The Waterbury Democrat., 1932-11-15

 terday's bi-monthly meeting afl Crosby High school, voted to rec ommend to the city controller that he be requested to have an ap- praisal of school buildings in the city made, to lower the cost of in- surance carried. The vote was passed in spite of objections of Commissioner Florence B. Webster, who at the preceding meeting of the board, voiced that such an ap- praisal was waste of money. costing approximately $1,5O0. However, if a new appraisal isl made it is hoped that close to s3,000 will be saved in insurance premiums.
 Mrs Webster opined that the appraisal could be made by the school department clerical staff, using data she collected during the past two weeks and quoting the New England Insurance Exchange. She took the liberty of seeking in- formation from three contractors in Connecticut of "A-No. r stand ing whose recognized ability can- not be. questioned. These con- cerns are erecting buildings at present or have erected buildings III tAlG tt46t LWO yEAA0 W &44CAA NA4tAA the class of construction of our better schoolhouses. In the com petition they submitted bids, the bids showed a variation of from 10 to 15 per cent. This shows. she added, that even if an expert ap- praiser is obtained, the value on the school buildings would vary from 10 to 15 per cent of the actual ''sound value" of the build ings.
 Mrs Webster explained that 1t was impossible to have a total loss in s'fire resistive, buildings, owing to the fire-resistive construction. In the case of frame buildings 1t is very improbable to have a total loss, but with our efficient fire de- partmert, these could be saved before a total loss was reached. Many of these brick buildings have ''sprinklered" basements, which IS an added protection against fire.
 Mrs Webster stated she received 12 pages of typewriter matter covering the budget for 1883 Fri day, october IA, from the school department. She was supposed to look this over, become familiar with its contents, item for item. and intelligently vote ives" or mo" the following Monday. It was well-prepared statement and the one or ones who prepared It deserve to be complimented. She added that that statement was ev- idently prepared by the school de- partment.
 "The natural conclusion is that if statement such as this, which. includes almost countless items gleaned from almost numberless sources can be assembled without seeking outside aid, surely this survey, now under considerations, can also be prepared within the school board by the schoolhouse < committee when we consider tnat the chairman of this committee IS an insurance agen actively engaged in this type of work.
 President John J. Walsh read letters from the American Ap-- praisal Company of New York ana Bliss & Cole Company, of Hart ford, appraisers, stating that II no appraisal has been made since 1920, one should be made at the current writing, as the earlier one would be worthless now due to the various price changes. Making a flat reduction of two per cent would be valueless.
 He also read from the insurance manual showing the necessity TOT an accurate appraisal at the time the policy is written. Pointing out under the present code that unless buildings are insured up to 90 per cent of their value, in cose fo loss the owner would only get a sum as proportionate to the amount or insurance carried as that amount is proportionate to the real value of the building.
 Chairman Walsh stated that It takes a man of technical knoWl- edge to arrive at accurate figures in this matter and could not see why the city of Waterbury could not undertake such a task. As to what 1t means, MT Walsh said. that the state is doing this kind Of work, and succeeded in getting $60,OO0 taken off the value of the
 He denied Mrs Webster's state ment that the department must spend money for an appraisal af- ter a fire. Mrs Webster contended that the standard form of contract requires an appraisal after tho fire. adding that she talked with sew eral insurance agents who stated that if schools had never been ap- praised, 1t would have been an ex- cellent thing to have an appraisal made, but that if one has been made as recently as 1920. new appraisal is unnecessary.
 The motion was then put to authorize the appraisal and Mrs Webster was the lone one voting against 1t.
 Thomas Crowley of 25S Wood street reported to the board that his son, Thomas Crowley, Jr, a Leavenworth high student, had his overcoat stolen from the school last week and urged that lockers be installed in the schools.
 Dr Michael c. Donovan stated that now the schools could use $5,0OO worth of lockers due to overcrowded conditions in the schools, especially the high schools. He reported that two overcoats were stolen yesterday from Crosby High school. MT Crowley was informed that De- tectiye Matthew Balafda was in- X formed and would work on the theft immediately.
 Dr Donovan secured permission z of the board to attend the annual association meeting of the New V - v fss - ~ tsHr 4sN