Smoke seen near Coalville today could be the result of a controlled burn Summit County is planning with the North Summit Fire District.
To train volunteers to fight wildfires County Fire Warden Bryce Boyer said nearly two acres of land could be set ablaze on a hillside about a mile north of Coalville near Echo reservoir.
“It probably won’t be real big,” said Boyer who added that the exercise helps volunteer firefighters achieve state certification requirements for fighting wildfires.
Several people working to create a fire plan in Tollgate Canyon will participate in the training, he said.
Boyer warned those who burn pastures that it is easy to lose control of the fires.
“We’ve had a 10-acre fire already this year,” he said about a blaze March 18 near Foothill Drive in South Summit. “It started about noon and we were done with it about 4:30 (p.m.)”
The crew used the fire to train, Boyer said.
“There have been a couple (of fires) over on South Hoytsville Road usually about an acre or two,” he said.
The lower than average snow pack means it could be a “very active fire season,” Boyer continued.
“It’s open burning until the first of June,” he said.
For information about establishing a fire plan in your community contact Boyer at (435) 640-2075 or via e-mail, [email protected].
“We are going to face a higher than normal fire year,” County Public Works Administrator Kevin Callahan said.
Meanwhile, the Park City Fire District will issue permits for controlled burning in the Snyderville Basin April 28-May 28. To schedule an inspection for a burn permit call 940-2532 or visit the office at 730 W. Bitner Road weekdays 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Water protests are few?
Speaking for Summit County’s Mountain Regional Water Special Service District, Oakley resident Doug Evans told the Eastern Summit County Planning Commission fewer people objected after county officials breached the bank of the Weber River than when the county built a pipeline from Peoa to Snyderville several years ago.
“We had no eastern county protesters on it, which is a record for us because we’re used to piles of protestors,” Evans said.
With the Office of the Utah State Engineer slated to decide whether the stream bank was breached illegally, Mountain Regional Water chief Andy Armstrong insists county officials did not steal water.
“There isn’t any question as to the amount of water we have the right to take,” he said. “There is a question as to how it should be obtained.”
Several parties that include the private Summit Water Distribution Company have protested an application filed by the county for a permit to divert surface water rather than just groundwater from the Weber River.
“The type of diversion we have is kind of a hybrid between a well and surface, and we’ve had a hard time understanding exactly what type it is,” Evans told planning commissioners. “We didn’t know quite what to call that and the new application clarifies it.”
Meanwhile, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has issued a final environmental assessment of Summit County’s Rockport Water Importation Project, determining the water pipeline will have no significant impact, a Summit County press release states.
The approval from the federal government allows Park City Municipal 2,500 acre-feet and Summit County 4,100-acre-feet of water, which will be delivered to western Summit County from the East Side through the existing Lost Creek Canyon Pipeline.
“This is a project that has come together over a long period of time. It will be a great benefit for the west side of the County,” Summit County Commissioner Ken Woolstenhulme explained.
Affordable housing requirements
In a public hearing April 24 the Snyderville Basin Planning Commission is scheduled to debate ways more affordable housing could be built in western Summit County.
“We’re still very much in an early draft form,” County Planning Director Michael Barille said about proposed development codes geared toward providing more housing.
Multiple public hearings will be conducted before new projects are approved, Summit County Community Development Director Nora Shepard stressed.
“How practical and realistic is this?” County Commissioner Bob Richer asked about difficulties associated with trying to build affordable housing in a hot real-estate market like Park City. “How big of a problem are we trying to solve?”
Many types of housing could be considered affordable, he said.
“We’re talking about seasonal housing, dormitories, on one side of the spectrum, to homes on the other side,” Richer said.
The units could range in size from 150 to 1,400 square-feet.
But officials must focus on providing housing to people who currently live and work in Summit County, insisted County Commissioner Sally Elliott.
“We’re not necessarily trying to find affordable housing for all of the employers in the Salt Lake valley,” Barille agreed.
One option is creating overlay zones so housing projects could be built in accordance with existing planning codes.
“Any place we pick will probably be a bad thing for some of the people in the area,” Richer said.