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Regional advisor urges Kanosh to review wildfire building-code map, CIB funding and data-privacy duties
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Summary
R6 regional council advisor Jess Peterson briefed the Kanosh council on Community Impact Board funding windows, a state Wildland-Urban Interface/Cooperative Wildfire System requirement that could affect town liability, and a state data-privacy law requiring a privacy program report and staff training; the council deferred decisions pending review.
KANOSH, Utah — Jess Peterson, a regional council advisor with R6, told the Kanosh Town Council on March 11 that several near-term compliance and funding items require review: the Community Impact Board (CIB) rolling project list, a new Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) and Cooperative Wildfire System (CWS) agreement, and a recently enacted state data-privacy law.
Peterson said the CIB application window is open and closes toward the end of April, and advised the town to list any critical-infrastructure projects it might later want to fund. On the WUI/CWS requirement, Peterson showed a Division of Forestry, Fire, and State Lands map that identified a darker, higher-risk area in the middle of town and described the choice communities face: adopt a WUI ordinance and map (and optionally designate specific areas) to comply with the CWS agreement, or adopt the ordinance but opt not to designate areas. Peterson told the council that, based on the guidance he’s received, signing the CWS agreement and meeting its obligations could shift some liability away from the town if a fire that originated in Kanosh spread to other property.
"If a fire started in our town and then spread to other property such as BLM land, and we didn't have this agreement, the town would be responsible for a portion of that fire," Peterson said. He added that the WUI code would apply to future development in designated areas and described typical measures such as enclosed eaves and reduced combustible vegetation around structures. The mayor said she had only recently seen the materials and the council elected to review the documents further rather than make a decision at the meeting.
Peterson also outlined requirements from a new Utah data-privacy law that took effect last year: the town must designate a chief administrative officer (commonly the mayor, though it can be someone else), a records officer (typically the clerk), complete a privacy program report on privacy.utah.gov (the report should be retained and will be subject to a GRAMA request if requested by the Office of Data Privacy), and require short privacy-training modules for employees who handle personal information. Peterson offered to share a short (seven- or eight-minute) training link and to assist with the documentation process.
Council Member Brian Batt asked about advantages to adopting the WUI ordinance. Peterson recommended adopting the ordinance even if the town initially elected not to designate areas, noting legal and insurance implications that vary by situation. The mayor and council did not vote on any ordinance or on signing the CWS agreement at the meeting and asked staff to review the materials and report back.
The council received the briefing as information; no binding action on WUI/CWS adoption or data-privacy implementation was taken at the March 11 meeting.