Utah Valley political leaders intend to get a jump on Gov. Mike Leavitt's Utah Growth Summit with a conference of their own Wednesday and Thursday, Nov. 29 and 30.
A Utah County legislative caucus organized the Utah County Growth Summit because of the many growth-related problems plaguing the valley."We realized there's a lot of issues that we need input on this session," said Rep. Jeff Alexander, R-Provo. The Legislature convenes in January.
The two nights of meetings will be patterned after the governor's summit, but on a much smaller scale. The summit will focus on seven issues - water rights, public education, transportation, open space, Utah Lake, air quality and higher education.
"We know there's interest in these things," Alexander said.
Utah Valley State College will host the summit beginning at 5:30 p.m. both nights. Utah County residents are invited to attend.
Management and leadership expert Steven R. Covey will be the keynote speaker at the opening meeting Wednesday. That will be followed by three-hour breakout sessions on water rights, public education, transportation and open space.
The Thursday meeting includes three-hour sessions on Utah Lake, air quality and higher education and an hourlong summit wrap-up session.
Local legislators, mayors, city council members and county commissioners are scheduled to attend. A specialists in the fields of discussion are also scheduled to attend. Each session will include a question-and-answer period.
Alexander hopes residents will attend with ideas on how to resolve some of the county's most pressing issues.
"We realize this could break out into a big complaint session," he said. "We hope to get away from the criticism angle and move toward solutions." Alexander mentioned air pollution as one of the valley's biggest problems.
"We can't do anything until we solve that," he said, noting that it stymies transportation projects.
The governor's growth summit is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 6, through Friday, Dec. 8, in Salt Lake City. It will center on transportation, water development and open space.