Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1903-03-17
OFFER IS REJECTED.
Water Company Will Not Accept
100000 for Plant.
MAYOR PlCELEa RECEIVES LETTER

President Underwood of City Water
Supply Co. States That Company
viii Not Accept Less Than 100000
for Property.
From Saturdays Daily.
The City Water Supply Co. has
turned down the offer of the city coun-
Gil of 100000 for its system of water
works, and two weeks from today, when
the six months contract with the COM
pany expires, the ties which bind the
company and the city will be severed,
and the company will be in a position
to shut off its supply of water to the
city, unless contract, temporary or
otherwise is agreed upon between the
city and the company or other meas
ures are taken by the city to
prohibit such a course. Mayor
Picker is in receipt of letter
from President w. A. Underwood, CIV
ing the company's answer to the pro-
| position from the city council, in which
100000 was offered for the plant. In
his letter to the mayor, which is given
herewith, Mr.. Underwood gives a
counter proposition, in which he states
that 100000 is the bottom price that
would be considered by the company.
Nothing will be done in the matter I'M
til the meeting of the council Monday
evening, when the letter will be read
and the proposition of President I'm
derwood, offering the plant to the city
1 for 100000 will be considered. The
letter received by Mayor Picker is as
| follows:
New York. March 10, 1903
Hon. L. II. Picker, Mayor, Ottumwa,
Iowa:
Dear Sir: beg to acknowledge yours
of March It'll which did not receive m
til this morning as did not come down
town yesterday, and%I therefore telegraph
| ed you this morning as follows:
Your letter It'll, received today. Am
answering by MALL
which l beg to confirm.
l note the enclosed resolution of the
city council and beg to advise YOU that
the company is unwilling to take 100000
in cash for its property and plant of all
kinds in the city of Ottumwa. 1t regards
| its water power plant alone as worth
fully 100000 and its waterworks plant.
| at the present price of material, worth
considerably more. To the city or to any
/ ing to operate the waterworks, the water
| works part of the plant is worth very
| much more as 1t avoids tearing up the
streets, both for the laying of mains and
l the making of the connections When it
| is considered that there are about 1000
| connections, more or less, between the
| pipes of the Water company and private
premises, some idea can be formed of what
I the cost would be to po-make these con-
nections and in what condition the streets,
4 even with the utmost care, would be left,
and the Inconvenience and cost to the city.
| The city can better afford to pay us
100000 for our waterworks property, in
dependent of the water power, than to re-
place the plant in the streets. Yet our
proposition has been and the same is now
open to acceptance, for a brief period to
accept 100000 for our plant of all kinds
I waterworks and water power and let the
1 city take 1t with such Improvements as
are agreed to added to the cost. at any
time the city desires: provided a franchise
| Is granted in advance. And / refer you to
my letter to you of January 18th. 1903,
for more detailed explanation of what
] mean, in order that | may not have to
repeat the same in this letter.
i That letter, together with all other cor
respondence, has been submitted to our
board at a meeting held about the middle
| of February, and fully approved.
Again, the company is unwilling and will
| not dismiss any of the injunction suits
NOV pending in the United States circuit
court for the southern district of Iowa,
eastern division, unless either it sells out
/ its property and therefore has no further
| interest as taxpayer, or some SatiSfac
tory franchise is granted to the company
by the city, by reason whereof there would
be no likelihood of the city building Other
works of its own.
With regard to furnishing water as pro
flNI rrIi No tI,., 4.
can be consummated, it is an indefinite
4 period, except for what is stated in the
first part of the resolution, that the city
| should have six months in which to SETTLE
upon the details of a purchase. AS long
as the company declines the purchase
4 price, 1t probably is not necessary that
should enter into this subject, but it is
far more important for the company first
that during the present very high price OF
materials, it takes advantage of the same
and be enabled to dispose of almost ts
entire waterworks plant, including pipe
mains, valves specials, filters, engines anC
machinery, than that it should get n TEN
porary revenue for IA few months; and
secondhand equally important, is this fact
The company hesitated last autumn to en-
ter on the temporary ordinance for siA
months because there are certain thing.
which require to be done almost immedi
ately to the property if 1t is to be operat
ed, which cost considerable money. Tht
company has known more or less of thi:
for three years last passed, but owing t.
the shortness of the time remaining of TIL,
franchise. and what appeared to be tn,
hostile attitude of the city, the compan,
did not feel warranted in expanding $15,
0o0 or $4,000 which in few months
would become very largely useless if mt
new franchise were granted. We finally
made up our minds last fall that we coult
manage to run through the winter withou
this expenditure. but unless it is made
and steps are taken toward making it II
the immediate future. we should suffer ;
! very large amount of damage, for which
the temporary revenue from the cit!
would not begin to give us any compensa
ton. What we should have to do would
be a dead loss almost, in case we arrive,
at no conclusion with the city.