Settlement talks over property trust continue
 
By Jennifer Dobner
The Associated Press
Standard-Examiner - Ogden, Utah
 
SALT LAKE CITY -- Negotiations continued Thursday in the fight for control of a trust that holds the land and homes in the Utah-Arizona border towns inhabited by members of a polygamous church.

Settlement talks in the yearslong dispute over the United Effort Plan Trust began Wednesday. The trust -- an arm of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints -- was seized by a Utah court in 2005 after allegations of mismanagement.

About 10 hours of negotiations Wednesday ended upbeat with the mediator, University of Utah law professor Paul Cassell, saying he felt progress had been made. Negotiations were scheduled to end sometime Thursday.

So far, the discussions have focused on housing issues, primarily whether some residents can have individual deeds and whether other properties can be jointly held by the church or in another trust.

A resolution of those issues could dictate whether the twin towns -- Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. -- must be subdivided.

Other issues of debate include how to divide or distribute communal properties, like city parks and cemeteries, and access to a medical clinic that currently serves just the FLDS. Distribution of undeveloped land in and around the cities is also being discussed, as is a way to pay some $2.6 million in outstanding bills owed to the court-appointed trust manager, Salt Lake City accountant Bruce Wisan, and his attorneys.

On Wisan's watch the 60-year-old communal religious trust has been changed to a secular entity that prohibits church leaders from managing its assets. The changes also allow for ex-FLDS members to return to the community and claim a share of the assets if they can prove they had made past contributions.

FLDS members view the state's intervention as a violation of their religious rights and part of a larger effort to dismantle their way of life.
 
standard.net
Originally published April 23, 2009
 
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