The globe-independent. (Hagerstown, Md.) 1943-19??, 1951-02-22
News Of
CityHan

!
ing of the Mayor and Council was
held on Friday night The meeting
was originally called to hear a re-
quest from Cohen Brothers, a local
real estate firm, for water and sew
er lines, and the building of streets,
for one of their new developments
in the city, but before the meeting
was over several other matters came
up for discussion and settlement.
After Mr.. Sam Cohen had pre-
sented his firms case to the mem
bers of the Council, the whole ques-
ton of just how far the city should
go in providing sewer and water
lines, and streets, for new develop
ments was again discussed.
1t was finally decided to extend
sewer and water lines to the Cohen
Brothers development at the rate
of not more than 100 feet per house,
but the question of building streets
in the development was left until a
later date.
The City Engineer, Charles Stein
bach, in discussing the question of
building streets for new develop
ments, pointed out that the cost of
! just paving city street would be
about $500 foot and that, if the
city paved all the streets that var
! ious real estate developers were
1 asking for, it would take just about
all the operating budget of the
! street department, leaving no money
for the paving of alleys and other
projects.
The Council finally authorized
the city engineer to draw up a plan
whereby the cost of paving these
new streets would be put on a pro
rata basis between the city and the
developers, or the property owners,
and submit his plan to the Council
as soon as possible.
Councilman Knight then brought
up the question of providing a sew
er line for a new building in his
Ward. During the discussion on
this motion it was brought out that
the owner of the building had been
given a permit by the City build
ing inspector and that it was his
intention to put in septic tank on
the property. However. when he
called in the plumbing inspector re-
garding the septic tank, the inspec-
tor, in turn, called in the State
Health Department, who refused to
allow the tank to be put in.
1t then turned out that, because
of the absence of natural drainage
in the locality, an effective sewer
line could not be put in without the
use of pumping system, which is
a very expensive proposition.
At the meeting your reporter was
very surprised to learn that under
the City ordinance, the city build
ing inspector must issue a build
ing permit provided it does not
violate any city ordinance) and that
such vital matters as proposed sew
erage are not even discussed when
the permit is issued.
Had the matter of sewerage been
in the existing ordinance, the
question of whether or not a septic
tank could be used on the mans
property would have been settled
before the permit was issued, but
as the case stands now, not only has
the mans building program being
help up for several months, but the
city must now spend several thou
sand dollars to provide a sewer line,
so that the man can finish his job
and rent his apartments
The final action at the meeting
was the appointing Cat long last)
of Park W. T. 10y, Sr., as personnel
officer for the City.
Councilman Frank Elliott again
proposed Mr.. Logs name for the
office and the nomination was sec
onded by Councilman Jennings,
with the proviso that a secret bal
lot be taken (this is the first time
that your reporter can remember
secret ballot by the Council being
taken, unless you can count votes
taken at closed sessions) When the
five votes were counted by City
Clerk Kerney, the vote was 3 to 2
in Mr.. Logs favor.