“This bill causes us great concern as well as others (26 Scenic Byways in the state) who have Scenic Byways,” said Kaysville Mayor Neka Roundy. “This bill affects official oversight. It says the state takes control of the Scenic Byway instead of local officials. One of the problems is they could decide that an area is nonscenic and allow outdoor advertising along the Scenic Byway.”
Roundy added that if signs were allowed, the parkway would lose its status which would be detrimental to tourism in Davis County.
“If we are able to get national designation it will open the way up to receive grants,” she said.
“You’ll all be pleased to know that we are asking for restrooms along our Byway (with the grant money). It would bring in significant tourism for us.”
But some of the committee members expressed concern about whether it was right to vote against a Chamber member and business owner whose business would benefit by the revenue generated by signs along the parkway.
“Dewey Reagan thinks we are targeting his business by not supporting this bill,” said committee member Todd Weiler. “I think we need to ask for a presentation from him before we take a position.”
Other committee members agreed that it did seem like they were “talking out of both sides of our mouth” with this issue.
But County Commissioner Louenda Downs expressed concern over the impact such a bill would have. “This would negate everything we’ve worked for,” she said. “It’s the quality of life we offer here that brings people in.”
Both Roundy and Downs reminded the group that this bill would affect more than just Davis County, it could change the status of Scenic Byways statewide.
Roundy said Rep. Roger Barrus had arranged for the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Christopher Herrod, R-Provo, to speak at Thursday’s weekly meeting with the legislators. However, the committee asked Roundy to postpone Herrod’s presentation until both sides of the argument could be heard and the committee could take a vote. The bill will take monitoring status until then.
Other bills discussed included HB215 which supports an area code split rather than an overlay as proposed by Qwest. “We would like to encourage the overlay so that businesses would not have to incur additional costs by having to change their numbers (on ads etc.),” said Committee Chair Eric Isom who also works for Qwest.
“If the bill passes it would mandate a split, with Salt Lake County using the 801 area code and Davis County using the new 385. It is more business friendly to use the overlay but the challenge is the 10-digit dialing.”
Davis District Assistant Superintendent Bruce Williams also asked the committee to support education by asking the Legislature not to cut too deeply in the 2010 budget.
“It’s not an issue of whether there will be cuts — there will be,” he said. “Our plea today is as you talk to the Legislature, that you will ask them to minimize (cuts) where possible so there will be less impact on the kids of our state.”
bginos@davisclipper.com
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