Community Council of Midvale City elects officers, seeking new members

The Community Council of Midvale City elected new officers on December 7, 2011.

Candy Tippets was unanimously elected to be the council’s Chair for the next year. Shane Liedtke will be her 1st Vice Chair. Roger Robinson and Bruce Boggess are staying in their positions- 2nd Vice Chair and Treasurer, respectively. Daisy Jones was elected to take over the position of Secretary from Marlo Menlove, who stepped down for health reasons.

Marilyn Wouden, the outgoing Chair, has been an officer for the council many times, first for the Union Community Council and now for the Community Council of Midvale City. She decided to step aside this year “because the council needs fresh voices,” she said.

Liedtke is one of the newest members of the council. “I remember growing up in the county and feeling dissociated from the government. Moving into Midvale, it feels like such a small community,” he said. “It’s easy to be involved and it’s been fun to get to know more of the city- the departments, the mayor, the city council, and the residents.”

Until last year, Midvale had two community councils- the Midvale Community Council and the Union Community Council.  The area covering the Union council was annexed into Midvale in 1998, but the councils stayed separate until 2011. When it became clear that one council was more active than the other, the city decided to merge the two councils. Unfortunately, none of the members of the Midvale Community Council decided to join the combined council.

One goal for the council is to get more people involved and to fill more seats in those districts. Currently, the council has 12 members. The city is broken up into 14 districts and only seven districts are represented at this time. Up to three residents can represent each district, for a total of 42 members.

The purpose of the council is to provide residents with the opportunity to hear proposed land use changes, zoning, and development issues before they appear on the Midvale City Council agenda. “Our role is to be an avenue for the city to get information out to the residents of Midvale and to bring input from resident back to the city,” Liedtke said.

Council members also get reports on crime from Officer DJ and reports on the city from Mayor JoAnn Seghini and City Manager Kane Loader. The council meets on the first Wednesday of every month at 7 p.m. in the Midvale City Council chambers, 655 West Center Street.