STAFF REPORT TO: Summit County Council FROM: Chris Crowley, Emergency Manager Bryce Boyer, UFFSL Fire Warden DATE OF MEETING: November 4, 2019 TYPE OF ITEM: Regular Session SUBJECT: Community Wildfire Preparedness Plan (CWPP) Requested Council Action 1. Review Part III: Risk Reduction Goals/Actions of the County Wildfire Preparedness Plan (CWPP) v1 and confirm the goals and actions outlined in this section reflect the Council’s policy direction. 2. Provide revisions to Part III: Risk Reduction Goals/Actions if items are missing or do not reflect the Council’s policy direction. 3. Approve the overall CWPP and authorize Staff to submit it to the State Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Introduction Summit County participates in Utah DNR’s fire suppression program. In exchange for meeting a match requirement provided by DNR to Summit County each budget cycle, the state assists Summit County each year in fighting wildfires within the County borders and pays for the cost of those efforts. In order to continue our participation in the state’s fire suppression program, Summit County is required to draft and adopt a County specific Community Wildfire Preparedness Plan (CWPP), which is due to the DNR this November. The CWPP is an integrated approach to wildfire planning across response agencies and communities and aligns with local, state and Federal Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) policies and procedures. The intent of the program is to: • Empower communities to organize, plan and take action on issues impacting community safety; • Enhance levels of fire resistance and protection to the community; • Identify the risks of wildland/urban interface fires in the area; • Identify strategies to reduce the risks to homes and businesses in the community during a wildfire; • Review and align WUI policies and procedures; • Increase County agency and resource preparedness and response; • Support community efforts to develop Community Wildfire Preparedness Plans (CWPP). Progress to Date In March 2019, Summit County convened a Community Wildfire Preparedness Planning Committee with the initial goal of developing a Summit County WPP and initiating a formal process for CWPP planning and program implementation in communities across Summit County. The Committee consisted of representatives from the County Council, County Administration, Wildland Fire, Emergency Management, 1 Park City Fire District, North Summit Fire District, South Summit Fire District, United States Forest Service (USFS), and Mountain Regional Water Special Service District. Members of this group met four times (March 19, June 4, October 8, and October 24) over the course of seven months to discuss goals and actions the County would take in wildfire mitigation, prevention, and preparedness. Through the efforts of the Summit County Fire Warden/Utah State Forestry Fire & State Lands, South Summit Fire District, North Summit Fire District, Park City Fire District and Summit County Emergency Management: • 33 of 74 communities listed in the 2016 UFFSL Communities at Risk Assessment have submitted CWPPs specific to their community, including PCFD, NSFD, and SSFD. • Summit County has completed Draft v1 of its CWPP and is presenting it to the County Council • Implemented CWPP Project Management Tool • Engaged Summit County GIS to provide mapping and database support Summary of County CWPP Summit County’s CWPP follows a standard planning template provided by the DNR. The components of the Plan are: Part I: Community Description. Includes information about Summit County, such as the legal structure, population (including number of lots), restricting covenants, primary water sources and location of those sources. This section also covers all the planning focus areas, such as Park City Fire District, North Summit Fire District, and South Summit Fire District. For each of these focus areas, the plan identifies specific infrastructure such as access (all and seasonal), roads, driveways, structures, bridges, gates, culverts, utilities and location of above ground propane tanks. Part II: Risk Assessment. This section identifies the economic risks of wildfire in Summit County by providing the estimated current values of residential and commercial property and the natural resources at risk in the area, such as watershed, forest products, wildlife, recreation tourism, etc. Additionally, this section provides data on the County’s wildfire occurrence, history, fuel hazards, and insurance rating based on the Communities At Risk (CARs) list that was developed cooperatively at the local and state level to assist land management agencies and other stakeholders in determining the scope of the WUI challenge and to monitor progress in mitigating the hazards in these areas. This section concludes with a list of past Summit County accomplishments in the areas of wildfire prevention, preparedness, mitigation and maintenance. Part III: Risk Reduction Goals/Actions. This section outlines Summit County’s goals in prevention, preparedness, mitigation and maintenance to reduce the County’s wildfire risk by establishing resilient landscapes, fire adapted communities, and wildfire response. 2 This section also provides detailed project information on actions Summit County has or is committed to taking in prevention, preparedness, mitigation and maintenance to reduce the County’s wildfire risk. This section is where Staff would like the County Council to focus to ensure we have captured the Council’s goals accurately and fully, and to ensure they are comfortable with the outlined actions. Part IV: Contacts. This section identifies community resources that can be used to complete the goals of the plan, such as the Planning Committee Member list, commercial entities, formal associations, media support, schools, transportation entities, and private equipment capabilities. Appendices: Multiple maps and the community focus area plans (i.e. fire districts and cities specific CWPPs), along with other documentation are included in appendices at the back of the plan. Next Steps Upon adoption, Staff will submit the County’s CWPP to the State DNR. However, the County’s CWPP is intended to be a dynamic document that will evolve and need to be updated as the Planning Committee continues to engage with County agencies, municipalities, partners and stakeholders to further develop the County’s CWPP program. The Council will notice that some sections of v1 of the County’s plan are not as robust as others. The plan is to fill in those gaps as work continues on the CWPP program, specifically in the areas of the County’s WUI and building codes, GIS support, and economic disaster planning, response and recovery. Staff Recommendation Wildland fires in Summit County continue to increase in threat, risk and cost. The recent mega-fires in California are testament to the disastrous effects and overwhelming costs of wildland fires. Implementing the programs described in the Summit County CWPP are crucial to creating and maintaining a safe and resilient community. As such, Staff recommends the County Council: 1. Review and confirm Part III: Goals and Actions of the Plan, ensuring the goals and actions reflect the desire of the Council 2. Upon confirmation to #1 above, formally adopt Summit County’s CWPP v1 3. Fund the projects and programs identified in the Summit County CWPP v1 including: a. Training, Resource & Fuels Reduction Programs b. CWPP Public Outreach Programs (including marketing, web page and support for public programs and meetings) c. Implement Firewise Community designation program Attachment Summit County CWPP v1 - DRAFT 3 Summit County Wildfire Preparedness Plan State of Utah County Wildfire Preparedness Plan For the Wildland – Urban Interface Summit County, Utah 10/28/19 Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands 1594 W North Temple, PO Box 145703, Salt Lake City, UT 84114-5703 1 | Page Summit County Wildfire Preparedness Plan Page Intentionally Left Blank 2 | Page Summit County Wildfire Preparedness Plan Table of Contents DECLARATION AND CONCURRENCE 5 INTRODUCTION 8 RESOURCES 9 STATEMENT OF LIABILITY 9 PLANNING OVERVIEW 10 PLAN OVERVIEW MAP – 12 SUMMIT COUNTY 12 PART I: COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION – SUMMIT COUNTY 13 LEGAL STRUCTURE 13 COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS & COLLABORATION 14 POPULATION SUMMARY 14 POPULATION – SUMMIT COUNTY 14 RESTRICTING COVENANTS, ORDINANCES 15 ACCESS 16 ROADS 17 DRIVEWAYS 17 STRUCTURES 17 BRIDGES GATES, CULVERTS 18 UTILITIES 18 PROPANE TANKS 19 PRIMARY WATER SOURCES 20 MOUNTAIN REGIONAL WATER – SM 6/24/19 20 PART II: 26 RISK ASSESSMENT 26 3 | Page Summit County Wildfire Preparedness Plan NATURAL RESOURCES 26 COMMUNITIES AT RISK (CARS) LIST 28 AREA FIRE HISTORY 28 FUEL HAZARD 29 VALUES PROTECTED 29 INSURANCE RATING 29 UTAH WILDFIRE RISK ASSESSMENT PORTAL (UWRAP) 31 TOTAL ACRES AOI 31 PAST ACCOMPLISHMENTS 32 PART III: RISK REDUCTION GOALS/ ACTIONS - SUMMIT COUNTY 33 GOAL A: PREVENTION 33 GOAL B: PREPAREDNESS 34 GOAL C: MITIGATION 36 GOAL D: MAINTENANCE 37 PART IV: CONTACTS 38 PART VI: APPENDICES 41 4 | Page Summit County Wildfire Preparedness Plan Declaration and Concurrence This list needs to be customized to the individual plan. Provide the names and affiliations of all cooperators. This page will then be signed after all cooperators have reviewed the plan and concur with its contents. TOM FISHER Summit County, County Manager NAME AFFILIATION SIGNATURE DATE ROGER ARMSTRONG Summit County, Council Chair NAME AFFILIATION SIGNATURE DATE DOUG CLYDE Summit County, Council Vice