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Show Springville City Council Explains Problems Pertaining To Tunnel Work w Mayor W. W. Clyde Tells Group Of Taxpayers And Business Men Project Will Go On; Explains Difficulties With Labor And Material Following a wave of rumors concerning the tunnel tun-nel project at Bartholomew Springs in Hobble Creek canyon, Mayor W. W. Clyde and the members of the Springville City council gave a complete and concise resume of the situation to representatives of local civic clubs, business men and taxpayers at the council meeting Monday night. Mayor Clyde stated that the city administration had been severely criticized recently for not pushing the project to completion, com-pletion, and that he wanted the facts and figures known by the critics to give them a complete picture of the problems. "Since starting the project," said Mayor Clyde, "materials have become be-come frozen, labor has been attracted at-tracted to high-salaried war plant projects, and costs would become prohibitive in finishing the tunnel under the original allotment. The city has had to use the electrical wiring used for Christmas lighting light-ing to afford lighting facilities in the tunnel, and there is no assurance assur-ance that the city would be able to get the necessary pipe and materials ma-terials for the power plant once the tunnel was finished. "At the present time we have a crew of seven men working a full 8-hour shift for six days a week, and they are making headway at about five feet a day. The WPA labor set-up is now practically nonexistent non-existent in the state since the expansion ex-pansion of war industries in the vicinity, vi-cinity, and labor is at a premium." Mr. Clyde also read a letter from the government in answer to a request re-quest made by the city for necessary neces-sary materials for the tunnel project, pro-ject, which stated, in part, "It is found after investigation that it will be impossible at the present time to allocate vital war materials for your project, as your city is only one of many small Utah towns located in the vicinity of war industries. in-dustries. We also find that you have enough water available at the present time to take care of a fifty per cent increase in population, and as for the power plant, there would be sufficient electricity available also through purchase from nearby utility lines. In view of these facts, we are unable to give you priority on the requests for material." Mayor Clyde asked the opinion of several of the representatives present regarding the project, and it was found that they were in accord with the administration's policy and urged that the crew now working be kept on the job and as much progress be made as possible. Mayor Clyde said this plan had been contemplated always, al-ways, with absolutely no intention on the part of the city to close the project. "The great war in which the United States is now embroiled should receive paramount consideration consider-ation always, and unless the city becomes acutely in need of more water and power, we should conserve con-serve on materials and protect the money allotted until such time when the completion of the project would not cost the city a prohibitive prohibi-tive sum," stated Mayor Clyde. |