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No Comments [ Add Comment ]State legislators take a tour of Davis County
By Loretta ParkNORTH SAL
T LAKE -- Two buses of legislators loaded with water bottles, boxed breakfasts, notebooks and tons of questions descended on Davis County on Wednesday.
"I think the reaction has been very, very positive to the big causes of Davis County," said Rep. Curt Oda, R-Clearfield.
County officials invited the lawmakers to begin their two-day tour by learning what the state's smallest county, geographically, has to offer and about the problems it faces. The tour included the Chevron refinery, Legacy Parkway, Davis Applied Technology College, Weber State University Davis campus, Hill Air Force Base and the ATK facility at Freeport Center in Clearfield.
Legislators will tour Salt Lake County today at a cost of more than $100,000. Most of those funds came from private donations to the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce.
The Davis County Chamber of Commerce spent almost $15,000 for its event, which began at 7 a.m. and ended with a hoedown at Antelope Island on Wednesday evening, said Barbara Riddle, president and CEO of the Davis Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.
First stop was a block away from the Chevron refinery in North Salt Lake, where six legislators, including Oda, removed their concealed handguns and put them in a truck that was following them.
"The refinery has homeland security," said John Pitt, the president of Davis Chamber of Commerce. Legislators did see firsthand the morning commute bottleneck on Interstate 15.
Once the two buses passed security at the oil refinery, Chevron officials boarded the buses and pointed out the various plants. They also explained that, in order to address environmental concerns, they will spend millions of dollars in the next few years to upgrade the refinery.
Rep. Sheryl Allen, R-Bountiful, told legislators that Chevron is one of the better business partners Davis School District has.
"They set the standard for other corporations," Allen said.
Rep. Kerry Gibson, R-West Weber, asked why Utah is not extracting oil from shale.
Mike Error, manager of business development and facility planning, said the technology has not been developed enough to remove the oil from the rock economically.
Next on the tour was a long drive down Legacy Parkway, beginning at the south interchange that will hook up to Interstate 215. The buses bumped down the dirt road, which turned into asphalt, then into dirt again.
Carlos Braceras, deputy director of Utah Department of Transportation, handed out binders with facts about Legacy.
Legislators learned UDOT couldn't place the road exactly where it wanted to but had to work with 200 property owners, as well as cities, such as Bountiful. Bountiful officials wanted access to their landfill and pond, which are on the west side of the parkway. A frontage road is being built for access. They also learned that there were no houses on the east side of the parkway five years ago, but now there are many.
Construction workers could be seen working on a bridge, and Braceras told legislators it is not uncommon for workers to begin their day pouring concrete at 1 a.m. and work until 6 or 7 p.m.
More than 1,000 workers, mostly from Utah, have worked on the parkway since it was started, he said.
"It's a lot more complicated than I thought," said Sen. Pat Jones, D-Salt Lake.
Sen. Greg Bell, R-Fruit Heights, asked when north Legacy Parkway will be started.
"We have to find a way that is agreeable to everyone," Braceras said. "It's best to say, we have a lot of work to do."
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