Minutes 01/25/1944 - Laserfiche WebLink

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January 2~th, !94~. Further reflection by the-reductions.in, au~emoDile licenses is show~ in our decreased parking meter income, which was approximately $5,200.00 or about16% less than for 1942. - Wi~h reference tc water collections, the~Suffelk office showed a, slight increase, of $~OO. OO~over the prevloushyear, while~theCity proper~ due to its~en!arged services enjoyed a~ increase~,of-appreXimatety~$110,OOO. OOover t~he year 1~42.. Ob~iomsly, this added in- come enameled us-to~make.improvements toourUaterDepartment, w~iich will serve' as a permanent asset to the City's-improvement, as well as capitat worth. ' The work in the City Collector, s office has increased due to water an~ taX collections, and it appear~ J~st as seen as praet~Icable,consideration should be- given t o additional space in order that we may render the services expected by our citizens. ..... FIRE DEPARTMENT , During~ the year t943.~ t~e Department answered 1,osoalarms as co~oared to! 974 for the. previous year or an increase of y6 with a percentage ratio of approximately 8%. ' Our losses Dy fire in the-year 1943 were-~$106,527.10, as oompared with $177,O65.92 for. the ye$r 1942, or a. dedr~asme.Of~'43%.. The personnel of the~Department increased by two during the year, in or- der to mee~ the added demo-rids of o~r, Fire Department. ~ We seeuredduring the y~ar one 75G GPM pumper and-one tOOO'GPM Mack truck, [~ addition to am.85-' aerial ladder,.at~a total cost in excess, of $~O,OOO.,~of which thel Ci~y.'sportion was approximately 40%. In addition, we.have placed three skid pumps mounted on auto chesses which were grantedus by the Civilian Defemse, making very modern pieces sf equip- ment that may be used after fires are under control, returning themore costly and valuable~ equipment to headquarters. .In. addition to the new,fire apparatus, new equipment h~s been purchased whichco~ers two a~dttionat life ne~s, adequate salvage covers, a modern acetyline cutting outfit, portable flmo,dli.ghts, nozzles, sprayers, and everything we could secure to modernize the Fire Departmen$,~ BuildingimPrevemen~s were made in several of the stations a~t new over- hea~ doors were also placed in three stations in an attempt to improve our stations~ ~ _ It is our hope during the year that we may puvchase out o~f our_project wit~hthe Federal Gover~ment~ o~ne~dditienal 750 gallon-pumper to b~ placed at our Po~t Norfolk station, and if this is successfully accempl~shed, our Fire Department will compare favorably with those, of cities our size anywhere in the country. WATER ~DEPARTMENT The Water' Department made distinguished progress during the year of 19~3, as there was a total of nearly 60~O00 feet of 2", ~", 6" and 8" mains completed in the City. There was also completed during the year two half-million gallcm~ tanks, one at Glensheallah and one a~ Gosport Road, the two together costing approximately $140,OOO. OO, which were in our Project VA ~-139 in conjunction with t~e Federal Government. The~e has also-been completed $ Lake Kllby a nine million gallon pump with gas engines at Portsmouth and two generators at Lake Kilby. Our Project VA 44-~69 for filter plant additions and reservoirs is expe~t- ed to be completed within sixty days time.~Th~se two projects, ~ogether will add over t~ mil - lion dollars in nat worth'to our water assets. It will be of interest to quo~e ~he following figures, which reflect back the population increase within the area: 19~0 - 1,600,000 billion gallons of wa~er pumped 1941 - 2,100,000 194~ 2,700,000 " " " " " 1943 - 3,500,000 " " " " " Simple mathmetics will show that since 1940 we have considerably more than doubled our water consumption, which should reflect back a near comparable growth in poo - ulation. The completion o f our water improvements and ourwa~er shed~ enhanced the value af Portsmouth's ability to attract industries to, our City by having ample water as well as reservoirs and supplies to attract manufacturing plants to this area. It should omr prime aims during the coming year, to try and secure some .plant or plant~ to build here. ELEOTRICAL DEPARTMENT The main task of the Electrical Department is maintenance, which involves electrical inspections, municipal fire alarm system, air raid warning, police telegraph and ra- dio,~raffic signals, .general lighting, parking meters, etc. · Last~ ~ear~ d~e to War Production Board ~estrictions and the great demand for copper, we have only been able to do maintenance with the e~ception o f a few slight i~ - pPovements. It is gratlfy~ng tc knew tha,~ we have maintained the usual efficient ser- vice in that Department, in spite of the curtailment of necessary supplies. The orincipal improvements made during' the year~re'a threeLcolor traffic ~ignal at the corne~ of Lincoln and Washington Sts, ~wo "Stop Then Go" ~igna~s a~ the corner of ~txth Ave. and Glasgow St., eight "Don't ~a~k" neon signs at the corner of High and Court ~ts., co-ordinated wish t~he traffi~ signal; a flashing caution signal at High Bt. and ~ourth Ave. tn addlt~ion, we halve two new~thr~e-color traffic s~gnals, one to be installed at Deep Greek Blvd. and~Gosport Road and the other at South and Court Sts. ~orking in conjunction with Naval au - thcrities, we have 'altered our traffic signal timing in order ~hat we may expedite the flow of traffis from the Navy Yard.