The courier-index., 1920-06-11
DELTA DISTRICT
gets SET BACK
JUDGE PLUMMER REFUSES TO
APPROVE PLANS-FINDS MA
JORITY OF LAND OWNERS
AGAINST THE PROJECT.


In a decision handed down Mon
day County Judge j. A. Plummer
the plans of the Delta
Road Improvement district in the
eastern section of Lee county, thus
the first decisive round
in a battle that has been stubbornly
fought for several months. Judge
Plummer found from the petitions
submitted to him that majority
acreage and value was clearly against
the proposed improvement and ne
further found the assessment of ben
efits was discriminatory.
The Delta district was formed un-
der a special act introduced in the
1919 session of the legislature by
Representative Aubrey Elliott and
provided for the construction of a
hard surface road from point near
Peters Landing to Kokomo. Many
large land owners Immediately voic-
ed opposition to the project because
of the high cost of the proposed
road, and the heavy assessments
placed on lands lying great dis
tance from the highway. Further
objections were made because the
lands in large portion of the dis
trict are cut off by natural barriers
and the claim was made that such
lands could not be benefited by the
road Still another contention made
by the remonstrants was that the
road starts nowhere and ends no.
where.
Daggett & Daggett and H. F.
Roleson represent the remonstrants
and Joe House of Little Rock, and
w. F. Nelson of Mariana, are attor-
neys for the district.
The full opinion rendered by
Judge Plummer in the case is as
follows: ~
In the matter of Delta Road I'M
provement District, Lee county, Ar
| kansas.
I, Now this matter coming on for
final adjudication upon the petition
Of the Commissioners of Delta Road
Improvement District for the ap-
proval of this court Of the nature
of the contemplated improvements,
and for the opening of certain roads
in the district; the petition of re-
monstrants against the approval by
the court and the opening of the
said roads; oral evidence submitted
to the court and the argument of
counsel. The matter being heard
by the court on the 10th day of
May, 1920, at which time the petit
TONERS and their attorneys and the
remonstrants and their attorneys
were present in open court and af-
ter completion of the hearing the
matter was taken under advisement
| by the court.
The court has given this matter
careful study and has checked the
petitions, both for and against the
approval of the contemplated inn
provement, and opening of the said
roads, with the last assessment of
lands in Lee county and with the
record of deeds for Lee county,
Arkansas.
1t is the finding of the court that
the total acreage within the bound
aries of Delta Road Improvement
District is 38,864 acres.
That the assessed value of all the
lands in the district, as shown by
the Board of Assessors of the dis
trict is S56S, $1,000; that the assess
ed value of railroads, telephone and
telegraph lines within the district
is as follows: Z
Mo. P. Ry. Co., 4.65 miles main
line @ $10,O00.00, $46,50O.0O.
Mo. p. Ry., 1.13 miles side track
"a 100000, $3,250.00.
Western Union Telegraph Com
pany, 81 1,627.00. -
Southwestern Bell Telephone Co.,
$3,022.06. Total, $54, $4,000.
Making the total assessed value
of all property in the district, sub
ject to taxation in the sum of $780,
781.00.
1t is the finding of the court
that the petitions for the approval
of the contemplated improvement
and opening said roads, contain the
authorized signatures, representing
1900 acres of land within the
boundaries of Delta Road Improve
ment District, Lee county, Arkan-
sas.
1t is the finding of the court
that the petitions of the remon-
strants, against the approval of
the contemplated improvement, and
opening of said roads, contain the
signatures, representing
20,100 acres of land within the
boundaries of Delta Road Improve
ment District, Lee county, Arkan-
sas.
The court finds that the assessed
value of the lands represented on
the petition of the petitioners is in
the sum of 1854, 10000 and that
the assessed value of the lands rep
resented on the petitions of remon-
strants is in the sum of $290,052.-
90, and that the remonstrants in ad-
dition thereto have an assessed val
uation of $54,399.00, represented
by the railroad, telegraph and tele-
phone lines, within the boundaries
ALo Lsekwtok