Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1922-10-06

uybether the City Commissioners in
tend to improve the tract in the second
ward. between Atlantic avenue and the
new boardwalk, and in order to answer
that and give a little history of af-
fairs the following statement is made.
We hope that it will serve to clear up
tbe minds of our good citizens-the
reason for the present unsatisfactory
condition in the second ward.
To begin with, it is now very appa-
rent that the old boardwalk should
never have been removed until such
time as the proper provision were
made for the filling in and develop
ment of the land between Atlantic ave-
nue. and the new boardwalk. Your
nresent Commissioners inherited an
almost impossible, if not impractical
problem in the development of this
ground. In the first place the only
logical way to put in the street i'm
provements on this land is to first fill
it in with a dredge placed on the ocean
front. The municipality however has
no legal right to fill in any ground
other than that occupied by the street
and therefore could not collect the
cost of any filling which was done on
private lots. In order to fill in the
streets and surface them with gravel,
therefore, it would be necessary to
bulkhead not only the street ends but
both sides of the streets back to At
lantic avenue, as a heavy storm tide is
almost sure to wash out anything of
that character which is not properly
protected. This b~ulkheading will be
a very expensive proposition for the
lot owners, and your Commissioners
have hesitated to place such a burden
upon the abutting properties. Last
winter arrangements were made for
the installation of the sewer system
throughout this tract and this work
is now all completed. 1t has been
hoped that it would be possible to have
some concerted action taken by the
property owners whereby they would
fill in this entire tract in n oper-
alton, in which event only a bulkhead
along the front would be necessary.
1t would then be a simple matter for
the city to proceed with the install
lation of all the street improvements
at once at a reasonable expense to the
property wners. From Information
gathered from those who have tried to
get such a proposition through, how
ever, it seems that it will be impos-
sible to get unanimous approval of the
no~AcsfSon onA tho nn1U annaTAnt
method of getting the improvements is
as first outlined. AS stated your Com
missioners hesitate to place this bur-
den on the lot owners and Will only DO
so when at least 81 per cent of the
property owners on each street petit
ton the municipality to proceed with
the work. Upon the filing of a petition
in proper form with the stated num-
Der of signers your Board of Commits
sioners will proceed with the improve
ments in the proper manner as re-
uuired by law. Your Commissioners
desire it thoroughly understood, how
ever. that the present limited borrow
inc capacity of the city has nothing
whatever to do with the street work
in the locality named, as every cent OF
the cost of practically all these I'M
provements must be borne by the
abutting property owners under the
assessment plan. Your COMMISSION
ers have realized as much as anyone
the drawback which the present con-
dition of the front is, not only to the
owners of the property along the
boardwalk and in the section west OF
Atlantic avenue it has been a source
of constant anxiety and study as 10
how best to remedy the situation. For
weeks the Commissioners have, in con-
sultation with the city engineer, peen
studying the proper method of taking
care of the front and ~endeavoring to
ascertain the cost of pumping in that
tract and also the best course to pur-
size to alleviate the condition ana 10
remedy a condition that must be met.
The Commissioners try to meet thls
situation in a businesslike manner
All reports to the contrary from some
persons for malicious intention nave
said that the Commissioners purposely
overlooked the second ward. This is
absolutely untrue. 1t is a big project
which should have been met before
the boardwalk was moved GU n was
suggested some few years ago by the
then CITY engineer, Harry E. Weir, VINO
suggested in his report that they bulk
head and fill in before moving out the
boardwalk. Unfortunately his sclen-
tifc knowledge and practical expe-
rience was abandoned in favor OF a
rule of thumb method. To give every
one a full insight into the financial
condition and borrowing capacity OF
the city there is attached a letter IRON
City Treasurer Robert ]. Kay, whlcn
will explain fully the borrowing ca
pacity of the city and show TO- II Is
impossible at this time for the city &c
make great expenditures of money be-