Camille Cain, a Weber County commissioner and president of the Utah Association of Counties, said topics that were discussed at the Dixie Center included health care, tourism, land issues and the use of jails to house state inmates.

“Our agenda has to do with various focal points,” she said. “We always have the same topics.”

Cain said funds raised from the transient room tax rate that is set by elected county officials are managed by the state which determines how it can be spent. The county's role has to be respected, she said, and not seen as a juicy $55 million pot that can be diverted to other projects.

Many counties rely on the tax for bond payments to cover improvements, such as Weber County refurbishing the Egyptian Theatre and Conference Center in Ogden. Legislators need to be reminded of the importance of the revenue to counties, Cain said

The Legislature, she said, cannot put too much burden on counties for housing inmates for the state.

“Providing for these people [inmates] may affect budgets,” she said.

San Juan County Commissioner Lynn H. Stevens, who also is director of the governor's Public Lands Policy Coordination Office, said that the Legislature needs to be aware of infrastructure needs, such as roads, that are necessary for future energy development. These projects must be paid for by the companies doing the work and not solely by the county.

In the morning, officials heard from Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., who declared that Utah needs to be a place of dreams - not memories.

He said nature has been good to the state as far as water is concerned, but officials need to continue to nurture a conservation ethic for the future.

“Let's not ruin what we have by random, reckless use,” Huntsman said. “There's probably another drought coming.”

And he gave attendees a history lesson.

Up to the mid-19th century, Huntsman said, the "nation state" was the most prominent force for change.

Then, beginning about 1865 with the advent of the steam engine, laying of telegraph cables between Europe and the United States, and construction of the Suez Canal, the nation-state scenario was followed by corporations and technological advances.

“But since 2000 to now, it is not the nation state or corporations - but the individual,” he said.

Huntsman also touched on tourism, saying that people who romanticize about the West need to know about Utah or they will go to Nevada and Colorado.

He said he wants to see the 1.7 million tourists a year jump to 22 million.

“We need to do more,” he said. “It's a big engine for growth.”

mhavnes@sltrib.com