Township planning panels get new members Some are upset as Weber commissioners appoint non-residents By GREG KRATZ_ Standard-Examiner staff Weber County commissioners may be eager to get six new local townships up and running, but they won't give township supporters everything they want. That much became clear to Deyonne Walker, an elected member of the East Huntsville Township planning and zoning board, when commissioners appointed three members to each of the six township boards Monday. "It looks to me as though the county commission has made appointments to deliberately polarize the (East Huntsville) board," Walker said. The East Huntsville, Hooper, Marriott, Reese, Slaterville and Warren townships were voted into existence in November based on a law passed by the 1996 Legislature. That law says townships can avoid annexation and have their own planning boards. Three members of each township board were elected in November, and they have to meet with the three appointed board members within 10 days to pick a seventh member. Six of the 18 people appointed to the township boards Monday were unsuccessful candidates for board positions in November's election. In five of the townships, the appointees are all township residents. But not in East Huntsville. There, commissioners appointed two non-resident East Huntsville landowners. Commissioner Joe Ritchie said the East Huntsville Township covers about 200 square mi-les. It has few residents, he said, but several people own large tracts of land. The state law that set up townships did not say their planning board members had to be township residents, Ritchie said, and he thinks large valley landowners should have a voice in the future of their area. But Walker said 20 East Huntsville residents applied to be on the township board, and they would have been better members. She said she is especially disappointed in the commission's appointment of Pleasant View resident Frank Maughan, who was a vocal opponent of the East Huntsville Township. "Frank Maughan was the person that threatened the township board members in East Hunts- December 31, 1996 On the boards ? Weber County commissioners Monday appointed three members to each of the area's six new township planning and zoning boards. Those appointees join three others who were chosen in November's general election. The six members of each board now have to meet within 10 days to appoint a seventh member. Below are the names of the board members, who will serve staggered four-year terms. East Huntsville Township Appointed: Frank Maughan, Louis Cooper, Robert Wangsgard Elected: Norman Montgomery, Loma Rich, Deyonne Walker Hooper Township Appointed: Janet P. Stoddard, Clair Widdison, Brian J. Beus Elected: Theo Cox, Max Simpson, Bette Wilson Marriott Township Appointed: Barbara K. Brown, Steven L. Mecham, Randy D. Phipps Elected: Gerald Bischoff, Delbert Hodson, Bill Morris Reese Township Appointed: Lynn B. Stevens, William C. Urry, Joe A. Penrod Elected: Jimmie Barrow, Eldon Davis, Barbara Higgs Slaterville Township Appointed: Keith Slater, Carolyn B. Deru, Rob Smout Elected: Keith Butler, Orvil Holley, Kim Slater Warren Township Appointed: Tracy B. Smith, Edward C. England, Boyd Child Elected: Ryan Judkins, Duncan Murray, Glynn Wayment ville with, 'I'll fight you to the death, and I hope you'll enjoy the ride,'" Walker said. Maughan said later Wednesday that he and Walker have disagreed on several issues, but he did not apply for a position on the board to "foster a spirit of contention." "I think that reasonable people can arrive at reasonable solutions," he said. "I would hope that everybody on that board would feel unconstrained to provide any and all input that they may have on all subjects. But I think it's important that we consider the facts, as opposed to rumors or innuendos." Walker said she also hopes the board members will be able to cooperate. "We can feel that we have been discriminated against, which we definitely have been, but that won't keep us from trying to work together," she said. Duncan Murray, an attorney who helped many of the Weber County townships get started and is himself an elected member of the Warren Township board, said he was "pretty happy" with the commission's appointments. "I would have liked to have seen all of the appointments be local residents, but the way the law is drafted the commissioners do have the option," he said. "It's a real political thing." Ritchie said he felt good about the commission's appointments. "If they (East Huntsville) are really interested in their township being a success, it behooves them to cooperate," he said. 62