Free trader-journal and Ottawa fair dealer. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1920-1927, 1922-02-23

Whether or not the city will be
able to proceed without any further
delays in disposing of legal require.
ments preliminary to getting down to
brass tacks" on the north side pave
ment depends, according to state
ment made to the council last night
by Mayor Weeks, on the results OF
the citys fight in the supreme court
to prevent the Northern Illinois Light
IL Traction Co. from abandoning its
lines north of the Rock Island tracks
A decision on the case now pend.
ing before the states highest tribu-
nal is momentarliy awaited by the
mayor as the court was expected to
have handed down ruling in the
controversy among a large batch Of
opinions made public Yesterday at
Springfield
In event the controversy has been
settled by the supreme court, the
mayor and public engineer George l..
Farnsworth, will proceed at once
with shaping their plans for an early
meeting of the council to pass the
resolution and ordinance necessary
to get the improvement before Judge
Reck in the county court
"If the supreme court has handed
down a decision on the N /. l., & T.
issue said Mayor Weeks, eve had
better call special meeting next
Monday at which time the council
xIvtI pt hr ,t t,,,
prOvement. am expecting report
on the courts ruling within the
course of the next day or two and |
think the ottawa case will be in the
batch Of opinions
The resolution. it is understood,
has been drawn up and requires only
a few finishing touches to have it
ready for presentation to the council
on short notice.
The administration hopes to get
the improvement far enough advanc-
ed in the courts to permit adyertis.
ing bids and letting contracts early
in the spring.
Final Estimate on Alley,
, Announcing that the contractors
have stopped work" Engineer Farms
worth last night submitted his final
estimate on the pavement laid in the,
Gladfelter alley by l.. w Strohmey-
er. The pavement. a concrete job,
has been in dispute for several
months, the city alleging that Mr..
Strohmeyer failed to complete his
work according to- specifications,
while Mr.. Strohmeyer maintains he
met all requirements in performing
the lob The idea of the final eSti-
mate. which shows there is still Ow-
ing the contractor S503.S3, is to get
the tangle into court, where an adj
judication can be made, according to
Mayor Weeks The city has contend
ed sine the job was turned over that
a portion of the pavement is imprOp
erly constructed and permits large
pools of water to gather after a rain.
Mr.. StrOhmeyer, it is charged, scrap
ed an improvised ditch on the surface
of the concrete so the water would
drain away. The city was not CON
tent with this form of remedy and
has held back the $503,S3 until the
court could decide the matter
To Buy New Compressor.
If the plans of Commissioner
Charles Sticklen are carried through.
as expressed in a plan presented his
colleagues during the weekly session,
the pumping station will be supplied
with another new electric compress
sor costing the city somewhere in
the vicinity of $4,000 Mr. Stcklen
presented specifications for the COM
pressor and the council called upon
the clerk to advertise for bids. The
$4,000, which comes under the classi-
fication of added overhead expense,
will come from the waterworks prof
its.