The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-10-10
HOW MIR, GOODSeLL SAVED
 MILLION FOR THE CITY

W0tAbIVU . Vuu ub6 Sss
 On esspe IT, o1sos. . committee of citfxerhsr rhsr | attr ttr4alrnlsnittst to the Common Council | report. in which they rec ommendsd expending "at once" on the sewers of Bridgeport the sum of s1.7so,ooo. This report was accom- panied by the report of Engineer Ruduiph Herring. MT. Herring did not . use the language "at once" in advis- ' inr ans expenditure iofbimilliens. He cid that the work ought to be done as soon as tho. necessary funds" could bs obtained. He thought that ! the frst part of the project would consume i've years. and that the funds should be furnished at tho rate of 3sso.oaA . yesr, ad Iriu e~
 aAl', tSlsIr F project been s csrried out !, as sslemnly advised the city would ! airsody hAx6 appropriated $1,4oo,oo0 plug laree interest charges.
 Dut this was not all. The plan !, caxsesd . project to expsnd In "the :, enxay. future" . sum sufficient to brang. the. cost Of 'sswer changes up to 1d6stzntn1iy xS.ooU.boo or more thaa $so per person. or $15o per 1 family of hvs persons. not including l snormuus interest charges upon Dor rowod funds.
 But this was not ell. The ex- psnditufs j"at once" of $1,75o,0o0 cxrr4>d withsit the construction of f4uf sptmpine stationsss with a large annual expense for naintenance, and | this in turn included pumping the sswaxe three miles out into the midst of valuable oyster beds. which en- tailed condemning and paying for a largs portion of them. This repre- ssnted an additional expenditure not considered in the report of the en- eineers of not less than $500.000.
 And this was not all. For the cost of connecting with a double system of sewers-the cost imposed entirely upon property owners would have been some s5oo.o00 additional. Thus there was proposed a. total charge against the people of Bridgeport to re- form the sewer system of not less than $4,000,0oo to which in the course Of 25 or 50 years would have been add ed interest charges of perhaps s2.- Doo,ooo.
 And this plan for immediately en- teringE into an expenditure of $1.-' 750. .on0.a followed by. an early ex- penditure of as much more and final expenditure reaching $6,o0o,oo0 would proeably have been accepted by the mere influence and weight of the support behind it had it not been for the public spirit, the expert knowledge and the common sense of Hons fzaimon Goodsell. B. B. Peck and a"few other gentlemen. But this grandiose plan, carrying a charge of $6o against every in- habitant of Bridgeport has now been publicly abandond by it's most zeal- ous supporters The confession has been openly made in writing that no such expenditure is necessary, or even wise or advisable. fziflsls@
 In . communication to the Com mon Council fifteen gentlemen, three of whom signed the Herring commit tee report, declare that an expendi- ture of $45O.0O0 will be sufficient to take care of. Bridgeport for many years and that under fthisi Hem plan -it Is reasdnably certain that the annual cost of building sewers will be no greater than under the olc plan.'
 This reduces the contention be- tween the advocates of the Herring system. who have adopted the srevis- ed Herinx plan, and s its opponents. to very simple disagreement. MT. Goodsell believes, first:
 That the Common Council should return to the Scofeld plan, which was designed in 1899 to care for the present and future needs of the city This plan has been largely completed and can berfinished for a very small sum.
 He is opposed to the acceptance of any Herring plan.
 He says that an engineer who ad- vised Bridgeport to immediately in- cur a great expense, amounting to millions, and who now finds that a very little money will suffice for many years, having been wrong once