man000202 30

| Bunker 'Unloads' on Water Company at MeetingToday VOL. X LJI, NO. 176 LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, FRIDAY, JULY 21, 1950 Weary Las Vegas residents: who have been fighting a losing battle against keeping their j ’ seared lawns from dying with ai trickle of water, today were ex­pected to get some relief from : ‘ the situation when the city com- ; , mission indicated that they in- ? ; tended to find either a workable J ’ program for giving all persons j | a sufficient supply of water or j; | to lift current restrictions out- J right. Commissioner Wendell Bunk­er, who told commissioners yes- , terday in an informal meeting that “he was getting darned tired of taking the heat of irate residents’ calls,” today told ? the Review-Journal that he intend­ed to lead the fight for some sort , of program to alleviate the mat-j ter. Bunker, incidentally, reported . that he still received plenty of t calls last night' from water us- . ers, but i their theme h a d L changed from irritation to praise for his stand in demanding that ( the city take drastic action in .] settling the water problem. ; Bunker told the Review-Jour­nal that he intends to present the following facts before Mayor i EVnest Cragin and the city com­mission and an expected record delegation of irate water users: ! “It’s t h e city commission that’s being • held responsible. We’re the ones the public blames because we were stupid enough to undertake enforcement of the ordinance which is designed solely to cover up the mistakes and shortcomings of the water company. il “The water company h a s known this situation was com­ing for more than 10 years. . . . Year after year the' summer shortages have been becoming more acute. Year after, year we , have been fed with promises while the city covered up for the utility. “I’m getting sick and tired of this stalling and lack of results,” Bunker exclaimed, “and I be­lieve that the people of Las Ve­gas- are sick and tired too. The water company hasn’t developed a single gallon of a' new supply since the terrible shortage o f 1949.” The commissioner said that he proposed to offer a motion that a committee consisting of two members of the commission and the city engineer review the sit­uation and devise a more work­able program. \ During yesterday’s informal meeting, both Bunker and Com­missioner Bob Moore indicated that they were, in favor of con­demning the wetter company and then have the city take it over. “ At least th'e city can’t do any worse than the water company has done and I have an idea that we might do a lot better,” Bunker said. A1 Folger, manager of the Las Vegas Land and Water company, who was present at. yesterday’s meeting, said that he would like ?to see the restrictions lifted, too, 'but didn’t see how it could be done and still assure adequate water for fire protection and ample pressure for the business district. Mayor Cragin indicated that he was in favor of dividing the town so that people on one side of the city would sprinkle their lawns while residents of the o-ther side would refrain, and vice versa. He thought that this would give users an adequate pressure land at the same time, be equi­table to all. City Manager Chet Shelley in­dicated that he was all for an outright lifting of restrictions. i 11 I