The Colville examiner. [volume] (Colville, Wash.) 1907-1948, 1919-03-01
Mayor Discusses City's Affairs

such purpose must come from pri-
vate subscriptions and the mayor
and the city council feel that it is
more their duty to lead such a
movement than it is the duty Of any
other citizen. The Judge especially
mentions the fact that there are
many streams of water flowing
through the town and states that it
is matter of surprise to him and
to others that no use is made Of
this water. I can say also that it is
source Of surprise to me; these
creeks have their source on the hill
side above the city and flow, not in
canyons, but practically along the
surface of the townsite. Water can
be very easily conveyed by ditch
from these creeks to the lawns and
gardens, either by the individual or
by four or five cooperating together,
and so far as my knowledge goes,
P. b. Dingle, F. A. Savage, w. J.
Allin, c. M. Durland and the writer
are the only ones who have taken
advantage Of the situation. Even
you, Judge, have failed to take ad-
vantage of the opportunity, with the
creek only few yards above your
residence. So it will be neces-
sary for you to make inquiries else
where. | cannot answer the ques-
tion.
Now as to street improvement,
which is constant cause of criti-
cism, | will state that there are two
methods of improving streets under
the laws of the state of Washington,
for cities Of the third class. One is
by petition, where the abutting prop
erty owners along the street sought
to be improved, present a petition
to the city council, signed by the
owners of the territory abutting up
on such street, setting forth in said
petition the nature and extent of
the proposed improvements. Now it
is assumed under the law that the
property owners will take such steps
and that they should take the initia-
tive, but upon inquiry, after all
criticism that has been made rela-
tive to the streets, we fail to find
in the hands of the city clerk one
petition asking for the improvement
of a street. The trouble is we all
want good streets, but we want the
other fellow to pay for them. We
are in favor of street improvements,
but we want it to be our neighbor's
street and not ours. j. G. Parker
in an article in the Examiner CEN
sured the council for not improving
Wynne street from First avenue
south. Mr.. Parker's property is on
Wynne street and yet l fail to find
any petition signed by Mr.. Parker
authorizing the city council to i'm
prove said street. He suggests that
sidewalk be built on Wynne street
lIOih dNChuC " holOI dfcuuC,
"but on the other side of the street"
Perhaps if Mr.. Parker would con-
suit the owners of the property on
the other side Of the street he would
find that they are of a different
opinion than he. The second method
of improving street is by resolu-
tion introduced by the city council
wherein they set forth the nature
and extent of improvements to be
made and set date for hearing. If
at the hearing a remonstrance is
presented signed by the owners of
60% of the property abutting said
street the city council is barred
from making such improvement; SO
you see the question of street i'm
provements lies entirely with the
people who live upon the street and
not with the city council. If you
live upon a street that is like
country road it is up to you to
have it improved. The council has
never turned down a valid petition
asking for the improvement of
street.
l do not want the people to infer
from this article that the mayor or
the city council objects to criticism,
they are always glad to get the
other fellows point Of view and they
cordially invite the public to any
council meeting. These meetings
are always open and the council is
always ready for advice or sug-
gestions.
w l., Say. Mavor