After discussing for months whether the city should change its form of government, Lehi City Council members are forming a committee to study the issue.

The committee could decide voters should decide the issue's fate, and in that case it would be on the ballot in November.

Lehi's been operating under a city council/mayor form of government, under which the mayor is the chief executive of the city, responsible for personnel. But the council has been mulling whether to change to a city council/manager form, under which the city manager is the chief executive of the city.

Council members approved a motion at their last June meeting to form the committee of 12. The committee will research what has been done in other cities, get statistics and study the possible effects of a change in city government.

The committee would become, Councilman James Dixon said, a temporary recommending body. Some of the members will be from the city's professional staff, he said.

Each council member and the mayor recommended two names of Lehi residents and one staff name for the committee. Councilman Mark Johnson said the process is threefold -- first, and already done, to decide whether to have a committee; second, to look at the committee's results or findings; and third, to evaluate the report and decide whether to take the issue to voters.

"I don't see a problem with not getting it done this election year," Dixon said. "I would rather there is a thorough job done."

The new committee will meet with the City Council on July 11 during a pre-council meeting.

"They'll meet and get direction, then go ahead and decide a chair and get meetings scheduled," Mayor Howard Johnson said.

The process to change the form of government began in January, although Councilman Johnny Barnes has said it began a few years ago when the council realized the city administrator was fulfilling the responsibilities of a city manager. The debate came to a head, though, when the mayor told the council in March he would not be reappointing Ed Collins as city administrator. Collins's last day was Friday.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D4.