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April 8, 1930
<br />
<br /> At a regula~ meeting of the City Oouncil held April 8th there were present;
<br /> ~essrs-- Vernon Brooks, E. N. ~aupin, Jr., Arthur ~ayo,
<br /> J. Alden Cast, J. R. Stewamt, Amchibald Ogg, 6.
<br /> Also the Oity Manager.
<br /> The minutes of the regular meeting March 25th were read and were approved.
<br /> The following com~nunications were read from the City M~nager: 1st. "Attached you will
<br />find copy of repo~ which I have this day received from ~r. 0. H. Markham, Olerk to the Assessorsf.
<br />The report is-somewhat in. detail'in regard to the work up to date."
<br /> The following is the zeport from ~r. ~arkham:
<br /> "In accordance with your request I am giving
<br />below a detailed report of the ~ activities and findings brought about by authority from you to
<br />install a. co.rePlete block System of Laps, thereby taking an inventory, so to speak, of all the
<br />land and buildings within the-limits of the 0ity of portsmouth.
<br /> My appointment being effective Februa~~ 1st, I immediately began a~sembling an organization
<br /> to carry on this-work, and prior to the time of the appointment of the other employees-of this
<br /> office my attention was directed to assembling recorded maps of the city.
<br /> On February 5th, ~isses ~ingfield and D~vis were appointed a~d began upon their duties
<br /> of copyim, g the official Land Book of th~ Commissioner of the Revenue on individual cards so
<br /> that each piece of property in.the city Would have a separat~ listing as outlined by the T~x
<br /> Commissioner' of the State of Vzrginia~ Approximately twenty~ive thousand of such cards have
<br /> ~een made a~d checked by the employees above n~med, which number will be greatly increased
<br /> before the completion of this work due to the r~ ng quoted above by the Tax Commissioner, owing
<br /> to the fact that in many instances several parcels were-described on one line instead of being
<br /> separated.
<br />
<br /> On February 16th, F. H~ Gay and H. R. Diehl were employed as cLra~ftsmen to prepare a series
<br /> of maps on a standa~cl size sheet, which will show when completed the lot and block of each
<br /> parcel, the frontage and depth, the owner's name and assessment~ improvements if any, ~ the
<br /> st=eot number of the building in question. H~ving standardized on a scale of 1~ equals 50', it
<br /> has been ~ecessa~vy for the d~aftsmen to plat this work' entirely anew as the. majority of recorded
<br /> maps, ~l~n which our system is mainly dependent, are on a scale of l" equals 100'. The Sanborn
<br /> ~ap Oompany, a corporation specializing in the location of houses for fire insurance rates,
<br /> furnished us at a oos~ of One Hundred and Ninety ($!~0.00) Dollars a complete Atlas of the
<br /> entire city, their plats having been corrected to date in so fair as locations of buildings
<br /> are concerned. From this source we are able to d~etermine to a great degree of accuracy the
<br /> proper l'~ation of buildings and the street numbers that ~hey are using, which are not always
<br /> the correct numbers, and in many instances, we have foumd a duplication of street numbers within
<br /> the same block, which is not to be blamed on the Sanborn pegpte but upon the individual placing
<br /> his own number.
<br />
<br /> It is with pleasure tha~ I am about to advise you that the northern portion of the city,
<br />that being all territory north of High- Street from~east to west has been mapped.
<br />
<br /> After these maps-are finished they are turned over to a blue printer, who makes white
<br />background re,reductions from them, and are usually returned to me the same day. Upon receipt
<br />of these prints the~ clerical force is then engaged in allocating the p=operty as described on
<br />the cards copied ~rom the Commi~ssioner of the Revenue ~s La,ad Book. In m~ny-instances the des-
<br />criptions a~e so incomplete that ~e are.unable to ~lace the proper ownership on the maps without
<br />searching the Deed Books in the Clerk's Office.
<br />
<br /> It
<br /> might
<br /> appear to you that a record used fo~yea~s smd years, as the Land Book has been,
<br />would provide adequate information to easily ~lace the various properties as balled for~ however,
<br />this is not the case, and' brings out one great ~advantage of the graphic assessment system, ~hat
<br />being that it is absolutely impossible to omit ~uy pa~cei of land ~o. matter how ls~rge or small,
<br />and its t~ue 'boundaries. This latter remakr is 'intended to bring out irregular areas, which
<br />in ma~.y inst~_ces~ will only ca~ry a frontage of a very few.feet with a, rea~ dimensi6n of greater
<br />propormion. ~y the sam~ethod we ~are able to u~cover dup~l~cate- assessments,~ erroneous assess-
<br />merits,~ and omitted assessments. The latt'er is the one which provides th~ city with additional
<br />revenue, and ~p to this time I report the following:
<br />
<br />6
<br />
<br />lots Air Line Land Co.
<br />
<br />" Scotts ~Oreek
<br />W~ ~amyland AYe.
<br />
<br /> 1
<br /> 1
<br /> 1
<br /> 1
<br /> 11
<br />535
<br />
<br />1708 Spratley St.
<br /> 350 A~mstrong ~t.
<br /> 53x56 N. Harrell
<br />
<br />Vacant Lots.
<br />
<br />$ 550.00
<br /> 180. O0
<br /> 2CC. O0
<br /> 100. O0
<br /> 50.00
<br /> 200. O0
<br /> 15o.o0
<br /> 55o.0o
<br /> ?co. o o
<br />
<br />Lots & Buildings.
<br />
<br />$1 .57
<br />5.30
<br />
<br /> 1.38
<br /> 5.30
<br /> 3.9s
<br /> 1 .57
<br /> 18.55
<br />
<br />$ 2, ~OO.00
<br /> 1, 800. O0
<br /> 70o. 00
<br />
<br />g3.65
<br />18.55
<br />
<br />$ 7, sol.so $ao7.57
<br />
<br />
<br />
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