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- Boosters of Utah's newest city are hosting a series of meetings to drum up interest in leading the locale.
- Candidates interested in serving as mayor of the Ogden Valley city or on the city council must file their candidacies from June 2-6.
- The informational meetings are scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday and Monday, May 19.
EDEN, Weber County — To run a city, you need leadership, and finding would-be leaders to manage the new locale taking shape in the Ogden Valley is the focus of a series of public meetings this week and next week.
The Weber County city will be the newest in Utah when it formally takes shape in January 2026, but the mayor and five city council members who will lead it have yet to be selected. Informational meetings on Tuesday, May 13; Wednesday, May 14; and Monday, May 19, will provide details about the incorporation process and drum up interest among Ogden Valley residents in running for office. Incorporation boosters are organizing the meetings.
"We're about six months away from having an organized city council, but there's a lot of interest," said Mark Ferrin, one of the sponsors of the initiative that led to the successful vote to incorporate last year. The hopefuls for the six elected spots must officially file their candidacies from June 2-6, and voters will make their selections in elections later this year.
There's so much interest, Ferrin said, that some races could feature as many as 10 candidates. Each of the five districts has at least two would-be candidates who have expressed interest in running, and Ferrin cited distaste for the leadership of Weber County commissioners. The three elected commissioners have managed the picturesque Ogden Valley area, focus of increasing development pressures, and will continue to do so until formal incorporation.
The backlash against the commissioners "motivated the effort to say, 'Hey, we can do our own zoning. We're not dumb, and we'd like to be able to have a town that we can live in,'" Ferrin said. Voters overwhelmingly approved incorporation by a 67.9%-32.1% split in last year's ballot question.
Ferrin also cited, with dismay, efforts driven by private developers to create their own communities in nearby Morgan County — the 12,000-acre Wasatch Peaks Ranch project and the 2,317-acre Nine Springs Mountain Resort proposal. The Wasatch Peaks project generated strong opposition from some in Morgan County, though the sides resolved their differences last year, while the Nine Springs plans are still in the planning stages.
Ogden Valley residents "need to actually put our own necks on the line and step up," thus making sure public interests get a say amid development pressures, he said. "I'm delighted with the way it's going."
Here are details of the coming informational meetings spearheaded by boosters of the incorporation process:
- A web conference on Zoom is scheduled for Tuesday from 6:30-7:30 p.m. Those involved in the transition to a city will offer an update on the process.
- An in-person meeting is set for Wednesday, starting at 7 p.m., at Huntsville Town Hall, 7474 E. 200 South. It's geared to those interested in running for the District 4 and District 5 spots on the city council.
- An in-person meeting is set for May 19, starting at 7 p.m., at Mountain Luxury Lodge, 3632. N. Wolf Creek Drive in Eden. It's geared to those interested in running for the District 1, District 2 and District 3 city council seats.
The new city will cover 63.3 square miles — more than 40,000 acres — and become the second-largest incorporated locale geographically in Weber County behind Hooper, which covers 88 square miles. The Ogden Valley area — to be formally named when the new leaders take office next year — is home to some 7,500 people.
Ogden Valley resident Laura Warburton publicly opposed incorporation, speaking out in the lead-up to voting on the issue last year. She's still keeping tabs on the process, but is now focused on ensuring Ogden Valley residents understand the process via a Facebook page she created.
"I'm not opposing anything at this point, and I'm not endorsing anybody at this point. I'm teaching. I want to help people understand their own power so they can make educated decisions and votes," she said.
While boosters promoted incorporation as a means of assuring local control amid increasing development pressures, Warburton has expressed concern that becoming a city could lead to higher taxes, among other things.
Primary voting, if needed, is set for Aug. 12 and the general election will be held Nov. 4.
