The City of Rockford, 1939

It being the belief of the Council that an outline of the activities of the various departments of the City government will be of interest, not only to those residing in Rockford at present, but also to future citizens, and knowing that this booklet will be read by all and preserved for future generations by many, we are attempting to set forth, briefly, some of the more interesting facts. In so far as is possible we will refrain from quoting statistics as we fully realize that such make uninteresting reading. All figures given are based on the fiscal year ending June 30, 1939. It is difficult to say which department of any government is the most important, but based on the number of people served, the conveniences offered and the intimate relation to the public health we believe that the Water Department is of most vital interest to the people. Rockford’s water supply is secured from the Rogue River. Before entering the distribution system the water is treated to remove suspended matter, tastes and odors and to kill bacteria. The treatment consists of a process of settling, filtering and chlorination. The operation of the plant is controlled by a modern and well equipped laboratory in which daily tests are made, not only to determine the treatment necessary, but to assure the absolute purity of the water offered the public. In addition to the tests made by our own chemist periodical checks are made by the State Department of Public Health and the results compared with those of our own laboratory. The water treatment plant treats on an average of 200,000 gallons per day or 100 gallons per day for each person in Rockford. The plant has a pumping capacity of 550 gallons per minute, but is limited to an output of 450 gallons per minute by the filter capacity. However it is the policy to keep the storage well from which the pumping is done full at all times, thereby assuring that in the event of an emergency a 550 gallon per minute output could be maintained for some time. In order to do away with the necessity of continuous pumping and to stabilize the pressure a 200,000 gallon storage reservoir is maintained. The water is distributed throughout the City through eight miles of underground pipe. The problem of sewage disposal is unique from two standpoints. The first is the type of sewage treated, mostly tannery waste, and the second is the huge variation in the rate of flow. The rate of flow varies from a minimum of 156,000 gallons per day at about six o'clock in the morning to a maximum of 2,100,00 gallons per day between ten and eleven o'clock. This variation makes it difficult to design and operate a plan that will function efficiently throughout the day. Due to the tannery waste passing through the plant the per capita flow in Rockford is 460 gallons per day as compared to about 160 gallons per capita per day for cities like Detroit The result is that the Rockford plant is as large as would ordinarily be built for a town of 20,000 population. Sewage is collected at the treatment plant by means of a sewerage system consisting of approximately nine miles of underground pipe. The City maintains three and one half miles of paved streets, one and two tenths miles of curbed gravel streets and three and three tenths miles of uncurbed gravel streets. In connection with the street system there is maintained approximately 14 miles of sidewalk. The street improvement program is based on a definite long time plan and each year sees some improvements made, the extent of the improvements depending on the money available. During the year just ended Rockford suffered a per capita fire loss of 45 cents. Compare this with the national loss of a little over two dollars per capital. Several factors enter into the picture when fire loss is considered. Adequate fire fighting equipment and a well trained volunteer department of efficient and conscientious members certainly has no small part in effecting so small a loss. It is difficult to determine the savings resulting from adequate fire protection as it is impossible to estimate what the loss might be were the protection lacking. The property loss due to crime in Rockford for the past year amounted to but 18.6 cents per capita. Again many factors enter into the determination of crime conditions. Geographical location, type and density of population and economic classification are all important factors. Rockford possesses all the desirable qualities -- homogeneous population, lack of overcrowding, persons of high type and good education. Of the four felonies committed in Rockford last year three were cleared by arrest. During the year just ended the City issued building permits totaling $115,665.00. Forty-five thousand of the total amount was for the erection to the addition to the school and $20,000.00 was for the construction of an addition to the Wolverine Shoe & Tanning Corporation warehouse. The balance of $50,665.00 was for construction of new dwellings and for the alteration and improvement of existing homes. We feel that we are justified in being proud of our city.