503 Regular meeting of the City Council : Austin, Texas May 08, 1913. The Council was called to order by the Mayor : Roll called; Present Mayor Wooldridge, Councilmen Anthony, Bartholomew, Haynes & Powell 5 Absent none. The minutes of the last regular and subsequent recessed meetings were read and approved. Reports of City Officers: The Mayor laid before the Council the reports of the City Sexton, the Marshal, the Health Officer & Assistant, the Matron of the Hospital the Fire Marshal & The Assessor & Collector for the month of April 1913, which were read and ordered filed. Purchase of land for street purposes East 8th St. The Mayor laid before the Council the following resolution : Be it resolved by the City Council of the City of Austin : That seven hundred fifty ($ 750.00) dollars be and the same is hereby appropriated out of the General Contingent fund of the City of Austin for the year 1913, in purchase of and payment for , under contract as expressed by previous ordinances, resolutions and reports of the City Council and some of its Committees, a tract of land for street purposes, known as East 8th street, and Robertson street, out of Outlot No1 Division "B" of the City of Austin, Texas, as is set out in the dedication of said tract of land for street purposes in a plat of the same filed with the County Clerk of Travis County, Texas, on the 8th day of June 1912, and by reference thereto a part of this resolution. Warrant to issue to Thomas F Taylor , Agent. The resolution was adopted by the following vote : Yeas Mayor Wooldridge, Councilmen Anthony, Bartholomew, Haynes & Powell 5 Nays none. Approved, A P Wooldridge, Mayor. The Mayor paid before the Council the following resolution : Be it resolved by the City Council of the City of Austin : E. C. Bartholomew Communication re Dam Gates That the accompanying communication from Hon E C Bartholomew, be received, filed and copied in the minutes of the City Council . The resolution was adopted by the following vote : Yeas Mayor Wooldridge, Councilmen Anthony, Bartholomew, Haynes & Powell 5 Nays none. Austin, Texas, May 6th 1913. To the Hon Mayor and City Council, City of Austin, Texas. Gentlemen : The dam being constructed across the Colorado River, above the City of Austin, for the City by the City Water Power Company, according to contract, is to composed of gates in the upper portion of the same; these gates are to be fourteen feet in height and eighteen and a half feet in width on the new portion of the dam. They are to hung between reinforced concrete piers swinging near their centers , and so adjusted that they will open and close automatically by the rise and fall of the lake to be formed above the dam; the object being to pass all excessive flood water and drift through these gates and not over them. When open the top of the gates turn down stream and the bottom up stream. To work automatically they must move easily , or they will not open and close at the proper time. As the gates are to extend the whole length of the dam ( about 1,200 feet ) --- Page break --- 'and the pressure of water at an elevation of 14 feet is considerable, it would appear that the gates are likely to leak more orless, and the waste of water may be as much as the flow of the river at low water. This is surmise, and this conclusion is arrived at knowing the difficulty of keeping so many gates in order they being composed of wood, steel and concrete. The contract the City has with the company for rebuilding the dam provides that the lake may be drawn down 18 feet for power purposes; when drawned down it is feared the wooden gates may be warped by the weather, rendering them not water tight. The reinforced concrete piers to which the gates are to be attached extend above the gates about seven feet, and a road or walk is to be constructed on top of these piersacross the dam ; the road or walk to be about the elevation of the headgate masonry. The country for miles above Austin is mostly mountainous and timbered . When there is a large rise in the river much driftwood is washed down the river from the creeks and ravines. In case there should be a rise in the river when the water is low in the lake the probability is that the drift would pile up against the dam ,and when the lake rose as high as the top of the dam the drift would be lodged against the gates preventing their opening ,and then the flood would necessarily be compelled to pass over the gates. Whether the flood and drift could pass between the top of the gates and walk above dam would depend on the amount of water and drift. The gates are large but swinging near their centers divides the space through the floodsand drift must pass when they are open . It is presumed the gates open only sufficiently to pass the flood water. In an ordinary rise of the river the gates would open only a small space and not wide enough to pass small drift which be stopped and accumulate against the dam. It is not possible for the large amount of drift consisting of brush, timber and trees that comes down the river in high water to pa ss through the gates. Trees CANNOT pass through ,and brush and timber will accumulateand pile up against the dam . Should logs be floating endwise ( the most favorable position to pass through the gates ) the ends may strike the piers or ends of gates, turn about and lie across the opening ,and thus form a barrier against which drift will accumulate. It would be difficult to estimate the amount of drift that may be stopped by the dam and extent of raft formed the lake above dam during a large flood. As trees cannot pass through the gates and will lodge in them compelling the gates to remain open until the lake would fall , in all probability they could not be.removed before the lake would be as low as the bottom of the gates, fourteen feet below top of dam. Floods at times come down several feet in height , bringing drift. A boom across the lake could not hold the amount of drift. If bo om were not broken the drift would bank up and pass over or under it. In 1869 the river opposite this City rose 45 feet in height, and in 1870 was nearly as high . When these floods occurred they covered a width of about one-half mile. What would be the result at the dam , only 1200 feet in length , the road or walk on a level with headgate masonry , a high bluff on the opposite side of the river where the floods could not spread , drift lodged against dam and walk, were a flood to occur one-half that of 1869 or 1870 ? --- Page break --- 505 It looks as if the power house and the machinery therein might be injured, if not ruined. I am not an Engineer, am only a practical business man . I have lived in Austin nearly forty six years and have some knowledge of the Colorado river. We have had no great floods in late years, but I know what has happened may happen again. I know when the amount of water and drift come down the river that I have seen , and that drift is not permitted to pass, and is piled up against the dam or any other obstruction, something is liable to happen. The sluice gates constructed at the base of the dam are desirable, and may be of much use, but gates through which to pass floods and drift will not be practicable. I have from the first doubted the feasibility of the proposed construction of the upper portion of the dam ; and the more I have considered the matter , the more I am convinced that a great mistake will be made to place gates in the upper portion of the dam with the object of passing large floods and drift through them . The burden of maintaining the dam falls on the City Water Power Company for the first twenty five years of all; still the City of Austin may also suffer, in case the dam, which the people of Austin have coveted so many years , should prove a failure. I have many times stated my disapproval of these gates. I believe the upper portion of the dam should be solid; the road or walk to be erected above the dam dispensed with ; and all floods and drifts be permitted to pass over the dam. I would like to see the City Council and the City Water Power Company make this change in the contract. Councilman Bartholomew stated that he had furnished Lamar Lunde & F S Taylor with copies of this communication. Respectfully E O Bartholomew, .Supt of Parks and Public Property. The Council then recessed subject to call. May 9th 1913. The Council was called to order by the Mayor with all members present: The Mayor laid before the Council the following resolution : Be it resolved by the City Council of the City of Austin : Interim Budget That the Assessor and Collector of the City of Austinbe and he is hereby authorized to Compromise settle the claim of the City of Austin against Tom Paggett for delinquent taxes, and amounting to $ 181.33, for the sum of $ 100.00, as is set out in the accompanying abstract of judgement obtained by the City of Austin in said suit against Tom Paggett for taxes , before Geo W Mendell, Justice of the Peace , in which suit a judgement was obtained by the City for the sum of $ 100.00. The resolution was adopted by the following vote : Yeas Mayor Wooldridge, Councilmen Anthony, Bartholomew, Haynes & Powell 5 Nays none. The Council then recessed subject to call. Adolf Schutze. Minutes of a called meeting of the City Council held this May 10th 1913, for the purpose appointed Master of selecting a Board of Examining and Supervising Plumbers. chosen Article 600, Revised ordinances , states that said Board shall consist of five persons: J W Hamerlin First - The City Physician, Second- teh City Engineer, Third,-Chief Plumbing Inspector, Fourthelected Journeyman chosen a Master Plumber, and fifth - a Journeyman Plumber. The ex-officio members of the Board by virtue of their offices .Adolf Schutze was nominated to be Master Plumber and was chosen by a vote of five ayes. J W Hamerlin was nominated to be Journeyman Plumber and was elected by a vote of five Ayes. The Council then adjourned. Fred. Johnson City Clerk