Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-05-05
NEW WATER WORKS
CONTEMPLATED BY
HARLEM COUNCIL
VIII Make Effort to Sell
Bonds; Seat Members
After Election.
Special to The Tribune.

Harlem. May 4.-1here was nc
shake-up in municipal affairs last Mon
day night WHOM the new mayor and
council took over the reinS of the city
Mayor McAiichael appointed ali Of the
former officeholders except one, the
by George w. Vennum. A. Doe was
appointed clerk; r. L. Barton, treas
urer; w. II. Granger, pumper; DIR. G.
Ii. Miller, health officer, and c.. NJ.
Dolven, marshal. These will all CON
tinue to serve at their old salaries.
Mayor McMichael has been posting
himself of late in regards to the things
that will be needed to be done and
seemed to have a pretty good program
lined up, keeping in view all the while
strict economy in disbursing the city
funds.
At the last session of the old council
NJ. l.. Johnson raised a question about
the bill presented by A. VI. Dolyen for
street work. He considered that the
charge was too high and that the men
who worked on the street had loafed
on the job and that the city had not
received full value for the money. He
stated that he was violating the senti-
ments of a great many people of the
city and refused to o. K. the bill unless
it were cut down to what the work was
costing the city of Chinook.
re Claimed Price Fair
Mr.. Dolven contended that the price
he was charging for the work, 81 a
day for man and team, was the regular
price and vas the wage he had been
charging the city heretofore on work
of this kind. He stated that he had
been ordered to do the work by the
mayor and that no price had been stip-
ulated. He had completed the work,
assuming that he was to get his regu-
lar price and refused to cut the bill
in any way.
After some discussion on the mat
ter, Alderman Smith moved that the
bill be paid. Alderman Dolyen would
not vote on his own bill. Alderman
johnson would not second the motion
and as Alderman Angstman was not
present, there was no way of getting
the motion put through. Alderman
Johnson passed the buck" to Mayor
Cowan, who in turn stated that he
would leave the matter lay over for
the new council to dispose of.
When this matter came up for dis
cussion before the members of the new
council the bill was ordered paid. They
contended that as long as there had
been no agreement beforehand as to
what compensation Mr.. Dolven should
get for this work, the bill was n legiti-
mate one. The amount Of this bill
was $134.
Adopt New Scale
At this time, the new council adopted
q schedule for street work in the fu-
ture and will pay 60 cents per hour
for man and team.
The treasurer's report showed that
at the end Of the month there was
q balance on hand in all city funds of
S4.S74.40. There were several requests
for road work, but there is only s179
in the road fund. There are three bad
places to be fixed, one near Tubbs'
barn, another near the school house
and the third on the highway near the
Equity elevator. These will be fixed
first and later. when the road taxes
are collected, other work will be done
as funds are available.
As the new aldermen were elected
without regards to the length of term
which they were to serve, and as one
set of aldermen must serve a term of
one year and the other 81 term of two
years, the law provides that this can
be determined by drawing lots. In the
first ward, Alderman Newcomer drew
the short term, and in the second ward
the short term was drawn by Sutton.
Recommends Bond Sale
c. p. Wells, civil engineer formerly
employed by the town for handling the
proposed water plant, was present at
the council meeting and made the
statement that he thought it would be
a good time for the town of Harlem
to make plans to sell the water bonds
voted two years ago. He said he
thought the bonds could be sold at par
at this time. 1t was decided that it
would be well to try out the bond
market and find out what could be
done. 1t is generally conceded that
something must be done to get the
water system in shape and if the bonds
could be sold it would provide the
necessary funds. All the aldermen were
in favor of this and Mr.. Wells was
instructed to advertise the bonds for
sale once more and also to finish M
the plans for the changes in the punl/
ping station SO that bids could be
called on this work. The council would
then be in position to know just what
the city can do.
The plans as originally made call for
using the Milk river as a water supply.
t-tllt illiC oSbs aL "a nN bt'NtAhes II
seemed to be the sentiment of a great
many people that an effort should be
made to try and secure some source
of water supply in the hills to the
north Of town by digging a well.
River Safest Supply
In the opinion of Mr.. Wells, ii is
far safer to make plans for a water
supply from Milk river than to gamble
on getting water from a well in the
hills to the north. He stated that the
Great Northern railway has tested all
over this country for water, but have
not been able to get a satisfactory
supply.
He stated that Milk river can al
ways be depended on to furnish all
the water that will be necessary, nc
matter how large the town grows, and
that the water car be made pure and
wholesome by a filtration plant.
1t is going to cost considerable to
prospect for water and the question at
the present time is whether the council
deems it wise to gamble with a few
thousand dollars of the bond issue to
prospect for IA well and impair the
chances Of building an efficient water
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