HomeMy Public PortalAbout07-08-1926 370 . Office of Board of Public Works,
City of Richmond, Indiana,
Thursday July 8th, 1926.
The Board of Public Works of the City of Richmond, Indiana, met
in regular session at the office of said Board Thursday July 8th,
1926, .at. 9 o '-clock A. M. All the members of said Board; Messrs,
Land, McFall and Henley being present . The following proceedings
were had, to-wit :
The various complaints from last council meeting referred to Board,
were referred to the various city department heads.
"Comes now Charles. Johanning of the City of Richmond, Indiana, and
presents to the Board thru his attorneys, Gardner, Jessup & Tripp
a petition for permission to construct a transfer track over, upon
and across South 6th Street, between South "L" & "M" Street, together
witha tentative draft of contract which they desire to make with
said Board, under and pursuant to and in accordance with the laws
.of the State of Indiana, for the permission to erect, install and
maintain a transfer track over, upon- and across South 6th Street
from the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company property on the east
side of said street to the lots owned by said _Johanning being
numbered 460-461 & -l-62 in the Beallview, Addition, between South . •
"L" & H lv, Street. And the Board now fix Thursday July 29th,, 1926,
at 9 o ' clock A.M. at its office in the City Building in said City,
as the time and place that a public hearing shall be had to finally
consider such contract, at which time and place any tax payer of
such city may appear and file protest against any or all the pro-
visions of said contract, as follows (Insert) .
And the Board now orders that a full and complete text of
said contract be published by said Charles Johanning, at his own
expense, one time at least 15 days before July 29th, 1926, with
the time and place of such hearing stated therein, in The Richmond
Item and the Richmond Palladium, daily newspapers of general cir-
culation printed in the english langauge in said City, and that
said Charles Johanning shall likewise post a copy of such notice
- and contract in ten public places in said city, as provided by an
"Act of the General Assembly of the State of Indiana" , approved
March 6th, •1913, and all amendatory acts thereto.
The Board approved the contract and bond of contractors for the
improvements named as follows, to-wit :
Improvement Resolution No. 802-1926, Z. B. Pyle and Company
Improvement Resolution No. 805-1926, Daniel G. Burkhardt
Improvement Resolution No. 806-1926, Laniel G. Burkhardt
Improvement Resolution No. 807-1926, E. A. JAariani & Co. ,
The Board unan$mously adopted Declaratory Resolution No. 199-1926.
for the widening of North "A" Street 5 feet on the north side
thereof, from north 6th Street east to alley between North 6th &
7th Street, also, From North 5th Street east to east line- of lot
23 ; Jeremiah Cox, Addition.
The Board award the contract for insurance on Green Houses in
Glen Miller Park to Jenkins Bros . , (Hail & Windstorm)
Whereas, the building being erected at 8O4--810 Main St .by Benj .Vigran
is out in Main St .the work is to far along to change,permission is
' granted to erect the same per plans .The City however, does not relin-
quish any part of said street occupied by said building.The Clerk was
directed to notify Benj .Vigran, that he is trespassing on city property.
Thursday July 8th, 19226.
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The Board received bids under Improvement Resolution No. 808-1926
for cement roadway in alley between South 7th & 8th Street, from
South "H" to "J" Street, as follows to-wit :
" JJaniel G. Burkhardt, bid;
Cement roadway complete $0.190 per square foo .
" Z. B. Pyle, bid;
Cement roadway complete $0.200 per square foot .
The bid of Daniel G. Burkhardt being the lowest and within the
• estimate, contract was so awarded.
The Board received bids under Improvement Resolution No. 809-1926,
for cement roadway in alley between South 14-th. & 15th Street, from
South "A" to "B" Street, as follows, to-wit :
" Z. B. Pyle, bid;
Cement_ roadway complete $0.18.90 per square foot
" Daniel G. Burkhardt, bid;
. Cement roadway complete $0.190 per square foot
The bid of Z. B. Pyle, being the lowest and within the estimate
the contract was so awarded.
The Board met to hear remonstrances, if any of persons primarily
assessed under Improvement Resolution No. 766-1925, for the planting
of trees in South 19th Street, from South "B" Street to Reeveston
Road. No one appearing and no remonstrance having been received, the
Board approved a. final assessment roll confirming the original assess
- ment roll as heretofore approved, and now direct the same be trans-
mitted forthwith to the Department of Finance.
The toard met to hear remonstrance if any, of persons primarily as-
sesnd under Improvement Resolution No. 793-1926, for improvement
of the alley between South 7th & 8th Street, by constructing cement
roadway the full width thereof, from South "G" to "H" Street . No
one appearing or remonstrating, the Board approved a final assessment
roll confirming the original assessment roll here'tqore approved.
And now direct the same be transmitted forthwith to the Department
of Finance.,
The Board met to hear remonstrance if any, of persons primarily as-
sessed under Improvement Resolution No. 795-1926, for the improvement
of the alley between South 9th & 10th Street, by constructing cement
roadway the full width thereof, from South "E" to "F" Street. No one
appearing or remonstrating, the Board approved a final assessment rol
confirming the original assessment roll as heretofor approved. And
now direct the same be transmitted forthwith to the Department of
Finance.
A communication from N. P. Dodge was received for water mains in
Belmont , Addition, as to' the attitude in laying of such mains, The
Board directed the City Engineer, to inform Mr. Dodge, the City ,
would order water mains laid 200 feet for houses erected or when
building permits are issued if necessary to order such extensions
to supply said building or buildings.
A petition for arc- light at North 19th & "F" Street signed by A. C.
Underhill was received, and said Underhill requested to petition for
said lot thru the councilman of- that. Ward.
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Thursday July 8th, 1926.
The following report was received as follows, to-wit :-
To the Board of orks
City of Richmond, Ind.
Gentlemen: In pursuance to the request of your honorable body
a committee composed of R.B.Nicholson, selected by the Richmond
Item; Frank D. Howells, selected by the Richmond Palladium and
D.S.Coe, selected by your body, met on the afternoon of Tuesday
July 6., in the office of the City Clerk, for the purpose of con-
sideririg the contract now pending for city newspaper advertising
during the ensuing- year. , We have attempted to reconcile the bids
presented by the two newspapers of Richmond with the specifica-
tions made by the city and on which the bids were based, but we
have been unable to arrive at a conclusion which would permit
us to recommend the. letting of a contract on such specifications.
It is clear at the outset that the underlying difficulty is the
specifications themselves which originally were drawn up many years
ago when the physical make-up of the newspapers of the city was
different from today. In the first paa.ce the specifications set
forth that city advertisements shall be set in type of the body
of the paper and then proceed with a qualifying phrase to the ef-
fect that "8 lines are to constitute an inch" ,which is equivalent
to specifying that city advertisements must be set in 9-point type
whereas both of the city newspapers have long ago relegated 9-pt .
type from their general make-up. The specifications also provide-
that there shall be " 6 words to the line" & in this both news-
papers qualify approximately on the same basis of an 8-point type.
But the specifications wholly ignore the fact that one of the news-
papers columns 13 ems of 12-pt . inwidth,while the others columns
measures 122 ems of 12-pt . Therefore, it would appear to your com-
mittee that a standard measurement, on the lineal inch basis, as
provided it the specifications, could not possibly apply, since a
given advertisement, set in solid body type, would require less
space in lineal inches if set in columns 13 ems in width than if
set in columns 122 ems in width. Under such conditions it is ap-
parent that the two newspapers could not submit bids on an exact
equality as their physical make-up would not permit . If the Item
should be permitted to. substitute 7-point type for s-point , as
has been suggested and thus offset the advantage of the Palladiums
wider column. the controversy takes a new angle as to what consti-
tutes the body type of the Item. It is true that considerable por-
tions of the Item appear in 7-point type and since the specifi-
cations themselves are not clear as to the point involved, the
question as to the body type would be difficult to establish. It
is possible that such a course might bring forth a proposition from
the Palladium to substitute 6-point type, which size is used in
that papers classified section, and there would be another compli-
cation.
Your committee has made an earnest effort to consider
the entire situation from. an unbiased point of view, with the
idea of arriving at some conclusion that would be fair to both
newspapers and fair to the city of Richmond. We do not see how
the existing controversy, now opened, can ever be ironed out
under the plan of bidding used.
(see next page)
Thursday July 8th, 1926, 37
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( .eport continued)
There ought to be , in fairness to all concerned, specifications
devised that would permit of both newspapers bidding on an equality
even though their news columns are ' of different widths.
Your committee believes that possibly the basis of all bidding
for city advertising should by by the word instead of the lineal
11. inch. As a suggestion we have submitted with this report an out-
line that may used as a working basis toward devising a set of
specifications.
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It is suggested that representatives of the newspapers be con-
sulted about these specifications.
Respectfully submitted,
Frank D. Howells
Demas S. Coe
R. B. Nicholson
July 7th, 1926. Committee.
With the above was submitted a suggested form for revision of speci-
fications as follows, -to-wit :
Bidders shall bid per hundred words for first insertion,' and per
hundred words for each additional insertion. all advertising shall
be set in caps and lower case not smaller than a normal seven point
in face and body and shall be set up without more than .two (2) dis-
play lines to each advertisement .
Display lines and signatures shall be set in caps of the same type
which is used in the body of the advertisement and each word in such
display and signature lines shall be counted as two (2) words in
determining the charge. Numbers shall be counted as one word regard-
less of the figures therein.
The successful bidder may, for the purpose of mutual convenience,
file with the city a sworn- affidavit certifying a certain multiplying
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factor for the conversion of 'lineal inches to words in his partic-
ular newspaper.
The Board on motion order that all bids heretofore received be
thrown out, and. the clerk was directed to take up the question of
revision of specifications with representatives of the newspapers.
The Board approved the various payrolls to July 1st, 1926.
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The Board the adjourned,
A
G t�lBoard
Attest : '
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lerk of Board