Council Proceedings

I official.! Oouncil Chaniber. Ann Arbor, Nov. 16th, 1891. Ilfgnlar meeting. Coun.il met and was called to order by l'ros. Oooley. Roll calleU. A quorum present. Absent, Aid. ïtehberg- 1. Minutos of previous meetings approved. HETOHT OF SEWEKAGE COMMITTEE. To the Commoii Council: Your comini'ttce mi si'wcrs to whom was retorfled the petitiou oí uitizens, cl.ncd Nov. 2d, ín regard to submittlng bo a vote of the people oí Aun Arbor the question. of eonstructing a main sewer acoorduig to the plans of Prof. Charles E. Gceene, would tespectiully report that they have had the matter niuUr eonsider;itiou and fciiibmit their report as follows: The mimes attaehed to the petitiou represent all sections of the city and some of the heavier tax-payi'r's in the different Warde. The petition requeeta the privilege of votLng ior a special tax of $20,000 to be levied in 1892 for the purpose of constructlng a main sswer as set ïorth and descrlbed ïu the report of Prof. üreene, Hcretoiore the city govemmertt of Aim Arlxjr has opposed all motions, or appeata of the eitUeais, on the subJfict of raieing taoaoy by special tax ior sewers on the techuical grounds that according to the charter tbc eitfzens caonot vote in one fiscal year on mattere of taxation pertaïning to a saibsequent year. The petition of cftizeaia i-cferred to simply expreeees the aöelre of our people to vote by special electiön on, the plan of maiu newer as lias been submitted to this council, the tax to be levied during the next. iiscal year. Inasmuch as the membars of this couiicü ha ve hapetofbre given ari almost mianiiiiotis expreesion of tpinion in favor of a system of sewers I for this city, and as the opposition has beon with reference to the specific plaa as subniiited by Prof. Greene, and as the petition of our citizens in question can but refor to a public expreeeioo of opinión on this subject, whlch would transfer the responsibility of definite action froru this uu-u-uuii Lu Lile uiuzens tnemseives, Therefore, your committee would réspectfully recornmend that the petitiou of said eitizens be granted in so Bar as pertains to ealling a special election to vote on the plan as submitted by Prof. Chas. E. Greene, and that the date of said special election be fixed for the inonth of February next. Beepectfully submitted, CHRISTIAN MARTIN, L. D. WINES, M. E. COOLEY. Committee-. Ann Arbor Mich, Nor. 16th, '91. Aid. Wines moved that the report be received and placed on file. Which mot ion prevailod. The committee on sewerage made a furtaer report, as iollows: To the Common Counal: Your committee oa sovvcrs beg leave to report that they are in possession oi additional facts pertaining to the quostion of pollution of rivers by sewage, iwhich, iï it is the pleasure of this Council, they ire now prepared to subiait. Mr. üeo. S. Pierson, City Engineer of Kalamazoo, who is an aeknowledged expert on the subject of sewers, and who has made the subject of sanitary engineering a speciaity for many years, wntes the committee as ïollows: "la regard to the pollution of 1-ivers by sewage, I find that the authorities treat this subject mainly from the standpoint of the limit of pollution that tnay be considered to render wat-er unaafe for potable purposes and the deductions are made largely from Chemical analysis of the water as it is found. I find little information as to the ratio of popuiation to cubic feet; for instanee, of a fetream b yonj whieh the stream may be considered to toe uueusivu ana ínjurious 10 neaitu in other waye. ïhis, I take it, is the ratio at whicli you wish to arrive roughly. Investigutions of, this sort seem to have been conducted on a sort of comparativa niethod in whlch conditions, diificult to state mathematica aüy, largely influence the decisión. As, for instance, the stream may al1-eady be strongly polluted by toivns above. It may be broad, sluggish, have Jow shoros subject to overflow, bo densely populated along its banks, have frequent dams, etc, etc. It may on' the other hand be unpolluted from abovc, and swift, deep, with high and bold shores, etc, etc. The customs of di.ferent citlee largely influence the decisión also. For instance, the sewage of U. S. towns is already dilut-ed to about three times wie Uegree ot that of Unglish towns, henee coiupai-isons made on the basis of the ratio of cubic feet ot sewage to cubic feet of river water are often misleading. ■ I take it the proper method of comparing the degree of pollution is by the ratio of the cubic feet of river water per capita, daily, computed at the low water stage of the river at which time the conditions wi'Il be at the worst. I endose a few comparisons of this kind. Since, however, the other conditions whieh cannot be mathematically stated have at least equal weight I presume they will not be of great service to you. Cu. ft of City. Kivor. river water per capita daily. Brunswick Ocker H5. Breslau Oder 212. Drcsden Elbe _ 5 (jon. Hanover Leiue ,.1', Mainz lihine 2,B!5 Munich Isar 494. Neisse Bielearm 451) Nuernberg Peg-nitz 247. Paris Seine 70. Vienna -. Danube lof. Kalainazoo Kalainazoo l,5üu. The quantity of sewage per capita, per' day in the U. S. is approximately ten. cubic feet. I have often een instances stated where the pollution is about one in twenty. This is, however, undesirablc." If the minimum flow of the Huron in tlij edry seasou be placed at 55 cu. ft. per sacond or 3,300 cu. ft. er minute, which 8s equivalent to a daily flow of about 4,800,000 cu. ft., it gives a ratio for a population of 10,000 inhabitants of 480 cu. ft. per capita, and for 16,000 inhabitants of 300 : cu. ft. per capita. By referring to ; the table it will be foujid that the , smaller value, 300 cu. ft. per capita, is larger than that ior six of the eleven cities quoted. Mr. Clark Cornwell, of TpellanÜ, writcs the coniinittce that in his judgnient the minimum flow is at least 50 per cent greater than the figures given, whieh if true makes the ghowing' even more favorable. la answft to the very plausible objectiou which has .been raised that on Suradays, and ai other ümes when the milis above Aun Arbor are not running, the flow of water at the city wftl cease, your committee desires to state that they have lound such to be not the case. Inqulry and investigation have demoustrated the fact that it is practically impossible to build dams and ílumes so that they will noc leak. In certain cases the le-akage may reach as high as 10 per cent. of the normal flow of the streani. This is probably true of the dam at this city. It has been observed that during the dry season when no water was flowuig over he dam, or through the wheels of Swiít's mili, the current was sufficiently strong at Bridge Noi 2 to offer some difficulty to horses in fording the stream. ás was necessary during tlie repairs to this bridge. Evoii if the flow ehould be practically stopped for 24 .or 36 hours by shutting down the müls, the sewtvge would searceily becomc objectionable in that time. and the Urcreaséd flow on startIng again would probably flush the river thoroughly so that the condition of the stream at no time would be serious. Your committee beg leave to refor again to the other means suggosted in the several reports submitted to this Council of disposing of the sewagc in case the flow in the river at this city should prove to be insufficient during the dry season. Bespectfully submitted. CHRISTIAN MARTES1. I. D. WINES, M. E. CO OLE Y, Committeei Aid. Wilnes memd that 'the report be received and spread in Journal. "Whilch motion prevailed. 10 the uominon Cmiiicil: Youir cominüttee on bonds ivould respectfully report tliat they have examined the follovving bond, and would recommend its acceptauce witli the stureties named. Liquor Dealers Bond: Principáis- Frank Allmand and John ifchaibele. Suretres- Thomas F. Leonard and Louis J. Lieseineir. Bespectfully submi'ttod, 1 WILLIAM HEIW, LOUIS P. HALL, E. G. MANN. Committee. Aid. Martin moved that the report be acoepted and bond approved. Which inotion prevailed. UNPINISHED BUSINKSS. Aid. Hall moved that the resolution of hi's for opening Fourth ave., outh from Madison to Hill sts., accordíns to original inotion be taken from tlue table and put up011 its passage. The resolution of Aid. Hall was then read, as follows: VVhereas, Appl.caiion having been made t-o this, common eouncil to lay out. and estiibli'sh a certain street herewiafter described and due uotice of the pendency oí such proposed rmprovement having been duly given to all persons who are interes ted in the lands and tenements required therefor, and all persons appearing having been hoard, and due consideration thereof having been had, and it appeanng therefrom that it is necessary to take and acqurre certain lands therefor. Therefore, be it l-esolved and it i hca-eby ordered and determined that a street be, and the same is hereby laid out and established ïour (4) rods ín width, ín the city of Ann Arbor, described as follows to-wit:- From Madison Bt. to Hill st., on the liaee of Foiu-th ave., projected aoutJierlv. 2d, It te hereby declarecl and resolved that the cost of the layimg out of the establishment of sttch street, and alHO the lands requirud therefore, be and the same is hereby ordered to be asweesed and levicd agaiiist ïhe owners of lands, teaements benefited thereby, and that all and singular all the lands, tenememts, and ïaxable real estáte sitiuated in, and within the following boundaries are deemed, and hereby declared to be benefited by the improvemeaxt so ordered as aforesaid, and the same are and are hereby consltuated a special assessment district on agahist and upon which the cost of siaid improvemtmt so as aforesaid ordered stoall be levied and assessed piu-suaait to law, that ís to say; All of the lote, lamds, tenements, and premises frontiag of Fourth avenue, south of William st. to Hill St; 011 the east and west Me of Aun Arbor et., on Brown st. oa-st side; on Hill Bit., from Brown to 5th avenue; on Mosley st., north and south side, from Main st. to the T., A. A. & N. M. Co. lande. Which resolutioa prevailed by a yea and ,iiay vote a3 follows: Yens. - Aids. Mann, Wines. Herz, Martin, Allmendinger, Fillmore, Taylor, O'Heajn, Fergnson, Hall, Kitson and Pres. Coeley - 12. Nays - None. MOTIOXS AND HESOLUTIOXS. By A ld. O'Hearn. Whereas, It is thought by manj that a system of sewors for the city has become a ovicessary public irnprovernent, that in the opinión of the coimeil the system as uggested by Prof. Greene ought to b3 projectec ftirther down the ri'vcr. And, Whereas, there is great diversity of opinión a.s to the probable cost of a main sewer wlien so projected dmrn the river, therefore, Resolved, That Prof. Greene do advise the coiitucil without dèlay and brmg in a, detailèd statement of the probable cost at present prices of saich main Bewer exclusive of vight of way when projectod down the river to Bumber's dam, ko called, with map and survey and vith HO inch lsit qunlity eewer pipe from its outlet to tho south lin?. of Huronst., and 20 incli nipe from Hiu-on st, to south liiie of Hill st.. and 22 inch pipe from HUI st. to stopping place as indicated on. the map. Also the expense of Kize pipe ixs shown. ift his report. Which resolution provailcd by a yea and aay vote an iollows: Yeas - Aids. Manu, "Winos, Herz, Martin, Ai:mendinger, Fillmore, Taylor, O'Hearn, Fergnson, Hall, Kitson an dPres. Cooley - 12. Nays - None. Aid ilarti'n moved that the eommi'ttee on free beds at the University Hospitals be rtevived and reappointed. Whteh motion prevailed: The president appointed the following coniniittee: Aids. Hall, Taylor and Herz. By Aid. Mann. Resolved, That the president appoint a conitnittee of tliree wlio, with the city attomey, obtain and report at the noxt meeting "what simis of money will be necessary to obtain the titls to the land required I for the ejtKQsdOn of S. Fourth uve., trom Madison to Hill sts. Whteh mojón prevniled. The appointed the iollowing comir.il toe: Aids. Manu, Hall, and Allm.ndingcr. By A1.Í. Kilsou. Resolved, That permission be, and is hereby granted to Marcus D. Mll! Ier, to reinove one shada tree irom bofore his premises on. Geddes ave. Which ï-esolutioii prevailed. By Aid. Fillmore. Resolved, That the common couneil hereby calis the attent ion o: the state railroad commissiouer to the ueed oï a gate and keeper ab the c rossing of I the Toledo, Ami Arbor and Northern '■ Michiffan Railroad Co., wlth Miller ave., and respectfully request that he will order said compaiiy to caiise the construiction of a at;; and the placing of a keeper at the Crossing nanied. Aid. Herz moved as an amendment to incladc the followins; ofcher crossings to-wit: S. Jlain, Jefferson, Washington, William, ' I.iborty, Madison, Traver and Pontiac stroets. Which amendment prevailed. The resolution as amendcd prevailed. Aid. Taylor inoved that the city elerk be a u:l is hereby ordêred to procure flfteön file covers Lor printed couneil proceeding'ö for the "aso of the couneil. Which motion prevailed by a. yea and nay vote as follows: Yeas- Aids. Manu, Winee, Herz. Martin, Allmendinaer, Fidmore, Taylor, O'Hearn, Ferguson, Hall, Kitson and Pres. Cooley - 12. Nays - None. On motion the couneil adjourned.