Putnam patriot., 1917-02-09
WATER DEPARTMENT
Sl62,OOe Needed to Reconstruct Put
 nam's Water Supply Plant
Matter of Trolley Loop to Be lnyesti-
 gated

Sinonds of Boston, hydraulic engineer, made report on conditions of the city water plant which he recently investi. gated at the request of the board Of water commissioners under authority of vote of the council.
 MT. Simonds gave a detailed report of his findings and recommendations which took him over half an hour to
 read. He said that the recommenda- tions were made with long period of years in mind.
 The needs of the department he found to be an increased Altering ca
 pacity, increased pumping facilities, adequate pipe lines and suitable reservoir.
 He found that the Little River and Woodstock pond, from where the city receives it's supply of water, drained q thickly settled water shed but that there was no direct drainage. Large storms however cause pollution of the water but W hen the filters are working the water is ail right. The present fil ters are inadequate and there are one
 and half days a week when the water is not tileFed.
 A reservoir in the Perrin hill section is recommended, the reservoir To hold two or three days supply of water or 2,800, 900 gallons to be reached by Is inch main along the Little River road and a road designated as Reservoir
 road. The change in piping is esti-
 mated to cost $5G,076 76.
 He alluded to present conditions as "dangerous" on account of inability to
 pump sufficient supply of water un- der extraordinary circumstances. and said that the present plant is "whoily
 inadequate"
 The reservoir is estimated to cost S42, ,000 and three additional filter beds,
 S46 300; the total cost of the changes recommended to be Sl62 ,000
 It was voted to accept the report and the mayor appointed the following committee to consult with the water 1 commissioners in regard to the pro-
 posed changes: Aldermen Joseph J.
 Dupre, John G. Johnson, Edward w. MulIan, George l.. Padgett and Joseph
 Lapalme.
 The water commissioners, Messrs. G.
 Allen Hawkins, G. Harold Gilpatric and Herbert J. Smith, were present and submitted their annual report showing net profit to the city from
 the water department of SIS ,63l.19 Alderman Padgett called the atten- ton of the council to the fact that this
 was an increase of approximately S2OO0 over the previous year. lie said he thought the council should know
 this and feel indebted to the commis- sioners for the excellent showing made. The police report showed 31 arrests during January of which'6 prisoners were sent to jail. The captain of po-
 lice, Joseph Ryan, recommended that the force be increased by two addition al patrolmen and that an automobile be purchased for the use of the depart ment. The iptain stated to the coun- cil that it cost the city about $36S for hiring conveyances to take prisoners to the police station and to jail and that this money would be saved if the de- partment had a conveyance of it's own.
 The captain also presented petition asking that his pay be increased from 2 l2 cents per hour to 35 cents per hour.
 In the event that additional patrol men be added to the force the captain time clocks. Also that one man cover . beat from the corner of Providence and School streets through the South Nj ain street section of the city and back again, a section at present unpatrolIed. He said that time clocks were the only apparent means of knowing if the men were faithfully performing their duty.
 A petition from Mrs. Grace Nikoloff for electric lights on the Pomfret road at Perrin hill and one from Archie La sroix for lights on the Little River road were referred to the light com mittee. Mrs. Nikoloff stated in her petition that she had purchased the Perrin estate at the top of Perrin hill and contemplated building home there in the future.
 A petition from Wesley Luster and others for curbing and gutters on Rail- road street was referred.
 A petition for belt line trolley over Providence, Marshall, Woodstock ave- nue and Church streets was presented. There were over 300 signers. It was voted that a committee be appointed to investigate the matter especially with referen ,e as to whether the troll ley compsny's charter called for such a loop. The committee consists of Al. dermen Joseph Lapalme, John J.. Dupre and David Beausoieil. The mayor stated that he was heartily in
 favor of the petition.
 The following committee was ap-
 pointed to investigate the matter of purchasing a fire truck for the north
 end of the city for which $500 was re- gently appropriated at special city meeting: Aldermen John E. Byrne, l Edward W. Mullan, David Beausoleii.