Emery planning group adds resilience chapter, urges pursuit of natural gas in draft general plan

The Emery planning group revised its draft general plan to add a standalone chapter on risk and resilience and inserted a goal to pursue natural gas infrastructure for the town.

The group agreed that emergency preparedness warranted its own chapter after members recalled an earlier Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program established roughly 20'+ years ago. Speaker 1 said the CERT program once tracked residents with oxygen needs and equipped volunteers with backpacks and maps; the group agreed to encourage volunteer reformation and to include resilience goals and strategies in Chapter 7.

The plan now includes a goal to "pursue the development of natural gas infrastructure to town," language Speaker 3 drafted during the meeting. Speaker 1 said Utah legislation (referenced as work by Senator Hinkins) allowed Green River to extend lines across washes and canals, and suggested similar legislation or funding could enable Emery to pursue natural gas service.

Members also discussed clarifying the policy-position text explaining who adopts and amends the general plan. Speaker 1 emphasized that this group's role is advisory: the town council must formally adopt and amend the plan, and any amendments proposed here would be forwarded to the town council for action.

Next steps: the planning group will refine wording in the draft, confirm attachments such as the town's water study (Ensign engineers) as an addendum, and forward the edited draft to the town council and planning and zoning meeting for further consideration.