Norwich bulletin., 1921-02-16

The special meeting of the common council Tuesday evening which was turned into public hearing at which the i gas and electric commissioners might | show cause wbY they did not want toI be put under the supervision of the pub ] lie utilities commission of the state, ap- parently reached the conclusion to sup
 port the gas and electric commissioners | in this stand.
 | Mayor H. M. Lerou- who presided summarized the situation when he de- Iclared to the meeting that the mayor and the common council had as much and possibly more supFvisory power over the city gas and electric commission under 1 the present circumstances than the pub lie utilities commission would have if bill now before the legislature should pass The trouble in the past has been, said the Mayor. that previous city admin, istrations have not exercised this power but we propose to use 1t.
 Commissioner M. E. Jensen, who occu- pied a front seat with the rest of the gas and electric commissioners, led in the vigorous applause that greeted these; fstatements from the mayor and several of the other commissioners nodded their heads in approval.
 The council chamber proved far too small for the crowd that was on hand to attend the hearing so that the town hall was used, This YVES packed to more than it's seating accommodations, many standing at the rear of the hall. All the members of the council had seats on the platform and the gas and electric
 commissioners sat together in one of the front seats in the hall. With them were Superintendent c. B. Taggart and HI E. Mole of New York, the consulting engineer. number of women were in
 the audience. , had read the call for the meeting, Mayor Lerou addressed the big gathering, say , ing that he was pleased to see such representative body of interested citizens.
 This is not a city meeting, said the
 mayor, and no vote is to be taken, but | it is a council meeting called to give the
 gas and electric commissioners chance t to explain why the council should sur f render it's right to the public utilities commission. Citizens would be given a chance to express their opinions. s The mayor invited President D. T. ,, Shea of the gas and electric commis- 3 sioners to state their attitude regarding s the bill which has been introduced in n the legislature and which would put + munieipally owned public utilities under y the supervision of the public utilities e commission the same as privately ownd ) ones are now.
 '- President Shea Makes Statement . President Shea read the following
 statement:
 e To the Honorable Herbert NJ. Lerou
 Mayor, and the Members of the Hon. ,-i orable Court of Common Council, o! d the City of Norwich:
 l. Gentlemen:
 d Inasmuch as the meeting this even 1T ing has been called for the purpose O
 considering a request of the Board O r, Gas and Electrical Commissioners, tha r, the Honorable Edwin w. Higgins, cor is poration counsel of the city, should ap
 pear at hearing before the prope
 committee of the Connecticut legisla
 ture and oppose the passage of tn " proposed bill, which provides that al ls municipally owned gas, electric an .e water plants be placed under the su pervision of the public utility commis K sion, it would seem quite in order tha ls your commissioners state to your hon
 i orable body why the request was made D. AS has been our custom in pas IN years, when the state legislature ha IL been in session, so ths year we re r. Quested our representatives to furnis T. T. us with copies of any bills that migh IS be introduced, either in the senate c tt in the house, that would, if passed, b m detrimental to the best interests of th re department.
 a Upon receipt from Senator Brow ;s. of a copy of house bill No. 56, th ss same was brought to the attention {
 the commissioners at their regula IS, meeting held on February 9th, last. -s. After most careful consideration, ss was unanimously voted to appoint A special committee consisting of Con -S. missioner Jensen, General Manag, y. Taggart, and Engineer Mole, to conf,
 with Corporation Counsel Higgins, an
 if agreeable to him, request that I . should appear at the legislative heal ,,o ings and oppose the passage of u N said bill.
 a The committee was informed by M
 Higgins that, in his opinion, the ma ,s- ter should be referred to the mayt es and the finance committee of the cit @ The committee, therefore, conferrt ' with Mayor Lerou, In the presence {
 MT. Higgins, at which time the may, T, decided to refer the matter to a SD, cial meeting of the common counc o. Our conclusions were:
 m A. Your commissioners are of u a. unanimous opinion that the -interes 0i of the department would be bett
 served by having it's affairs and oper;
 tions remain under the direct supel
 vision of your honorable body, rath
 than to relinquish the said supervise - to the public utilities commission. ,r- B. We further believe that und A. the proposed bill, the department, b, n- cause of restriction now imposed upt ut it by the statutes, would be unable me receive many of the benefits derived l ,n privately owned corporations, who ,s- affairs are supervised by the publ ny utilities commission.
 Ill. c. Under public utilities supervisic aie it is possible that. without the appro' in al of your honorable body, or of u an' taxpayers, the city might be order, .od to expend large sums for extension
 or Improvements, and in orderEo raj " sufficient funds therefor, the bond nd debt of the city would have to be co ,od respondingly increased.
 D.. We unanimously believe that t
 interests of both the city and this d ;or partment would be more efficient n cared for by the defeat of the propo ,hr ed bill, but if your honorable bo I od should decide, that in your opinic ,s+' better results would be obtained. ,Io' surrendering your right of superYisi -e of the affairs of this department ~, the public utilities commission, th. will most respectfully abide by yo '"o decision.
 Very respectfully,
 DANIEL T. SHEA vas JAMES L. CASE lm- JOHN T. SULLIVAN 'ith MARTIN E. JENSEN and FRED A. FOX !