The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1913-01-16
Campfield Company Objects
to Purchase Clause which
City Placed in Specifica-
tioals on Contract.
,MHTTER is TAKEN
UNDER ADJUSTMENT
according to R. c. w. w. Bid
No Meter Rent Will Be
Charged.-Company Filled
insRates to Be Charged.

But one bid was presented to the
board of works this morning for the
contract to furnish water to the city
of Richmond, the bid being that of
| the Richmond City Water Works. The
Edwin M. Campfield company present
ed letter to the board stating that
they would not bid for the franchise
and contracts owing to several alleged
Objectionable features in the specif-
cations. They objected to the clause
which gives the city the right to pur-
chase the plant at the expiration of
five years ,after the issuing of the con-
tract.
!, Howard Dill, superintendent, who
presented the bid for the Richmond
Water Works company, stated that the
company would be willing to operate
under any proposed public utilities
tcommission law. This may mean a new
scale of rates as it will be the duty
OF the commission to regulate the
rates on the investment and expenses
Of the operating company. Three at
torneys. A. M. Gardner, r. J. Study and
when the bill, which is pending is re-
ported in the state legislature to see
that certain clauses are inserted in the
act which will be favorable to this
city.
Under Amusement.
After the reading of the contract
and rates to the board, Mayor thinner
man moved that it be taken under ad-
visement until later when the board
will have had time to fully consider it.
The new proposed contract is practi-
cally the same as the old one except
that in the bid presented this morn
ing, provision is made for certain i'm
provements that the company must
make In a specified length Of time and
a clause eliminating rental on water
meters provided consumers, by the
company. Meters on fire lines will be
furnished and installed at the cost of
the consumer and maintained by COM
pany without charge except on dry sys-
TENS.
The city shall have the right by the
agreement of the company to purchase
all bonds made by the company by
bonds and the unpaid and accrued in
terest on the bonds at times stipulated
in the contract. According to the con-
tract, if the city should exercise it's
option on the bonds, it could own the
entire output of bonds by the COM
pany.
The following is copy of the letter
sent to the board by e. M. Campfield:
campfield's Letter.
5 "Our people have finally concluded
not to bid under your present specifi-
cations for water works franchise and
contract owing to several objection
able features which we previously
pointed out and hoped you would rem
edy. The one which they especially
object to is the clause which gives the
city the right to purchase at any time
after five years. AS we stated in our
written objections before, there would
be no objection to giving the city the
right to purchase at the end of twen-
ty-five years as under the old con-
tract, but for new company to come
in and bid under possible five years
contract and have to build a new plant
or litigate for the purchase of the old
plant is not attractive enough to en-
list outside capitalists
Under our former bid both the term
of the franchise and the price of the
plant were fixed. while under the
present specifications neither the term
of the franchise nor the price of the
plant are definite. Other objections
are the arbitrary control of the bond
issues and the power of the city to
Continued on Page Eight