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HIGHLAND, Utah (AP) -- The city of Highland in Utah County has gotten rid of its $5,000-a-month lobbyist.
Some city council members asked to review the contract and discontinue it as soon as possible, said Highland Mayor Lynn Ritchie.
"The reasoning was driven by cost," Ritchie said. "It was a bit of a high cost."
The city hired a lobbyist about a year ago to push for funding for an $8 million visitors center and administrative building near the mouth of American Fork Canyon, even though the city wouldn't own or use the center.
Some elected officials defended the decision, saying the city benefited from tourism in the canyon and could become a gateway, similar to Springdale's role outside Zion National Park.
But Ritchie and two new councilmen, Scott Smith and Tom Butler, ran campaigns promoting fiscal conservatism, saying Highland was spending too much.
"With the economic climate the way it is, we are reviewing all the time where we can reduce costs," Ritchie said.
Ritchie said recently that some council members also wanted to end the lobbyist contract because they "felt they had accomplished most of what we were really trying to do," specifically moving the Timpanogos Cave National Monument visitors center toward the design stage in preparation for future construction.
"(The lobbyist) helped us do that," Ritchie said. The project has received $1.6 million from Congress, which cave officials have said will finish the design work, though it isn't enough to start construction.
Cave Superintendent Denis Davis has said Congress' initial funding of the building likely means that over time it will finish funding the project.
The building would include administrative offices and visitor services.
Highland is about 30 miles south of Salt Lake City.
------ Information from: The Daily Herald
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
