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Election slated on the East Side

Patrick Parkinson, Of the Record staff

City councils in Coalville, Kamas, Oakley, Francis and Henefer could have new faces in January. But Coalville Mayor Duane Schmidt is nervous that candidates campaigning in his city are too apathetic to serve burgeoning North Summit.

"I’m surprised at the lack of effort put behind campaigning. That makes me worry. Is it going to be the same as far as their job on the City Council?" Schmidt asked in a telephone interview Thursday.

Coalville candidates have "failed to get their messages across," he said.

The six people running for three seats on the Coalville City Council are incumbent Councilmen Brent Scholes and Steven Richins, Kelly Ovard, Tyson Collins, Trisha Beames and Karen Brostrom.

— Incumbent Richins said controlling growth will be the most important duty the new City Council will face.

— Beames is a property management consultant who touted her experience working with various government boards.

— Brostrom is a former Coalville Planning Commission member who works at the Summit County Community Development Department. She said she will help the city get its share of Summit County’s tax pie.

— Ovard is from Henefer and is employed by Summit County Public Works. He wants economic development and to beautify Main Street.

— Scholes has served a two-year term on the City Council and said it is too late to preserve much history downtown. He would vote to charge developers impact fees for new growth.

— Collins is a political newcomer who supports fees for new developers who impact roads, the water and sewer systems.

The City Council could decide if developer Ian Cumming builds 300 homes in Coalville, Schmidt explained. Situated halfway between Salt Lake City and Ogden, Coalville is becoming a Wasatch Front bedroom community that "is on the brink of something good or something bad," he said.

Kamas: builders at the gate

Voters in Kamas will replace retiring City Councilman Emmitt McNeal. Incumbents Kevan Todd and Dan Littledike are seeking additional terms. The sitting councilmen will vie Election Day with political newcomers Rod Atkinson, Jeff Zenger, A. Jason Barto, and former Kamas City Councilman Rex Mitchell.

— Atkinson said he has lived in Kamas his entire life. If elected, he would work to improve the sewer and water systems.

— Barto said he is running simultaneous campaigns for a City Council seat and the mayoral post. He said he hopes to replace Kamas Mayor Lewis Marchant in 2009. Elected officials in Kamas should be more accountable to voters, Barto said.

— Todd, who has served one term on the City Council, said that the current board works well together. Helping to plan a business park near State Road 248 is one of his top priorities.

— Incumbent Littledike has served six years on the board and said his experience on the City Council is valuable.

— Mitchell strongly supports more economic development for Kamas.

— Zenger said he will work to prevent Kamas from becoming too gentrified.

The High Star Ranch subdivision will be annexed into Kamas causing the population of roughly 1,500 to grow. Guiding development there and at a commercial area near State Road 248 means carefully considering impacts the growth could have on infrastructure.

Oakley: two Woolstenhulmes on the ballot

In nearby Oakley, the population has ballooned to nearly 1,300 and six people are running for three seats on the Oakley City Council.

They are incumbent Oakley City Councilmen DelRay Hatch and Ron Bowen, and challengers Lorrie Hoggan, Wade Woolstenhulme, Eric Rose and Paul Woolstenhulme.

— Incumbent Hatch, who has served several terms on the board, has governed Oakley in tremendous growth spurts.

— Bowen is serving his first term on the board and is employed by Oakley’s maintenance department.

— Paul Woolstenhulme is a former Oakley mayor who resigned his post to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

— Wade Woolstenhulme is the former mayor’s nephew who has never served on the board. Woolstenhulme is the principal at South Summit Middle School.

— Lorrie Hoggan is an Oakley native who is a political newcomer. She said converting the former rodeo grounds into a commercial center is her top priority. She would also like to slate more events at the new recreation complex.

— Eric Rose is an electrician who has worked at the recreation complex and Oakley’s sewer system. Building a secondary water system in the city is critical, he said.

Francis: a contentious campaign

Vying for two four-year seats on the Francis Town Council are incumbent Councilman Greg Averett, Sherri Eiting, Richard Palmer and R. Lee Snelgrove. Tim Butikofer and Joe Eiting are campaigning for a two-year term on the board.

"We’re really a bull’s-eye for developers," Francis Mayor John Bergen said when discussing the election’s importance. "We’re just going to have to deal with the growth."

But a referendum in Francis will also ask voters to decide whether a portion of Hill Top Road near State Road 32 is abandoned.

Also, voters in North Summit will decide whether to increase the ability of the North Summit Fire District to raise property tax while South Summit voters elect people to serve on the governing board of the South Summit Fire District.


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