The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1916-01-07
CITY SUSPENDS
final DECISION
ON new Street

Policies for the making of macadam
streets and for oiling streets this year
were discussed this morning at a
special meeting of the board of public
works, Mayor Robbins, City Engineer
Charles and Street Commissioner
Knollenberg. No definite decision on
either of the two perplexing questions
was arrived at, however, and it was
decided to discuss these questions
again next Monday.
All city officials are agreed that no
more public funds are to be wasted
in the construction of macadam streets
without the application of some bitum-
inous binding fluid. such as tarvia. 1t
also developed today that the city Of
ficials at6 not entirely satisfied with
the syst8nd employed last year in
street oio1Rg when, for the first time.
the city itselfsd the oiling.
legal Question Arises.
!. sAsataSthe construction of macadam
streets The city would like to adopt a
plan Xakereby the city would nay the
entire cost Of such work with the
exception of the addition al expense of
the bituminous binder, which would
be assessed against the benefited
properties There is a question, how
ever, as to whether the city can legal
ly undertake to make streets and
assess any part of the cost against
properties A state lew providing that
where any part of the cost of street
Improvement is assessed against prop
critics the work must be done under
private contract, and this law appears
t. conflict with the plan the city offic-
ials would like to adopt.
Two alternatives were suggested by
President Bavis if the law in question
really does block the adoption of the
contemplated plan. One, that the city,
as hitherto, construct macadam streets
without mixing a binder into the ma
terial when put down, and at the city 8
entire expense. Then, after the street
has been made order a binder applied
under the penetration system and
assess the cost of such a binder
against the benefited properties, a
method which the city engineer de-
clared to be perfectly satisfactory; the
other alternative, the adoption of a
olicy of refusing to construct a
macadam street unless petitioned for
and the petition accompanied by a
written guarantee of the property own
ers affected that they would pay to
the city the actual cost of the bitumin.
Gus binder used.
Plan is Identical.
This latter plan is identical to the
one employed by the city last year fol
street oiling.
1t was a cumbersome method, how
ever, and resulted in only few streets
being oiled by the street department
The board realizes that the ideal sys
tenn to employ in oiling streets is to
have every street oiled at the entire
expense of the city, but to carry out
such a project would mean the ex.
penditure of at least $4,000.
City Engineer Charles estimates that
it would only cost property owners 80
cents square yard for bituminous
binder for macadam streets, small
amount when the saving on the cost
of sprinkling is figured in. 1t costs
the city 40 cents a square yard to con-
struct macadam streets without q
binder
Commissioner Knollenberg his for
mulated the following program for
new macadam streets: North Six
teenth, from c to the railroad; South
Sixteenth. Main to A; North Thir.
teenth, Main to E; North Twelfth, A
to C; North Eleventh, A. to E, South
Twelfth. Main to C; South Twelfth,
to F; South Fifteenth, G to Z. He
also advises the construction OF a
gravel roadway on school street from
Ridge street west to Northwest Fifth
street.