Newspaper clipping, Water district for Las Vegas Valley moves step ahead, Las Vegas Review-Journal, August 8, 1948

Las Vegas,Nevada REVIEW - JOURNAL August 8, 1948 Water District For Las Vegas Valley Moves Step Ahead August 30, at 10 a.m. was set as the date for the hearing on the formation of the Las Vegas valley water district, plans for which have been under way for the past several months, it was announced Friday by the board of county commissioners. The hearing, which will be open for any protests which might be forthcoming against the proposed district, is the last step necessary before a district for-mation election can be called, it was reported. James H. Down, president, and Joe McQuilkin, managing direc-tor, of the chamber of commerce, appeared before the county board on Friday an announced that ev-erything was in readiness for the next step on the formation of the district. McQuilken said that the peti-tions for the formation of the district, which were circulated here last spring, had been turned over to the county assessor and had been checked for sufficiency of names. He said that the as-sessor reported there were 843 certified names on the petitions, almost twice as many as the five per cent needed to call the elec-tion. After the hearing is held, on August 30, if there are no legiti-mate complaints, the county will then set up an election to de-termine the will of the voters of the district in regard to the formation of the district, and, at the same time, to elect directors for the district. In the election, the voters will be called upon to state whether they wish to form the district and also to name their choice for director from the slate which will be set up by the county commission under the state statute. There will be seven divisions in the district and each division will have one director. When the directorate is estab-lished, then the board will take the matter out of the hands of the county board and will func-tion as a separate entity entire-ly. It will be necessary for the board of directors to provide for a survey of the existing facili-ties and means of acquiring them, to determine the status of the line from Lake Mead to Basic and the feasibility of carrying the line from Basic into Las Vegas. It was reported Friday that an engineering firm probably will have to be retained to work out the engineering details of the project as well as to set a price on the distribution system now existing in Las Vegas be-cause, if the project goes through, the district probably will have to acquire the Las Vegas Land and Water system now distribut-ing the water locally. It was pointed out that 75 per cent of the users of the water district will be from Las Vegas and the distribution system must be purchased. Frank Gusewelle, chairman of the county board, complimented the chamber of commerce for the work it had done on the project and said: "There should be no move delay than is absolutely necessary in this matter. It is of vital importance to the en-tire valley. It will take two or three years to get water from the lake into Las Vegas after the district is set up, and we should not waste any more time than is absolutely necessary." It is probable, according to Down and McQuilkin. that all details will be worked out well in advance of the formation elec- tion and that, by the time the directors of the district are elec-ted, they will be presented with a tentative program which they can follow.