REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL: 117 Austin, Texas, May 19, 1927. The Council was called to order by Mayor Pro tem Pannell. Roll call showed the following members present: Mayor Pro tem Pannell, Councilmen Mueller, Reed and Steck, 4; ausent, Mayor McFadden. The Minutes of the last meeting were read and Councilman Mueller moved that same be adopted. Kotion was seconded by Councilman Steck, and same preveiled by the following vote: Ayes, Mayor Pro tem Pannell, Councilmen Mueller, Reed and Steck, 4; nays, none, Mayor McFadden absent. Thurlow Weed, representing the Young Men's Business League, appeared before the Council with reference to ground to be allotted the Girl Scouts at Barton Springs Tourist Grounds. Councilman Reed moved that the Council indorse the agreement heretofore made by the Mayor and City Manager with the YMBL and that the City execute such papers as may be necessary to protect the rights of said Girl Scouts in this allotment. Motion prevailed by the following vote: Ayes, Mayor Pro tem Pannell, Councilmen Reed and Steck, 3; nays, Councilman Mueller; absent Mayor McFadden. A committee from the University Methodist Church, composed of Sam Sparks, and others, asked that the Council remit the taxes due on the property adjacent to the Church, owned and used by said Church for religious purposes. Councilman Mueller moved that, at the suggestion of the City Attorney, the committee be asked to reduce their request to writing, setting forth the facts in the case fully and present same to the Council for consideration. Motion prevailed by the following vote: Ayes, Mayor Pro tem Pannell, Councilmen Mueller, Reed, and Steck, 4; nays, none, Mayor McFadden absent. A committee from the Lions Club, composed of Messrs. Barnhart, Griffith, Tobin, Stacy, and Brush, appeared before the Council in the matter of the creation of a Playgrounds and Recreation Department of the City of Austin. Mr. Oswald Petit, Representative of the National Playgrounds Association of America, also gave a discussion of what was being done in other cities with reference to playgrounds and recreation centers. The Council agreed to postpone further consideration of the matter until the return of Mayor McFadden. W. T. Caswell, Chairman of the City Planning Commission, submitted to the Council applications received for a City Planner. After going into the merits of each applicant, the Council referred the two most favorable offers to Mr. Caswell and his committee for a further study and recommendation to the Council. Councilman Reed moved that the expense account of 7. T. Caswell, Chairman of City Planning Commission, incurred in his trip to Washington, D. C. and return, in attendance upon Convention of City Planners, said account being in the amount of $170.76, be appropriated out of the General Fund. Motion prevailed by the following vote: Ayes, Mayor Pro tem. Pannell, Councilmen Mueller, Reed, and Steck, 4; nays, none, Mayor McFadden absent. City Manager Johnson was directed by the Council to grant H. L. Kuhlman, on benalf of the postal employees, the right to use, without charge, the Barton Springs Pavilion for a dance to be given during the Texas Postal Employees Association in this City July 4-5 next. حد منه 118 City Manager Johnson advised the Council that in company with the Chief , of Police, he had made a personal inspection of the ball park and playground on South First Street used by colored people and found no reason for complaint in the way same was being operated. The following report from the City Engineer was read: To the City Council and City Manager, Austin, Texas. Gentlemen: "Austin, Texas, May 18, 1927. I am presenting to you a tabulation of the bids received by the City Manager on May 16th, 1927, for the construction of a bridge across Guadalupe Street, a short distance north of 35th Street. The bids were based upon the plans and specifications prepared by myself, and all bids and comparisons were made upon a unit price basis. The certified checks were returned to all bidders, except the three lowest. The sum total of the three lowest bids is as follows: C. A. Maufrais W. E. Dozier Johnson Bros. $4,303.00 4,549.00 5,019.00 I recommend that the lowest bid, that of Mr. C. A. Maufrais, be accepted in accordance with the unit prices proposed, and that the proper city officials be instructed to prepare a contract for this work. I also recommend that the certified check of Johnson Bros. be returned at once, and that the certified check of W. E. Dozier and C. A. Maufrais be returned as soon as C. A. Maufrais has made the proper bond and contract. Respectfully submitted, Orin E. Metcalfe, City Engineer. " Councilman Reed moved, that in accordance with the above recommendation , of the City Engineer, the contract for the building of a bridge on Guadalupe Street, near 35th Street, be awarded to C. A. Maufrais for the sum of $4,303.00, unit prices as proposed, Motion was seconded by Councilman Steck and same prevailed by the following vote: Ayes, Mayor Pro tem Pannell, Councilmen Mueller, Reed, and Steck, 4; nays, none, Mayor McFadden absent. City Manager Johnson submitted to the Council an estimate of the cost of placing concrete steps from the street to the sidewalk on the west side of Congress Avenue from 6th to 7th Streets and from 8th to 9th Streets. He was advised by the Council to proceed with such work. The following report from City Engineer Metcalfe was read: "Austin, Texas, May 18, 1927. Mr. Adam R. Johnson, City Manager, City. Dear Mr. Johnson: I have made a survey of the land which Mr. J. C. Bryant desires to sell to the city of Austin for a gravel pit and find that the area incloses 7.44 acres. This area is 1.19 acres more than I reported to the City Council as being useful gravel land in my previous report. In my report I referred only to the area which would be used either as a gravel pit or rock quarry. I have made an estimate of the amount of useful material and the unit cost of same. In trying to close the matter up it necessitates the including of a portion of the creek bed which has but very little gravel upon it, which lies between the two gravel beds. It is also of mutual advantage to the City and the land owner to include about .4 acre more than originally considered for the purpose of straightening out the west line of the tract, and giving the City access to the frontage on an already existing street. After several conferences with Mr. Holman, as representative of Mr. Bryant, the financial propositions have been revised as follows: That the City pay for 6.25 acres at $450.00 per acre making a cost of $2,812.50, and that the City pay for 1.19 acres at $300.00 per acre for the excess land not previously renortca to the Council as being necessary, making an addition of $357.00 this would make the total cost of 7.44 acres come to $3,109.50. On the additional area I estimate there will be 3800 cubic yards of additional material. The whole proposition would have 24,321 cubic yards of rock at a cost of 2.6 per cubic yard, and 41,314 cubic yards of gravel at 6.1 per cubic yard. I believe that the proposition is now in practical shape and recommend that the City purchase the 7.44 acres in accordance with the proposition outlined herein. Respectfully submitted, Orin E. Metcalfe, City Engineer." Councilman Reed moved that in accordance with the above report, , the City Manager be authorized to purchase said tract of 7.44 acres at the stated price of $3,169.50. Motion prevailed by the following vote: Ayes, Mayor Pro tem Pannell, Councilmen Mueller, Reed, and Steck, 4; nays, none, absent, Mayor McFadden. Councilman Steck moved that the Council recess, subject to call of the Mayor. Motion was seconded by Councilman Reed, and same prevailed by the following vote: Ayes, Mayor Pro tem Pannell, Councilmen Mueller, Reed, and Steck, 4; nays, none, Mayor McFadden absent. REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL: Approved. Mayor. Austin, Texas, May 26, 1927. The Council was called to order by Mayor Pro tem Pannell. Roll call showed the following members present: Mayor Pro tem Pannell, Counc11men Mueller, Pannoni, and Steck, 4; absent, Mayor MoFadden. A committee, composed of Messrs. Goeth, Cravens and Bowman, representing the Westenfield Bathing Pool Company, came before the Council asking for a remission of the 50% penalty charged water and light consumers outside of the City limits, covering the water and lights they will use for their swimming pool now under construction. Councilman Reed moved that the City remit the penalty of 50% charged to water and light consumers outside of the city limits when such service was to be used for swimming pool purposes where there was no profit to be gained from the operation of the pool. Motion prevailed by the following vote: Ayes, Mayor Pro tem Fannell, Councilmen Mueller, Reed, and Steck; nays, none, Mayor McFadden absent. Mr. M. H. Reed, representing the Chamber of Commerce, came before the Council asking the City to grant a franchise for a Natural Gas Company to be formed by Messrs. W. T. Caswell, John Pope and Otto Stolley; said company to receive no gain whatsoever by such franchise, but to aid in the bringing of natural gas to Austin, as there are three companies interested at this time, the Southern at San Antonio, Lone Star at Dallas, and the Moody interests at Galveston. Also that the citizens of Austin be given the right to vote on such a proposition. Councilman Reed moved that the suggestion 119