Councilman Bart Smith did not immediately respond to the allegations of Mountain Green resident Brad Hall, whose home in a subdivision developed by Smith has been damaged by a landslide.

At one point during Hall's statement at a County Council meeting, Smith laughed at the suggestion he is related to a landowner in a project that he voted to preliminarily approve.

A message left at Smith's home Tuesday night was not returned.

Council chairman M. Reed Wilde was surprised by Hall's list of alleged violations, and called Hall's statement “abrasive and abusive.”

Bruce Sanders, another council member, said “I don't recall a time when he [Smith] has been involved when there was a conflict.”

Hall was on the council's agenda to ask for a change in the county's conflict-of-interest rules.

But he also asked the council to suspend and investigate Smith to determine whether he should be dismissed from office or prosecuted.

Hall gave three instances that he says constitute violations of county and state ethics codes.

Last summer, he said, Smith participated in discussions about the Whisper Rock subdivision and voted to re-zone the property for the project. After the vote, Smith disclosed that his family would supply water to the property and had sold the developer some of the land, Hall said. Smith did abstain from voting on the conceptual plan, he said.

Last month, Hall alleged, Smith voted to give preliminary approval to a Gardner Development project called Rollins Ranch, even though the project is on land owned in part by Patricia Jones and the Kent Smith family. Kent Smith is Bart Smith's brother; Hall did not detail Jones' relationship to Bart Smith, but said she is a relative.

Hall also claimed it was a conflict of interest last summer when Smith voted to have the county's planning staff obtain bids and services to help resolve the geological issues in the Highlands West subdivision, where Hall lives and which Smith developed.

A landslide in that subdivision has destroyed one home and threatens two others - including Hall's - as well as a county road, water and electrical lines and a sidewalk.

Hall also accused Smith of violating state laws pertaining to receiving gifts and offering or receiving bribes.

That allegation stems from a meeting between Smith, home builder Brett Simonsen and at least one member of the Gardner Development team, Hall said.

At that meeting, Hall said, a proposal was made to have the County Council approve extra lots in the Cottonwoods housing development that the developer would give to residents whose homes in Highlands West subdivision are now threatened by the landslide.

“It comprises a significant conflict of interest, since it gives a huge incentive to member Smith to vote for the Cottonwoods development in order to eliminate or minimize future lawsuits regarding Highlands West,” Hall said.

Developer Rulon Gardner declined to comment Tuesday night, other than to say, “The facts are so incorrect.”

The council refused to formally take any action on Hall's request that Smith be suspended.

Morgan County Attorney Jann Farris said he will investigate the allegations and possibly coordinate his probe with another requested of the Utah Attorney General's office.