Show REPORT ON I 1 CIPAL TELEPHONE at the request of the mayor and city council I 1 have bee been investigating I 1 lor for the last eight or ten months ito the cost of 0 telephone equipment to beg begin in at the beginning I 1 would say that the work has been along the line of 0 visiting the different factories where they manufacture telephone equipment quip ment in new york chicago and i other places this investigation of course has been going on while in the east on other matters so that it has only necessitated a little spare time ater receiving numerous bids from the different concerns in order to determine as near as possible the cost of materials which we would need sir air john E baird and ed ramshaw were appointed to go over the city and gideus give us the number of telephones now installed and the probable increase in phones in the next five or ten years also tile the length of 0 cable central office equipment batteries and everything in connection with tills this plant blant when this data was gathered two of the larger companies sent their representatives liere here who quoted us a price on oil the equipment which we would need and the alie latest and best bid which we have received on the complete outfit installed was just received a few days ago and aliis item covers not only the material w which h ell we e peed but also covers the installation of the plant as estimated by the best experienced guide obtainable from a number of cities where municipal telephones ep liones have lave already been installed and the amount now quoted by one of the larger companies in the business Is this covers material and installation of plant I 1 may add here that tills this amount pays tor for a strictly up to date and modern plant in ev r ery particular A lower price could tf similar to that now in use in brigham city as this plant of course has been in use tor for many years and is not as conveniently arranged and the service would not be as good as that which would be rendered by the new proposed system the price of the actual material and equipment laid down in brigham city was a little less than so that the above amount quoted seems to us quite a fair estimate on the cost of of install installation atlon and it if we add 1000 or 2000 to this amount the cost will then be tar far less than we had generally supposed there are hundreds of municipal telephone system in the united states in our own state there are privately owned plants which have long distance connections with the bell system and which up until the last year or so have received a commission commiss 1011 from the dell bell company on all long distance connections in oregon there are privately owned plants plaats and their revenues have made the investment a very profitable one for tile the stockholders 1 the question whether or not we shall have a municipal telephone must finally be decided by the people and we are giving these items of cost to the people so that they mry may have a basis from which to determine whether or not it would be a good investment tor for us I 1 may say in this connection that the municipal telephones and privately owned systems have been made to pay and are paying at the present time in many places where the rates have been reduced even as much as 40 per cent below the rates now charged by the telephone company now operating in brigham city i our slayer mayor will no doubt in the near future call a mass meeting and tile the proposition can there be discussed and if 11 the people so desire an election can be called lu in order to get the sentiment of the people I 1 respectfully submitted JOSEPH F HANSEN I 1 chairman co committee |