Commission updates budget language in 2026 general plan, flags multiple fire‑safety edits

At its April 2 meeting, the Castle Valley Planning and Land Use Commission adopted revised budget language for the 2026 general plan and spent substantial time editing the fire and emergency sections to remove outdated references and clarify roles.

Why it matters: The general plan guides long‑range decisions about infrastructure, fire safety and budgeting. The newly adopted paragraph presents a five‑year average operating budget and where revenue comes from, which officials said will help residents understand how town funds are used.

Tori (speaker 6) proposed replacing the town government paragraph with a five‑year average budget summary. The commission approved substitution language that states the town’s five‑year average budget is $3,395,114, and provides an approximate revenue mix: about 34% property taxes, 20% sales and miscellaneous taxes, 27% intergovernmental sources (class C roads and grants), roughly 11% transfers from prior years/capital funds, and about 8% from permit fees, donations and interest. In support, commissioners noted that the town directs a significant share of revenues into capital funds for projects and staffing improvements.

The commission then reviewed the fire section. Members asked staff to remove outdated statements (notably text asserting the fire district provides a satellite phone at the town building) and to clarify emergency medical response descriptions and the town’s cooperative agreements. One participant noted the fire district’s EMS operations have changed and that "a couple of members are sometimes available to provide immediate first aid" but that the town is not routinely paged for medical calls (speaker 7). Commissioners decided to delete two paragraphs referencing obsolete communications arrangements and to retain a clear statement that Grand County EMS response from Moab can be 45–60 minutes; they recommended referencing evacuation routes and safety zones in the town’s Emergency Operations Plan rather than repeating them in the general plan.

The commission also discussed formatting and version control: members agreed the final draft should be consolidated into a single Word document for proofreading so inadvertent edits do not propagate, and set a target to have the document formatted in May for a public hearing in June. Because several sections remain to be rewritten and formatted, the commission tabled action on the general plan pending staff consolidation and final proofreading.

Next steps: Staff will incorporate the approved budget paragraph, remove obsolete communications text, update CWPP dates and MOU references with the fire district and state cooperating agency language, consolidate the final draft into a Word file, and return it for proofing before public hearing scheduling.