Millville hopes new reservoir will help city accommodate rapid growth

By Joseph Sheppard

April 29, 2005 | MILVILLE -- In the Millville Cemetery are graves that date back to 1863. They include the pioneer ancestors of some of the city's long-time residents. On the south and west are alfalfa fields crossed with wheel lines and bordered with trees white with blossoms. To the north are new homes of stucco, siding, and brick. Neither view is unpleasant, but one is becoming increasingly common in Millville. Millville is growing.

According to the United States census there were 395 households in the city in the year 2000. However, according to Jim Hart, chairman of the planning and zoning commission, that number has increased by 53 households just in the Shire subdivisions during the last five years.

"Millville is the finest in country living," Hart said. But growth in Millville has eliminated a lot of the open space that used to be there.

Among the city's plans are building a new high-line reservoir that would make residential growth possible in the Millville foothills, Hart said. Private owners own 450 acres that are intended for residential development there, he said. One hundred acres were recently annexed by Providence since it already has a water system for the hills, Hart said.

This land, annexed by Providence, has been split into quarter-acre lots, Hart said. On the Millville side, a lot of the land isn't as flat, and much of it would have to be developed as half-acre lots. Even so, once the water system is available, Millville could see growth of 700 houses, Hart said.

This is a big change from Millville's historic beginnings. Lifelong city resident Dale Humphreys said that Millville was first settled by the Garr brothers. Abel, Benjamin, William and John Garr were cattle drivers for Brigham Young, Humphreys said. They drove cattle from Antelope Island to Millville Canyon for summer grazing.

As Millville began to be settled, mills began to spring up. A monument marks the site of the old gristmill that use to be west of the North Bridge, Humphreys said. The mill was used for molasses and as a brewery, and was a social gathering for the town. They used to have dances in the old mill on a big cement slab, he said.

"When I was a kid my dad hauled milk in ten gallons and we'd stop by the old mill and he'd let me get ice cream there," Humphreys said.

Robert Humphreys, Dale's brother, said they grew up on a family farm. The family had cattle and grew peas, hay, beets, and beans. He said he shoed horses and they kept a lot of animals. He remembers hunting pheasants in the fields and riding horses up the canyons.

Robert misses the open spaces. "I kind of hate to see it go, but there's not much you can do about it. People have to live somewhere," he said.

Dale Humphreys said he thinks the growth is very important, though, and good for the economy.

"I think the community is doing a good job controlling the growth, but at the same time allowing it," Humphreys said.

Jim Hart would agree. He said managing Millville's growth can be challenging, though. He said maintaining the growing city includes more than the cost of keeping up roads, curbs, and snow removal.

"Property taxes help pay for the city, but is it really profitable? Does it really offset costs?" Hart said.

One additional expense of the growth is that the city must provide one acre of parks for every one hundred new households, Hart said. Current city ordinances will help maintain a good mix of agriculture in the area, but those ordinances can change with each new city council and planning and zoning committee.

The city owns land northeast of the intersection of 300 South and 500 East in the Millville foothills where the council plans to construct their highline reservoir. The reservoir will be supplied by water from a couple of different wells and from Garr Spring, Hart said.

In order to supply the reservoir, the council has asked permission to build a water line through the field of Mondell Knowles. Knowles said he has lived in Millville for 65 years. He farms hay, corn, and grain. "Back then, everybody had their land and animals. That's how they made their living," Knowles said.

Knowles said he doesn't much like the growth, and misses the depreciating farmland. He said he hasn't decided yet whether he'll let the city build through his land.

Despite the growth, Millville continues to be an appealing place to those who have grown up there. Justin Bayles, 22, said that if he can buy some land, he would like to continue living there. "I love Millville. There's no place I'd rather be," Bayles said.

Bayles said that his family owns one acre of land and that through the years they have raised chickens, horses, pigs, lambs, dogs and cats there.

"I come from a family that doesn't like a lot of neighbors. They're great people, but when they move in we have a hard time. But it's not that bad, not like on the hill. It's just a change, and change can be hard," Bayles said. He said newcomers need to adapt to the smell and sounds of the animals and that the people of Millville just need to adapt to the newcomers.

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