Weber County Commissioner Jan Zogmaister confirmed during a phone interview on March 22 that the county is considering floating a $17 million bond to help pay for infrastructure—water and roads—for the Summit Group’s proposed development at Powder Mountain. In the interview, Zogmaister confirmed that Summit and the county have been discussing the matter for several months now, and are working on the details for the bond, such as how the bond would be repaid if Summit defaulted on payments, which Summit say they will make to cover the cost of the bond. Zogmaister said the county and Summit are close to completing the details of an agreement, and, in a closed meeting planned for later in the day (at 1:30 p.m., March 22), the two groups and their attorneys (Weber County and Summit’s) were meeting. When asked if members of the public could attend, she stated “no, it wasn’t for the public.” When asked if, legally, the public could be kept from attending, she stated she didn’t know.
At the Weber County Commissioner’s meeting on Tuesday, March 26, Zogmaister said that passage of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) regarding issue would be on their agenda. The meeting begins at 10:00 a.m. in the Commission Chambers in Ogden.
Update March 24, 2013 @ 8am:When Zogmaister was asked about input from the community—Weber County tax payers—regarding the Commissioner’s decision to carry the public debt for a private developer,Zogmaister explained that there are many types of bonds, and, in this case, the county can take on the bond debt without a public hearing or public input on the issue.
The county is also working on the details of carrying a bond for the Weber County Library system for updates and renovations. For the library bonds, the county has to go through the public hearing process.
Weber County taxpayers can express their approval or concern and disapproval at such county action by contacting the Commissioners at 801-399-8402.
Our friends at the Weber County Forum provide more insight and the legalities behind the proposed secret Welfare bond here:
