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Show Petition County Coimi lission Create Utah Lake Control Drainage District Landowiics near Utah lake are eager and anxious to co-operate in every way possible with the county, state and national government in an effort to como'to some understanding understand-ing relative to the proposed Utah lake reclamation project. This was evident Wednesday afternoon when more than 30 of the largest landowners land-owners met in the office of the Provo Chamber of Commerce and discussed plans for the organization of a drainage district as a preparatory prepara-tory step to petitioning the congress of the United States for financial assistance in the reclamation project pro-ject Judging front the expressions made by a majority of those present, pres-ent, the landowners are willing to ! go to heavy expense to have their lands redeemed which for the last 35 years or more have been sub- 1 merged by the waters of the lake most of the time. Following the discussion which lasted for several hours, all of the landowners present representing the area from Geneva to Springville signed a petition asking the Utah county commission to create the Utah Lake Control Drainage district. dis-trict. Commissioner A. O. Smoot presided presid-ed at the meeting. Judge James B. Tucker- legal advisor of the reclamation reclama-tion committees, explained the different dif-ferent phases of the proposed reclamation re-clamation project of Utah lake as outlined by the government engineers engi-neers who have been making an exhaustive ex-haustive study and survey of the project for several years. He said that the present movement move-ment among the landowners only took in that part of the large project pro-ject which would lower the level of the lake to the compromise point during the winter months find seven feet oeiuw t'nat point m The "siTirrne-T -This, he said, would be nccomnlishd by straightening a 1 dieitmng the Jordan river from ;he Yn.'.: lake to the Great Salt lake. This part of the pvoj - f v.ou? 1 reclaim re-claim 22,000 acres of land aruund the lake at a cost i-f .innroTinmfniv j sif per acre. "Government experts, with whom we have been in close touch for some j time, inform us that in order tn get iany action at a 11 we must organize all of the landowners in the terri-i terri-i tory affected by the project." said j Judge Tuckerr"Tbrough the organi-zinu' organi-zinu' of such an association, the respect re-spect ivo landowners would be ap-! ap-! port ioned their respect ive propor-j propor-j tion of die cost of 1 1 ie reclamation. "The reclamation service wiil not d' this for nothing for us. They will simply lend us the money to undertake under-take th" completion of the project and will not charge us any inicrest lor .''I years. "We are now Irving to or-ri-nize a drainage district for the reclamation reclama-tion of the 22.(nn acres, along the lake comprised in the strip from the compromise point to eight feet above that point. Following the perm;! from the comity commission - to form such an organization, the county coun-ty commission would appoint three supervisors who would have charge of he project and work out the best feasible plan to reclaim the land. These supervisors would represent repre-sent the landowners in all of the dealings of the association with the government. "The organizing of the drainage district is absolutely necessary in order to get any assistance at oil from the government. Even if we should not be successful at this time to secure the needed financial assistance assis-tance we would have the organization organiza-tion through which we could work for later aid. We would then be ready to act when funds are available." James T. Gardner, chairman of the county commission, said thai several drainage districts are needed need-ed in different parts of the county but that it would bo useless to expend ex-pend money on these with the level of T'lah lake as high n" -"sent asaterou"ni-be'no millet for Thesv I dicf-Ht.,. Tie as-nired the farmers ! that, tbp rormf-y commission would lie fair a' d just and that the super-. super-. vHts appointed for the district would bp men of ability and integ-lit.v integ-lit.v and that the appointments w-irT bp nip dp regnrdl?s of polities. lie also said that for many years past the members of the Utah Water Storage commission had been opposed op-posed to the Utah lake reclamation project but that the sentiment in j that regard had changed now and I that most of the members were in i favor of (he project, i Senator Lelioy Dixon explained ' that the work that had been done ; for years past in investigation and j surveys relative to the lake project ; had been the material on which it : was now possible to take the final i slop for financial aid with a very small outlay of money, lie com-i com-i mended Die various county commis- sums who during the past ten years 1 had appropriated money at various times to carry on the investigation work. Commissioner A. O. Smoot declared de-clared that now is the opportune time to ask for assistance and to organize so that aid may be requested, request-ed, lie said that if the farmers neglect ne-glect this -opportunity the doors for I he reclamation of the Utah lake lands may be closed forever. The petition to the county commission com-mission asking for the creation of the Utah Lake Control Drainage district was read by Judge Tucker after which it was unanimously moved that all of the landowners sign the petition. Other similar petitions are now in circulation in Lehi- American Fork. Provo, Springville and Spanish Fork, according to Judge Tucker. As i soon as landowners representing approximately 6000 acres of land affected by the reclamation have signed the petition it will be filed with the county commission', the drainage district wil be organized and the supervisors appointed. According to Judge Tucker only about 10,000 acres of the 22.000 acres to be reclaimed belond to landowners oTTth county, since ;(H0 jirrps - tn tbe re- clam" tioTT1serTLCe by it on the completion of the project. pro-ject. It is understood from those in-torpsied in-torpsied in the project that the petitions pe-titions will be filed with tbe county commission within the next ten da t. |