The Governor's Geologic Hazards Working Group on Wednesday tweaked its recommendations, which are to be given to Huntsman this fall.

Chief among them: Cities and counties should address geologic hazards in their general plans and adopt ordinances to regulate development there.

A model ordinance is to be written by next year by the Utah League of Cities and Towns in cooperation with the Utah Property Rights Coalition and Utah Geologic Survey.

"A lot of these cities are already going down this road," said Gary Christenson, chairman of the working group and the head of the UGS's geologic hazards office.

The panel's recommendations reflect developers' insistence that cities and counties have clear standards - as well as methods for resolving conflicts when they reject the work of developers' geologic consultants.

The task force also gave consultants a more prominent role in almost every action recommended to the governor, something the private sector had requested.

Residents who have lost their homes to landslides in recent years as well as their neighbors lost their bid for a recommendation that the state create a pool of money - paid by development fees - for reimbursing homeowners.

But homeowners won a recommendation that the governor set up another panel to devise a way that home- or lot-shoppers know when they are buying in areas prone to landslides or other geologic hazards.

Among the recommendations is that UGS improve geologic-hazards maps and make them more available to cities and counties - which would require more UGS employees. UGS already is requesting two more geologists.

The working group also was emphatic that the UGS continue to provide technical expertise to cities and counties.

Provo's engineer, Nick Jones, said Utah does not have enough geologic consultants willing to review their peers' work.

"This is a critical issue to me," Jones said. "Should we just go back to the dark ages, [giving] whatever stamp and saying 'You're good to build?' "

The UGS' board in the spring decided the agency didn't have the resources and should do technical reviews only when cities and counties have no other option. That directive has been put on hold until after the governor reviews the panel's recommendations.

Jody Hoffman, an attorney for the Utah League of Cities and Towns and a working-group member, said having UGS available for technical expertise is the most important of all the group's recommendations.

Among the other recommendations: City and county officials should be better trained about property rights, professional standards for consultants need to be raised, engineering geology programs at Utah universities must be expanded and ordinances must be better enforced.

kmoulton@sltrib.com