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VOL. XLII, NO. 173 LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, jttKDAY, JULY 23, 1950 UP Said Ready to Talk Sale of Water Firm Even as a city commission-ap­pointed committee took steps to lift watering resections here, it was learned Saturday 'that the P J Union Pacific railroad is willing to negotiate with the Las Vegas Valley Water district for sale of the Las Vegas Land and Water company. Sensing thq feeling of the pub­lic that the present ordinance regulating use of' water is inef­fective and inadequate, the spec­ial committee, composed of two members of the city commission and five members from the pub lie, Friday decided to ask the commission Monday to lift wa­tering restrictions for a 15-day try period to see whether the public couldn’t use the available water wisely and not cause a dangerous water shortage situa­tion at .the same time. At the same time, the com­mittee asked the city to have ^ representative, of the public service commission see to it that the water company fulfills its ob­ligation in providing all water possible. Members of the committee are City Commissioners Bob Moore, chairman, and Wendell Bunker, With the following serving from the public; Fred Pine, Mrs. J. R. Habbart, Jack Hassett, Harry i Miller and Otto Underhill. It was learned from officials of the water district and the Un­ion Pacific railroad that the lat­ter has indicated its willingness to- negotiate for sale of the land and water company, distributors of water to the city of Las Vegas, to the water district. Further information revealed that the railroad already has started to make ah inventory of its physical properties in view of arriving at a fair and equit­able sales price. The railroad already has set a tentative price of $2,000,000 for the utility, and the inventory, water district officials said, pro­bably will show the value of the utility to be within a range of 10 per cent off that figure. During the wafer committee meeting, Commissioner Bunker pointed out that solution of the water problem was not just tem­porary and stated emphatically that if the, water company couldn’t straighten the matter out, he was in favor of having! the city condemn the property in' view of taking over the utility.' Bunker also stated that the) water district couldn't possibly get rolling before “two or three| yearsji and some steps shouldj )be taken immediately to al-j leviate the situation. Miller, however, reported that] with the utility’s announced in­tention of negotiating a sale, pro-j gress on acquiring the water sy­stem should proceed more rapid­ly than that because there would not be the necessity of a ' long' condemnation suit. During the committee discus­sions, Commissioner Moore said: “We might as weif admit it, the ordinance isn’t working and so we will have to try some ! other' means.” All members of the commit­tee agreed that it wasn’t so much a water shortage that is currently plaguing the city but a lack o f. physical facilities' to distribute the water. Another factor in the present water dilemma is the wastage. During discussions it was pointed out that the water com­pany is furnishing the city with 17 million gallons daily. In an informal c o m m i s s i o n meet­ing Thursday, City Engineer C. W. Anderson reported that 9 mil­lion gallons were going through the disposal plant, and unless ut­ilized by valley farmers, t h i s amount would.be wasted. Committee members cited oth­er cases of water wastage by residents and emphazised t h a t if the temporary lifting of re­strictions is to be made p e r ­manent, the public must c u r b such wastage and use the water wisely. Suggestions were rejected that the city be zoned in two halves with people on one side of town watering in the morning and those on the other side in the afternoons, or that persons living in even numbered houses water while those in odd-number­ed homes refrain from watering. Such proposals, the committee decided, were merely keeping the restrictions alive under a different name. The utility came, in for some rough treatment, both during the r* 1 commission meeting a large delegation of in-; di-mant water users appeared before the city fathers, and in the special committee meeting. Commissioner Bunker read a lengthy statement placing most of the blame of the current wat­er problem on the utility com­pany and then later, in commit­tee meeting, exclaimed bitterly: “ Instead of public utilities be­ing the servants of Las Vegas residents, we are the servants of the public utilities.” The city official also declared “ that some heat should be put on the public service commis­sion to see that the utility fulfill its obligations to the public.” Prior to coming to The com­mission meeting, Bunker said he made a survey of water produc­ing areas and found that at least five persons have sunk water wells in the same area that wat­er is being drawn from by the utility company. His findings showed that wells are averaging 750 gallons per minute on a 24-hour basis and, when brought in, hit 1,200 gal­lons. “ On that basis,” he declared, “ there is plenty of water. There’s no water shortage.” It was also pointed out that while the utility company has 12 wells in the area, only three are actually pumping. “ Somebody jumped the gun in declaring water restrictions would be off next Monday,” Mayor E. W. Cragin said this morning as he warned users that there could be no change in the situation until the exist­ing ordinance is amended. ‘ ‘Somebody evidently con­fused the committee’s pro­posed Recommendations with what can actually be done,” Cragin commented. “ The committee, appointed to study the situation has not made its report to the board and it will require at least ten days to amend the ordinance' and change the present hours. “ The public should! not be misled into violating the pre­sent anti-w a s t e ordinance which violations can only* re­sult in citations to appear in court,” the mayor said. —I—I----------I I____!J .s£________ D A Pittman Arrives For Vegas Confab Governor Vail Pittman arrived in Las Vegas Saturday afternoon to spend several days here con­ferring with members of the Ne­vada Colorado river commission, S. R. Dubravac, Basic plant manager for the commission, and lessees at the plant who are working on expansion programs. The governor said he expected to talk particularly with officials of Western Electrochemical company with regard to their re­cent application for additional plant facilities and power to take care of a major development at’ Basic which will result in em­ployment for an additional 1,500 workmen.