New city has nothing yet to govern By CHARLES F. TRENTELMAN_ Standard-Examiner staff MARRIOTT-SLATERVILLE Utah's newest city has a crew of city officials, but no laws for them to enforce, no fire or police stations for them to man and no place for the city council to call home. All that will come, said Mayor-elect Keith Butler, who is leading the effort to put the new city of 1,200 together before a July 1 deadline. Marriott-Slaterville was approved by voters in November when the residents decided that incorporating the two townships north and west of Ogden was the only way to prevent encroachment into the mostly rural area from Ogden City. Even before incorporation, the city had already come to the notice of the Utah Legislature, which used it as an example of the kind of rural area that can be preserved under the Quality Growth Act. Marriott-Slaterville is three-quarters rural, and Butler said the citizens like it that way. It will be a long time before the new city has any money to actually use the Quality Growth Act, which he said calls for matching funds from the city and state to buy land development rights. Butler said Marriott-Slaterville has no money yet, and only a vague idea of how much it will eventually get. Even if he had the money, Butler said, he has more pressing concerns than protecting farmland: Who will take care of the city's roads, do its planning, run its parks and other basic services? The mayor and council haven't been sworn in yet, but they are still meeting on the first and third Thursdays of each month to set up the city. But all their decisions, including the city's first budget, will not be approved until after officials are sworn in. Something the city needs to find soon is a place to conduct official business. The council-elect is meeting at the Weber Fire District's Station No. 1, near the Weber Industrial Park. It's not even in the new city, but it's free. Butler said some progress has been made. "We've got our planning commission together, our board of adjustments," he said. "We've got a director of recreation and parks. Transportation and public safety? We've got a guy assigned to that too." All are volunteer, he said. The only paid employees he anticipates the city having are the attorney, recorder and treasurer. The treasurer hasn't been selected yet, but the others have. Nobody, he stressed, is getting paid anything yet. He doesn't expect the state to send his city any sales tax revenues until October, at the earliest. Butler said the city is working to set up contracts with Weber County to provide police protection and road maintenance. The city will have no road crews or police of its own. The council is studying ordinances of nearby cities as a guide to writing their own. So far, none have been adopted. Butler said the biggest positive out of the whole process so far has been the cooperation of citizens. "I've talked to 23 people to volunteer so far and everyone I've asked to take a responsibility has accepted it, and that's commendable," he said. You can reach reporter Charles Trentelman at 625-4232, or e-mail him at ctrentel-man@standard.net. 203