Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1918-05-31
WATER REPORT MADE
PROF.. BASS REPORT CONTAINS
VALUABLE INFORMATION AS
BASIS FOE NEGOTIATIONS q

Gil Tuesday evening, Frederic Bass,
consulting engineer, made report to-
the mayor and council in relation to
the survey and valuation Of the local
power plant, together with table OF
rates, which he considered as proper. .
= It will be remembered Mr.. Bass was
employed by the city some months ago
to go into this matter as the water.
franchise and contract with the city!
will expire the early part of next year.
and the survey will furnish a basis by
which negotiations might be entered.
into for either the purchase Of the.
plant or for entering into new con-:
tract with the Water Power company,
as seems best at this time.
In making his report Mr.. Bass trac-::
ed the development Of the plant from.
the granting Of the first franchise to:
the present time. /
:, The original franchise was granted.
to w. M. Fuller and s. Stoll in 1889
for a period Of thirty years. The
franchise was assigned to the Little
Falls Electric & Water company,
which company operated the plant up
to 1906 at which time the stock was
disposed of to the Little Falls Water,
Power company. =
The Morrison County Electric Light,
Heat and Power company was organ
ized as an opposition lighting com,
pany and was granted a franchise i'll
1906, there being ruction among the
stockhclderss of the old company '4htsa
corporators Of the new company ai4
being officers and directors in the Wa
ter Power company. The, franchise
was later transferred to the Water
Power company.
In 1899 litigation arose between the
city and the Water Power company,
which was settled by a so-cal1ed COM
promise, but which was considered by
the people of Little Falls, a rank
throw-down Of their interests by the
majority of the then existing council.
The city had foated bonds and was
ready to buy or build. The main
stockholders at this time, were not
then the ones that owned the majority
stock at that time.
The original crib dam was built in
1887. The easterly portion of the old
crib dam was replaced by a modern
concrete dam in 1914. The dam Is
capable of economically developing
5000 horse power, and the equipment
at this time can procure 1860 horse
power.
In making an estimate Of the valu-
alton of the water works, Mr.. Bass
used as q basis the cost Of construc-
ton at the present time, and took in
consideration percentages of the diff
ferent elements Of the complete plant
which he considers assignable to the
working Of the water distribution sys-
TEN.
The city is at seeming disadvant'
age at this time on account of the
basis being figured on present cost,
less depreciation, which depreciation
is figured on an approximately basis
of Is per cent, as'the present cost of
installation (according to a query to
Mr.. Bass by the writer), would be 50
to 60 per cent greater than in normal
or before the war times as regards
costs. In short the plant has much
higher valuation, notwithstanding de-
probation, than it had twenty and
| thirty years ago.
The rate proposed by Mr.. Bass on
hydrants would in the aggregate cost
about the same as now. The consum'
er' s cost would be cut by half or more
on the metered system.
A number of questions was asked
of Mr.. Bass by the city officials on
different phases Of the report, and
Mr.. Bass will meet with the council
again next Tuesday evening. .
The report was quite exhaustive and
includes many interesting phases II
relation to the matter, which will re-
quire much thought not only by the
city officials but by all the citizens
of Little Falls. .
The report of MI. Bass finishes will
a summary and conclusions as fol
lows: i
I, In the preceding sections, th,
present legal and physical conditions
of the water works have been describ
ed in some detail. :,
i The works are ct present supply
ling water at the rate Of approximate
lily 100000 gallons per day, 350,00l
lgallons per day should be sufficient
fThe remaining 650,000 Is wasted wat
ter. 1t may be saved by metering al
'tservices and stopping leaks. This .l
1.-THE first step in the Improvement 8