By far the most important topic for this year was that of public works. With the debentures approved for the construction of a main sewer line, the council was deluged with tenders and requests for drains. With a water system and electric light for some streets came requests for extension of these services from both residents and local industries. And, as with any municipality, Ottawa East Village found that the costs exceeded the money available and was forced to into an overdraft position with the Bank of Ottawa.

Appointments:

Again Arthur G. Greenfield and C. R. Robertson (by the Reeve) were appointed auditors for a fee of $10 each. Hial (sic) W. Brooks, who worked in a dairy and lived at 166 East Ave. was appointed to the Board of Health for 3 years. He was also appointed Assessor for the year at $65/year. The clerk wrote to Drs. Birkett, Robinson and Ballantyne for their terms as Medical Health Officer. Dr. Robinson was appointed at $60/year according to Bylaw #78. Again William Cole was appointed as Tax Collector in September at $65/year with the standard $500 bond. A. Acres served as treasurer at $50 for the year. It is interesting that there was no motion recorded to that end in the entire year.

Communications:

Throughout the year council received and sent numerous letters on a variety of topics. Some of these include:

• The Ottawa Lumber Co. (located on the north side of Hurdman Road) was notified that the village agreement with the Ottawa Electric Co. covered only the provision of street lights and a guarantee that the rates would not exceed those in the city. It appears that the Lumber Co. wanted council to force the Electric Co. to extend the service to their property. Council advised that the company objected to extending the line without a guarantee of revenue.
• The Ott. Lumber Co. was given permission to cross Hurdman Rd. with a connecting track but only subject to public safety concerns.
• Letter received from a Mr. Farrell regarding drains on Drummond St. and Robinson St.. This particular gentleman is listed in the 1906 directory as a foreman for the CPR living on the west side of Robinson Ave. In December council minutes notes that a lawyer would be needed to defend a civil suit brought by Farrell. An irate ratepayer?
• Gloucester Township offered a joint venture regarding Hurdman Road. It should be remembered that the Hurdman Bridge was the only bridge connecting residents on the east side of the Rideau River in the Ottawa East area to downtown. The offer was for 70 tones of stone and half the labour to repair the road. The village counter-offered with a quarter of the labour.

Public Works:

Petitions for crossings, sidewalks, drainage or connection to the new main sewer were as follows:

• Louis Ulrich, a labourer at 137 Main St. wanted a drain from his house to the main sewer;
• J. G. Trowbridge – a crossing at 4th St.;
• Ratepayers on William St. wanted a sidewalk;
• Ratepayers on 6^th and 7^th Streets wanted a sewer connection;
• Ratepayers on 4^th St. wanted a drain;
• M. Farrell regarding Drummond St. and later Robinson St;
• Ratepayers on William St. from Main St. to East Ave.– tenders opened – this is somewhat confusing since William St. supposedly ended at Main St.?

Roads, drains, sewers, sidewalks and more:

• gully grates and ditches to be constructed at the junction of Main and Herridge, at the end of the sewer on East Ave. and ditches be opened from low places to the gully grates to drain surface water;
• clerk will now issue permits for private drains to the constructed sewer;
• labour wages increased from 15 cents/hour to 16.66;
• tenders for 6^th and 7^th streets requested – clerk to write to the following contractors: Lowery and Murphy, Thomas Gammon, John Doragh and William Higgins. Only one tender received (from Higgins - $295.60 for 6^th and $402.50 for 7^th) so it was decided to leave the tender open;
• new tenders for drains from P. Burns (3 cents/foot), W. Higgins (3.5 cents/foot), H. Mentzel (3.5 cents/foot). Burns was chosen.
• Reeve to meet with the director of the Ottawa East Water Co. with reference to clearing sidewalks "the same being left in unsatisfactory condition". It appears that all residents on the street were responsible for clearing their own area;
• tenders received for 4^th St. – W. Higgins – 3.25 cents/foot plus $12 for 2 manholes, P. Burns – lump sum of $267 plus manhole, and Ferdinand Blais/G. Lasseur – 3.5 cents/foot. Higgins won and received a sum of $172.75;
• tenders for local drains on East and Main streets: Henry Mentzel – 3.5 cents/foot, George Dascenzo?//Ferdinand Blais – 3.5 cents/foot, Patrick Burns – 3 cents/foot plus $35 for manhole, and W. Higgins – 4.5 cents/foot plus $10 each manhole (work only). Burns won..
• Tenders for a section of the main sewer: P. Burns - $3,426, Lowery and Murphy - $4644, and Michael O’Leary - $3,249;
• D. H. McLean to advise village of powers to open William St. across the tracks. This was an ongoing problem in the village as evidenced by letters sent to the railway in previous years. It appears that the village was now headed to court over this matter;
• cost to the main sewer – 1,329 feet of 18 inch pipe @52 cents/foot = $691.08 and 26? J- - -? of 18 inch pipe = $55.90.
• tenders requested for sewers on East Ave, Main, Centre, Patterson property (Lot 1), Bronson, McGillvray and Gordon;
• an entrance fee of 34 cents/foot (frontage?) to be charged for entry into the main sewer;
• tenders opened: P. Burns - $2,850 – sewers in the lower end of the village – bounded on south by Clegg, on the north by the Patterson property, east by Bronson and west by East St.; drains on East Ave. between Main and Center and between south end of Ballantyne property and main sewer on Patterson property – 3.25 cents/foot;
• snow cleaning became a big item in 1904 compared to past years in terms of expenditures and hours of work. On Feb. 1^st council authorized payment or 545 hours of snow cleaning for a total cost of $84.44. A man’s wage was 15 cents/hour while a boy received 8 cents/hour. While the actual account does not list men and boys, analysis of the account shows W. Rhomhild (the constable receiving 15 cents while E. Rhomhild received the lower rate. The 1891 census shows an Earnest Rhomhild, age 2, living with William. Therefore he was 15 at this time.
• Thomas Beaton was paid $27.40 for a snowplow in February.

Waterworks:

• the Ottawa East Water Co. given use of the room in the south corner of the town hall for an office for 1904 in return for exempting the town hall from water rates (horse trading?);
• changes to hydrants: remove hydrant at east end of 7^th St., move hydrant from corner of McGillvray and Gordon to a point on the Canal Road south of Clegg. Note that this portion of the road along the canal was not called East Ave.

Board of Health:

• nursing and provision for the Janoch? case and BoH recommendation for collecting was accepted. The cost was $28.75. This was probably a case of an infectious disease for which the village was responsible;
• William Rhomhild, the constable, was paid $1.25 for fumigating the Janoch? house;
• Dr. Robinson was appointed MHO at $60/year.

Council Motions, Policies and Bylaws:

Some examples of council’s concerns include:

• Clerk was directed to average the salaries for Board of Health members in the district to see how much council should pay;
• On August 25 a poll of the ratepayers was held at the town hall to authorize council to borrow $5,300 for the main sewers. (Ed. Note – it is not clear if this was in addition to the amount borrowed the previous year.) The vote was 95 for and 4 against. The debenture was for 30 years with a monthly payment to the Bank of Ottawa of $325.31. The village listed the amount of rateable property at $294,425 with an existing debt of $13,261.53.
• Council supported Councillor George Patterson in his application for appointment as a Notary Public. A former resident had filled that role and one was needed to Notarize things!
• A new bylaw was passed which prohibited loitering on streets, obstructing passengers by standing across sidewalks or using abusive language. (Ed. note – last years punishing bylaw on morality apparently did not go far enough!)

The property mill rates and the amount owing was as follows:

Accounts:

Every meeting council reviewed the accounts and authorized payment. Some interesting examples are as follows:

• clerk for registering births, marriages and deaths for 1903 – $15.40 and his salary was raised from $110 to $200 per year.
• Constable William Rhomhild was paid $10 for sanitary inspector, $2.50 for fumigating 2 houses, $9.30 (his 10%) for collecting dog licenses, $3.00 for lighting fires in the town hall for the season (previously done by the clerk), $5.50 for the purchase of handcuffs and $1.00 for replacing the glass in the town hall.
• C. Roger was paid $1.50 for a day’s work while Thomas Egan, a labourer at 33 Herridge, was paid $2.00 for a day's work with a horse.
• Council authorized the purchase of a sleigh to be used with the fire hose in winter.

The election for the next council was held on December 26 of 1903.

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