The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1921-04-22
BOARD MEETING OF
MAYOR AND ALDERMEN
City Hall and Street Improvements
for Discussion.

/ 1OT OlScuSSlOu.
At the regular meeting of tn
Board of Mayor and Aldermen las
Tuesday night street improvement
and the building of a city hall wer
| discussed.
A city hall has been proposed as
joint arrangement between the Ma
sonic lodge of Union City and tn
corporation of Union City to be erect
ed on the corner of West Churcl
street and Second street.
1t is understood that in lieu o.
the fact that the city owns the lo
the Masons are to furnish the greater
portion of the cost of building. Ii
any event the two bodies propose tt
share equally in the enterprise, the
lower portion of the building to be
used by the city and the upper floor
to be used entirely by the Masons
The city is now paying monthly
rental of $50, and If suitable ar
rangement can be made for construc-
ton on a conservative basis it is es-
timated that the city will save mon
ey by the utilization of its own lot
and proposed building. The commit
tees are to meet and figure the details
and then report plans, estimates, re-
spective amount of costs, etc., where
upon the proposition will be ready
for approval or rejection.
The proposed street improvements,
for which survey of the city is now
being made, came up for further dis
cussion, called forth on account of
the recent business failure. 1t seems
that the Board has practically agreed
upon a certain amount of permanent
street improvements, contingent only
on the ability of the city to float
bonds for that purpose at an interest
rate of six per cent or less and to
realize upon the bond sale an
amount of return approximating par
value
The original proposition was to i'm
prove section including First, Sec
ond, Main and Ury streets, on the
abutting property plan, the city to
pay one-third of the cost, the citizens
on each side one-third of the cost, in
Guiding intersections, etc. These i'm
provements are to be provided for
with the sale of serial bonds
Now. the question last Tuesday
night was: Shall we proceed with
the preliminaries and the work as
planned in the face of the
fact that business failure in Union
City of considerable Importance has
taken place?
The Mayor called for an expression
from the members. All agreed unan-
that the failure should not
have any effect upon the proposed
street improvements, but one or two
members felt like modifying the orig
lnal proposal. Mr.. Reynolds stated
that he was not altogether sure but
that the permanent construction pro-
gram should be confined to the bus
mess section of the city; still he
would not at this time stand out
against the majority. Mr.. Bransford,
Mr.. Bryan and Mr.. Lovelace all
agreed on the construction program
without modification, but opposed is
suing bonds at a rate of interest ex-
,eeding six per cent and floating
ponds at less than 95 cents on the
lollar. Mr.. Corum favored extension
If permanent improvements as pro-
POSED. Mr.. Clogs, chairman of the
streets and sidewalks committee,
tated that the bond market is i'm
proving and that chances Of floating
,onds for a good price and at con-
ervative rate of interest were very
rood. The indications are, he said, |
hat money is getting easier. The |
Mayor also seems to take an optimis-
ic view of the matter.
Now, we have had in The Com
nercial little to say in regard to
he street construction program.
What we stressed was the making of |
contract that would not involve the |
ity in paying excessively for street |
'aving construction. In other words,
here seems to be a custom among |
ontractors for street construction |
o cut fiat melons" out of these con-
racts. In other words they bind the
nunicipal corporations in contracts
t excessive prices for material and
and thereby practice on
hese corporations the injustice
nown as graft.
The city should by all means
estore this sinking fund. but it has
cen neglected so long that it will
axe a tax rate of 20 cents to do it.
would be a serious mistake to
uthorize another big bond issue
Il