Utah Lake panel sought

PROVO — Utah County leaders are getting close to taking the plunge and saying "I do" to a long-term commitment to manage Utah Lake.

Local mayors and county officials are hammering out the details of an interlocal agreement to establish a management authority that would work to utilize Utah Lake's natural resources and facilitate planning and development around the lake.

All Utah County cities and towns have been invited to join the Utah Lake Management Commission and appoint a representative with voting rights on its governing board. The cost of that participation, however, has not yet been decided.

"We kind of compare it to marriage," said Provo Mayor Lewis Billings. "We don't know what it's going to cost, but we're going to go ahead and do it and work it out."

The Utah Lake Management Commission would be an interlocal entity similar to the Bear Lake Regional Commission, which was formed in 1973 to manage multi-

jurisdictional issues of Bear Lake Valley.

Like the Bear Lake authority, the Utah Lake commission likely would operate with a small staff and coordinate efforts with existing government entities.

"This proposal creates a commission that has no authority to tax anybody, to regulate anybody," Billings said.

Instead, it gives local leaders the ability to gather information, discuss alternatives "and then decide we want to do something because it's the best and right thing to do," he said.

"We're not trying to usurp anybody's local authority," Billings said. "We want to work with (federal, state and local agencies) and partner with them."

That cooperative effort would include coordinating land-use planning for property surrounding the lake and developing procedures to improve water quality.

The commission also would work to identify necessary action to restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of Utah Lake. Studies and assessments also would be conducted to assist and improve all aspects of the lake — fish and wildlife, wetlands, recreational use, access and parking, transportation and economic activities.

Utah County leaders are expected to accept the interlocal agreement at its Aug. 24 meeting and present it for a final 45-day comment period.

Billings said the goal is to have firm commitments from entities that want to enter into the agreement by the end of 2006.