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Show WAYS AND MEANS FOR CITY IMPROVEMENT Problem That Is Now Up to the City Council and the Board of Publics Works. , ;-" I MEMBERS of the Finance committee com-mittee of the City Council will be Invited to meet with, the members of the Board of Public Pub-lic Works next Tuesday for the purpose pur-pose of considering ways and means for .the carrying on of "needed public improvements im-provements in the way of sidewalk, sewer and water main extensions Under Un-der the present state of affairs the hands of the Board of Public Works are practically tied and they can do nothing- toward Improving the sidewalks side-walks or sanitary conditions of the city. When the attention of the City Council Coun-cil was called to the fact that under the Fernstrom resolution; adopted last August, it is next to Impossible to order or-der needed public improvements, tho Council referred tho communication back to the board with instructions to try to make arrangements with tho contractors to do the work. The Fernstrom Fern-strom measure provides that no work be ordered until 75 per cent of the tax levied for the proposed Improvement lias been paid into the city treasury. The Street and Municipal Laws committees com-mittees have both recommended that the amount to be paid in be "decreased to 50 per cent, but as yet the reports have not been acted upon by the Council Coun-cil A second communication from the Soard of Public .Works urging upon tho Council the necessity of amending the ordinances so that work can be undertaken un-dertaken was tabled at the meeting of the Aldermen on Monday night. Clerk Wilklns of the Board of Public Works has been doing everything In his power to find some way by which 'the work can be done. In accordance with the action of the Council on the board's first communication relative to the Fernstrom resolution Mr. Wllkins wrote to the R. S. Blome company of Chicago setting the facts before them and inquiring whether that Arm, which has the contract for sidewalk extensions, exten-sions, would be willing to undertake work before the full 75 per cent of the tax has been paid in In answer to his communication Mr. Wilklns received a telegram yesterday from the Blome company to the effect that theye would be satisfied to commence work as soon ns the ordinances are amended making the pavement a lien upon the property. If this be done the contractor will be willing to commence work when ordered or-dered by the board and receive the money as fast as the taxes are paid in. providing that interest at tho rate of 7 per cent be paid on all balances due at the completion of any piece of work. After considering the matter yesterday yester-day .the board decided to confer with the Finance committee of the Council before accepting the proposition of the Blome company. |