The Spokane press. [volume] (Spokane, Wash.) 1902-1939, 1909-01-22
WATER DEAL
BAD FOR
CITY
Misrepresentation Charged
in Mantle Park
Proposition.

The effort of the Spokane Wash
ington Improvement Co.. repre-
scented by the F. B. Grinnell Co, to
sell it's water system in Mantle
Park, south of Twenty-ninth ave-
nue., to the city for $20.370 will fall
through if the advice of John Wet
eel. superintendent of the water
system, is followed.
Mr.. Wetzel bases his conclusions
as to the undesirability of the city
purchasing the plant on the ground
that the company has misrepre-
scented the character of the lines
sought to be sold the city; that In
the plat of the pipe line offered the
city is some pipe laid and paid for
by the city itself and other pipe
previously sold to the city by the
same company; that the system un-
der cosderation is now running at
loss shd that there is no money
for the city in taking hold Of pri-
vate enterprise that it is not up
to the city standard, in which there
Is a lot of small wooden mains,
wholly out OF line with the charac-
ter of the wattr mains now being
laid by the city.
This matter has been under con-
sideration since last March. when
the Spokane-Washington Improve
ment Co, which plated Mantle
Park addition, first brought the
matter to the attention of the city
council in the form of an ordinance
providing for the purchase of the
plant out of its revenues at the
figure above named, the title to the
plant to remain in the company un-
til the city finally paid out on the
proposition. The matter did not
move very fast, and along in De-
cember the company submitted a
new proposition, which was re-
ferred to the committe of the whole
along with the first one. At the
same time the water department
was asked to make an investiga-
ton of the. plant and report its find
ings as to the ACCESSIBILITY of the
city going into the deal.
The report Of Superintendent
Wetzel of the water department, to-
gether with all the other papers in
the case have been referred by the
city council to special committee
which is to confer with Mr.. Wetzel
and report its conclusions back to
the city council at its next meeting
This committee, consisting of Coun-
cilmen Dalke, Schiller. Baldwin,
Watkins and Ostrander, has been
called to meet next Monday after
noon, when the whole matter will
be gone over and some action rec
commended by the city council.
The water supply for the South
Mantle system Ii bought from the
city by meter and retailed by
meter to the consumers. yet under
this system, and with rates higher
than the city would charge, the
concern Is losing money, which
leads the water department to be-
lieve that the mains are leaky and
sustain a big loss of water some
where.
In the report of Superintendent
Wetzel on the Grinnell water sys-
tenn he says that the mains on
Twenty-second avenue, Grand to
Hatch, and on Sherman street,
Twentieth to Twenty-second, were
bought by the city under the or
dinance OF 1904 embracing that
part OF the Mantle water system
north of Twenty-nnth avenue; that
the main on Twentieth avenue.
Latawah to Sherman, does not be.
long to the company but is a six
inch steel main laid by the city
mad should not be considered as
part OF the assets of the com
pany.