upr000036 33

w 23-1-0 Las Vegas - November 6, 19^7 Mr. Frank Strong: Petitions are now being circulated in Las Vegas authorising creation of the Las Vegas Valley Water District, as outlined in the newspaper clipping I sent you October 17th. At the Rotary meeting today, attended by about 100 principal business men of the town, Archie Grant circulated one of the petitions and made an explanatory speech. He compared the formation of the Water District to that in Southern California and stated development here would be definitely limited without the creation of this Water District, as the Union Pacific had stated it was not interested in bringing water from Lake Mead. Some of the property owners present objected to signing on the grounds that it amounted to a blank cheok inasmuch as it authorized the Water District to acquire pipe lines, lands, water rights and all appur^- tenancea and they each and separately bound themselves to pay the costs of organizing the Water District. How­ever, Mr. Grant explained that no liability was attaohed by reason of signing the petition, as all costs would be defrayed from earnings of the Water District. He also stated there was nothing underhanded about the creation of the Water District as he had discussed the matter with you and while the Union Pacific had made no commitments it would oonsider the proposal. Will keep you advised of further developments. A. M. Folger