Minutes 06/23/1936 - Laserfiche WebLink

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332 Jur~e 2~rd- there were At a regular meeting of the City Council, held on June 23rd, 1936, at 8:00 P.M., present: Vernon A. Brooks, Leslie .T. Fox, J. T.Hanvey, S.B. Moore,J.Alden0ast, J.R. Stewart, City Manager. Minutes. of meeting held June 9th, were read and aporoved. The following communications from the City Manager were read: let - "In May, your honorable body, by resolution,, directed the "City Manager to, immediately, contact a reputable engineer, to ascertain the expense of a thorough and ex- haustive study, loosing to the establishment of a municipal electric light and power plant~ I beg to report that after several contacts and interviews wit<h engi- neers of reputation and ability, that such a survey and report may be made for $3,500.00. The more important phases Qf such a survey and report will embrace: let 2nd th 7th gth 9th 10th llth Analysis of present light and ~ower rate~. Study and audit of municipal lighting costs. Rehabilitation of street lighting system. Possibilities of local power generation. Economies of purchased power(municipal distribution). Tentative design of municipal power~enerating plan~. Estimated cost of municipal power distribution system. Schedule of municipal system operating charges. Contemplative revenues, competitive operations. 0o-ordina~ion of power generation and water pumping. pumping plant operation analysis. I assume that it is the Council's intention ~o pursue the matter fur ther, I-therefore recommend that $3,500.00 be made available for an exhaustive study and port.~However, before proceeding to employ an engineer, I shall confer ~i~hthe Council, either in regular meeting or in conference, ~ud take no definiteaction e~Sep~ upon the c~un~ oil's approval." On motion of Mr'. Fox, recommendation of theCity Manager was approved, s.nd appro- priation of $3,500.00 for said purpose, was placed on first readlng. 2nd - ".In accordance with an Ac~ of the General Assembly, which appropriates a sum of nine hundred and fifty thousand dollars for each year of the biennium, beginning ~u- ly 1st, 1936, which amount is allocated to the cities and counties of the State on a per cap- i~a basis, the City of Portsmouth is entitled to $1~,~56.15 against the City's appropriation of $10,~3.69,. which is upon the basis of sixty cents from the City to each one dollar from the State. In order to share in the State Fund, it will be necessary for the City to establish a ~ocial Service Bureau, an official agenc~ authorized ~o dispense such direct relief to those residents of the City, who, upon proper investigation, are found ~o qualify for such assistance. Restrictions as to the qualifications of ~he personnel to be employed, subject to the approval of the State Department of Public Welfare, are incorporated in a cir- cular entitled, "Rules and Regulations approved by the Gover~or for the Administration of the State Public Assistance (Relief) Act". These reg~mlattons state that ~all welfare superinten- dents and relief directors shall be approved by the ~tate Department of Public Welfare." Further regulations are provided for the expenditure of funds~ which are subject to State audit~ To the easual observer, it would appear that the intent of the Act wa~ solely to dispense relief to the needy of the State. However, in a letter from the State De-- partment of Public Welfare, addressed to Boards of Supervisors and City Welfare authorities, in reference to application for allotment of State Relief appropriation, two paragraphs con- corning the duties of the Welfare Superintendents read as follows: (1) The Welfare Superintendents are to fill, partly at least, the long-felt need of out-patient workers for the hospitals for mental patients, parole offi- cers for the industrial schools and social service workers for other public institutions and agencies caring for dependent, delinquent and defective persons. (2) The Welfare Superinte4dents are to handle not only local relief, but all social problems confronting local authorities, such as child welfare, proba- tion work in the trial Justice court, mothers~ aid, distribution of surplus products, commu- nity orge~ization for social purposes, transients and non-resident dependents and numerous other problems of a social nature. From these ~wo paragraphs, it can be very definitely seen that the es~ tablishment of such a bureau will be at the very start, require the undivided attention of the directing head~ It is obvious tha~ the Director of the Department of Public Welfare can not perform the duties specific& and perform his p~esent duties. The work entail sd will require his full undivided attention. Therefore, the position of ~i~y Physician should be separated from that of Welfare Director. The actual cost to the City of a proposed Social Service Bureau, is indeterminate at this time, due in the main to the lack of information as to what normal ex- penditures now being made, may be credited, as a par% of the ~10,~3.69 ~o be appropriated. Definite assurance has been given tha~ credit for the following appro- priations may be had: $2,400.00 for gratis medicines and $1,100o00 for burial of paLmp~rs. This will give a credit of $3,500.00 to be deducted from the matching fund of $10, B73.69. .Also, there is a possibility of receiving credit for $2,000.00, salary of City PhYsician, $500.00 for probation work and other items such as limited hospitalization and expenditures tha~ may be unclassified.