Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1900-07-13
THAT CITY HALL
Seems as Far Distant as at
Any Time in Fast.
The Latest Plan for It's Construction
Fails by One Vote.
Largely Attended Meeting Of City Government
and Much Discussion.

The city hall question came up be-
fore the city government again. Thurs
LAY evening, ana the latest plan for the
building of the hall faile,l by the small
majority of only one vote.
There was q large attic ndance, all the
aldermen being present ana an but five
Of the Councilmen. The two boards
went into joint session almost immedi-
atcly after coming to order. to listen
To the report oi the committee which
had been appointed u investigate the
matter and report at this meeting. The
report Of the committee was practical
~ as follows: IL was believed that a
majority of the citizens We're in favor
of building 4 city building ut once if
it could be done at n reasonable cost
ana without increa sing The burden 0f
taxation too much. 1t recommended
the immediate construction of the
building in accordance with the pro
visions Of the order. 1t suggested that
the appropriation which was made for
the Wiscasset railroad be used in the
construction Of the building as it is
probable that the city will not be called
upon To pay ii this season. at Least.
1t suggested that the school building
vi t'lltEt' dN f-llllt Ut. SOFA ana IIlt blO-
cceds ~ devoted tn the CITY hail: that
the material now on hand be used ana
that $1,000 be taken from the misc ell
laneous account; that the arpropria-
ti"n made for paving. this year be also
taken; that sum not exceeding $4,000
be- hired and the note Of the city given.
1t was estimated that by doing this
the following sums would n. realized:
From the railroad appropriation. $4,000;
from the school building. $1,000: from
the paving. $1,000; from the material on
hand. $1,000; from the misc allaneous ac-
count $500: from the temporary loan
$4,000; total. 500 600.
Mayor Philhro0k then explained moro
fully how tho committee .amc tn make
the report. II was thought that the citi-
zens would be willing to postpone the
paving for this year for the sake Of get
ting city hlll. Tho m isc,llancous ac-
count WAS extra large fhis Year. being
$4,000 where ii hId Nc tcr before been
over 5000. Tho appr0r ration had been
made tins largo ON acc cunt Of the pur-
chase NJ a steam roller. The roller would
cost $500 ana this womb leave SF7ol. The
pNtrla wings this Year will amount to
about 5000 and this viii 20 into the mis-
cGilanc"us account and there will he no
abutementS. ON account pr these reasons
it was thought that SlGu) could easily he
taken from thC account fGr the new City
hall There is no great demand for brick
in this vicinity this YEAR ana the price
is lower than il was Last. so that the
mayor had been told That Surprisingly
low bids could bc obtained from local
contractors for put ting NJ the walls OF
me pulldlnG ana closing in the roof. this
year For this re lson it was thought
that IN" temporary loan ~ 5000 would he
sufficient
Cyrus Davis WIS then called upon. lie
was not in favor If tho plan suggested |
for building tine hall because he thought |
that by building II pieccmeal II would |
cost more ie thought that when hall |
was built il should be adequate for the |
needs Of the city for many years to come |
and ut the rate the city is growing he |
did not believe that it could be done for |
$i0GoO.
Hon. 2. +. Johnson followed ana was
aiso opposed to the plan. He believed |
that when the building was built it
the needs of the city for some time and |
one that would he an ornament to the
beautiful city. There must soon be an
mean mills increase: If the city gov
ernment had plan by which il could
build the han without increasing the tax
alton he would be glad 10 see il done He
hated to see another plan fall through
and hoped that il good plan had been
found it would he pushed through
Frank Rcdington then started little
discussion by saying that he thought that
the objections Of Mr.. Johnson ana Mr..
Davis had a political tinge. These two
vigorously objected ana sue
reeded in convincing Mr.. Redington that
IL was not so.
Mayor Phlbrook then took the floor
and made vigorous. logical argumeii.
in favor of the proposed plan. He hit
straight from the shoulder in his discus
sion Of the question and showed the lin
tations and possibilities Of the city gov
eminent in the matter.
Alderman Leonard followed. He said
hat he could not see how the building I
proposed under the revised plan could be
considered too small for the city's needs
or many years. whom that very thing
lad been considered when the original
)lans were made and now it was pro- 4
posed TO build building on the very !
anne foundations made by the first plan Z
# exactly the same size. ''The only diff y
crence is" he said that we've chopped 7
If some of the frills." n
The joint session was then dissolved il
md after returning to their room the I
ldermen took up the report of the com ]
nittee. =
The board voted unanimously TO accept )
he report of the committee and il Ger $
ainly looked as if the City hall matter