51 City Council Room. Austin, February 23, 1871 The City Council met pursuant to a special call of his Honor, Mayor Sloan. Present: Mayor Sloan; — Aldermen: Mess'rs Thos Adams, J Bremont, J S Buaas, C. Egleten, Henry Madison, J Messina. The minutes of the last meeting were read and, on motion of Alderman Eggleston, unanimously adopted. The following petition was presented by Alderman Buaas: To the Honorable City Council "of the City of Austin. "Your petitioners respectfully represents that they are owners of property fronting on the Avenue leading from the Capitol down to the river; and they pray that you will exercise the power vested in you and waiving all further application or petition on part of property Holders, order and have done a change in the gradients of the avenue sidewalks and the street so as to accomplish an uniform style. "And your petitioners will ever pray & (sig'd.) Garth N. Benson & Son. T. W. Bleyer. J. M. Sillom. Jno. Sleefer. M. B. Ryan & Son. Geo. Hancock. Wm. Gibson. W. Elm. By Logan. J. B. Clark. A. M. White. A. Nocha. Mr. Lorenz. Jas. H. Raymond. H. B. Shumann. Wid. Patterson. Ed. Tillman W. F. Newman. B. Bloomette. R. Th. Sordi S. B. Brouch. H. A. Bengson. L. B. Johns & bro. Jas. B. Barron. F. Dehme. H. Swingsen Iutor J. Hirschfeld. W. F. Patterson. Chas. Rehotte Geo. W. Glascock. John J. Robinson. B. Thornburger H. B. Paley. Mr. A. Taylor John F. Miller. Peter Smith H. Bahn. F. S. Duffan The same being received and read, Alderman Bremont offered, as an action upon said petition, the following Ordinance, to wit: An Ordinance fixing the Streetwalker and Sidewalk Gradients of Congress Avenue in the City of Austin. Be it Ordained by the City Council of the City of Austin, That the Mayor is hereby instructed to have the grade of Congress Avenue changed from the present to an uniform grade having reference to the point near the Capitol where the present front gates are, and at the river bank forty-four feet above low water; and the Sidewalks and gutters to conform to the same as general reference, specifically as follows: Sidewalks --- Page break --- 62 Sidewalks shall be twelve(12) feet wide and terminate in a curbstone five(5) inches thick and at least thirty(30) inches deep; and paved with smooth hammer dressed stone, at least four(4) inches thick, with good hammer dressed joints. The gutters shall begin twenty (20) inches below the top of the curbstone, and be paved out towards the center of the avenue for a distance of six feet, with boulders of notless than than four (4) inches in diameter. The curvature of said gutters shall be the arc of an uniform circle whose cord is the distance from curbstone to curbstone on opposite sides of the street, and whose abscissa is two(2) feet at the center of the street. The Mayor is hereby instructed to cause the necessary levels to be established by the surveyor, and upon his attention to advertise for proposals to do the work in whole or part, said proposals to be submitted to the City Council, for their approval; provided, the owners of any property fronting on the avenue shall have the right to meet their assessments by doing the work themselves within the time and subject to all the conditions for forfeiture for non-compliance, which the Mayor shall announce in his advertisement for proposals. After the Mayor shall have contracted for the work, he shall cause monthly assessments upon the property fronting, where the work is then completed, to be made of the cost of the same, which shall be collected from such property and the same paid to the persons executing the work. On motion of Alderman Muncina, the rules were suspended [illegible] and the said above Ordinance was read on its second and third reading, whereupon, on motion of Alderman Egleston, the yeas and nays were taken, all voting in the following vote, to wit: yeas- Mayor T. Rob. Adams, J. Bremond, J. S. Orslaw, E. Egleston, Henry Madison, J. Muncina; nays- none. Thus the Ordinance was unanimously adopted. Alderman Egleston offered the following Ordinance, to-wit: An Ordinance amending Article 154 of the City Ordinances. Be it Ordained by the City Council of the City of Austin, That section of Article 154 of the City Ordinances as names the "15th day of April in each and every year" as the time for the annual renting of the stalls in the market house, be amended so as to read "the first day in March in each and every year"; and after the act of said ordinance read "and the minimum price for each stall and the coffee stand shall be three hundred dollars per annum." That hereafter any person or persons with wood, hay, corn vegetables, fruits and any country produce whatsoever arriving at the city, shall proceed to the market space adjoining the market the market house and there offer the same for sale, and any person --- Page break --- 53 or persons not licensed as a merchant found vending the aforementioned articles, any where else within the city limits shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. On motion of Alderman Bremond the rules were suspended and the ordinance was read a second time; on motion of Alderman Madison, the rules were further suspended, and the ordinance was put to its third reading, after which, on motion of Alderman Egleston, the yeas and nays were taken, resulting as follows — yeas: Mayor Adams, J. Bremond, J. L. Bueas, C Egleston, Henry Madison, S. Musseina — nays — none, by which vote the ordinance was unanimously adopted. Alderman Mussina, the chairman of the committee to whom was referred the city charter, presented the same, together with the following resolution, to wit: Be it Resolved by the City Council of the City of Austin, That the Mayor is hereby requested to forward to the Hon. M. M. Bowers, Senator from this District, the proposed new Charter for the City of Austin, now in the Mayor's possession, and respectfully request him to present the same and urge the Legislature to make it law. Also to forward to the President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and to each member of the House of Representatives from this District, a copy of this Resolution and request them to unite with Senator Bowers in his efforts in the matter. On motion of Alderman Egleston, the rules were suspended and the resolution passed its second and third reading, whereupon; on motion of Alderman Egleston, the yeas and nays were taken, resulting in the following vote — Yeas: Thos Adams, J. Bremond, J. L. Bueas, C. Egleston, Henry Madison, S. Mussina; — Nays, none. Thus the resolution was unanimously adopted. On motion of Alderman Mussina, the minutes of this present meeting were read and adopted; and, there upon his further motion, the Council adjourned until the next regular meeting. O. P. [illegible], Recorder.