Township supporters have drafted a compromise bill that they hope Gov. Mike Leavitt will make the focus of a special legislative session May 21.
The bill was hammered out during a 1 1/2-hour meeting Tuesday at the home of Rep. Marty Stephens, R-Farr West. About 20 township board members, state lawmakers and county commissioners attended."I'm confident that if we can get the cities' and the counties' support on this, there will be a special session two weeks from now," Stephens said.
Leavitt has said he is looking to Stephens to negotiate a solution to the controversy and will call a special session if a consensus can be reached.
A new state law that went into effect Monday basically eliminated townships and replaced the larger ones with planning districts. The districts can make recommendations to county commissioners but have no veto-power over annexations.
In response, Weber County commissioners passed a new ordinance that grandfathered in the smaller townships of Warren, Reese and Marriott, which were eliminated under the state law. They also pledged their support in fighting annexation of the communities' land by nearby cities.
In addition, the commission eliminated its own Planning Commission and replaced it with the planning commissions of the six newly designated planning districts and a seventh district that will cover the remaining unincorporated portions of the county. All board members must be registered voters and residents of the area they will represent.
"The motivation is very simple. We are a big supporter of townships," commission Chairman Joe Ritchie said. "We have supported all six of the (Weber) townships, and we were very disappointed when the Legislature acted to do away with the townships."
Stephens' proposal is a compromise with House Speaker Mel Brown, R-Midvale, who sponsored the new law converting townships to planning districts.
The draft bill would grandfather in the smallest of the 15 elected townships that were eliminated Monday, restate the "township" name and correct a technical problem with the current staggered three-year terms for board members, which would require expensive yearly elections.
When some township advocates from Salt Lake and Cache counties complained that the proposal does not go far enough to protect their boundaries, Stephens pointed out the bill is a compromise.
"If your goal is to lock the borders, you're right, this doesn't accomplish that. But you're not going to get that this session," he said.