Powder Mountain Update: Weber County Commissioners Tell the PM Developer to"Stick It"

Our all-GOP County Commission gives a pushy developer a dose of political reality

Great news from the Weber County Commission meeting this morning. By unamimous agreement, all three Commissioners, Bischoff, Zogmaister and Dearden alike, took no action on this morning's chief agenda item -- appointment of a brand-new Powderville Mayor and Council. The matter wasn't merely tabled. It's now officially "off calender."

It was an interesting session indeed. Commissioner Zogmaister opened up the discussion by referring to the enabling statute, the grandfathered SB466, noting that the County Commission was not legally restricted, even under this now repealed but "grandfathered" law, to limit itself to considering the Gang of Six list submitted by the developer's sponsor/incorporation petitioners. Furthermore, our all-GOP Commission reminded everyone in attendance that the Commission had spent substantial time broadening the Powderville mayor/council applicant list.

In the course of this overly time-consuming interviewing/vetting process, the Commission had expanded the list, Zogmaister said, according to these criteria: 1) the applicant is of legal age, registered and eligible to vote; 2) The applicant has resided within the Powderville boundaries for at least a year; 3) The applicant has demonstrated capability to devote him/herself to the monumental task of forming a new town, and to be devoted to the goal of "promoting the best interests" of the town of Powderville.

Ultimately, the County Commission had compiled a list of nineteen vetted and qualified names, according to the Commissioners. The developer nevertheless rejected all of the new candidates!

From there, the Powder Mountain developer's plan went haywire:

Brooke Huntzt, the Powder Mountain attorney "mouthpiece," was summoned to the podium by our All Star County Commissioners, and Jan Zogmaister asked the crucial question:

"What criteria did you use to reject the new additions to the Commission's list?"

The developer's mouthpiece dodged the question, saying to the guffaws of probably 60 people, that the vetting of the mayor/council candidates was not her job. After that, the Commission summoned up to the podium a couple of Developer Lackeys, Like "Mara" and "Melissa."

As to the constantly-posed question by all the Weber County Commissioners (what criteria did you use, exactly to whittle down the Commissions's list?), none of these lackey spokesmen ever explained rationally why they rejected the bulk of the qualified Powder Mountain Commisioners' list of nineteen.

At the tail end of the discussion, Commissioner Bischoff said, "We thought we were moving ahead in good faith. It's obvious now that's not what's happening," he said.

It's back to the drawing-board for the greed-head Powder Mountain Developer, obviously.

We offer a hearty Weber County Forum Tip O' the Hat to Commissioners Bischoff, Dearden and Zogmaister, for standing up for their Ogden Valley constituents.

The ball's back in the developer's court. They can either re-engage in negotiations with the County Commision... or go to court.

The Commission has now thrown down the gauntlet.

We'll be popping our Orville Rickenbacker and pulling up our barca-loungers to see what happens next.

And what say our gentle readers about all this?

Update 8/19/06 4:04 pm MT: Our good friends at Ogden Valley Forum this afternoon also offer up a great post on this topic.