The Leavenworth echo. [volume] (Leavenworth, Wash.) 1904-current, 1911-09-29
ANENT THE WATER QUESTION
Discussed BY Former Councilman From
a Socialist Standpoint
Is. @. woLDENBERG0

Oontlnulng on past history rom last
week again quote Engineer Roy
Zahren, who says, No allowance has
been made in this estimate for right Of
way or legal costs" The council at
that time knew that the cost Of ne
cessary right Of way would be very
small and OF no importance as its re-
sources prohibited the council from
building a complete watet system at
that time. On the 3rd day of Decem-
Der lost year, upon the initiative of the
city council, an election was held for a
bond issue of $45, 1000 to build COM
plete municipal water system, which
election carried by vote of about two
and one-half to one. This result show
ed plainly and ought to show the pres
ent council the real wishes and desires
of the great majority Of the people.
Yet the present council persists in
Haunting in the faces Of this great mass
of people system which is an alias of
the real thing and burlesque on COM
mon sense and logical thinking.
Not being able to find an itemized
preliminary estimate in the hands Of
any city official, I went over the plans
of the consulting engineer on file in
in the Office of the city clerk.
find that the size of the proposed
reservoir is, length, rs feet; width, As
feet, and depth 10 feet, the actual cap
aclty of which is 263,25o gallons, does
the city council or the editor of The
Echo claim seriously that reservoir of
the above capacity, with an eight-inch
pipe leading into town would furnish
an abundance OF water for a city Of
10000 population, if not, then the
statement in last weeks Echo must
have been a mistake, misprint or
joke, take your choice.
The figures given below are approx
mate: There will enter into the system
as contemplated by the present admin
istration the following sizes and amounts
of pipes, 5000 feet of 8-inch pipe,
10000 feet of 6-inch pipe, 5000 feet
of 4-inch pipe and 400 feet of Pinch
pipe, or a total amount of %, 400 feet,
this pipe figured at an average cost OF
25 cents per foot, which is high, would
total 81, 100000, the cost OF fhe res
ervoir is estimated at $4,000, hauling,
excavation and back-flling of $4,000
feet of pipe as estimated by Hill Bros.
is SIS, 400, in order to be safe we will
raise that estimate to $1,000, contract
ors profit 10 per pent 81, 700, engineer
ing S per cent $3.50, or a total of
$19, 9,650.00.
The above figures are claimed to be
high by those who know, and will show
you plainly that for what the city coun-
Gil so much desires to do the sum OF
$4,000 would be abundant.
In tho estimates both of Hill Bros.
and Roy Zahren there was included a
concrete reservoir estimated to cost
about $4,000, this amount taken from
the cost of the distributing system and
added to the cost Of the supply system
would on bond issue of $50, 1000, give
US $4,000 to build a supply system.
Do you think it can be done2 Most
assuredly it can. Ought not the city
administration change their ordinance
and base their bond issue issue on COM
plete municipal ownership They GER
tainly had. have too much faith in
the masses of the people to believe for
a moment that they will sanction by
their vote the proposition now offered
and therefore it is doomed TO defeat.
In the future I will answer all fair
criticism, technical and unimportant
criticism shall ignore completely,
malicious Misrepresentation, insinsinu-
ations or prevarications I shall answer
as they deserve, and in doing so l may
have to tear the mask from the yet un-
seen bandit and the sleeps clothing
from the wolf hidden underneath.