It’s been a time of reshuffling on the Tooele County Planning Commission. Two new members were appointed to the seven-member commission earlier this month, and two others were appointed last year.

The changes in the county’s highest planning body have come during a lull in the dramatic growth experienced through the past decade. Despite that lull, however, planning commissioners continue to wrestle on a monthly basis with issues ranging from subdivision approval to lighting, flooding and fencing issues.

Tooele County Planning Commission members serve four years, and can be reappointed to a second four-year term. Appointments are made by the county commissioners, although the County Engineer’s Office offers recommendations on possible members. Tooele County Senior Planner Kerry Beutler said the engineering staff tries to recommend members from diverse backgrounds and different areas of the county.

Tooele County Commissioner Jerry Hurst said sometimes people request to be on the planning commission — in which case they submit an application — and other times commissioners will see a vacancy and discuss who would be good to fill that position.

People are nominated for the planning commission and voted on by the county commissioners.

“We want people to be neutral,” Hurst said. “We don’t want people with an ax to grind or with a hidden agenda. I think we’ve had some very good people on those boards in the past and we’ve got some good people in there now, too.”

The members on the current Tooele County Planning Commission come from the Tooele Valley — Lake Point, Pine Canyon, Stansbury Park, Grantsville, Erda and Tooele — with one member from Stockton. Their backgrounds and professions vary greatly as well.

Grantsville resident Jill Thomas and Tooele resident David Gibby were appointed and voted on to their first terms as planning commissioners on Jan. 6.

Thomas owns Digidocs, a copy center in Grantsville. In addition, she has a background in environmental management and has worked at numerous hazardous waste facilities in the county.

Gibby is the environmental manager for US Magnesium. He is also a member of the Tooele County Local Emergency Planning Committee.

The other members of the commission are Bill Hogan, Bill Bergener, Judy Jameson, Radell Donnell and Joy Clegg.

Clegg, the sister-in-law of Tooele County Commissioner Bruce Clegg, was reappointed to a second term on the commission earlier this month. She was a lawyer before retiring. She served on the planning commission for a couple of terms in the ’90s, then moved out of state. When she returned, she was asked to fill a vacant seat on the commission again.

Bill Hogan is a Stockton resident, rancher and Tooele High School science teacher. He is the current chair of the commission. His term will be up at the end of this year.

Bill Bergener lives in Lake Point and is the current vice chair of the commission. He is a salesman for a gasket company based in Salt Lake. He has served on the Lake Point Improvement District Board. This is Bergener’s second term, which will end at the end of 2010.

Judy Jameson, from Pine Canyon, raises quarter horses and works for UPS in Salt Lake City. In addition to serving on the county planning commission, which she joined last year, she also serves on the Pine Canyon Township Planning Commission.

Stansbury Park resident Radell Donnell, who was appointed a few months ago, is a cabinet shop foreman. He first became interested in the planning commission when he was working with the engineering staff, trying to open up his own home-based business — a professional cake shop.

While it can be helpful, it is not required that planning commission members have technical backgrounds in subjects such as engineering, planning and construction, as the Engineering Department serves as technical staff for the commission, according to Beutler.

“The best planning commissioners are those who are dedicated to the community, who have a vision of what Tooele County wants to be, and have an ability to remain focused and unattached personally while being thoughtful in their review and practical in their recommendations,” Beutler said.

Hurst said county commissioners think about potential conflicts of interest when looking over appointments to the planning commission.

“If we have some high roller that’s got a big development in a particular area, he probably shouldn’t be making those decisions on the board,” he said. “They’re the ones who should be coming to the board. It should be a level playing field. So we try to get people who are neutral without an agenda.”

According to Nicole Cline, the Tooele County Economic Development director who was involved in county planning for many years, historically the goal has been to get a good cross-representation of people to serve on the planning commission.

“It’s a volunteer-type position,” she said. “Obviously you want to have people who are devoted to their community and who want to see a betterment in the community and have a vision for the community. You don’t want somebody who’s there with a special ax to grind or who has a really heavy interest in one thing.”

At times, Cline said, filling vacant slots on the planning commission has been difficult.

Clegg said the reason why she is on the commission stems from concerns about open space, growth and development.

“The reason I’ve always done it is because I live here and we’ve been discovered and the pressure of development has been so great,” she said. “I’ve been concerned about how we develop, where we develop and what it looks like when we’re done developing. I just want to retain the rural character of not only the whole county, but specifically the Tooele Valley, because that’s where the most pressure is. I’m all about the open space.”

Hogan believes his rural background is an asset to the commission.

“I wanted to make sure I was aware of all the different rules and regulations they come up with and making sure we’ve got a rural perspective on those things because Rush Valley is a lot different than Tooele Valley,” he said. “I’m the only one on the commission not in Tooele Valley. I know there’s a lot more people that live in Tooele Valley, but those rules affect us in the rural areas as well.”

A challenging part of serving on the planning commission that can be frustrating, Clegg said, is not being told the truth or being misled.

“Sometimes developers — not all of them, but some of them — use deceptive tactics. And we tend to be trusting and assume that people are telling us the truth and sometimes they’re not,” she said.

Clegg said she wishes the public knew how helpful their input is.

“The public’s input is worth a lot more than they may realize,” she said. “If one person shows up and points something out that maybe we didn’t think of as a problem, that can kill an entire application. I would just like the public to know that their voices really do matter.”

Sarah Miley: swest@tooeletranscript.com