The overtures came before a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd of more than 600 people Tuesday - an audience that packed Skyline High School's bleachers from floor to ceiling as Millcreek residents mulled the future of their township.
The community must decide whether to form its own city, annex into a neighboring suburb or stick with Salt Lake County.
That decision - which the Legislature will make when the township law expires in 2010 - will be based largely by a community survey that will be mailed to every property owner in the unincorporated county this spring.
"This is our chance to tell the Legislature what we want," said Jeff Silvestrini, chairman of the Mount Olympus Community Council.
In the meantime, surrounding suburbs are offering their own propositions.
South Salt Lake suggested that a Millcreek annexation into its community was a "real good option" that might result in a happy marriage between the city's hefty commercial and industrial base and the township's population.
"Our primary purpose is to provide any information you request," explained Mayor Robert Gray, whose city approved an annexation plan that encompasses all of Millcreek. "We are behind you 100 percent in whatever decision you make."
Cottonwood Heights and Holladay - both young cities - provided their own testimonials about how the creation of a new city might result in lower taxes, more local control and improved municipal services.
"[Incorporation] gives us a degree of control we didn't have before," said Holladay Councilman Lynn Pace.
That left Salt Lake County trying to woo its 65,000-person township to stick around.
"If you decide to stay with Salt Lake County," County Councilman Randy Horiuchi said, "we will continue to provide you the best possible service . . . at the lowest possible price. We'd like to be re-elected, so that's our promise."
So what of Millcreek's future? That answer will have to wait.
"I want to do whatever we can do," Silvestrini said, "to stay a community in Millcreek Township."
jstettler@sltrib.com
