The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-02-19
SENATE BILL NO 227,
 LEE STREET BILL

a F f- s . resolution providing for the appoint ment of a committee to confer with the officials of railroad lines entering
 the City of Montgomery, with the view
 of inducing them to erect Joint pas
 seuger depot In the City of Montgom-
 cry. This resolution was unanimously
 adopted and committee was appoint
 cd consisting of Messrs E. J. Meyer, F. e. Taylor and myself.
 We had several conferences with the officials of the Louisville and Nashville
 Railroad Company and the Mobile and
 Montgomery Railway Company in re-
 lation to the matter. The officials
 readily admitted the necessity for a passenger station adequate to conduct the passenger business of the city, and
 the officials of the Louisville and Nash
 vile Railroad Company. indicated their
 willingness to comply with our request
 to build such a depot, provided satis-
 factory arrangements could be made
 with the city for the necessary space
 for the terminals To build the pas
 senger depot necessitated the tearing
 down of the freight depot then In use.
 In order to make sufficient room for
 the passenger depot, and the railroad
 officials explained that If the then ex-
 tsting freight depot was torn down
 they would Wtnt the city to grant to
 them the use If portion of the ends of Lee Street and Moulton Street: also permission to fence in Commerce Street so as to prevent wagons or other ve- hicies from crossing their tracks, In
 return for this concession. the Louis vile and Nashville Railroad Company and the Mobile and Montgomery Ratl- way Company agreed to build at their own expense an underpass down, Com merce Street under the railroad tracks to the wharf. Some of the committee suggested that 1t might be difficult to induce the owners of property adja- cent to the proposed underpass, to con- sent to this. and asked the railroad officials if 1t would not do as. well if the crossing over the tracks be removed from Commerce Street to coosa Street, thus making Coosa Street the entrance to the whaif The railroad officiais objected to this because fbere would be constant danger of inturing persons in crossing the tracks at grade on Coosa Street, and besides the officials indicated that they would prefer to go to the enormous expense of building the underpass so as to make the ap- proach to the wharf even better than selves to possible criticism by some future City Council, for having been instrumental in changing the approach to the wharf from Commerce. Street to coosa Street.
 The committee then decided that it would be best for the members of the committee to see the owners of the abuttfng property and obtain their con sent to the building of the underpass. and at the request of the committed, I. personally. saw most of the owners of abuttfng property myself and ob- tained their signatures to a paper waiving any dar1a ges for the building of the underpass. One property owner near the depot objected to signing the paper. but agreed to sell the lot for q certain price; and, at the suggestion of the Committee the Council agreed to buy 1t, upon the condition that the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Com pany would built the contemplated freight and passenger, depot As a. part of the contract entered into be- tween the City of Montgomery and the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Con- pany and the Mobile and Montgomery Company under which the car shed. the passenger depot. the under