The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-08-05
STOP GRATING.
Paving Promoters Must Go Out
of Business.
City Takes Steps to Stop Com.
Is mon Practice.
LETTHEPEOPLEKNOW
Blank Petitions Will Give EX-
tracts From Paving Laws.
No Others Will Be Considered
by Committee.

A blow of serious proportions Will be
dealt out by the city council to promot-
ers of new paving.
4 No more paving petitions which have
been typewriter and prepared in ad-
vance by interested paving promoters
will be given recognition by the streets
land walks committee of the council
hereafter
Printed paving petitions duly author
lied by the city will be prepared and be
tplaced on file in the office of the city
iengineer.
In addition to having the usual YER
tbiage of a petition printed upon the paper
lit will have also an extract of the state
Flaws relating to the mode of assessing
property for paving. In this way the
people paying for the improvement will
Ebe able to inform themselves Of the ex-
lact manner in which paving assessments
lare made and upon what basis of prop
.erty valuation an apportionment of the
cost is arrived at.
= Parties desiring to circulate petition
flor paving will have to present them
tselves to the city engineer and there Sc
scure the petition which they propose to
lcirculate. In. this way it will be possible
to keep a pretty good check on the petit
itionS which are about to be circulated
and no petitions will be circulated which
will embody in them paragraphs tending
TO boom a certain grade of paving ma
iterial to the exclusion of another equal
i1y as good. The opportunity of the paw
Ing promoter to profit at the expense of
the ignorance of the average property
Ing petitions and improvements, will be
reduced to a minimum
Petitions which have been presented
to the council in the PAST have not al
ways been drawn up in accordance with
the form contemplated by law. In some
instances these petitions have been
changed afterwards. So much misun-
Outstanding has arisen year after year
las to the manner in which paving as
sessments are levied that the council
and Mayor Green decided that the best
way in acQuainting interested property
owners with the provisions of the law
was to print an extract including the
salient points on the back of the paving
petitions to be circulated.
Paving assessments are never made
upon the value of the improvements
that may exist on the lots or parcels of
lands, they are made simply upon the
improvements.
An interesting fight will be precipitat-
ed this evening by Councilman Mont
gomery involving the paving schedule
to be followed next year.
Councilman Montgomery has prepared
two resolutions. The one resolution pro-
vides that the amount ofnew paving for
next year shall be limited to the amount
year. The second resolution provides
that the property owners owning prop
erty on a street for which paving petit
ton shall be circulated shall be given an
estimate of the approximate idea of the
cost of the contemplated paving before
the resolution shall have been acted
upon by the council
The first named resolution was voted
down in the streets and walks commit
tee of the council last week but at
the council meeting this evening Mr..
Montgomery will be prepared to fight
for it's passage. He has armed himself
with a string of figures which tell po-
fently of the Indebtedness created by
extensive paving.
1.-THE city is increasing it's bonded
indebtedness each year S22. 1880 by It's
paving alone" said he This Is the
counting out the amount of bonds re-
tired each year. In the six years the
bonded Indebtedness of the city due to
paving has increased $137. $3.50. Even
II do lose out 1 am going to make
tight"
Councilman Montgomery is on the
right track; by limiting the pavement
to the amount of bonds paid off dur
ing the year the total indebtedness will
not be increased and yet enough paw
ing can be done to keep the city well
abreast of its needs. Mayor Green and
what upon the latter's resolution to
give an estimate of the cost of paving
In advance to property owners. The
mayor does not think that the city
would be able to give a very close
idea of cost. ct don't see how it can
be DONE" said the mayor in discuss
ing the resolution. You would have
to have an appraisement of the pro-
perty before you could give the people
the right idea and the appraisement
cannot be arrived at until the apprais-
ers report. The people that takes
things for granted have to suffer"
MQVOr'' T0T0fPSf-
ed Mr. Montgomery, but every year
some people are given to understand
that their paving is going to cost them
considerably less than it really does.
Over in North Topueka for instance the
people were told when a petition for