The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1912-06-05
Several Sections of the New
Water Works Proposal Are
Considered with Only a
Few Changes.
EXTENSION PLAN A
CHANGE FOR BETTER
Under the Proposal 1t Will
Be Easier to Secure Exten-
sion of Mains.-Tapping of
the Mains.

The board of works sitting in a spe-
cial session yesterday afternoon TO
pass upon the specifications for q wa
ter works franchise and contract, pre-
pared by the attorneys for the city.
made good headway and ratified the
first twelve sections. Several import
ant questions arising In connection
with the sections considered were de-
cided.
The franchise will be for period Of
twenty-five years. The board decided
this would be fair to the company and
city likewise. Ii is stated the company
must have a guarantee of long time
contract and franchise TO enable it to
secure money with which to make the
improvements necessitated by the
city's demands. The city attorneys
advised for long term franchise for
two reasons. They stated this will be
desirable feature from the stand
point of the bidder. who will be in
duced to make lower rates by having
guarantee of long time contract
with the city. II will also, If accepted.
invalidate the claim of perpetual
franchise for the use of the streets,
made by the Richmond City Water
Works company. The present contract
does not put limit on the time the
company can use the streets.
Section 9, a very important section.
was considered and tentatively adopt
ed. This section governs the very
troublesome question of extensions.
Under the provisions of this new sec
ton, an extension OF five hundred
feet may be secured when an aver
age" OF two consumers for each one
hundred feet of extension can be guar
anteed. The city agrees to pay the
rental cost of fire hydrant for each
500 foot extension. If the city orders
a fire hydrant as a guarantee of reve-
nue. to the company and does not or
der the hydrant placed, the city pays
for the hydrant only as long as the
toll from the private consumers fails
to reach the minimum rate for each
five hundred feet of extension. The
city pays the difference between this
specified rate and the consumers wa
ter rental Whenever consumers total
fees reach the sum necessary for a
five hundred foot extension, the city
ceases to pay rental for the hydrant,
unless the hydrant is used. The city
has made a practice of ordering hyd-
rants and not placing them to enable
some citizens to secure water supply.
Thus the city has been compelled to
pay for the unplaced hydrant even
after the line was producing enough
revenue to pay for itself. Fire Chief
Miller asked for more intermediate
hydrants, the city TO pay for the in
stalling, but to pay no rental thereon
BY Section ten, any citizen may tap
water main. He pays the cost of
tapping. At the present time the wa
ter works company assumes title to
the tap ttheir property being enhanc-
ed in value several thousand of dol
lars by this means in the Maury re-
port). This tap is from the main to
the curb line. The citizen has had to
pay from SO to s15 each for such taps.
which at once reverted to the water
works company.
make IL possible for the city to make
tap IL the company fails or refuses
to do 30 after being properly petition
ed. A citizen under the direction Of the
city engineer may make the tap also.
II was the concensus OF opinion that
the company should pay for this is
they claimed ownership as soon as a
tap was installed. but the board stipu-
lates that IL a property owner pay for
the tap from the main to the curb
line. the company is not TO be paid
again for the taps. II was stated that
IL the company was made to pay for
these taps, the increase In rates would
be unfair. since citizens who had al
ready paid for their taps. by reason
of the increased rates. would have to
help pay for the taps of future con-
sumers.
Section IL. fixing the pressure at 20
lbs. per square inch at Eighth and
Main streets was adopted, II being
stated by the fire chief that this was
perfectly satisfactory
Section IL, making the main Of the
standard guage and size required by
the American Water Works associa-
ton was adopted. this being practi-
cally the same as the stipulation Of
the old franchise on this subject.
The troublesome question Of wa
ter rates. reached In section 13, was
(Continued on PAGE EIght)