Five months have passed since the repeal of the legislation, which had sanctioned the quick and dirty formation of company towns, robbed county governments of sales tax receipts and allowed developers to pullulate as they pleased. But the residents of newly incorporated Powder Mountain are still suffering the ill effects of that ill-advised law.

The Weber County Commission reluctantly approved the new town last week, essentially the ski resort and nearby homeowners who were roped into the deal. Because the resort filed for incorporation before HB 466 was repealed, commission members were forced to follow the old law and put Powder Mountain on the map.

HB 466 allowed a single landowner or group of landowners to incorporate and nominate a mayor and town council as long as they owned 50 percent of the land and the proposed municipality had more than 99 permanent residents, but not more than 1,000. If those conditions were met, county governments were required by law to rubber-stamp the requests.

But the Weber commission members, when reviewing the resort's proposed list of council members last week, understandably balked at what could be an attempt by the resort to stack Powder Mountain's first town council with resort supporters. The list contained the minimum number of names to fill the council and mayor seats, denying the commission a choice.

Elections won't be held for two years, so the composition of the first council is important. It will lay the foundation upon which the town is built, enacting planning and zoning regulations and putting municipal services in place. So the County Commission is determined to seat a council that represents all residents, not just the resort owners, and is inviting residents to apply directly to the county for a council position.

It may be the last shot fired in a long battle that began in 2002 when the resort announced a massive expansion including hotels and housing, and resisted efforts by Weber and Cache county officials to regulate the development. Then along came HB 466, enabling resort officials to bypass local regulations by incorporating under the now-defunct law.

So circle Aug. 19 on your calendar. That's the day of the showdown in the Weber County Commission's corral, when commission members may choose a council and mayor. The commissioners need to stick to their guns, and give the John and Jane Does of Powder Mountain control of their town.