Salina resident Elaine Bonavita heads up the Right to Vote Committee that aims to allow voters to weigh in November on whether a 270-megawatt electric plant should be built on 299 acres between Interstate 70 and Sigurd.
With the pending law change, Bonavita figures she and a small group of volunteers have just more than a week to gather the necessary 1,177 signatures to get the issue on the ballot.
Under the old law, Bonavita's group would have until the first week of July - 120 days before the general election - to get the job done.
"I taped a television talk show for our local Channel 10 to get the word out," Bonavita said Thursday. Her aim, she says, is not to stop the plant but to give people a chance to vote it up or down.
Jeff Owens, a land-use attorney with Salt Lake City-based Strong and Hanni who represents Bonavita and the Right to Vote committee, said the new law is unclear.
"Do you need to get your petition application . . . or all the signatures in before May 5?" Owens asked Thursday. "There's no direction in the new law itself, and it doesn't say it's retroactive."
Owens hopes to nail down those answers soon.
In the meantime, Bountiful resident Bruce Taylor, co-owner of the proposed $600 million plant, hopes to gain approval for the necessary conditional use permit from Sevier County commissioners.
"We're on the last step of the county approval process," Taylor said of the effort that has consumed seven years and millions of dollars.
Taylor's Bountiful-based company, Nevco Energy, selected the Sevier County site because of its proximity to the SUFCO coal mine.
"We'd be 29 miles away from the source of one of the cleanest burning coals in the United States," Taylor said.
Not everyone shares his excitement. Taylor acknowledged that his company is 2 1/2 years into legal battles with the Sierra Club and the grass-roots Sevier Citizens for Clean Air and Water. He hopes to put those to rest this summer.
"It's been a divisive, emotional issue," said County Clerk Steve Wall, noting that the issue packed several public hearings.
Last week Bonavita sent a letter to the state Attorney General's Office, voicing concerns about what she considers stonewalling by the County Clerk's Office regarding her group's petition.
The Attorney General's Office would not comment Thursday on whether or not it had received Bonavita's letter.
"We do receive matters such as this," said Sheila Page, assistant attorney general who works with the civil review committee. However, until that committee determines if a complaint is appropriate for the attorney general's review, Page said she is not at liberty to talk about it.
"If something is time-sensitive, we make it a higher priority," she added.
Lorraine McConnell, resident of nearby Joseph and wife of Right to Vote committee member Keith McConnell, hopes Bonavita's effort succeeds so she gets a chance to vote against the plant.
"I'm very much against where they want to put it," McConnell said. "The Sevier Valley is long and narrow with mountains on both sides. When the wind blows, it blows everything into the residential areas."
cmckitrick@sltrib.com
The Right to Vote Committee in Sevier County will collect voter signatures at the following locations in an effort to get a proposed power plant on November's ballot:
* Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from
2 to 6 p.m. at Richfield City Park, 300 N. Main, Richfield
* May 2 and May 3 in front of Richfield's Wal-Mart and Linn's grocery store.
