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Show A-20 Meetings and agendas to publish your public notices and agendas please email classifieds@parkrecord.com SUMMIT COUNTY COUNCIL ment) and Appendix A: Definitions; Pat Putt (60 min) AGENDA SUMMIT COUNTY COUNCIL Wednesday, January 18, 2017 12:35 PM Closed Session – Property acquisition (2 hours) 5:15 PM Consideration of Approval Pledge of Allegiance Consideration and possible amendment of Summit County Employee Chart of Positions – Sheriff’s Office, Dispatch; Justin Martinez and Brian Bellamy Advice and consent of County Manager to appoint members to the Summit County Board of Health Council Comments Manager Comments Council Minutes dated October 5, 2016, January 4, 2017, and January 11, 2017 2:35 PM – Move into auditorium 6:00 PM Public Input 2:45 PM – Work Session Discussion regarding Mountain Recreation Facilities Master Plan - Lisa Benson and Mark Vlasic, of Landmark Design (45 min) 3:30 PM - Presentation of Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) Check; Justin Dolling, Northern Region Supervisor, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (10 min) 3:40 PM - Discuss outcomes of the Service Agreement between Summit County and Summit Community Power Works (SCPW); Lisa Yoder and Mary Christa Smith (20 min) 4:00 PM - Discuss outcomes of the Service Agreement between Summit County and Utah Clean Energy regarding the Mountain Town Community Solar program; Lisa Yoder and Utah Clean Energy representatives (15 min) 4:15 PM - Discussion regarding Eastern Summit County Development Code Chapter 4: Development Review Processes and Procedures (without Master Plan Develop- Public Hearing and possible action regarding a Special Exception to allow development in slopes greater than 30%, at 130 S. Snyders Lane, Coalville, UT; Parcel HAMILTON-2-AM; Cluff Ward Pipeline Company, Applicant; Sean Lewis, County Planner NOTICE is hereby given that the Summit County Council will meet in session Wednesday, January 18, 2017, at the Sheldon Richins Building, 1885 West Ute Blvd, Park City, UT 84098 (All times listed are general in nature, and are subject to change by the Council Chair) One or more members of the County Council may attend by electronic means, including telephonically or by Skype. Such members may fully participate in the proceedings as if physically present. The anchor location for purposes of the electronic meeting is the Sheldon Richins Building auditorium, 1885 W. Ute Blvd., Park City, Utah Individuals with questions, comments, or needing special accommodations pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act regarding this meeting may contact Annette Singleton at (435) 336-3025, (435) 615-3025 or (435) 783-4351 ext. 3025 Posted: January 13, 2017 States avoiding fire damage Officials plan how to build in zones prone to wildfires Marshall Swearingen High Country News Minutes after Jeff Burrows noticed a puff of smoke rising from Roaring Lion Canyon, on Sunday afternoon, July 31, his dispatch radio crackled. The volunteer firefighter raced to the station in Hamilton, Montana, suited up, and awaited orders as fire chiefs scouted the blaze on the Bitterroot National Forest. By the time he sped up Roaring Lion Road toward his home and hopped off the fire truck to help his wife and two kids evacuate, the fire, fueled by tinder-dry conditions and 30-plus mph winds, had already blown up. Roaring Lion isn’t the worst wildfire to strike Ravalli County, where the small towns and scattered homes of the Bitterroot Valley abut the national forest boundary. In 2000, a 356,000acre fire complex charred 70 homes here. The damage helped spur county commissioners and others to adopt some measures to reduce communities’ wildfire risk, including tree-thinning projects that later helped save homes from the Roaring Lion Fire. Resistance from officials But from the time the smoke cleared in 2000 to the eruption of July’s inferno, local officials have largely resisted regulatory tools, including subdivision requirements and zoning, that could steer development out of fire-prone areas and make existing properties more fire-resistant. In 2000, for example, the county planning board drafted detailed subdivision standards to reduce wildfire risk, but commissioners refused to adopt them on ideological grounds. “The private-property rights issue drives a lot of the politics in this county,” said retired forest supervisor Sonny LaSalle, who was then on the planning board Ravalli County isn’t alone in its unwillingness to rein in development in the increasingly flammable wildland-urban interface referred to as WUI. According to researchers at Headwaters Economics, a nonprofit based in Bozeman, Montana, most Western counties, whatever their politics, generally allow risky home construction. This, in turn, puts a growing burden on the U.S. Forest Service, which bears the brunt of the region’s firefighting costs. In 2015, the agency spent more than half its $6.5 billion budget on wildfire-related activities, largely because of pressure to defend private property. Counties and other local governments “are absolutely central” to containing those costs, said Ray Rasker, Headwaters executive director. “It’s very rare, at the end of a fire, that a community concludes Wed/Thurs/Fri, January 18-20, 2017 The Park Record that it should have better landuse planning,” Rasker added. What will change? In the aftermath of the 2000 fire season, Western counties were pushed to get more aggressive about fireproofing their communities. Federal lands agencies created a National Fire Plan to better coordinate wildfire efforts with state and local governments. The plan spurred Bitter Root Resource Conservation and Development, a Hamilton-based nonprofit, to begin assisting landowners in Ravalli and two neighboring counties to thin trees and other vegetation on their properties. Nearly 650 Ravalli landowners have since done so. Then, following another destructive fire season in 2002, Congress passed the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003, which among other things incentivized local governments to adopt “community wildfire protection plans.” When Bitter Root RC&D brought together federal, state and county officials to draft such a plan for Ravalli County, county commissioners endorsed many local initiatives, including prioritizing thinning projects on certain private lands. But it didn’t lead to any regulations discouraging further development in the WUI. Discouraging further development The county appeared ready to get more aggressive in 2007, when Ravalli-area legislators helped pass a state bill requiring all Montana counties to consider wildfire risk in their growth policies and subdivision regulations. Meanwhile, pro-planning leaders, concerned about Ravalli County’s rapid population growth proposed county-wide zoning that could have been a powerful tool for regulating development. But in 2008, the anti-planning forces mounted a citizen ballot initiative to entirely repeal the county’s growth policy, a prerequisite for zoning under Montana law. And they won. Another state bill, in 2009, required counties to map their WUI areas. But even creating a map proved controversial. Would zoning help? It’s unlikely better maps or stronger regulations would have spared many homes from Roaring Lion’s wrath. Most were built in the 1980s or before, so even using zoning to make the WUI off-limits to development wouldn’t have helped. But a thinning and logging project called the Westside Collaborative Vegetation Management Project might have made a major difference. The project was scheduled to treat national forest along roughly six miles of the WUI in the Roaring Lion area beginning this fall. Local environmentalists and other residents raised concerns about road-building and truck traffic, largely because the project includes a commercial timber sale intended to help pay for unprofitable hand-thinning. Commissioners, including Burrows, who was elected in 2012, cite the project’s years-long approval process as evidence that the Forest Service is unacceptably burdened with regulations. Lessons learned For Burrows, the main lesson of Roaring Lion is that more trees should be cut on public land to reduce its flammability. Other commissioners agree. But the Forest Service hasn’t been idle. In addition to monitoring or suppressing more than 200 sizeable wildfires in and around Ravalli County since 2000, it has logged, thinned or performed prescribed burns on more than 120,000 acres of public land. Yet the commissioners propose no reciprocal county action on private lands, other than encouraging tree-thinning and fireresistant construction by willing landowners. For Rasker, whose Headwaters Economics has partnered with several Western cities and counties, including nearby Missoula County, to evaluate and plan for wildfire risk, the behavior of local governments like Ravalli County reflects out-ofkilter economic incentives. What motivates most counties “is their budgets,” he said. The cost of wildfires Counties reap property taxes when they permit development, yet pay little of the cost to defend homes from wildfire. The Roaring Lion Fire took a toll on Burrows and other volunteer firstresponders, but Ravalli County will pay essentially none of the $11 million cost associated with the weeks-long containment effort that followed. Counties like Ravalli — whose total annual budget is $46 million — would almost certainly change their view toward fire-prone development if they had to pay a major share of those costs, or if they were financially rewarded for restricting that kind of development, Rasker said. “It’s not until that happens that we’ll see any change,” he said. Major reform is unlikely to occur anytime soon. But that didn’t stop Bonney from contemplating his next visit with Ravalli commissioners as he surveyed the wreckage of the 8,500-acre Roaring Lion Fire, still smoldering on high slopes in midAugust. The fire destroyed seven homes that had received thinning treatment through Bitter Root RC&D’s grant program. But others survived despite no initial aid from firefighters, owing to fireresistant building methods and the vegetation treatments, plus a bit of luck, Bonney said. He’d like commissioners to learn from that, and to seriously consider updating subdivision and building material requirements. Roughly 80 percent of Ravalli County’s WUI is still undeveloped, so new policies could make a major difference. Will Burrows and other county officials act on his proposals? “Who knows?” Bonney said. “Those things have been on the table for a long time.” Core Samples By Jay Meehan Dancing in the streets I’m all in a tizz! The place is in shambles. Overturned drawers are strewn about while specimens of headwear now rest where they have been flung. They didn’t make “the cut.” It seems the “Women’s March on Main” this upcoming Saturday has a sort of, unofficial, informal, solidarity-driven dress code. Now, it just wouldn’t do to have the Portly Gray Dude show up for such a star-studded (and quite valid) protest march on the morning after Trump’s inauguration and be out of step chapeau-wise. With marchers being encouraged to wear pink, purple, or white headgear, I would hate to be mistaken for a closeted supporter of the neofascist alt-right. I mean I’ve already got two strikes against me, what with being an obvious member of that spurious White-Male demographic that, more than any other congregation, resides at the root of our current collective angst. So, the search for a symbol of political accord continues. I should mention that one of my all-time favorite streetprotest embellishments is the orange sash many of us sported during the march from Pioneer Park to the Federal Courthouse on the opening morning of Tim DeChristopher’s trial for interrupting what would be later termed an illegal oil-gas lease auction. The sash is currently draped around my “Bidder 70” placard which has found a home upon one of the few wall open spaces here at my humble digs. Not even thoughts of Trump could turn me against that particular orange. But back to my search for an appropriately-colored “lid.” I swear there’s an old purplish “deerstalker” around here someplace. I think Sammy English gave it to me one somewhat-sodden St. Patrick’s Day as a way of tarnishing my Irish veneer. Both of us were always in danger of having his alterdude imposing an on the spot, at-the-moment, sans-warning, “Sherlockian” quiz upon the other. Trivia doppelgangers are like that. If the truth be known, I’ve already located a neon-pink logo-rich ball cap from back when the Park City Ski Area’s “America’s Opening” transitioned from a World Cup tour stop to the dual-racer format of the “Pro Cup” circuit. How did the old saying go? “Say No to Day-Glo?” Now, if memory serves, I’m also pretty certain I once possessed a much-more-muted purple version of the same headpiece but, for some reason, it Of course, the color of one’s headgear is of lesser consequence when issues concerning ‘justice for all’ are being bandied about. has yet to show itself. You can’t really blame it. How would you like to be forever linked to this particular “noggin?” I guess I could always draft the “black” John Trudell ski hat that was part of the Swag-Bag I moseyed out the door with following the “Trudell” film Premiere after-party a few years back. If located upon the wrong side of the tracks of the visible electromagnetic spectrum, at least it has a Sundance Film Festival connection. Of course, the color of one’s headgear is of lesser consequence when issues concerning “justice for all” are being bandied about. With an incoming administration set on returning to a palaeolithic patriarchy where men exercised the final determination on the breadth of a woman’s free agency, civil disobedience will most certainly celebrate a rebirth. And the timing couldn’t be better for a population that totally rejected such regressive policies at the polls. Although Utah may be Trump country, Park City and Summit County do not accept that characterization. And, of course, the Sundance Film Festival operates upon a philosophy diametrically opposed to the current Republican mindset. “Diversity comes out of the word independence,” is the way festival founder Robert Redford put it. And, it would seem, those women with a similar viewpoint, both officially and unofficially affiliated with the festival, are pretty much ready to manifest their notions with what has all the makings of a huge “Women’s March on Main” this Saturday. There will no doubt be chanted mantras along the route and strident speeches at the rally. I can only imagine the “inappropriate signage” quoting or paraphrasing some of Trump’s classic campaign one-liners. There will be a sense of humor accompanying the anger at this affair. Especially now that his cabinet nominees and Supreme Court short list are known, the manner in which he will remove protections from minorities and public lands in general and women and national monuments in particular appears in much clearer focus. No doubt about it, down the road, if marches are to create meaningful change, civil disobedience will have to become part of the package. But it never hurts to publicly showcase one’s intentions. See you Saturday! Jay Meehan is a culture junkie and has been an observer, participant and chronicler of the Park City and Wasatch County social and political scenes for more than 40 years. Red Card Roberts By Amy Roberts Accidental author I never really set out to be an author. Most weeks, all I can do is string together 700 words for this column — so typing out roughly 70,000 was overwhelming. But a few years ago it seemed like the universe was sending me messages. In the course of a few weeks I had several people randomly tell me, “You should write a book.” Then I’d open a magazine and land on a page reviewing the latest bestseller. I’d turn on the TV and someone would be interviewing an author who just got a movie deal. I went to a retreat and stumbled upon an empowering presentation by a lawyer-turned-author who encouraged us all to write a story. A week later I cracked open a fortune cookie that told me, “Your future is in print.” I don’t typically make life decisions based on the contents of a bland, crunchy cookie. But it seemed like I was getting some determined messaging from somewhere. I’d had an idea for a book percolating for a while. Those I’d shared the idea with were excited about the plot and suggested it could be adapted for a movie. Some even picked out the actors. So I sat down and pounded out words that became sentences that became paragraphs that eventually became about 300 pages. I developed characters and pulled from the far corners of my imagination. I read several other books to ensure my plot was reasonably accurate and interviewed people and researched locations. Then I sent it to my mother, who is a college English professor, for editing. It looked like a murder scene when she returned it. I started calling her “Red Ink Roberts” after that. I made her edits, most of them at least. And then made more changes. I went to conferences on publishing a novel. I spent roughly six months sending query letters and even longer reading rejection emails from literary agents. I got my hopes up each time I received a request for the full manuscript. Only to have an agent tell me “I loved your book, but it’s not what I’m looking to represent right now.” That’s if they responded at all. I had a few ask me to send So I sat down and pounded out words that became sentences that became paragraphs that eventually became about 300 pages.” my manuscript with a detailed marketing plan. When I asked for clarification I was told, “Every agent will expect you to market and sell your book. We want to know your plan for that before offering representation.” They didn’t find it amusing when I admitted my sales plan was to find an agent who would do the marketing. It was disheartening when agents would tell me something like, “I really enjoyed your writing and the premise, but I don’t think you have enough of a following to sell this.” This is why there are so many bad books written by celebrities I’ve concluded. The THE PARK RECORD is always looking for new letters Send in your letter to editor@parkrecord.com writing might be awful, but that seems to matter far less than the number of copies sold. The more agents I spoke with, the more I questioned if I really needed one. It seemed like I did most of the heavy lifting — writing, researching, editing, revising — now the selling was on me too? After months of back and forth and learning that, as a first-time author, I probably would not make more than a month’s mortgage payment in royalties, I decided to selfpublish. Sure, there’d likely be fewer typos in my book if I’d had an agent and a big-name publisher, and maybe the cover design would have a bit more flair, but in the end, I got restless. It was going to be at least one year before I saw my book in print if I’d gone the traditional agented route. I was able to upload it to Amazon in 10 minutes. I still don’t have the following the NYC agents told me I needed. Nor do I have a sales or marketing plan. But if nothing else, I got my first media blip. In the interest of shameless self-promotion, my book is called “Remorse,” and you can buy it here: www.amazon. com/Remorse-Amy-Robertsebook/dp/B01N0TKI8M/re f=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UT F8&qid=1484596499&sr= 1-1&keywords=remorse+amy +roberts Amy Roberts is a freelance writer, longtime Park City resident and the proud owner of two rescued Dalmatians, Stanley and Willis. The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer. Follow her on Twitter @amycroberts. |