Where the Trees and 'Islands' Came From

Residents Protest Cooper Street Widening

Two of the Cooper Street property owners who appeared at a hearing this morning at City Hall protested assessments to be levied against them for the widening of the thoroughfare from Fourth to Ninth Streets.

The objectors declared they did not feel that it was fair that they should be taxed for improvements from which they derive no benefit. Their protests were heard by the Commissioner of Assessments in the commission chambers at the hall.

The commissioners, Charles S. Wolverton, Wilbur B. Ellis, and James F. Lennon, said after the hearing that they will give further consideration to the complaints before submitting their report to the city commission. This will be done, they said, in the case of two complaints from property owners along Baird Boulevard, who protested being taxed for the planting of trees and the grading of "islands" on that thoroughfare from Bank Street to Maplewood Avenue.

Thomas J. Daley, city engineer and clerk of the assessment commission by virtue of his position, explained after the hearing that the two Baird Boulevard property owners said they felt that the expenses of the improvement should be borne by the people who erected the properties along the highway.

Daley said that each abutting property owner on Cooper Street, from Fourth to Ninth Street, will pay an assessment of approximately $5.50 per front foot for the widening. The city taxpayers as a whole, he said, will also bear $5.50 per front foot, the other half of the cost of the improvement. The total cost of the widening, he reported, was $35,126, of which abutting property owners will pay $17,400, and the city taxpayers about $17,700.

The Baird Boulevard improvement, Daley said, cost a total of $3,020, of which the abutting property owners will pay $2,140 and the city taxpayer, as whole, $880. The cost to such property owner per lot, he explained, will be about $10, all lots being about 20 feet wide.

An assessment on both improvements, Daley reported, will be fixed by the city after the commissioners of assessment file their report. The city commission will then fix a date when property owners who may have objections may appear at a public hearing.