Valley frontiersman., 1951-12-06
Bans Consideration of Other Phone Proposals Until Study Completed

The City Council decided to concentrate its attention in the telephone question on the feasi- bility of municipal ownership, and will give no further consid- eration to other telephone service possibilities until it's investiga- tlonS have been completed.
 Telephone committee members Lloyd Severns, Steve Ward, and Frank Brown, urged such au. thorization to explore to the full est extent the feasibility of es- tabhshing municipally owned telephone system. If their find ings jibe with preliminary infor- nation gathered so far, the ques- tion of municipal ownership will be referred to the people in . duly called election.
 Can the City Afford Ii?
 Acting City Clerk William Head, who accompanied Severns and Ward to Anchorage last week to get all the telephone informa- tion City Manager Robert Sharpe had to offer, reported to the Council on their findings. Accord ing to Anchorage's total cost per line, including all costs, system in Palmer allowing for 16O lines and 560 telephones would cost about $200,000 complete. Revenue on this basis would amount to about $3,505 per month, figured at Anchorage rates of $4 for five party line, $5 for two-party line. $6 for private, S12.50 for business phones and $10 for two-party business lines.
 How could the city get a $2OO,- 900 loan under it's bonding limi- ation? Everybody knows that the city was in on the $1,O00,000 bond authorization for the new high school and that a $3O0,0O0 bond ttlon for the water system, as requested by APW, IS coming up soon for approval. The answer is that APW public works projects do not affect a communi. tvs debt limitation. In most cases, issuance of these bonds is not usually requested. The telephone system is the only proposed pro- Ject to date which would not come under the public works pro- gram. Head estimated Palmer's bond limitation at approximate. $325,000-more than enough to cover the expected cost.
 In a statement issued by the City Council which appears on this page, the Council pointed out that there are undoubtedly prof it's to be made in the telephone business. In the opinion of Coun- cil members, these profits should accrue to the citizens of the con- munity through lower rates or other benefits. Head pointed out that telephone system will pay for itself out of income. He gave a brief review of the operationaI experience in the city of Anchor 1 age where the dial system re- quires one maintenance man on 40-hour week and five opera tors over the 24-hour period.
 Service Outside the City
 Would the potential customers outside the city limits be left out in the cold under the municipally owned system? Money raised through a city bond authorization is supposed to be spent within the city. Head said that it would be to the city's advantage to extend the lines to outside users as quickly as possible to cut down on unit costs. As soon as the first telephone was installed in Palm r. he said, Palmer would be in a position to borrow money to ex- tend the outside plant. A letter to the Council from an Anchor age bank has already indicated interest in sch financing. It might be possible to get such a loan at three percent as the An chorage telephone system did re- gently. Initial installation of the inside, plant would provide en- ough lines for extension of ser vice outside the city limits.