The WACOG, composed of Weber County commissioners, mayors and city council members of various communities, made no promises at its Monday meeting.

But the group did get a glimpse of how contentious the proposed transit project, suggested by a 2005 feasibility study, has become in Ogden.

Mayor Matthew Godfrey blasted the proposal to build a streetcar or BRT from the downtown transit center - and FrontRunner commuter rail - east along 26th Street to Harrison Boulevard as "fatally flawed" and no longer an option.

"It's out. There is no way to pay for it," said Godfrey. "Why would you pay for a study if there is no way to pay for it?"

Godfrey has never liked the results of a 2005 feasibility study that identified 26th Street as the best corridor for the east-west stretch and narrowed the top transit alternatives to streetcars and BRT.

Instead, the mayor advocated an urban gondola that would use 23rd Street for its east-west corridor, both a method and route the study concluded were less desirable.

The possibility of a gondola is not dead, although Godfrey last summer pulled off the table a sale of the Mount Ogden Golf Course, which would have paid for the gondola.

On Monday, Godfrey said he and the City Council plan to meet May 15 to discuss transit options. "Ogden City needs a plan where the administration and council are on the same page," he said.

Godfrey assured other members of COG that he's not opposed to transit between downtown and the university. "I believe other corridors and methods need to be studied."

Chris Bentley, legislative vice president of the Weber State University Student Association, said Ogden has missed a chance by failing to move on its 2005 feasibility study, funded jointly by the city, WSU and the Utah Transit Authority.

Bentley said a transit system beyond the existing UTA buses would be a boon to students and faculty who travel to campus, and to the county's economy. "It's actually a regional issue, not just an Ogden City issue."

kmoulton@sltrib.com