Omaha Renews Water Plant Fight

Omaha Renews Water Plant Fight

奥马哈市在努力控制水系统方面迈出了又一步，八年前开始的光线仍在发动。最新的步骤是出售$ 7,600,060的债券，以提供现金，每当他们选择将财产移交给城市时，以付款。这是水公司拒绝这样做，直到最高法院命令命令，与此同时，奥马哈每天支付近1,060美元的大债券发行，除了从较小利率的少量利率中获得任何类型的回报该款项存入的银行。再加上以下事实：7,000,000美元的债券是在私人出售时处置的，价格比他们被提供给最高出价者所带来的价格要低得多，成千上万的奥马哈市民对进入城市的景象的混乱感到非常厌恶。所有权已获得纳税人。八年来，公民已经向水板支付了薪水，无法管理。在相同的时间内，他们支付了巨大的律师费和法院费用。在最近的城市大选前夕，当公众的脑海被政治上宣布时，宣布在私人出售中以$ 7,000,000的债券处置，这一数字估计从75,000美元到250,000美元，比他们本来会少25万美元。带来了公开市场。 And upon that same date the public began paying out nearly $1,000 per day interest on money which will not be needed for months and possibly not for years. When Omaha finally secures possession of the waterworks it will have paid, in direct price, more than twice the amount at which the citizens were led to believe the plant could be purchased. Eight years ago, when the agitation started, the originators of the move, some of whom have since been elected to membership on the water board, told the city the plant could be bought for $1,000,000. The citizens thereupon voted to purchase the water system at that price and authorized the issuance of $3,000,000 bonds with which to pay for it. But the owners refused to accept this price and the water board went into court to force an appraisal and condemnation. After nearly three years of investigation, at big salaries, the board of arbitrating engineers reported the plant to be worth $6,125,000—more than double the amount that the citizens were led to believe. Omaha refused the appraisal. But the water company feels justified in asking the courts to force the city to complete the purchase. That phase of the situation was in court for several years, passing through all state courts and afterwards to the highest federal court.

It is thought that a new dam of proper construction and height will cost at least $12,000 and bonds in that amount will undoubtedly be asked for by the city of Ashtabula, O. There is no question about the dam being needed, as the old structure has been in a shaky condition for years and it is now about to tumble down. In former years it has been possible to run the plant by water power until the dry season came in midsummer, but the heavy ice last winter broke down part of the structure, and beginning to-day gasoline will have to be used for pumping, at a cost of from $6 to $10 a day.