Tacoma's Water War Ends in a $22,000 Bill
Contractors say the city's political turnaround on Maplewood Springs left them unable to build—and now they want damages.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
For playing politics with the Tacoma water supply the city now may have to pay damages to contractors amounting to $22,506.43.
After two years of wrangling the city council and the old Wright administration the hatchet was finally buried just about a year ago and both sides agreed to co-operate on a plan to get an adequate water supply for the city, for temporary use, both sides agreeing that within a few years at most the city would want to get a big gravity system.
Plans were made for bringing the Maplewood Springs water in. Contracts were let to George Milton Savage, the Hallidie Machinery Company and Knoell Brothers for the pipe lines, machinery and pumping station and the entire bill was to be about $250,000.
This would have delivered the entire output of Maplewood Springs to the city, amounting to from 15,000,000 to 25,000,000 gallons of pure water.
After the contract had been signed the present administration came in and started suit to wipe out the contracts. The supreme court upheld the contracts. Savage several times asked for the go-ahead from the commissioner to proceed with the work. The commissioner, however, refused to give it and the new council started in on other water plans.
Savage and the other contractors could not go ahead with the work because the city would not allow it and after the administration had waited until they thought the Maplewood Springs deal was forgotten it started in on a new plan of running pipes up along Clover Creek and in improving the well plant.
Then the contractors under the old plan hired their lawyers and now they demand damages from the city.
Last night George Milton Savage asked for $17,295.30 damages by reason of the city preventing him from fulfilling his contract. The Hallidie Machinery Company asked $3,521.98 and Knoell Brothers asked $1,693.15.
“For playing politics with the Tacoma water supply the city now may have to pay damages to contractors amounting to $22,506.43.”
Tacoma's water system was once a political football, with contracts signed, canceled, and litigated as administrations changed. The $22,506.43 claim is a reminder that infrastructure decisions carry long financial tails—and that today's utility fights over rates, sources, and public control are not new.
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