In 1915, the city leased Broad Channel Island, Goose Creek Island, and Raunt Island to Pierre Noel, who subleased it to the Broad Channel Corporation. The 30-year lease specified payments of $16.57 per acre for the first three years and a maximum of $33.73 per acre for the last five years of the thirty-year term. The Broad Channel Corporation in turn made 10-year subleases to private individuals for the development of summer bungalows and houses. There was public criticism of the lease after the public learned about the deal, which Pierre Noel, president of the Broad Channel Corporation, countered by pointing to $180,000 of improvements it had made, including digging a well to supply drinking water, building a power plant, adding landfill to reduce the need for houses on piles, and laying out streets on the island. Residents disputed the quality of these improvements, however, saying that the tap water was brown and not potable, that their houses had no electricity, and that there were no sewers on the island. The Broad Channel Corporation responded by saying the water was of the same quality as was available in the Rockaways and that it planned to install a filtration device to remove the iron from the tap water. It said that the streets had electric lights, and it said installing sewers was not possible on the island.