard motion unnecessary and ac-
complished the same purpose as the latter
-nothlng more. Hence. your commit tee
fail TO discover how in the adoption of the
Blanchard notion which WAS disposed of
without debate before the Introduction of
The other. and in the rejection of the Girl
der resolution, any negative influence was
eXerted upon the question of municipal
ownership. Certainly the Blanchard mo-
tion was first in point of time, its adop-
tion carried a reference of the matter to
the proper committee, and that commit
tee covered the full scope of the resolu-
tion in its recommendations one week
later.
On January 10, 1881 the date of the re-
ceipt of instructions from the clerk of
your honorable body based upon The
Blanchard motion this committee held a
meeting. OF which the following are the
official minutes:
Meeting of the water supply commit
te held January 10. 1897. Meeting called to
order by Chairman F.. NJ Nickel. Pres
ent Messrs. Blanchard and Toll of the
committee and J. II. Dockweiler. CITY en-
gineer
Upon motion G. H. Toll was chosen
secretary OF the committee 1t was stated
by Mr.. Dockweiler that plans and specif
cations could be provided sufficient to give
an approximate cost of new system of
waterworks for from 5000 to 5000
''After general discussion of the work
before the committee, in the course of
which the question Of securing water
supply from the mountains was duly con-
sidered, it was decided, upon motion. that
the following report be transmitted to the
council as an expression of the commit
tees desires"
The recommendations contained in said
report were: First, that the city engineer
be Instructed to prepare an approximate
estimate of the cost of IA complete water
works for the entire city using the Los
Angeles river as source of wafer SllnnIv