New Britain herald., 1915-12-15
CITY ICE PLAUT IS
 STILL MAIN TOPIC
Committee Meets and eCideS to Make Report to Council Tonight

Although the members of the muni- cipal ice committee appear to be of | the opinion that the salvation of the ice house at Shuttle Meadow is about as impracticable and hopeless a pro- blem as an attempt to raise the Iii | tanic from the floor of the Atlantic, they decided last night after a lengthy discussion at the home of Senator G. M Landers on Main street to recorn- mend that the business be continued and that $6,OO0 be appropriated for repairs They also recommend that q contract be made with a reliable firm to haul ice to the Commercial street station for $1.75 a ton and that it be sold at not more than 30 cents per hundred pounds until such time '+S the city is again ready to harvest ice at the lake. Councilman O. F. Cur tis, a member of the committee, will attempt to secure an option with n firm he has in mind and the commit tee will meet at 7:3O o'clock this eve- ming to prepare it's report to be sub mitted to the council.
 The more the committee delvcS into the municipal ice question and the repair of the icehouse the more tangled the problem seems to become. l Alderman M. I. Jester presided at | last nights session and w. B. Ross berg reported that he had received
 one bid on the repairs to the struc- ture. MT. Jester reported that he had received another one. These were the only bids obtained from City Engineer w. H. Hall, who reported that it would cost $3, 300 to macada-
 mize Shuttle Meadow road from Schults icehouse to the municipal ice plant. Subtracting $500 from this amount for grading inside the pro- l perty leaves $2,700 for the road work In reply to a question Mr. Rossberg said the icehouse has a capacity of | between 5000 and 1000 tons. Mr.
 Landers said the structure is a ram- 1 shackle and he couldn't understand l how the members of the original com mittee ever got by with it.
 l i-cs3. noJ9f vbg vbgk vbgk vbg l MT. McDonough said he couldn't l understand why more than 5000 tons could not be crammed into it. MT. | Curtis said shrinkage would cut down
 the amount received in the city to l 2.500 tons and that the ice business l has been enormously expensive thus l far. It will cost more and if the ! finance board will stand for the | amount it will cost he will set up
 the committee to the cigars MT.
 Dolan thought the public had bene- l fitted by the business getting better
 prices from other dealers because of | the competition. Chairman Jester,
 although personally not favoring the 1 project, found much sentiment among
 the people for it. They appealed to ! Ia @o T., c~1% that it was duty imposed upon him 1 on that account.
 l Councilman Landers thought the
 people didn't realize what they were l asking for and would not stand for | the expense. He wondered if it is 1 possible to repair the house so that in 1 the end the money will revert to the l city treasury. MT. Curtis did not l agree to stand for any expense that | would not result in permanent work. 1 Mr. Dolan said the city meeting vas | unanimous for the ice project and
 that the committee should not take
 it from them. He announced that l he would fight in the council to retain
 it. He asked what Wexler & Stein
 had agreed to do for $1,700. MT. l Rossberg said they were to sheath 1 the house, put in turnbuckles, rods | and straps, pull the house into shape
 and arrange for ventilation. MT.
 Curtis said it couldn't be done for the
 money.
 MT. McDonough moved to recom-
 mend to the council that $6,O00 be
 appropriated not more than half to
 be spent this year. This motion
 caused more discussion but with it.
 tie result and MT. McDonough offered