The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1907-04-12
Vast Amount of Work Which
Contractors DO Not Care
TO Undertake.
PEOPLE CAN NOW SEE
EFFECT OF NEW LAW
Delayed Improvements Are
Scattered Over a Greater
Part of Salt Lake.

Few people have any idea Of the
sweeping effect of the amendment which
Senator Benner x. Smith, MT the insti
CATION Of some party or parties un-
known. had tackled onto the law re-
lating to special contracts. They hardly
understand its scope when IL is mere.
~ sald that certain contracts were
thrown up as illegal because of the law.
Anyone living in the districts where
the improvements were TO he made
should understand that there is likeli-
hood that they will go without needed
sidewalks or sewers until the Legisla-
ture meets again and rights the mat
ter. Perhaps better understanding
of this will be mad if the contracts
are cited, Everyone who resides in
these districts viii be to large extent
affected by the cessation of work on the
improvements, and will know whom
they have TO thank for any failure to
carry them out.
S. Birch had contract for which
advertisements were published and
which be secured by being the
lowest bidder, in the manner
in which all the contracts were
awarded, for the LAYING of twenty
miles of cement sidewalk in the north
western part of the city, near and
about the Newman school, This con.
lldCl luNo!Ntu an expenditure OF cJa,UUU
in the district Birch has refused
positively to carry out his contract on
the advice of his attorneys. who take
the same view of the law rs Judge
Hlles, City Attorney.
A Big Contract.
Probably the biggest contract af.
tected, or rather the one that will affect
the most people, is that of johnson &
bA .ol I. 49,
10 lay l.051 900 square feet of cement
sidewalk four inches thick and $1,000
square feet Of sidewalk six inches
thick, making approximately fifty
miles Of sidewalk in sidewalk extension
No. los. Extension No. los embraces
all Of that part of the city lying south
Of Ninth South and east of State-a
large and populOus district. The amount
TO have been spent in this district was
S262.OOO. The improvements were pc
tltloned for by much larger number
Of property owners than the law re-
quires in such cases.
James Kennedy held n contract for
sewer extension which takes in many
portions Of the city. There are many
be enumerated. 1t includes. however.
sewer extension district 17S. which
is bounded by the north line of First
North, by the center line of East
Temple. by the south line of South
Temple and by the center line of Third
West This is mn important district
and badly needs the sewer connections.
Another district which Mr.. Ken
nedy's contract embraces. and which
is badly in need Of sewers. is sewer
extension $50. which runs from Fifth
TO Ninth South and from gravity sewer
to Ninth East.
The Third District
The third large district for which
Mr.. Kennedy had contract for lay
ing sewer mains, and which Is almost
unanimous in wanting the improve.
ments, is extension lS2. embracing the
district living from Fifth TO Ninth
South. between Main and Second East
There are also number of small ex-
tensions in various parts of, the city,
for which Mr.. Kennedy had the CON
tract, but these are the big ones.
The amount TO have been spent on
these improvements was $3.50.
In these contracts alone S637 900 Of
public Improvements for Salt Lake City
are held up indefinitely by the
maneuvering of somebody anxious to
emharrass the present city administra.
tion. Even should the Council order
this work to be done, the cost of re-
advertising would be greater than the
abutting properties could stand An
other trouble is that 1T embarrasses
the contractors on their old contracts
many Of which are uncompleted Al.
readv contractors have shown n disin-
clInation 10 carry out these. and il is
doubtful if any would bid under the
present law
Where each separate property has 10
be advertised there might be number
of contracts let to as many contractors
on the same block. if the present
system Of letting 10 the lowest bidder is
followed. Then. one might have a
contract for filling and another for ey-
cavating 1t viii he next TO impossible
to find contractors to bid on all these
small contracts.