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Show By GARY R. BLODGETT There was a lot more discussion dis-cussion - but no council action ac-tion -- over Bountiful City's proposal to lease 40 acres of land which hopefully can be used for development of geothermal power. THE council was ready and willing to vote on the issue Wednesday night but a combination com-bination of circumstances led the council to postpone voting until next Wednesday's meeting. meet-ing. After a lengthy discussion, Councilman Elmer Barlow made a motion to deny taking option on the lease of property near Milford which would have required the city to pay $125,000 at this time. But his motion died for lack of a second. COUNCILMAN Sterling Beesley then made a motion to accept the option and he and Councilman Warde Tol-man Tol-man voted in favor with Councilman Barlow voting against. This brought up an interesting situation. Councilman Don Perkins was out of town and Mayor Morris F. Swapp was absent because of the death of his daughter, Joan, earlier in the day. COUNCILWOMAN Phyllis Southwick was mayor-pro tern and it was questioned whether or not she had a legal . vote. But before her vote could be heard, it was decided by the council that the vote would be postponed if the owner of the property, A.L. McDonald, would give an extension of deadline. Original deadline was Thursday. SO BERRY Hutchings, Bountiful power plant manager, left the meeting to call Mr. McDonald who said he (McDonald) would give a one-week extension, but no more. Most of Wednesday's discussion dis-cussion centered around the "gamble" the city would be taking by investing $125,000 in a project that so little is known. PROPONENTS of the project - to lease the land and drill for steam power - a program that would take about five years to develop but, if successful, would be a new source of power for Bountiful in future years. Opponents claim that the land being considered is directly over the Dome Fault and it would be risky drilling in such an area. Also, they say, geothermal power is so new and untested that Bountiful Boun-tiful should wait and see what other developers (Phillips 66 and others) find before investing in-vesting the money. MR. HUTCHINGS pointed out that although the investment invest-ment is "risky," it is a good gamble. 'The project would be a big gamble whether we do it now or later," he said. "And to wait and do it later would be more costly in every respect. "I'M NOT giving you a recommendation one way or the other, just a lot of information infor-mation as I have found it," he told the council. Mr. Hutchings told tne council that four major things should be considered in determining de-termining whether or not to approve the project: (1) WOULD the lease enable ena-ble us to do what we plan with no opposition from the Bureau of Land Management or other agencies; (2) that the cost of the pipe, drilling, separators, power plant, etc., would not be prohibitive; (3) if right-of-way matters on both state and federal properties can be utilized; and (4) determine how the water is handled. Can it be reinjected into another well to regenerate the geothermal field? "I believe we have done our home work with the aid of experts in the field such as Dr. James Koneg of California Califor-nia hut there are still a lot of unanswered questions and there will be until we or r" someone else puts the well into operation," said Mr. Hutchings. HE SAID that if the city council approves the agreement, contracts should be signed within six weeks. He noted that the BLM would have to sign the agreement of assigning the lease from Mr. McDonald to Bountiful City. "But I don't see any problem with the BLM approving the assignment," he said. IF approved and the city goes ahead with development of the project, cost for producing the geothermal power is estimated at between $7.5 and $8 million. Mr. Hutchings said part or all of this cost could be offset by a federal non-repayable grant - but that this is only speculative and the city should not plan on such a grant. OTHERWISE, the city would have to bond for the money, but likely the bonding would be repaid from profits from the city-owned power plant, it was explained. Councilman Beesley said there is always an element of risk in business, and this is big business. "IT'S A gamble, but success suc-cess could mean a new source of power which would provide continued low power rates for our residents in future years. Without this power, we may not have sufficient power in the future and our rates certainly cer-tainly would be higher with conventional power," he said. Councilman Barlow opposed op-posed the cost of land, $3,100 per acre compared to adjacent ad-jacent land which was obtained ob-tained recently for as little as $200 with a maximum of $800 per acre. "I THINK we should wait forresults of Phillips' testing," said Councilman Barlow. "It's not only the initial cost of $125,000 the city could lose, but several millions could be lost if the drilling is a failure. Stan Smedley of the power commission said he thought the city should look at other alternatives with other methods of obtaining geothermal power. IF WE spend $125,000 now ufrnTstglsoa power board member, felt differently. "I BELIEVE Berry has done a good job of obtaining vual information for us and II resoect his efforts. I think the couS's decision depends on its gambling spirit. "We are gambling only $125,000, not several million, if the development is a boom we'll have a new source of badly needed power but if it s a bust we'll have to be content to feeding a few cows on the undeveloped land. "ITS A big gamble, but it's exciting. I think this proposal should be compa. reasonable alternatr'1 i big of gamblers are .;1 ' asked the council. James Kohler geologist, said h'e, posed to the develop this time because 'f. no other steam res this kind in the nt; United States and too' known about characteristics." MR. HUTCHINGS s it would cost much f the city decided to j . vest in such a devek. Also, he noted, it !' less costly for the V develop than to bm another source beca-and beca-and other savings. He added that the, : land is rapidly increat it's doubtful the city lose money if the -: source is not developed t |