Davis leaders prepare wish list

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KAYSVILLE -- Davis business and government leaders are checking their wish list and marking it twice preparing for the upcoming legislative session.

The Davis Chamber of Commerce's legislative committee has been meeting once a month since the last session ended and will go into high gear in January. Economic development tops the list, said John Pitt, president of the Davis chamber.

"We're lobbying for business-friendly legislation," he said.

The chamber wants to see bills passed to support jobs that can sustain families in Davis County.

Transportation is another top issue and will help businesses come into the county, Pitt said.

"As the traffic flows, so flows the economy in a lot of ways," he said.

That was one reason the chamber supported Opinion Question No. 1 on the November ballot, Pitt said.

The question, defeated in the general election, would have added a quarter-cent on the sales tax.

Funds generated from that tax would have been used for corridor preservation. Another concern businesses have when thinking about locating here is water, energy and natural resources, Pitt said.

"When new businesses start looking at coming into the area, one of the first things they ask is if there is a water supply for them now and in the future to expand," said Tage Flint, general manager for Weber Basin Water Conservancy District.

He said legislators passed a bill that would allow development on the Bear River and Green River but water districts are first looking at ways to conserve water and convert water shares.

"The cost of these large projects is so high that it is best to optimize the current supplies," Flint said.

Those projects will not start unless they prove to be necessary, and even then the earliest would be 2020, he said.

One way of bringing in a new water supply is converting agriculture water shares into urban water shares, Flint said.

That happens when a 40-acre farm is developed into homes and roads.

Because the water shares are privately owned, it is possible for the property owner to sell those water shares to someone else, he said. Five cities -- Kaysville, Clinton, Syracuse, West Point and Layton -- have passed ordinances requiring water shares that go with the land to go with the city.

Businesses are also concerned with health care, Pitt said.

The chamber is looking for ways to provide affordable health care to small and large businesses that want to come to Utah. Last, but not least on the list, is making sure the partnership the surrounding communities and the chamber have with Hill Air Force Base remains strong, because the base is the largest employer in the state, he said.

So far Hill Air Force Base has not been greatly affected by the Base Realignment and Closure, "but it's not a done deal," Pitt said. "It can come up again and again."

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