Whenever fifty-one percent (51%) of the resident property owners of any territory adjacent to any township described in Kan. Stat. Ann. § 80-1919 shall petition for the creation of a benefit district for the purposes set forth in Kan. Stat. Ann. § 80-1923, it shall be the duty of the township boards of the townships in which said benefit district is located to organize such district and to define the limits thereof as set forth in said petition. If said benefit district is located entirely within one township, the township board, and where said benefit district is located in two or more townships, the township trustees of said townships shall constitute the board of directors of said benefit district and shall be authorized to execute contracts in accordance with the purposes of Kan. Stat. Ann. § 80-1923 for said district.