The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-05-22
LITTLE HOPE FOR
MAIN ST. PAVING
Sewer Contractor Refuses to
Go Ahead Because He
Is Not Paid.
PROPERTY OWNERS ANGRY
MAYOR TELLS THEM HE WILL
DO WHAT HE CAN.
PROPERTY OWNERS ANGRY


The city's credit is so poor that all
thoughts of paving lower Main street
this year have practically been given up.
James Kennedy, the sewer contractor,
who has not been paid a cent in cash,
scrip or warrants since last November.
refuses to lay any more sewers. and as
a result Main street cannot be paved.
Kennedy bases his refusal on the ground
that he has struck water In his trenches
and that he wants addition made to
the contract price. The real reason is
that he is not being paid for his work.
The board of public works held a spe-
cial meeting yesterday morning. Ken
nedy was ordered to proceed at once
on Main street.
This is bluff Kennedy won't go to
and the board knows It. He has two
lines of sewer to lay from Fourth South
to Seventh South streets, one on each
side of the street. 1t will take two
months or more to do the work. There
is also an old water main in the cen
ter of the street to be taken up before
any work can be done on the paving.
No steps have ever been taken to have
this job done
Protest to Mayor.
While the board of public works was
going through the motions of ordering
heDneQy TO go TO WQrk on Nam street
dozen indignant property owners were
in Mayor Thompson's office protesting to
him against the delay. They said they
had waited over al year for the work to
be done and that the street is still inn
passable. All have paid their assess
ments, which the city has deposited in
it's bank and for which the bankers and
not the city are drawing interest. The
party consisted of such men as Samuel
c. Park, state senator; j. w. Houston,
real estate man; NJ. B. Lchtenstein.
jeweler. and a representative OF Samuel
Newhouse.
P. ]. Moran, who has the paving con-
tract, was also there. In his character
istic blunt way Moran told the protes-
tants just where the trouble lies. AL
though he is friendly to the administra-
ton, this is business with him and he
did not try to shift the blame from the
shoulders of those who are running the
citys affairs.
Il can't go ahead" SAID Moran. until
the city turns the street over to me ready
for paving. When this is done / will
start at once. Sewers are yet to be laid
and poles must come down. / can't take
them down. The city must do that first.
When the city completes its work ] will
go ahead at once. You can't blame me"
Mayor Thompson tried to pour oil on
the troubles waters by saying that he
would see personally If something can
not be done to hasten the work
The protestants left far from pleased
with the prospect Of anything being done
this year.
Shifting of Blame.
The board of public works is trying
to place the blame on Kennedy by as
sorting that he refuses to go ahead I'M
less allowed extras. This bluff is I'M
derstood by both Kennedy and the board.
Both sides have kept the real reason un-
der cover, and that is that Kennedy has
not been paid since last November.
What is more. the city has not the money
to pay him.
Kennedy is willing to take warrants,
but he will not accept scrip. But he
can't get warrants. The board of pub
lie works says that the auditor is to
blame for not issuing the warrants and
the auditor says the attorney is to blame
because he has authorized a warrant
which is clearly Illegal. Everybody ac-
cuses everybody else, the contractor quits
work. public improvements are delayed,
and the citys credit is growing weaker
The council and the mayor know where
the trouble lies, but are apparently afraid
to tell Their only. hope is that the peo-
pie can be kept in comparative ignorance
until November.
Poles in the Way.
Another difficulty has presented itself
For the past year the board Of public
works at every meeting has passed for
NAL resolutions compelling the various
telephone and telegraph companies and
the Utah Light & Railway company to
take their poles down in the paved dis
trict There IS no record of any poles
having been taken down as yet On
Main street there are poles of all kinds.
These must be taken out before the paw
ing Is done. At their meeting yesterday
the board ordered the poles out again.
The poles will stay in, however, until
the board of works takes some more
decisive action than simply order
ing. The board knows by experience that
it can order and order it's head off. ;"
h. will. NOT ~ -
attention. But it continues to exercise
its prerogatiye to order" and the poles
in the paved district remain undisturbed,
to the sorrow of the property owners
Warrants at Discount.
An indication of how good the city's
credit is with the state is the fact that
s. Birch sold $4,000 in warrants to the
board of land commissioners at a dis
count of per cent The warrants bear
6 per cent interest and heretofore have
always been accepted at par. True, de-
mand warrants are now taken at par
although in some cases at a small dis
count TO cover the cost of handling, but
these are not of the same class as spe-
cial Improvement warrants.
In order, therefore, to get his money
from the city Birch had to accept D
per cent discount, amounting to 5000.
or nearly half of the usual estimated
profits on contracting job. His con-
tract, as We'll as InaI OF kennedy ana
all other contra ctors. specifies that ne
shall be paid in warrants. 1t seems that
he must take them, but the fact re-
mains that attorneys are of the opinion
that the city cannot force a man to take
it's warrants when the citys credit is so
low that a discount of from to 10 per
cent is exacted by the banks for hand
ling them.
The contract tangle is growing more
complicated every day, and it seems al
together likely that but few of the per-
manent improvements contemplated for
this year will be completed and that con-
siderable of the work contracted for last
year will be left undone.
In order to clear up the situation Coun-
Gilman Ferry proposes to substitute war
rants for all scrip. This, however. is not
expected to dc any real good, for the city
can pay for neither warrants nor scrip
sIr,rAl,. snIiradc halter q ha 81