Windham County reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1901-1906, 1906-11-16
BELIEVES IN VOTING NO.
Mr., Ware Can't See the Sense in Paying
Price Asked for Crowell Systems

Can this village afford to sit down to the
rcpast the water board has offered for next
Monday EVENING" The proposition is to pay
S274,300 for the Chestnut Hill and Sunset
Lake water system as they stand today The
actual value Of the former. or the cost to-
day to duplicate in efficiency was reported
July Is, 1905, by Engineer Davis to be Ss2,.
429.93. Mr.. Davis detailed estimates Of the
cost of the Sunset lake, Stickney and Pleas.
ant Valley brooks scheme exactly the one
now proposed to buy, completed was SIPS,
1928. 1t is now incomplete in this; the
reservoir in Pleasant valley, which he fig
ured to cost S26, 9S6.1G, has not been com
pleted the 2l2 miles. nearly, of 16.ineh pipe
from the Samuel Sargent place to the town
hall. figured in his estimate at S29, 1890,
is still unlaid. and the S477.50 for clearing
up flowed land, channel and dam at Sunset
lake is not completed, as are perhaps other
things. So if the village buys now there
would be S60,902.s6 to spend to complete
that system. What it would get would be
what figures at S64 50 in the Davis es.
innate, plus the $50, 1898 value of the old
system, or STAG, s19.s5 in all, and for it
would pay S274,300, or a clear throw away
of S1274s0.15, if Davis was right.
/ do not care to see second competing
system, if it can reasonably be avoided. I
of perhaps $500 to avoid it, and in view
of what Mr. Crowell has done and attempted
we ought to be willing to do this much for
him, but when we multiply such bonus by
az it seems to me that we had better go
slow. A simple addition is sufficient to
show where the village would come out; our
present system $274,300, to complete Sun
set lake system $50, 900. sc, to overhaul and
relay street mains about 100000 total
1882 02.s6, and doubtless considerable
more because of increase in prices.
All engineers have agreed by their esti-
mates that new and complete and adequate
system could be put in for less than $685.
900. Still worse if it be true, as the water
board told us a few weeks ago that the Sun
set lake water is something we do not want
at any price. And how about the Pleasant
valley swamp The result of the proposed
purchase will be loss except for water
damages of about $4O,O what will have
cost the VILLAGE some 100000, and then go
somewhere else, perhaps Halliday brook, for
water. This is what some members of the
water board argue 1t will mean village
debt for complete system of not less than
1925, OO0 or practically twice what it ought
to be.
The one object of increasing our water
system is to get plenty of water for public
md domestic uses at lower rates, cores
bonding to rates in other places, but if this
scheme goes through we are certain there
will be no reduction in rates for long
lime OF course we will be told by some
who have shown their confidence in Davis
" employing him, that his figures We're not
correct All we voters can know about it is
his: All other engineers figures seem to
gree with him pretty closely and certainly
We are not justified in voting away $685.
100, at least on the assumption that he was
1t does seem that the only sure way out
# this dilemma will be to vote NO next
ionday evening.
OSCAR T, WARE |