Some Snyderville Basin residents would rather change Summit County's form of government than incorporate Park City's burgeoning northern neighbor into what would be the county's largest city.

"The basin is a city, not a county. Yet the basin has no government," said Steve Dougherty, a Snyderville Basin resident. "We need a different form of [county] government - and, yes, we have to drag the rest of the county with us. We believe this [five-member council] form of government will provide more representation."

Dougherty is a member of a governance-study committee that recommended replacing Summit County's three-member commission with a part-time five-member council and full-time appointed executive.

Although the proposal provides only at-large council seats, the fast-growing Snyderville Basin electorate could, theoretically, choose all five.

The County Commission, with a vote scheduled Wednesday , is poised to put the issue before voters this November.

But if what Snyderville Basin denizens really want is their own government, why not just incorporate, asked Oakley resident Clayton Page, who fears the proposed change would add a layer of bureaucracy to county government.

"Instead of incorporating, they want the rest of the county to change," he said.

Commissioner Bob Richer, also a Snyderville Basin resident, explained that Western Summit County residents have resisted incorporation for two main reasons:

* State law would prevent an incorporated Snyderville from including retail-rich Kimball Junction, which functions as the county's chief economic engine. The resulting bedroom community would have little tax base.

* Residents in the basin's 84098 ZIP code carry Park City addresses, as deemed by the U.S. Postal Service. And western Summit County residents like to say they live in Park City - even though, technically, they do not - rather than some obscure place called Snyderville. The Park City moniker, some believe, carries more cachet and bolsters property values.

Commissioner Ken Woolstenhulme took issue with Dougherty's appraisal that west county residents suffer under the current form of government.

"There is not a jurisdiction in Summit County that is better served than the Snyderville Basin," he said.

Woolstenhulme, an Oakley Democrat who is against the proposed government shift, is running unopposed for re-election this year. Like the proposed council form, commissioners are elected at-large. Woolstenhulme said he doesn't understand why no one from Snyderville Basin filed for his seat if residents there feel under-represented.

The proposed change also makes little sense to Rob Weyher, chairman of the Summit County Democratic Party. After all, he argues, dumping the commission would keep intact other county elective offices - auditor, assessor, attorney, clerk, recorder, sheriff and treasurer - leaving little for an appointed county manager to manage.

"It's ridiculous. It's a sham," he said. "If it goes on the ballot, I will work day and night to oppose it."

But Eric Easterly, the study committee's chairman, said a professional manager would coordinate various aspects of the complex county government.

"We ultimately determined that the administration of county government would be significantly improved."

csmart@sltrib.com

The Summit County Commission is scheduled to vote Wednesday at 3 p.m. at the County Courthouse in Coalville on a proposal to let voters decide in November whether to replace the three-member commission with a five-member council and an appointed executive. Other counties that switched to council forms of government include Cache, Grand, Morgan, Salt Lake and Wasatch.