Lobbying for the proposed Weber State University extension in Layton will begin in full force Tuesday night as local leaders and WSU representatives make the rounds at four Davis County cities.
Officials, community members and university personnel on the proposed extension's steering committee will be at city or community action council meetings in Kaysville, Centerville, Fruit Heights and Layton on Tuesday night. During the next two months, the committee will give presentations to some 35 organizations, including chambers of commerce and Kiwanis and Rotary clubs.
"We want to indicate what we're doing and what the needs are," said Farmington Mayor Greg Bell, who is presenting in Centerville on Tuesday night. "Once they know what's happening we can get them to contact their legislators."
Davis County Council of Governments has made the WSU/Davis extension No. 1 on its list of priorities for the upcoming legislative session. COG members invited legislators to a meeting last week to again emphasize the need for the campus.
"We think it's our turn," Bell said. "The current campus is maxed out."
One-third of Weber State students are from Davis County, he says, and the county is the largest in the state without its own campus.
"It just doesn't make sense to keep shuttling everyone up there," he said.
"Every corner" of the 1.5-acre extension at the old Questar building in Layton is being used as classroom space, and some classes are being taught at neighboring high schools, he said.
The proposal for a new 100-acre campus on the Layton/Clearfield border would replace the extension and cost about $35 million.
But the project is low on the Board of Regents' funding priorities, as well as being one of the most expensive proposed projects on the list. However, Julie Snowball of Weber State University says she is still willing to put up a fight for funding.
"We're 12th on the list, but we're first on the list for new facilities. It depends on how you look at it," she said.
The meeting in Fruit Heights starts at 7 p.m. at 910 S. Mountain Road. Kaysville's meeting is at 23 E. Center at 7 p.m., and Layton's Community Council meeting will be at 7:30 at 437 N. Wasatch Drive. Centerville's meeting begins at 7 p.m. at 250 N. Main.
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