Most feel good about city merger Marriott residents gather to study proposed finances of new city By CHARLES F. TRENTELMAN Standard-Examiner staff MARRIOTT - A day before they filed to become a city, more than 40 Marriott residents crowded the Weber Farm Bureau building's basement Thursday night to ponder what they were about to do. A lot had questions, but only a few raised doubts that it was the right thing. Marriott and Slaterville are two townships west of Ogden that are considering joining together and forming a city so Residents look to delay vote Irregularities claimed in Marriott-Slaterville proposed city petition By CHARLES F. TRENTELMAN Standard-Examiner staff OGDEN - Two residents of the proposed city of Marriott-Slaterville claimed Thursday that there may have been irregularities in how petitions to form a city were circulated. They said the incorporation vote should be delayed to allow more public debate on the question. Bryan Thiriot told the Weber County Commission he had heard that some of the petitions were circulated among women at a meeting of the local LDS Church Relief Society. "They might not have known what they were signing," he said. "For all they know they were signing something sup-porting the mission." Gerald Bischoff said people of the two towns just don't understand that forming a city will raise taxes and increase government regulations. The commissioners scheduled the election for Aug. 4 anyway. they can exercise local control over the planning and zoning within their borders. Their petition calling for a vote to become a city was filed this morning with the Weber County Clerk/Auditor. Thursday's public hearing was to give Marriott residents a chance to study the proposed finances of the new city. A similar hearing was held last week in Slaterville. If residents owning one third of the land in Marriott and Slaterville have signed petitions, a special election will be held in August to let residents of both towns decide if the city will be created. If it passes, city officers will be elected in November and take office next January. Hearings have also been held in Warren and Reese, but the committee there is not expected to file for incorporation for at least a year. At the Marriott meeting Thursday the only speaker opposed to the idea was Gerald Bischoff. He distributed fliers saying the proposed Marriott-Slaterville City would have to raise taxes and would face serious debt if the economy slowed down. He also questioned how much control the city would really have since it would be subject to federal and state regulations. Several people said they were afraid that Marriott, with a pop- May 19, 1998 June 19, 1998 Commissioner Joe Ritchie said the petitions calling for the vote had been certified as legal and proper by the county clerk, so state law left the commissioners no choice. Marriott and Slaterville are two townships west of Ogden and south of Plain City. Some residents there are trying to incorporate, saying becoming a city is the only way to prevent the two townships from being annexed into neighboring cities. Petitions calling for an incorporation election were signed by owners of two thirds of all the property in the two townships and one third of all the property value. The Weber County Clerk/Auditor certified them last week. The Aug. 4 election will decide whether to form a city and what form of government it will have. The proposal must win by a majority of the residents of the combined townships. Thiriot said that in addition to problems with the petitions he felt there hadn't been enough public debate. There was not enough public notice, he said, and too few people attended the public hearings that he said were run by the supporters of incorporation. "Opponents were not given due time," he said. "The power structure in which the meetings were held totally withheld the opponents." ulation of only 500, would lose control to Slaterville, which has about 1,000 residents. Steve Mecham, a Marriott resident and a member of the committee pushing for incorporation, said the two towns share concerns. "Yes we will be giving up some decision making to Slaterville," he said, "But that's because they want the same things we do." He said he toured Defense Depot Ogden recently and was told of the plans for 400 West, west of the depot, that are included in the former military base's conversion to private use. They include making the road five lanes wide so it can be a direct route to the Interstate 15, he said, and will include fast food restaurants and other commercial development. "They want it. If we don't incorporate, they will have it," he said. "Anybody who tells you they won't has got his head in the sand." Bischoff told the commissioners he did not think there had been enough publicity for the negative side of forming a city. Becoming a city will mean higher taxes and more government, he said. "I just can't see why we're going to get ourselves into a cocoon of local regulation." The attorney for the incorporation supporters, Duncan Murray, told the commissioners that as far as he knew all the petitions had been signed by people to whom the proposal had been clearly explained. 114