Minutes 02/27/1917 - Laserfiche WebLink

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R, C, P, 1917. At a regular meeting of the City Council February 27th there were present: Messrs--T. A. Bunting, Oscie Dashiell, J. T. Hs~uvey, C. H. Herbert, Jno. A, Sortie, W. D. Morgan, 6. On motion, the reading of minutes of the previous meetings wac deferred. At this point, Mr. Norgan moved that the rules be suspended to hear the City Manager's re- port first. The motion ~s adopted, and the report was read by him as follows: "Hon. J. T. Hanvey, "And Gentlemen of the Council. "Feb. 2?th, 1917. "I would hereby respectfully present my second monthly report to the Council. "Commenting upon the matters touched upon in my previous report I would state the following: "In connection with the problem of the disposal of the drainage from the ice plants locat- ed in High St., I have asked the City Attorney for ~u opinion as to the liability of the ice companies in connection with bearing their proportional cost of the construction of an adequate drain, I have received a verbal opinion from him to the effect that one third of the cost of the improvement could be levied on each company. I have instructed Mr. Weaver to prepare plans for the drain, and aisc make an estimate of the cost of same. I would recommend that when we get ready to do the work that bids be asked £or, as, I am of the opinion that the work can be done more cheaply by contract than by the City force; estimate cost, $1050.00. "MATTER OF P~ING WASHINGTON ST.: "This work has been started; after study and deliberation I arrived at the conclusion that a good deal of money could be saved by dumping the street sweepings in the parkways, levelling, rolling and sowing grass seeds; the work is now under way along these lines at no more cost to the City tha~u the old method of disposing of the sweepings. Owing to the expense I would ad- vise against the plan of planting annuals in the parkways since by so doing we should have to employ a gardner to care for them. I would suggest starting the grass and planting perennial shrubs or bushes which will require little or no care. "I would also suggest mg~in at this time that two or three of the squares be made into neighborhood playgrounds and properly fenced. "~ITY FIRE IN~SUHANCE: "The committee which is investigating the City Fire Insurance°of which is chairman~ reports ~Progress~ F. T. Briggs "HATTER 0~?_OOD INSP_ECTO~: "I am still of the opinion that such an office should be created, but am not prepared to m~e a~y definite suggestions at this time. "MATTER OF CITY FINANCES: "As noted.in my Janumry report, there was a conference between City Officials, the loca~l B.~k. Presidents an~ myself relative to getting ~terest on City money on daily balances and max~ng £oans at a Aess r~te of interest than .06~. Since that time we have h~d another confer- ence and in addition have made personal ~nd individual calls on the Bank Officials, All of the local Banks remain firm in their refusal ~o~llow interest on balances or to lend money to the City at less than~.06%. I am in receipt of a proposition in w~iting from a Bank in Norfolk of- feting money on loan mt .05%, and have been promised a proposition by the same Bard~ to handle ali of the City money along ~he lines which I have suggested. I would now suggest to the Coun- cil that this mmtter be gone into seriously and immediately; that bids he asked for from both local and out of town Banks; asking that proposals be submitted stating the maximum percentage which will be charged on loans, and that a contract be then entered into with the Bank or Banks making the mos~ favorable bid or bids. "MATTER OF INVENTORY: "The heads of ~partments have hem been as prompt in returning the inventory blanks as they should have been. I have been after them several times but every time I find that there has.been a misunderstanding about some paint by some one~ progress along this line is being made, however. The Oommittee which I appointed to llst amd appraise City real estate reports "Progress." It will be some months before this Com~ittse will be able to report. "MATTER OF RULES AND CODES: "Progress is being made in preps~ring new rules for both the P6tX~e ~nd Fire Department. Progress is also being m~de in the preparation of a Building Code. I would at this time re- new the request which I made last month that the "National Electrical Code," as recommended by the National Fire Protection Association, Edition of 1915, together with the schedule of inspection fees recommended by the same Association, be adopted as soon as p~seible as the Code for the City of Portsmouth. "NA~TER OF STPJEET EXTENSION~: "I wotuld again call the attention of the Council to the questions of extending London St. through to Ninth St., and Hatton St., from London St. to High St., and would suggest that some action be taken in these m~tte~s. "'~J~TTER OF ELECTRIC