To the delight of organizers, so many people turned out Wednesday evening for the first of three public meetings to discuss the formation of a Utah Lake Commission that more chairs had to be set out.

More than 50 people, most concerned residents, attended the meeting to learn how the commission would be formed and what powers it would have.

The commission would have no authority but would attempt to influence public policy as it affects the lake, said organizers, including County Commissioner Larry Ellertson; Clyde Naylor, Utah County engineer; Robert West, attorney for Provo; and Mike Styler, director of the Utah Department of Natural Resources.

A voting board would comprise 15 governmental entities, including nine cities and several state and local agencies, which would have to pay dues enough to hire at least one full-time staff member, organizers said. Entities that did not pay their dues would have their representative removed from the board. The amount of dues has not been discussed.

"If we had one person who gets up every morning and worries about what is happening on Utah Lake it would help a lot," Naylor said.

Environmental groups, land owners and others who have interest in the lake would have no vote on the commission but could petition the board for a seat on a nonvoting subcommittee, organizers said.

The goal of the commission would be to "get off dead center" regarding local and state policy governing the lake and shoreline by bringing all local authorities together to discuss those policies, he said.

The commission would not come into being until after the next session of the Legislature at the earliest, because the Legislature must give approval for the Utah Department of Natural Resources, which oversees public ownership of the bed of the lake, to join the commission, Naylor said. Each of the nine cities bordering the lake also must vote to allow a representative to join.

A subcommittee of local mayors, which has been studying issues surrounding Utah Lake for the past two years, visited a similar commission that works to influence policy around Bear Lake. The Utah Lake Commission will be modeled after that commission, Ellertson said.

The commission "is not about control or the idea of protecting this or that interest at the expense of someone else," he said. "It's about working together."

All entities that would be invited to have a voting representative have expressed a desire to form the commission, and so far there has been no opposition, he said.

The commission would work to influence state and local entities to develop a master plan for the lake and its shoreline, and would work to influence land use policy, transportation planning, conservation and management, recreation access, public services and shoreline protection, Naylor said.

Natural threats, such as carp and invasive reeds called phragmites, and man-made threats, such as improper development of the shoreline, have become issues but there has never been a central body to study those issues and make formal recommendations to governmental entities, Styler said.

"No one has been in charge," he said repeatedly. "Utah County cities and citizens should be planning what you want around the lake and a way to accomplish your goals."

With the commission, "at least you'll have a forum to work that out," he said.

Governmental entities that will have a voting representative on the Utah Lake Commission board include American Fork, Genola, Lehi, Lindon, Orem, Provo, Saratoga Springs, Springville, Vineyard, Utah County, the Utah Department of Natural Resources (two representatives), the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, a Utah County state legislator and the Central Utah Water Conservancy District.

The public is invited to submit comments on the proposed commission at www.UtahLakeCommission.org.

Two more public hearings will be held on the proposed Utah Lake Commission.

Wednesday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. at the Lehi Legacy Center, 150 N. Center St. in Lehi.

Tuesday, Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. at the Payson City Center Banquet Hall at 438 W. Utah Ave. in Payson.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page C1.