Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1915-06-25
WILL PROCEED WITH
MAIN STREET PAVING
CITY PROPOSES TO COMPLETE
WORK AND THEN DEAL WITH
STREET CAR TRACKS.


Olympia Light & Power company to
remove the dirt between it's tracks in
the South Main paving district and
lower the tracks to the new grade, the
city of Olympia will proceed with the
paving of the balance of the street as
soon as new water mains can be laid,
according to statements made by
Mayor George A. Mottman and City
Attorney George R. Bigelow this week
and, leaving the street car tracks
"high and dry" in the middle of the
street. will then proceed to deal with
the company by declaring the tracks
a public nuisance and ordering them
out of the street.
This is the decision reached by the
city administration after it had pro-
posed to the company to compromise
the issue so that each would bear half
the cost Of the work, and the COM
pany had refused, after the company
proposed that either one pay the cost
and settle it in court and the city had
refused. and after. also, the two par
ties to the controversy had issued pub
lie statements as to the expense in
volved. Court action will probably be
necessary and. according to state
ments made by company officials, the
supreme court will likely have to
pass upon the question before It 10
settled.
Mayor Mottman. In his statement
replying to Manager L. B. Faulkner's
first article concerning the South
Main street situation. said: II also
desire to state plainly that ! have alb
solutely nothing against the Olympia
Light & Power company. nor its Of
1cers or employees. / wish them all
we'll. This light and paving problem
10 not q personal matter with mel
am simply trying to discharge my
duties - mayor Of the city - seo
them. without fear or favor. for the
best interests Of the city and the
people Of the city, that's all" This
disavowal by the head Of the city ad-
ministration Of antagonism toward
the company does not appear, how
ever, to have changed the company's
attitude and . legal scrap IL taken for
granted.
Nevertheless the city oficials do not
propose to have the South Main street
paving indefinitely delayed by the
company and, acting under the favor
able decision Of the supreme court
this week in the waterworks case, will
Immediately proceed to purchase and
install the new water mains in this
and the Maple Park project, and -
soon as this work is done the streets
will be paved. II the tracks remain
at their present grade when the paw
ing is finished the city will proceed to
declare them a public nuisance and
order them of the street.
The offer Of compromise was pre-
sented to Manager Faulkner by City
Attorney Bigelow and Councilman
Joe Forstell, chairman Of the streets
committee, and was based on City
Engineer Weddell's estimate that the
cost of removing the dirt would not
exceed 5000. Rejecting this, Man
ager Faulkner proposed that either
the city or the company do the work
now. leaving it to the courts to decide
which should pay for 1t. This plan
was endorsed by several South Main
street property owners in commune
cation to the council Wednesday
night, protesting to the completion
Of the paving until the track contro-
versy is settled, but the protest. after
being read, was placed on file.
The proposed paving of East
Fourth from Eastside street to the
city limits, for which an unusually
low bid was received from the Inde-
pendent Asphalt company, may yet
be carried out, though the original
project was contingent upon the
street car company paving between
it's tracks at the same time. The
cheapness of the bid for doing the
work has caused some property own
ers to start movement to make the
improvement any how, and this will
be acted upon by the council at its
next meeting. Meanwhile. the city is
preparing to proceed against the COM
pany under the amendment to its
franchise recently passed requiring 1T
to pave between its tracks.
Because of heavy domestic orders