El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-01-09
Citizens Petition County to
Issue Bonds to Prevent
Overflow of River in Case
of Flood.

of Flood.
A petition for county bond issue for
the construction Of a highway levee for
the protection of property in Ell Paso
county along the Rio Grande from the
flood waters of the river viii be pre-
scented TO the county commissioners wed
nesday afternoon.
This was the course taken by the tax
PAYERS who met at the chamber OF com
merce Monday evening to devise a way
for Harvesting the Rio GTande and pro
teet the property along its banks. Inc
amount of the bond issue was not stated
at the citizens meeting, but will be leIJ
to the discretion OF the county cOnlmls-
sioners, but 100000 was the maximum
amount thought necessary to commence
the work.
The highway levee is the only way
that the citizens can obtain immediate
action in a legal way in their efforts TO
control the floods, as other plans pre-
scented were found to be inadequate. IN
many respects on account OF the time
that the law requires for them to be
presented and before action can be taken
on them by the commissioners
With the highway levee- the law Al
D lows LLg COMMISSIONERS u JIG ~CL-LA-l
/ pass on it Immediately and IN 80 DAYS
I an election for the bond issue can be
called. This means was taken on aeeourf'
OF the heav floods expected by the eltl-
Zens this spring as a result of the heavy
SHOWS which viii cause higher water
than the Rio Grande has carried for some
/ years.
Burgess Presents Plan.
Mayor c. Z. Kelly presided as chair.
d q n.nn
/ commerce Monday night. About 70 tax
! payers were present.
r. F. Burgess. q member OF the COM
mittee appointed at Saturday nights
meeting to draw up a plan for raising
/ funds TO curb the river. showed that the
/ plan agreed upon at the other meeting
/ irrigation district bonds--wOuld be OF
I no use on account of the length OF time
I taken to obtain the money and the i'm
/ mediate need of protection against the
] springs floods Instead. he presented
4 the plan for the construction Of a high
! way Immediately adjacent to the river,
/ which would act both as a roadway and
/ q dixie to hold back the waters of the
I river. He showed how the bond issue
/ could be made and said that, although
/ the cost of the entire highway could not
I at present be estimated entirely. the
q supposed cost would be about $1,000
be made to cover the entire work, but
/ only the places considered in the most
/ danger of being Hooded by the river.
/ Later, as the county was able financially,
/ the remainder of the work could be done,
| ne said
The roadway would be about 20 feet
wide and on the river side 1t would be
| built in a slanting manner into the wa
I ter and covered with brush and con-
crete blocks, firmly cabied to hold back
] the water. Sixteen miles of this road
I way would have to be built this spring,
and this would reach from FL PasO 70
/ point between Ysleta and SOeOrTO on the
river front, he said.
Saws Tax Not Heavy.
The tax which would result from the
I bond issue would not be heavy, and the
J protection and benefit would certainly
I repay the CITY and county, he declared.
/ The county, Mr.. Burgess went on to say,
I could not refuse to issue the bonds, as,
/ although many would receive no direct
! benefit, the good Of one part OF COM
I munitv was the good of the whole. and
/ so the city and county could do nothing
! else but favor the bond issue.
( Only one requirement. viii be made
I of the people whose land VIII be direct
! lv benefited by the building Of the high
way. and this VIII be that they present
I the land to the county on which the high
/ way Will be built along the river front.
Mr.. Bur~es also explained the benefit
[ the highway would be to the city. The
valley has always been one of the largest
/ resources of the city and county. he said,
and the valley has helped to support the
other communities in the past, and now
that il needs protection, he thought the
] other parts of the county should assist it.
The flood Of 1897 was fresh in Mr. Bur
CESS memory: also the destruction
caused bv this flood. in which 600 houses
were submerged. He declared that Il
repetition of this flood could be expect
ed this year, and said that the river viii
only have to raise a foot higher than it
was at its highest point last year to sub
merge 400 acres of East FL Paso.
Says City Would Benefit.
Mayor Kelly declared that the bond
issue would benefit the county and city
as whole. and that the city would stand
at least So percent of its cost, but ought
to be perfectly willing to do this in or
der TO help the lower part of the city.
which would be damaged even to great
er sum than the total amount OF the
bond issue if there Is another dig flood
Felix Martinez asked if there were
any other plans which could be worked
out by the committee to raise the funds,
and If a revolving fund such as is used
in the paving system would not work
Mr.. Burgess said it would not. as the cost
to each person would exceed the value
Of the land itself. Mr.. Martinez said
that he favored the bond issue on ac-
count of the good that the Harvesting of
the river would do the valley. and he
thought that the city would give its