From Deseret News archives:
Eagle Mountain joins Utah Lake group
Eagle Mountain was adopted into the Utah Lake Commission last week as an ex-officio, or non-voting, member.
In order to become a full-fledged member of the commission, Eagle Mountain's City Council has to have a majority vote in support of a resolution to provide funding to the commission, said Reed Price, executive director of the Utah Lake Commission.
Eagle Mountain's City Council voted against the resolution, which forced the city to be adopted as a non-voting member. And although the representative can't vote, it's still beneficial to be apart of the commission.
"It just kind of allows them to give input a little easier than the general public," Price said.
However, officials in the city hope to be able to vote soon. John Hendricksen, Eagle Mountain city manager, said during the governing board's meeting that he hopes the council will revisit the issue. He said the three council members who voted against the resolution were mainly worried about the fee the city would have to pay to be a voting member, which would be about $10,000 per year.
Eagle Mountain's council discussed the resolution to become a full member of the commission for two weeks and had several presentations, but after debate and discussion, the three council members who voted against it agreed the fee was the main issue.
"Right now, budgetwise, it's quite a bit of money and, as a councilman, you're just trying to make sure that you spend the people's money on the things that are most important," said Councilman Ryan Ireland.
He added that they didn't feel they could justify the cost when the city could be a non-voting member.
Councilwoman Donna Burnham said the money was a concern.
"Another concern is it's a new commission," she said. "I kind of hesitate (to) spend money when I don't know (how) it will help us."
Both Burnham and Ireland requested that the council look at putting money aside in the next year's budget to possibly fund a voting seat.
Because the commission doesn't have authority to make laws or set policy — it only has the ability to give opinion and make resolutions — Councilman Nathan Ochsenhirt didn't think it wise to pay to vote their opinion.
"It isn't just money," he said. "It's a significant (amount) to only give an opinion ... I fully support the Lake Commission, but for a non-shoreline entity like ourselves to be so heavily burdened to cast a vote, I don't think it's a wise investment of funds."
E-mail: csmith@desnews.com
