The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1920-07-13
COUNCIL PUTS
A BRAKE UPON
LIGHT co. FUND
Trouble Between Branches oi
City Government Cripples
Proposed Plan to Reinforce
Light Plant Equipment.
STORMY WINDS BLOW


on the one hand, and the board of
public works and the superintendent
of the municipal electric plant, on the
other, which has extended over a per-
!od of two years, concerning the in
crease in the production capacity of
the municipal plant, reached the
height of its fury at council meeting
Monday evening when a halting step
| toward providing necessary plant i'm
provements was taken
When an ordinance authorizing a
$275, 200 bond issue for betterments at
the municipal plant came up for final
| reading, council was prepared to
! slaughter it.
To save the measure from it's i'm
lending fate City Attorney Robbins.
| for the administration, proposed an
amendment to strike from the ordin-
ance all appropriation items except
those pertaining to the installation Of
| a 5000 K. w. turbine and its actual
| equipment.
100000 Finally Is Authorized.
| After a particularly bitter debate.
featured by a near fistic encounter be-
tween Councilman Thatcher and SUI
perintendent Dillon Of the municipal
plant, council agreed to the city at
torney's proposal and authorized
100000 bond issue.
Prior to taking this action a repre-
sentative of a large electrical equip
ment concern estimated that it would
cost approximately 100000 for the
city to have the proposed turbine in
stalled complete, and that If the city
decided to install the unit itself, the
cost would be approximately 100000.
The work of installing such a large
unit is a particularly delicate job. it
was explained to council, and if the
work was not done exactly right, con-
| siderable damage might result.
| If the work was done by the COM
pany supplying the unit the company
would be held responsible for any re-
sulting damage from inferior installa-
ton, council was told.
Want to Hold Up Ordinance.
! Members of the council apparently
came to the meeting determined to
authorize no appropriation for plant
| Improvements until the board of pub
lie works had called for bids on the
turbine unit, and had ascertained to
the cent what the actual cost of the
improvement would be.
Council was told, however. by a rep
resentative of one of the prospective
bidding concerns that it was improb-
NIT a bona fide bid in the absence of
an appropriation for the improvement.
| Council then decided to appropri
ate 100000 as a guarantee Of good
faith that the improvement would be
provided after contract had been
awarded.
Sees Doubt Of Bids.
i Council having taken this action the
/ representative of the turbine manufac-
turing concern expressed doubt as to
whether any bids for the turbine unit
would be submitted because the appro-
priation provided was not equal to the
approximate cost of the improvement.
i In the event bids were forthcoming
under the appropriation considerably
less than the cost involved, he pre-
dicted that higher prices would be
quoted
i 1t was explained to council that
electrical supply companies would
hesitate to submit their best bids on
an improvement for which only a par
tial appropriation had been made, for
fear that after the bids had been
| opened, council might not provide the
additional funds, leaving the compan-
les in the position of having exposed
their bids without any contract being
awarded.
Don't Care If They Do.
i Representatives of the city admin
istration complained that by failing
to authorize a bond issue which would
more than cover the costs of the pro-
posed plant improvements, council
was placing itself on record as having
no confidence in the administration.
Councilmen made no particular eff
fort to dispel this opinion. shared by
the board members, the city attorney
and the plant superintendent.
Councilman Thatcher declared that
the coal handling system installed az
the plant recently at cost of S45, 900
was not satisfactory.
Superintendent Dillon, trembling
with rage, jumped to his feet and de-
clared that any one who said the plant
had not received full value for all IL
had contracted for was a damned
liar"
But War Is Averted.
Thatcher advanced upon Dillon de-
manding to know if Dillon referred to
Continued on Page Ten)