Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1941-01-16
Wisconsin Meet
Draws St. Croix
Power Boosters
Proposed East Pine Elec-
trical Project Would be
Patterned After IVA.

A meeting of considerable signifi-
canoe was held at Centuria, Wiscon-
sin, Monday, January Is, when those
interested in electrical power develop
ment on the st. CroiX river gathered
to discuss the possibilities of having
such a project get under way. About
200 men gathered from towns and
communities within the area to be
benefited by more and cheaper cleo
tricity that might be provided through
the building of dam on the St.
CroiX near the point in eastern Pine
county where the Kettle river emp
ties into the st. CroiX. While more
villages in Wisconsin than in Mime
sofa were represented by delegations,
there were some good sized delega-
tions from Pine City, Braham, Anoka
and other towns. William A. Berger
on of Somerset, st. Croix county, was
chairman of the meeting with Beau
ford johnson of Braham acting as
secretary.
Patterned After iva.
John A. Becker of Hartford, Wis,
a former member of the Wisconsin
Development A u h ~ spoke at
length on matters of general inter-
est, saying that as matters now stood
it would be necessary to have a
Congressional enactment to create a
st. Croix Valley Authority, somewhat
after the pattern of the iva. He said
that through the establishment of the
IVA, many technical and legal diff
ficulties had already been overcome
and so would not prove to be such
a handicap in the proposed st. Croix
development. He explained in some
detail the work of the Wisconsin De-
velopment Authority, saying that it
was the only one of its kind in the
United States. He said he felt that
the Wisconsin Development Authori-
ty might be willing to spend some
money in the preliminary work neces-
sary to get the project appraised.
Dam Would be 70 Feet High.
The proposed dam would be VEN
ture of some magnitude as it was
brought out that dam 70 feet in
height would be needed. This dam
would create a storage lake which
would serve to impound the large
amount of water now lost each spring
as the snow melts, and would also
serve as link in the larger National
project of spring flood control in the
lower Mississippi valley.
Representatives were present from
the Agriculture and War departments
but only as observers and without
authority to speak for their superb
ors Those in attendance from Pine
City were E. j. Prochaska, Mayor
James Sullivan, County Auditor j. E.
Therrien, Commissioner William Aus
mus, P. L. Hamlin, Henry Sommer,
Oscar Dickson, Richard Downing,
Vern Nelson and Nate Peterson. The
meeting was entirely an organiza-
tional meeting and a special commit
tee was selected to proceed further
with investigation and promotional
work.
Factory Possibilities Discussed.
MIR. Therrien was called on for some
remarks and he pointed out the fact
that the matter of establishing dam
at the point designated had been dis
cussed at various times for many
years past, that an area some 35 miles
in length would be affected, with
possibilities of the creation of much
needed industrial development.
Mr.. Therrien stated that the coun-
ty board of Pine county had passed
resolution on June Z, 1910, urging
the Federal government to look into
the possibilities of building an air.
plane factory near the site in con-
junction with Federal dam.
May be Defense Measure.
Mr.. Mcdonald, county attorney Of
Polk county, also spoke and said thai
a dam was needed to furnish cleo:
tricity for the increasing load of the
REA and said he also felt it was
feasible to approach the matter as
possible defense measure. Decentral-
iZation of industry is being considered
for the United States and such &
project with its accompanying in
dustries could easily become a bene-
fit to all residents of the northwes
by providing wages to supplement
income from the farms.
The committee appointed to arrange
for other meetings and to contac
Federal authorities in the matter wa.
as follows: Harry Edmonds of Ce.
dar; Beauford Johnson, Braham; w
w. Cutcliffe, Minneapolis; M. J. Nc.
Donald, Balsam Lake, Wis; job I
Becker, Hartford, Wis; VIM. A. Berg.
eron, st. Croix Falls; and j. E
Therrien, Pine City.