Caleb Warnock and Donna Milakovic

An investigation of Eagle Mountain councilman David Blackburn found no wrongdoing and no further action will be taken, the city announced late Tuesday -- and one council member didn't like that outcome.

The city and the Utah County Attorney's Office wanted to know if Blackburn failed to disclose gifts from people doing business with the city.

"The investigation is over, and no wrongdoing was found on the part of David Blackburn," said Mayor Don Richardson. "He was exonerated of any wrongdoing."

In March, the city disclosed it had launched an investigation in January.

Blackburn said at the time that he had done nothing wrong, but said he had accepted a pheasant hunting trip from Epic Engineering, a contractor with the city, and had hunted elk on land owned by the owner of the company in 2004 and 2005.

He said he also bought beef from the Walker family, which owns the engineering firm.

Blackburn said he was pleased to be exonerated and called the investigation embarrassing and a waste of taxpayer money.

"I am happy to say that there is not an issue. There never was," Blackburn said. "It's been embarrassing, especially in the budget process, to see how much of the city's time and money was spent pursuing this."

Richardson said it was not immediately clear how much the city had spent on the investigation. He also noted the city had a duty to pursue the investigation.

The investigation was instigated at the request of Councilman David Lifferth, who said Wednesday that he did not agree with the results of the investigation.

He said a letter to him and Blackburn from the city said none of the gifts were valued above $50, and he disagreed with that conclusion.

But, Lifferth added, there's little he can do but accept it.

"Clearly, if the county attorney and the city attorney say nothing was wrong, then I was wrong," Lifferth said, noting he felt he needed to justify why he called for the investigation. City council members should not accept gifts, or if they do, they should declare them, he said.

Richardson declined to immediately release a copy of the letter to the Daily Herald, saying the matter was a personnel issue.

When asked on Wednesday to release the letter because it focuses on an elected official, Richardson said the city was considering the issue and would likely release the letter within two days.

Meanwhile, a separate investigation of a second council member continues.

Richardson said the city will not disclose details of the investigation, including which council person it focuses on, in order not to compromise the investigation. Other media outlets have identified Councilwoman Linn Strouse as the focus of the investigation, but Richardson declined to confirm those reports.

"We don't even talk about any investigations," Richardson said. "There is another investigation, and it is not completed.

"I'm trying to let us finish it and then we will say more about it. We don't want to ruin the investigation."

Caleb Warnock can be reached at 443-3263 or cwarnock@heraldextra.com.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page C1.