Waterbury evening Democrat., 1906-07-12
MAYOR IHOMS 0BJD7S
VIII Not Accept Trolley Conditions 1 Says Fiyt Was MoIs Acceptable.

trolley deadlock between the city and the Railway and Lighting Co:
 ~. M. Young, President Conn R. and
 L. Co, c 100 Broadway. New York
 City:
 Dear Sir:-The letter of the Con. necticut Railway 6 Lighting com pany, signed by you as its president Rnd dated July 10th, 1906, has been huly received. have noted what Hou say in the .etter and have looked bver the prs positions which you sub mitted thSrewith.
 The matters in dispute in connec- ton with these street railway exten- sions and improvements have been discussed by MT Sewell and myself Ia number of times. With regard to the new line through Robbins street land the Middlebury road, we had Eeached substantial agreement. Your new proposition, however, withdraws our consent from a num- ber of features of the informal un- derstanding between MT Sewell and myself, by providing that your pay | |ment of $15,000 shall release you from any further obligation what ever in regard to this extension. Some of the features which were in- formally agreed upon were small amounts of paving at the intersec- ton of Robbins street and the Mid dlebury road, the maintenance of the portion of the highway which your track will occupy in crossing Tam anack Swamp for a number of years, some grading west of the so-called '.cut" on Robbins street, the provi- sion that all cars descending the Robbins street grade should stop be- fore crossing West Main street. and other minor details, all of which l haven't in mind at present, but which can readily be settled by confer ence between the engineers.
 Your proposition also makes no mention of an extension of the troll ley service to Town Plot. matter which your counsel has led the resi- dents of this section to expect will be accomplished. in case an amicable settlement of these matters was reached.
 Should you be willing to amend your compromise so as to include these matters of detail. upon which MT Sewell and l have tentatively agreed and which your counsel un- doubtedly overlooked, and If you can make the cash payment you mention available to us at once, so that we may avoid the possibility of being obliged to lay special tax to pro- vide revenue for this improvement, l shall be inclined to recommend to the board of aldermen that your offer, as far as Robbins street Is con cerned, be accepted.
 With regard to the second portion of your proposition. the case is diff ferent. I have always felt that the whole of East Main street, from Tay- Tor street to Silver street. should be paved by the company, in order to make the street between these points reasonably safe for public travel thereon. The conditions on this street are peculiar ahA pEobabiy; m, like any other street in the city. We have here, on very narrow high- way. a large amount of traffic, con sisting of carriages and other light vehicles, and were 1t not for the tracks, the present maccadam would .sufYice for long time. The presence of a double track. high speed trolley line in this narrow street makes Its paving, for It's entire width, an ap- solute necessity. :.
 Under our charter. we are obliged to lay paving assessments against the abutting property owners. Tne property owners on this street are, for the most part, owners of small houses, upon whom paving assess ments would be a heavy burden. They would complain. and justily l think, If they were compelled to pay for an improvement that was made wholly on account of the presence of your tracks in the street.
 With these conditions in mind. the board of public works. appointed by my predecessor. Mayor Elton, i'm posed upon your company a condi- tion recurring them to pave this par ticular portion of East Main street, from curb to curb. and to lay a srooyed rail thereon. It seems to me that this discretion was properly ex- ercised, and I see no reason to dis turb their decision in the matter.
 Our city engineer strongly urges the city to adopt the policy of the city of Hartford and practically all of the cities of Massachusetts, and insist on the use of grooyed rail m all paved streets. He says there VIII be no dificulty whatever in agreeing upon a rail with groove large enough to allow the passage of car with a fange of any reasonable width. Tn connection with this mat ter. I was interested to see that at the hearing before the railroad com misioners at Hartford. at which was present on Tuesday, the Hartford company and the city were in agree ment upon the matter of laying a rrooved rail in the city of Hartford.
 This being the policy Of the city. |it seems unwise to the city attorney and myself to allow any further tracks to be laid in East Main street until the respective liabilities of the company and the city are definitely settled. The legal question to be de- termined is not SO much the portion of the most of this paving. which the city and company respectively should pay. az 1t Is the power of your com pany 10 lay a double track high speed line for passenger and express trafic through this street. without compensation for the additional bur den such tracks and trafic place upon the city and the adjoining property owners. In case your tracks were Junction that the city or any property owner might have would. Of course. De cut oa altogether. Your pro- poSed eompromise would wholly con-