Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1922-04-07

u Mayor n. II. Berghe im's message to
the council follows:
~! J

-
ne council follows: B,
ro1the Common Council,
Little Falls, Minnesota.
s..ss.
The people OF Little Falls have s
placed upon your honorable body and Is
the mayor the respo ibility Of carry;
ing on the city government for the Il
next two years. We have been elect
ed upon platform pledged to I'M
partial law enforcement, efficient and
economic public service, equal pro
lection Of all persons before the law
and progressive public improvements.
IN keeping with the needs OF the city I
and the, ability Of the people to meet.
the costs thereof. Reason and ex-
perience have demonstrated that the
progress Of the city and the promo /
ton Of the common welfare can nest
be attained by the council and the
mayor working together on some
definite and explicit policy for civic
Improvement. pledge my support
and cooperation to this council In all
matters which appear to me to be Tor !
the public good.
Permit me, gentlemen, to call your
attention to a few matters which re-
auire the consideration Of this body
during your term Of office:
y The Water Situation.
The franchise which the Little
Falls Water Power company had with !
the city expired about two years ago.
April II, 1920, the council appointed
q committee to open up and carry on
negotiations with the officers Of said
company for new franchise or for
the purchase or leasing of the water
distributing system. January. "a,
1921. this committee filed it's report
with the city reporting that the only
question which the company would
consider was the question OF sale and
that the committee and. the company
had been unable to agree upon the
purchase price.
The city is bound to furnish it's peo-
pie with good water supply at rea-
sonable cost both for fhealth and
sanitary purposes and for protection
against fires. The city can take over
the plant which the company now
owns by arbitration or by condemna-
ton proceedings, or it can refuse to
take the plant at all and build new
system. If the old plant can be pur-
chased for what it is worth I would
recommend that the city buy it at q
price to be fixed by a board Of arbi-
traitors as we ought to be able to buy
the old plant for about half Of what
it would cost to build a new one.
There are also other questions to
be considered in connection with the
taking over of the water distributing
system.
% The Water Supply: Shall we
take the water from the Mississippi
river and filter it in filtration
plant to be built by the city or shall
we depend upon the underground sup
ply which we have discovered? The
Pillsbury engineers claim that we
have found on underground supply of
water which is pure and will be ade-
quate for all purposes. The Wolf
engineers, however, contend that this
underground supply, while it may
furnish pure water, will not be suffi-
supply is an important one and, of
course, must be settled before any
thing further is done about the pur-
chasing or building of a distributing
system. I would suggest that this
question be discussed at public
meeting before this body when both
sides can be heard.
(2) The Method of Payment: Shall
it be paid for partly by special assess
ment against abutting property and
partly by the city at large through
the sale of bonds, or shall we pay for
it together by the issue of bonds
against the plant and redeem the
bonds out of the earnings of the
plant?
am in favor of the city owning
and operating its water distributing
system and am also in favor of the
city owning and operating it's electric
light distributing system. The Water
Power company holds a franchise for
the electric light distributing system
and this franchise has not yet ,ex.
PRED. But if the company would he
willing to surrender it's franchise and
sell this system at the same time that
the water plant is taken over and in
the same way would be in favor of
taking both plants. The city could
operate the two systems with greater
profit than could be derived from the
operation Of the water plant alone.
Pool Halls and Soft Drink Parlors.
Bowling alleys, pool halls and soft
drink .parlors are business establish.
ments which have rightful place in
our community life. They furnish
opportunities for recreation and
amusements which seem to be de-
manded by the people everywhere:
AS long as these places are conduct
ed in an orderly and peaceful manner
and according to law there is very
little objection to, them. However,
some communities, have found it nee.
essary to limit the number of these
=, places and to exercise special super.
vision over them. This is done fol-
the protection of the place itself and
for the benefit of it's patrons. An or.
dinance requiring an annual license
to be secured by such places from the
q council and the mayor would have q
tendency to stabilize the business and
furnish the. administration with BET
ter opportunities of supervision.
respectfully ask that the council con
slider this question and pass such an
ordinance in the near future.
Industries. @~r.s'
The city should be on the lookout
fer new Industries and the council
should have special standing com
nittee on this subject We have ma
tural facilities for factories and an
abundance Of power and labor at rea
$ liable prices. During the past two
ars it has been useless to attempt
t :, secure new industries because OF
tia financial conditions of our coun
tr::-.s We have, however, several new
in lustries which should be given all