Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-06-20
COUNCIL ORDERS LIGHT CONTRACT
Members Unable 10 Get TOaether on
the water works Question:

Members Unable 10 Get Together ON
the water works Question
The committee Of the whole Of the city
council spent several hours last night dts
cussnk the proposed new contract with the
Citizens Gas and Electric company, as rec
commended by the committee on FIRE and
light, and the proposed contract with w
r Kierstedt. the hydraulic engineer, as
recommended BY the special committee on
wsterworks.
While the councllmen did not consider
that the report Of the fire and light com
mittee disposed altogether satisfactorily Of
the lighting question, II decided to recon-
mend to the city council that the report
be concurred in and that the committee on
fire and light be instructed to draw up
contract with the lighting company and
submit the same to the city council at
the earliest possible moment.
In the matter Of the employment Of En-
gineer Kierstedt tie vote OF for and 4
against resulted on the motion to recon-
mend to the city council that the contract
as suggested by the special committee be
approved and entered into with Mr.. Kler-
stedt 1t being a tie Mayor Macrae de-
cided he had the right TO vote and ac-
cordingly voted in favor of the motion
As, however, the recommendation of the
committee of the whole carries with it the
expenditure Of 81, 900 for the services OF Mr..
kierstedt, the mayor will not have vote
when the matter comes before the city
council for final action. Matters involv-
| ing the expenditure of over $50 must be
carried by a majority vote of the city
council exclusive of the mayor.
The vote stood last night Yeas Knud-
sen. Olson. Wallace, Younkerman; nays,
Fleming, Hendrix, Maloney, Smith
The discussion on the proposed employ
ment OF Engineer Kierstedt to compute
the value of the present plant and furnish
an estimate of the cost of a new one was
started by Councilman Smith, who ques-
toned the right of the council to take
tlOOO out of the city funds for such a pur-
pose. Mr.. Smith said he had been advised
! by City Auditor McAneney that the lat
| ter would refuse to issue a warrant for
this sum for this purpose on the grounds
that no appropriate had been made for
it at the time the appropriation ordinance
was passed. City Solicitor Kimball gave IT
as his opinion that the city council had
the right to order a warrant drawn on the
general fund for this amount, and with this
this phase Of the question was permitted
! to drop.
Councilman Fleming injected a new CUES
ton into the controversy by stating thai
he had been informed by an eminent at
torney that in the event of Judge Nc
Pherson ruling that the water works com
pany's franchise had expired at the be
ginning of this, year, the company woulc
undoubtedly go into the hands Of a re-
ceiver within sixty days following such
decision, and then the city would be abb,
to purchase the plant on much more de
sirable terms. This being the case as sug
gested to him by the eminent attorney
MIR. Fleming said he believed it would d.
no harm to wait until Judge Mcpherson
handed down his decision. He also stateC
he was opposed to expanding 600 as con
templated at this time.
Councilman Wallace took the stand tina
the city council was committed to municipa
ownership and that the sooner his com
mittee had some basis on which to &C
the better. This basis only could be oh
tanned, he contended, by having figure
from a competent hydraulic engineer.