Alpine residents who build pools will have to fence them or put up some kind of barrier around them. The City Council on June 24 passed an ordinance to make that requirement.

The council discussed amending the city's building code to require a fence around all swimming pools.

This issue came to the forefront most recently on June 10 when Robin Towle made an impassioned presentation to the council while holding her young son. She said that in the state of Utah, drowning is the leading cause of accidental death for those under the age of 18.

With this topic now on the agenda and Towle in the audience, the council discussed changing its current code which requires only a cover to be placed over pools and no fence.

The council after much debate passed the amendment in relation to new pools. The new code states that all pools require a barrier which it defines as, "A fence, wall, building wall or combination thereof which completely surrounds the swimming pool and obstructs access to the swimming pool."

Councilman Thomas Whitchurch was opposed to this regulation being imposed retroactively and required on existing pools. In a previous meeting held Sept. 26, 2006, in which the council discussed this same issue, Whitchurch said that this was an issue of education and not legislation and that he doesn't want to be in the business of regulating swimming pools, according to the minutes of the meeting.

City Attorney David Church was on hand this year to advise the council about the regulations and the difficulty in passing codes that try to work retroactively. "Changes in building codes do not generally affect old pools," he said.

City Administrator Ted Stillman said that there is not an accurate record of the number of pools currently in Alpine. "Since 2000, we have issued 106 permits for new pools," he said.

Church said most people would comply if they are educated.

"Ninety percent of people comply, if they know what the law is," Church said.