Roseburg news-review., May 18, 1920, Page 3, Image 3

, WIMP AT. MAT 1 ,t
F01 COMIElAf H I
OF THE
of
mi.
VOTERS
Proposed by the Council
Shall the amendment of subdivisions 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, SO
and 51 of section 33 of the charter of the City of Roseburg, to au
thorize the acquisition of a water and light plant for said city, by
original construction of an electric power plant at Whistler's Bend
and by original construction, purchase or condemnation of the re
mainder of said electric light plant and all of said water works,
authorizing the issuance and sale of bonds of the city in a sum not
to exceed $500,000.00, bearing interest at 5 per cent per annum, to
be sold at not less than par, providing for the levy of taxes to pay
the interest thereon and to provide a sinking fund to pay principal
thereof and authorizing the Council to provide for the manage
ment, operation and maintenance of said system, as proposed by
ordinance No. 722, be adopted?
VOTE
501
BECAUSE
1. If the $500,000 bonds are voted this will be sufficient to
install only one electric unit. It is impossible to furnish service
with one electric unit only, therefore it will be necessary to install
an additional unit at an added expense of at least $130,000.. It will
still be necessary to install an auxiliary steam plant at a very great
cost. From the above it will be seen that the total cost for the elec
tric sysem alone will exceed $800,000. . As a gravity water system
would cost at least a million dollars, it means that if the power
plant were built at an expense of approximately $800,000, there
would never be any possibility of obtaining a gravity water system.
2. Under the present high cost of material, one dollar will
only purchase 75 cents as compared to normal times.. Therefore
you will receive only $375,000 for your $500,000 investment.
3. EVERY INCREASE IN TAXES IS FOLLOWED EY
AN INCREASE IN RENT. THEREFORE THE INCREASE
FALLS AS HEAVILY UPON THE RENTER AS UPON THE
PROPERTY OWNER.
4 Should the new plant be constructed it would mean that
the city and county would lose $4400 per year in taxes, which is
now paid by the owners of the present light and water company
This $4400 would have to be made up either by increased rates of
the proposed municipal plant or by increased taxes.
I
I
i
i
:
Ai
aiatioi
Owing to the dissatisfaction caused by the lack of
water last summer, the result ot an unforseen accident
to our pump, we feel it our duty to our patrons
and in justice to ourselves to explain that we have in
stalled two new centrifugal pumps with a combined
capacity of more than 90,000 gallons per hour, or near
ly 2 1-4 millions of gallons every 24 hours, ample to
furnish more than twice the requirement of the city of
Roseburg. Marshfield and North Bend, with a popula
tion ot about 11,000, are being supplied with excellent
service from one pump,, having a capacity of 60,000
gallons per hour or 1,440,000 gallons every 24 hours.
Our new pumps were ordered August 6th with a guar
antee of a 30-day delivery and were not received for
nearly five months after the order was placed, in spite of
us wiring every day, explaining the necessity of prompt
delivery.
We further wish to state that the unsatisfactory
electric service was caused primarily by the lightning
striking one big generator, burning out several coils and
weakening all of the remainder, which gradually gave
out. A complete set of 238 brand new coils were order
ed December 6th, and not being able to get them at the
eastern factory they had to be constructed in Portland.
They were not received here and installed until early in
April. With the installation of these coils it makes the
generators as good as new. This gives us two water
wheel generators and with our steam auxiliary generator
in first class shape, any one of which can be operated
independently, we can promise you the same good service
in the future that has been given for the past 30 days.
UGLAS
COTOTY LIGHT
(Paid Adr).
& WATER CO
KAON fWtrt
1 1
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