The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1901-03-01
THE NEW CHARTER
1t Knocks Out the Board of Pub.
lie Works.
Recommendation of the Judiciary COM
mittee are Accepted with One
Excep ion.

Nine of the fifteen members of the
charter commission were !: present..at
Mondays meeting: The entire time,
practically, was devoted. to the. consid-
Grafton of the section.of the charter--re-
lating to the. board ssof &C publicsswork
The recommendations of the judiciary
committee were accepted with one
amendment. These recommendation
replace the board of public works by
other officials and make redistribu-
ton of duties.
Some difference of opinion was
manifest in regard to the salary of the
superintendent of public improve
ments. Mr.. Phillips thought that 81. 900
a year would not be too much, but
the recommendation of the committee
that it be 5000 was finally allowed to
stand
The superintendent Of public i'm
provements, as we'll as the city engi-
neer, is to be appointed by the mayor
and confirmed by the council, and
each is to be responsible to the mayor
and council
City Engineer Thompson was present
and entered into an explanation of
the work done by the different mem
bers of the board of public works.
After he had concluded, Mayor Cur
rier asked whether it was not fact
that the city engineer is pretty much
the whole thing of the board, levying
the assessments, answering those who
object, etc. Mr.. Thompson replied in
the affirmative He did not raise any
objections to the new plan proposed,
and was particularly anxious that the
work of levying the assessments be
taken from the engineer shoulders.
The superintendent Of public i'm
provements is to have charge of the
streets and alleys and public grounds
and is to, oversee all work except that
viii oh is done by contract on sewer
and water main extensions which will
be in charge of the engineer. He will
be practically street commissioner
with a few other duties and more
resonant title.
The city engineer is. to receive 81, 600
year, the same as now. He is also
to be allowed a clerk, who shall re-
main in the Office and answer ques-
tions. The water rents are to be made
out in the engineer S Office, because
that official is to have charge of the
water works and sewers. The treasurer
will see to collecting the rents
The municipal judge will appoint
board of three commissioners to assess
the benefits and damages on ca Oh i'm
provement. The judiciary committee
recommended that the m members of
this board serve without pay, but the
commission thought that this wolld
be asking too much, and voted to pay
each member of the board two dollars
a day for actual service. Mr.. Halstead
favored having the council appoint the
commissioners.
The meeting, as usual, was prolific
of talk, which is necessary in arriving
at the best results.
The matter of spe cial assessments
and that of the fire department were
made special orders for next Monday
night.
The matter of granting the treasurer
an increase of salary of $3.50 for doing
the clerical work now done by the
board was referred back to the judi
ciary committee, as some of the mem
bers thought that the duties Of the
various officials should be so arranged
that they would be check upon each
other