Waterbury evening Democrat., 1908-06-12
R. K. BROWN THERE
Told Assessors Something About
 Who Should Pay For Benefits.

The bureau or assessment held a meeting last night and heard prop erty owners on Meadow street be- tween Bank and West Main street re- garding the proposed new layout of that thoroughfare.
 R. K. Brown was the principal speaker and he pitched into the city fathers without gloves. He wanted to know why the trolley company, the gas company, the telephone and tele- graph company, concerns that are making more money out of the use of the street than some of the abutting property owners, were not cited in and put on the list to pay something for the widening of that street. If this is public benefit" said MT Brown, why not charge the cost to the public. On the other hand, if people owning property in the street need this change and are specially benefited by 1t, assess them, but why make others pay and let others go Scott free. Some of your private cor porations have poles twenty inches in the street, but property owner can't put down small iron pole to serve as a hitching post without com ing to this board for permission that he may or may not get. The gas company has enormous mains in the streets and think they are making money out of them. When the street is widened the trolley company will have tracks there and of course things will be pleasant for the railroad com pany who have opened Freight street for their own benefit. Now what I want to know is are you going to let the railroad company and other com panies for whose special benefit this improvement is being made, get out of 1t without paying anything and put the expense upon me and other owners of property in that street and the balance on the rest of the rate payers? If this be so the system is all wrong. The street at it's, present width and grade meets the require ments of the property abutting on it. The change will not benefit anybody down there, but it will benefit the railroad company and the other com panies who want more room. Why not have them foot the bills, then, and not try and squeeze it out of property that will not be worth any more when he so-called improvement is made than it Is now?"
 Willis Hall put in claim for ST. 900 damages; Charles Egan will lose 25 feet of 90 foot lot and the place will be filled in about seven feet; he was not prepared to state how much he will be damaged; Pierpont Bros will claim no damage provided their property is made to conform to the new grade without expense to them.
 Frank Larkin and the estate on M. J. Daily and others will claim dam- ages. Nobody was willing to pay benefits, even the railroad folks through MT Estabrook modestly stat ing that they do not propose to pay anything for that street.
 Considerable was said with refer ence to the change of name of that street to Meadow street. Dr B. A. 0'Hara, MT Guilfoile, Frank Larkin and others claiming that it worked hardship to them and hoping the old name will be restored
 The board held session this after noon and discussed ways and means of finding property to assess so that the widening of the street may be sent to the aldermen Monday night.
 The estimated expense is s36, 1000, so that in case it goes through the assessments for benefits will be pretty high.s