The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-06-17
Paving Petitions Must Be Sent
in Earlier.
Long Delay in Doing the Work
Results.
WILL FIX A LIMIT.
Next Year They Must Be Filed
in February.
Sidewalk Petition Limit to Be
July L.

Some radical innovations will be in
troduced in the method which the
council has followed in handling paw
ing matters in the past. Mayor Will
liam Green sets his foot down on the
delay that has characterized the ham
ding of paving petitions for the past
several years and which breaks all
records this year.
Paving contracts are to be let by
the council Thursday, June goth. 1t
will take at least a week to ten days
before the actual work on paving can
commence following that date and if
something should come up to invali-
date the award of the contracts it is
possible that paving will not COM
mence until we'll into July.
Last year the council was criticised
severely and contractors grumbled be-
cause of the lateneSS of the date when
the contracts were let. 1t was then
May lth, unprecedentely late and con-
tractors found it impossible to COM
plete their work at the end of Deem
Der This year it is even worse,
whole month and half later. Mayor
Green stated today that paving petit
tions for next year should be all filed
by February first and the contracts
awarded by April so that operations
could commence during that month.
There is no reason why there
should be all of this delay" said May
or Green. THE petitions should be
not later than February first and the
contracts let so that work could COM
mence in April. I want the paving
TO be completed by the end of the
year. 1 would like to see It at1Geast
completed then and that is the I'M
Outstanding that the contractors are to
have
One of the contractors sounded the
mayor with reference to the time limit
since none is specified in the advertise
ment asking for bids and was told by
the mayor that the city would expect
work to be concluded by December
31st. Councilman c. E. Jordan, chair
man of the streets and walks commit
tee, which passes on all of the paving
let endorses the stand taken by the
mayor and proposes to back him up.
Cf course that's right" said he.
cts the proper thing to do. 1 be-
heve that we could let our paving at
lower figures if we get an earlier
start on the petitions. This year it was
impossible for the reason that the pre-
vious council decided not to act on the
petitions but passed them over to the
incoming council. The city engineer
was not appointed right away and
all of these things contributed to a
delay. The committee was anxious to
get as early a start as possible but we
were handicapped
Il am in favor of closing the sch ed
ule next year at February l, and be-
lieving in this sort of thing paving
petitions for work to be done next
year in North Topeka will be circu- !
lated within a few weeks. North |
Quincy street and North Jackson street |
are both asking for more paving and |
petitions will be circulated for this !
work this summer. We will know |
then where we are at in plenty of |
time. 1 shall also call for petitions for |
sidewalks to be constructed this year
to be in by July 1. There was some |
talk of adopting this sort of thing but |!
the council did not stick to it,
Contractors are as anxious as Mayor |
Green and Councilman Jordan in see
ing an early schedule of work. 1t |
means a chance of getting paving done |
at a lower figure. better work and less
delay in completion of contracts.
Everything can be said in favor of il |
and nothing against. The contra ctor
enters his bid when he does not know
the amount of work that he is liable
to have and when he is the least en-
ployed and for this season will likely
bid closer to get the work and in ad-
dition to this he has a chance of finish
ing his contract before the bad wealth
er sets in.