The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1953-12-24
81 COUNCIL INHERITS PROBLEMS
5 Major Headaches
Await Incoming
Town Officials
Power Plant Decision, Sewer
Assessments Among Knotty
Problems To Be Solved

Five major unsolved municipal
problems will be dumped into the
laps of Buttons incoming city
councilmen when they take office at
the first meeting in the new year,
Monday, Jan. A.
Inherited from the outgoing adj
n,inistration, the problems include
combination of some of the most
crucial questions in Bluffton history,
and at least two of them are allied
with financing difficulties which must
be solved before the situations them
selves can be handled.
With no attempt to list them in
order of importance-for all are
pressing for immediate solution-the
problems are as follows:
SEWER ASSESSMENTS This
involves working out and putting into
effect S250,000 in special assessments
against Bluffton real estate owners,
as a major share of financing the
towns new sewage disposal system.
Although it is now more than 15I
months since construction of the dis
posal system. was started, new coun-
cilmen have been told that so far
nothing has been done toward work
ing out the basis of assessments, the
assessment schedules, etc. AS mat
-ters now stand it is indicated that
several months of work will be re-
cuired before individual property
holders can be told how much the new
system win cost them assessment
wise.
2-COMPLETE SEWERS-There
also is the pressing problem of how to
finance completion of the network
Of intercepting sewers needed for the
towns new treatment system.
Construction of sewers came to a
halt last month when the town ran
out of funds to complete the project.
At that time engineers estimated that
about $4,000 in additional funds will
be needed to complete all phases of
handling the towns sewage.
3-POWER PLANT EMPASSE-
Also required will be decision on
what to do about the municipal power
plant question. To sell out complete
ly, or to buy current, is the problem
facing the new Administrations
carryover of six months of controver-
sy which followed board of public
affairs recommendation. last July to
shut down the municipally-owned
generating plant and buy power
wholesale for distribution to local
patrons.
4-STREET REPAIRS-Bluffton
streets are in their worst condition in
history. Facing council is the prob
lem of how to finance the major pro-
gram of improvements resulting from
damage done by excavation for new
sewer lines and new gas mains dur
ing the last year.
In addition to repairs occasioned by
excavation, two years of normal
street work also should be crammed
into next summers program, for the
outgoing council passed up the usual
annual street improvement program
last year, and instead put the money
into building the Cherry street and
College avenue intercepting sewers.
This means that although no street
repair work was done last year, the
money has been spent for other pur-
poses, and is not available to help
catch up with the work ahead.
ISSUE SEWER BONDS-Al-
though the sewer program is COM
pleted, except for phases delayed by
a lack of funds, nothing has been done
as yet relative to issuing and selling
bonds required to finance more than
Continued on Page 81