Weber County Commissioners make a last minute change to Ogden Valley General Plan after all public input was closed.

Guest Post by Lee Schussman

Eden, UT

What a Travesty of the Democratic Process.

Come to meetings! Participate! Make your thoughts and ideas known! Get your fellow Ogden Valley residents involved! Over the past 40 years there have been dozens of occasions on which Weber County Commissioners themselves, Ogden Valley Planning Commission members, and members of the Weber County Planning Office have asked me and many others to PARTICIPATE -- to come to meetings, to work with them, to get others involved, and to make our thoughts known.

We were also told repeatedly by our County Commissioners (notably in 1998 when the first Ogden Valley General Plan was created, again in 2002 when the Ogden Valley Recreation Plan was made, and again for the past three years as the new General Plan has been crafted) that we should communicate our ideas to them, that we should TRUST them, and that we should let them know the directions in which we wanted to channel the inevitable growth of the Ogden Valley.

Well, for the past three years, Ogden Valley residents have done just that – they have PARTICIPATED! Many Ogden Valley residents spent hours in multiple meetings and workshops. 

As you are probably aware, the original “Advisory Group”of Ogden Valley residents worked with the Simpson Bowles consulting company to create the initial version of the plan. You can see those involved citizens listed in the final version of the plan. However, you may not be aware that, since the initial version, at least four revisions were then written.

Kim Wheatley of Huntsville worked tirelessly for hundreds of hours on these multiple revisions. He worked closely with Charlie Ewert, Principal Planner for Weber County Planning Office and with the Ogden Valley Planning Commission. During the last 2 years, Kim also spear-headed and held together a group of interested Valley residents who met regularly and who studied the issues, tried to understand the ramifications of each part of the plan, and wrote and re-wrote the 60 page document many times.

Given the parameters under which the General Plan had to be written, all these individuals labored long and hard to try to meet the needs of ALL of the many stakeholders involved in the development of the Ogden Valley. They deserve our sincere thanks and respect.

They also deserve the support of our three county commissioners. However, instead, at the last Weber County Commissioners’ meeting on August 30, in a few minutes, an important part of that good work was summarily thrown out by two of our commissioners.  In that meeting, after all public input was closed, in an arrogant and audacious manner, a motion to make a last minute change in an important part of the long-debated plan was made and passed. The motion was made by Commissioner Gibson, supported by State Rep Froerer, and voted in by lame-duck Commissioner Bell, while Commissioner Ebert voted against the last-minute change.

That motion re-establishes bonuses for TDR’s. This loop-hole, which Commissioners Gibson and Bell inserted into the General Plan, will allow the potential for further increases in the total density of housing units in the valley—above and beyond the already astronomical numbers of 16,000 housing units and 21,000 residents! Giving bonuses for TDRs sets up the potential for developers to make end-runs around existing caps on Ogden Valley growth.

This decision by two of our county commissioners establishes an important and long-reaching policy, and it was created in such a blatant and arrogant way that I believe it fuels the growing distrust and cynicism regarding our local government. 

So…Participate! Come to meetings! Make your ideas known. Involve your fellow Ogden Valley residents, and even work hard to actually help craft the plan! Then watch as a few politicians make decisions that blatantly contravene and are diametrically opposed to the will of the citizens. 

The residents of the Ogden Valley deserve and need better representation. Perhaps we will never get that representation until and unless we have five county commissioners, one from the Ogden Valley; or until the Ogden Valley breaks from the Weber County government and is incorporated as its own municipality.   

Lee Schussman

Eden, UT

Schussman's letter made it in the Standard Op Ed section, albeit a scaled down version:

Froerer, Gibson and Bell hijacked Ogden Valley General Plan

And the Standard reported on the same story here:

Weber Commission OKs growth plan for Ogden Valley

Public Hearing on the Ogden Valley General Plan

Our apologies for the last minute notice, but the Public hearing on the Ogden Valley General Plan is:

Tuesday, August 30, 2016
Weber County Commission Chambers
10:00 am sharp

After extensive work and input from the Ogden Valley Planning Commission, involved citizens, the Planning Staff, Consultants Logan Simpson Design, and the County Commission, the hearing will be held Tuesday.

Unfortunately, the three person County Commission, none of whom live in Ogden Valley, have changed and softened some of the important areas of the proposed plan.

Attached is a redline version of the Update which shows changes made following the County Commission work sessions on it. It makes it a lot easier to determine what was changed. The highlights are...

• Most of the "wills" were changed to "shoulds"
• The "no bonus density" was changed to a less committed idea that we made need them to make TDR work.
• The "no central sewer" was changed to language encouraging a central sewer and water system.

This is an extremely important event and we urge your attendance and input.

Click Here to view the Redline summary:

Contract reached to resolve high-stakes Ogden Valley water fight

Due to the importance of this issue, we have pasted the entire Cathy McKitrick article below.

EDEN — While it may not be a kumbaya moment, a recent agreement signed bySummit Mountain Holding Group LLC and area water companies signals significant progress in a battle that at times looked impossible to resolve.

The water saga began in 2013 after Summit purchased 10,000 mountainside acres, along with the Powder Mountain ski resort, that straddles Weber and Cache counties. Along with that land purchase came 1,400 acre feet of water in Pineview Reservoir, and Summit hoped to tap 400 acre-feet via its newly-dug mountaintop Hidden Lake well. An acre-foot is the volume of a sheet of water one acre in area and one foot in depth.

In April 2014, Summit applied to the Division of Water Rights for an exchange permit that would allow release of 400 acre-feet out of Pineview Reservoir to compensate water users in the valley for any diminished flows caused by the Hidden Lake well. In late July 2015 — after dueling hydrogeology studies and extensive legal fees — the State Engineer OK’d Summit’s exchange request with several conditions. Since that time, stakeholders have been negotiating an agreement that would satisfy all the parties.

• RELATED: Summit's water ruling could come by August

6639 N Powder Ridge Rd, Eden, UT 84310, USA

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A new 88-page contract among Summit, Wolf Creek Irrigation Company, Bar B Ranch Inc., Eden Water Works Company, Middle Fork Irrigation Company, and Wolf Creek Water and Sewer Improvement District details several actions Summit must take to accommodate residents lower on the mountain. At the peak of animosity, several residents posted “Summit Sucks Water” signs in their yards and pastures to warn tourists of the unhappy relationship.

• RELATED: 'Summit Sucks Water' signs spring up again for balloon festival

Dee Staples, president of the Wolf Creek Irrigation Company, described theagreement as a “laborious, technical document.” While he voiced qualms about Summit’s development plans, Staples acknowledged that the contract terms “were as good as we could have hoped for.”

The four-phased Summit-Eden Powder Mountain project area spans 6,278 acres of property that in 2012 held a taxable value of about $875,062, according to a 2014 Weber County agreement. The finished development could feature up to 1,000 single- and multi-family dwelling units plus 290,000 square feet of commercial space — including hotels, restaurants and lodges, that agreement said.

“I am concerned that so many units have been approved to be built on top of Powder Mountain. I could accept fewer. And I think it is unwise to allow 400 acre-feet of water to be purchased in Pineview Reservoir, which is below our watershed, then to allow that water to be pumped from wells on top of the mountain, which is above our watershed,” Staples said. “I am troubled that a city will be built in the middle of some very sensitive wildlife habitat. These are factors that were approved by other institutions before we started negotiations.”

Given those conditions, Staples said they proceeded to negotiate the best deal they could get.

“The end result is an agreement with which we are satisfied. None of the parties got everything they wanted,” Staples said. “However, we established a pathway going forward which will hopefully allow all parties to maintain established rights and to provide a means by which all parties can achieve success.”

Summit Executive Vice President Paul Strange hailed the collaborative effort that led to the successful dispute resolution.

“Everybody was open to finding a way to live and work together,” Strange said. “We're very pleased, and we're looking forward to building homes as soon as the snow melts.”

Mitigating the Hidden Lake well’s impact on Lefty Spring, a water source that provides significant flow to Wolf Creek, was a key part of the agreement. 

“Any interference would show up there first,” Staples said. “So we extracted an easement from Summit, and they will build a monitoring device at the mouth of the spring so we can access it, measure it and determine if and when interference occurs.”

Summit also agreed to pay Wolf Creek Irrigation Company $85,000 “to make a small dent in our attorney's fees,” Staples said, adding that those funds will be divided among the protesters.

Staples said they divided Summit’s requested 400 acre-feet into two 200 acre-feet segments. And Summit agreed to mitigate interference by purchasing 15 shares in Wolf Creek Irrigation Company and build up to 20-acre-feet of water storage. 

Due to concerns from Eden Water Works and Bar B Ranch, Summit also relinquished at least one diversion point where future wells can be drilled.

“They'll drill another well this summer,” Staples said. “They agreed to then go over to the Cache County side and look for the other 200-acre feet of water. There's a lot more water on the Cache side that will serve their purposes better.”

Contact reporter Cathy McKitrick at 801-625-4214 or cmckitrick@standard.net. Follow her on Twitter at @catmck

North Fork Park Accreditation Celebration Wednesday, 21 October 2015

The Ogden Valley community is invited to join the celebration [this Wednesday, October 21, noon] at Weber State University of North Fork Park's accreditation as the world's 21st International Dark Sky Park (preceding the recent designations of Capitol Reef and Canyonlands National Parks, numbers 22 and 23, respectively; celebration and preservation of dark skies now approach a tipping point in the parks of the America West).  

The event will feature stunning night sky photography and presentations by Weber State University President Charles Wight, Prof. Stacy Palen (Physics), Prof. Jeremy Bryson (Geography), and John Barentine from the International Dark Sky Association in Tucson.  Commissioner Matt Bell, Representative Gage Froerer, and Mayor Brent Taylor of North Ogden City will also speak. Representatives from the many education partners will be on hand, including those from the Ogden Astronomical Society, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Wasatch Audubon Society, HawkWatch, Tracy Aviary, Swanson's North Fork Environmental Center, Ogden Nordic, and Ott Planetarium, among others.  

Please join us. 

Wednesday, October 21

Noon - 1pm

Wildcat Theatre (Shepherd Union, 2nd floor)

Weber State University

[park in Visitor Parking and enter Shepherd Union]

Summit Sucks...Water

Our apologies to our faithful readers as we have had a busy summer of travel and have neglected some important Ogden Valley events and issues.  We will strive in the coming weeks and months to catch up.

There has been much on the Summit Water front.  In mid-August, Mark Saal penned this article in the Standard:

'Summit Sucks Water' signs spring up again for balloon festival

In response, Eden resident and advocate Lee Schussman offered this well thought out rebuttal:

Dear Mr Saal, 

Thank you for reporting on the growing divisiveness in the Ogden Valley over Summit’s water exchange application and the processes surrounding that application. (Ogden Standard, August 16, 2015).

Please dig deeper into this issue. Doing so, I think you will find why valley residents are still concerned, confused, and frustrated by both Summit’s actions and the entire process.

As you well know, Summit owns water in Pineview and wants to move the point of diversion to Powder Mountain—a diversion point that will actually use Cache County water and may decrease flows in Wolf Creek by about 25%.

1) Regarding Summit’s using water that would normally flow to Cache Valley (in which drainage Summit holds NO water rights):

Page 2 of the Order of the State Engineer states that, at Summit’s “anticipated flow rate 30% is a reasonable estimate of the water diverted that would naturally be tributary to the Cache Valley drainage.”

Page 3 states, “It is unlikely that there are and will be any significant periods of time where a diversion of water form the applicant’s proposed source(s) will not interfere with an existing right on the Bear River.”

“Any diversion of water from the applicant’s proposed underground points of diversion must include some compensating mechanism to the Cache Valley tributary drainage. … compensation could include releasing 30% of the water pumped from the Hidden Lake Well to the Cache Valley drainage or pumping at times when all rights on the Bear River and its tributaries downstream of the points of diversion are fully satisfied.” 

These rulings by the State Engineer do not seem to give Summit the green light to use the water as they claim.

 2) Regarding the concerns on the Ogden Valley side of the drainage:

Page 4 of the Order of the State Engineer states, “if interference will occur with any of the Weber County protestants, it will manifest itself first in the flows of Wolf Creek,” and

“no diversion of water should be made under the subject exchange during times of the year when WCIC [Wolf Creek Irrigation Company] water rights are not being fully satisfied. WCIC owns Water Right Number 35-7188 which has a priority date of 1861.”

The Order goes on to describe an incredibly complex process under which Summit could use Wolf Creek water:

“The Ogden River Decree provides [to WCIC] a high flow rate of 20.0 cfs and a low flow rate of 9.85 cfs for this right.”  “No water shall be diverted under this exchange if the above identified flows are not available at that intake.”  However, if WCIC can not show that it puts every gallon of that water to “beneficial use,” Summit can pump an amount equal to that unused water out of its wells at Powder Mountain without being “required to mitigate or compensate senior water right holders for water they divert but allow to pass through their system without use to Pineview.” “The Ogden River Commissioner is responsible to determine the amount of water that may be diverted.”

Many of us do not even know in which branch of our government the Ogden River Commissioner is located, let alone who that individual is. And it appears to us that he/she is the person who will decide how much water Summit may pump! 

And how will the Commissioner decide how much water Summit may pump? We are very unsure, but we do know that all those pumping processes will be monitored by whom?

Page 5 of the application: “The applicant(s) [Summit] shall install and maintain measuring and totalizing recording devices to meter all water diverted from all sources pertaining to this application and shall annually report this data to the Division of Water Rights Water Use Program.”

Summit is actively selling properties to individuals who are being told there are no water problems. (Hence the signs in the valley.) It is our understanding that the State Department of Environmental Quality Division of Drinking Water (which previously requested that Weber County NOT issue Powder Mountain building permits until Summit could supply proof that it actually had the water) can only approve the granting of building permits when YEAR-ROUND water is available. Can Summit then proceed to get building permits now when the State Engineer has put restrictions on the amounts and timing of the pumping at Powder Mountain?

Mr. Paul Strange has oft stated, “We have a right to the water we purchased with our land.”  No one can dispute that statement. However, the water that Summit owns is located in Pineview; and they are trying to leverage their investment in that water to gain immensely more valuable water resources -- pristine water located at Powder Mountain. That water already belongs to other citizens.

With Brad Peterson (Director of Outdoor Recreation for the State of Utah) working hard with Summit and putting pressure on the State Water Engineer; with Commissioner Bell (as the Chair of the Powder Mountain Water District) on record as being able to supply Summit with water; with Summit itself in charge of monitoring water use and reporting once a year; with a separate agency (the Ogden River Commissioner) responsible to tell us how much water Summit can have; with Summit sales reps telling prospective buyers that there are no water problems; with another state agency (Department of Environmental Quality Division of Drinking Water) demanding Summit not be issued building permits for those same Summit buyers; and with all of the water users dependent on the Wolf Creek drainage; is it any wonder that valley residents are concerned, frustrated, divided.

Thank you for your interest in this critical issue. Water is a limited resource. It is our opinion that it should also be A LIMITING resource. Our situation is a microcosm of water rights and water shortages all over the western US where developers continue to speculate that there may be enough water in the face of obvious limitations of that resource. As those processes continue, we will continue to run a “debt economy” –trading a long term water debt borne by all the community for a short term economic gain accruing to the developer--just as other areas and other states in the west have done for so long.  We can do better than that by responsibly developing and using water that IS available—in Pineview--and not giving away underground water, the amount of which is certainly limited and in much debate.

The battle of signs many of us are waging may seem  entertaining and humorous, but it an attempt to call attention to an extremely important issue that should be a core determinant in the growth of this entire area.

Please investigate and write more.

Thank you,

Lee Schussman

Eden, Utah

CC: Cathy McKitrick, Ogden Valley News, Ogden Valley Forum, GEM group. Ron Tymcio, Ogden Standard Editorials

What say ye our Ogden Valley faithful??

From Saturday's Standard: As Summit home construction nears, water worries rise

Due to importance, we have published this Standard Examiner article written 

By CATHY MCKITRICK Standard-Examiner staff

In its entirety.

EDEN — As Summit Mountain Holding Group approaches breaking ground on its first few homes near the top of Powder Mountain, the issue of available water continues to fuel opposition in the upper Ogden Valley and beyond.

“Summit Sucks Water” signs periodically appear and disappear alongside Eden roads and at area events to alert potential Summit investors of local discontent with the resort owner’s actions and plans.

• RELATED: 'Summit Sucks Water' signs spring up again for balloon festival

Eden residents David Carver and Jeff Guthrie attended the Powder Mountain Water and Sewer Improvement District board meeting Tuesday, Aug. 25. All three Weber County commissioners serve on that board, which is chaired by Commissioner Matthew Bell.

“We’re just valley residents that are concerned about where it’s going and what’s happening,” Carver told trustees. “We want to be able to bring up questions that have to be addressed to move forward.”

To that end, Carver launched a Facebook page to share the information gathered through meetings and research. But he also acknowledged having a specific agenda.

“Our main direction is to push toward getting a pipeline in and not using the (Hidden Lake) well,” Carver said. “If you do that, then all our legal fees can go to help fund that pipeline.”

In other words, Carver would prefer a water treatment plant that would treat Pineview Reservoir water and then pipe it up the mountainside, not only for Summit’s multi-phased development but for other residents as the upper Ogden Valley’s population expands.

“We could not agree with you more,” Bell told Carver. “Those discussions are being had and even more, those discussions are going forward ... that’s where the end of the day is going to be.”

Meanwhile, Carver said he and others plan to “keep the signage up,” and move it toward building the pipeline as an alternative to Summit’s current and potential future wells.

“A lot of people think you need to build it clear to the top (of the mountain),” Carver told the board, “but it just needs to go to the bottom of the road” and tie into an existing pipeline. 

The concept of a regional system that would treat Pineview water and pipe it to users up the mountain has been floated for several months and is largely considered to be the only real longterm solution for the Valley’s water woes.

• RELATED: Summit's controversial pump test completed

The water system that will serve Summit’s future development — whether wells or pipelines — all will be owned and governed by the water and sewer district, Bell said.

6639 North Powder Ridge Road, Eden, UT 84310, USA

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Summit, a youthful collective that draws support from investors around the globe, purchased the 10,000-acre mountain in 2013. While it owns the rights to 1,400 acre-feet of Pineview water, the group aimed to put its new mountaintop Hidden Lake Well into operation, pumping 400 acre-feet of pristine water in exchange for release of the same amount of water from Pineview Reservoir.

On July 31 — after more than a year of protests and dueling hydrogeology studies — the state Division of Water Rights gave Summit conditional approval to do just that, but that approval is being further contested by concerned water-right holders in the Ogden Valley and Cache County.

• RELATED: New twist in Ogden Valley water war

With this year’s construction season quickly winding down, Summit has sought approval to tap a limited amount of the Powder Mountain District’s water in order to obtain building permits for construction of a few homes. Some of that water could flow from Wolf Creek Irrigation Company, depending on which agreements get signed by all parties.

Mark Anderson, who serves as the water and sewer district’s attorney, said that a “will-serve” agreement is under consideration to provide Summit with water to service up to six new homes. Recent information from the state Division of Drinking Water, however, might impact the content of that agreement, he added.

The Valley’s pending growth is forcing stakeholders to seek comprehensive solutions that will sustain the area into the future. 

“A pipeline is an element that will be considered,” Anderson said, “but where it will end up, I don’t know. There is a range of possibilities.”

Contact reporter Cathy McKitrick at 801-625-4214 or cmckitrick@standard.net. Follow her on Twitter at @catmck.