I. CALL TO ORDER:
The Wildfire Mitigation Commission meeting was called to order at 11:03 a.m. on January 14, 2015 at Ashland Fire & Rescue Station #1 located at 455 Siskiyou Blvd.
           
Attendees include: Ashley Lara, Chris Chambers, Tim Bewley, Ron Parker, Bruce Moats, Vicky Sturtevant, Stephen Gagne and Greg Lemhouse.
 
II. INTRODUCTIONS
 
III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: January 14^th
Ron Parker motioned, and Tim Bewley seconded the motion, to approve the January 14^th, 2014 regular meeting minutes and the motion carried unanimously.  
IV. GUESTS & PUBLIC FORUM
 
V. ADJUSTMENTS TO THE AGENDA
 
VI. BUSINESS  
A.Chris Chambers started his discussed describing the Intterra project. Intterra is currently funded under a Title III project in the amount of 250k in Klamath County (more specifically in Keno). The company started in Colorado-i
 
The program is both educational and operational. Currently the project is being used to rank houses located in the Wildfire Hazard Zone.  Once completed, the public can use the tool to see how they are ranked, as well as their neighbors and immediate community. The hope is that the program will raise awareness about wildfire potential, vegetation and the impact fire can have in your specific neighborhood. Hopefully this will allow for more discussion on Firewise in Ashland.
 
There is an operation tool for fire departments, specifically triage. Firefighters can view the homes ranked- red (high), yellow (moderate), green (low) and realistically gauge what homes could be saved in a fast moving fire. This will allow for pre-triage, and when an incident happens, fire personnel can pull up information on a smart phone or commuter and add resources and engines as needed to specific areas.
 
Eventually we would like to incorporate the whole city into the Intterra program. It visually explains specific areas and how they would potentially withstand a fire.  Vacant lots, at this time will not be assessed.
 
Eventually, individual landowners will be able to look up their address to see how they rank due to their: road access, width of driveway, length of driveway, all season road conditions, ingress and egress, locked gates of access, roofing material and cleanliness of roof, eves, vents decks and porches and exterior walls, defensible space (ladder fuels, tree canopy spacing, surface fuels), slope, etc.
 
Chris is meeting in Klamath County for a Intterra workshop next week and will get more information about timeline and cost about implementing in Ashland.
 
Colorado Springs Intterra link: http://gis.coloradosprings.gov/Html5Viewer/?viewer=wildfiremitigation
 
 
B.The WMC role in the CWPP edit/rewrite will include leading the outreach and education efforts. This will be discussed in further detail at the retreat scheduled on 3/4/2015.
 
Chris Chamber and Stephen Gagne attended the Jackson County Integrate Fire Plan meeting earlier this month. Stephen was impressed with how many people are working together and how complex the problems are. Each representative is looking to fulfill their own terms, goals, objectives and obligations for their agency. However, there is a serious funding crisis, and they are not sure how they will be able to fund the goals and objectives they are creating.
 

Chris Chambers and Ashley Lara attended the Jackson County Risk assessment training hosting Pyrologix. Pyrologix was formed to provide specialized fuel characterization and wildfire modeling services to the United States Forest Service. The client roster has since expanded to include non-governmental organizations, businesses, local and state government entities, and federal agencies in the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security and Interior. Pyrologix is in the process of inputting values to establish where the highest priorities are represented in the County. Previous data from the Jackson County risk assessment will be expanding upon in the updated rendition. Ashland specific valuable resources include: protection of homes, life, property and the watershed. Additional resources will include, power, tourism, trails, etc.

Chris Chambers will talk with Joe Scott (Pyrologix) at tomorrow’s meeting to see if the County level risk assessment will produce viable information for Ashland’s CWPP. The worry is that the information will be too broad to fit in with the revision. However, it may help with future funding opportunities.

 
C.The retreat has been set for set for Wednesday March, 4th from 9am-1pm at Ashland Fire & Rescue Station 2.  
Chris Chambers will bring 1-2 proposals of the CWPP to refer to. Other topics discussed include:

• What tasks are we looking to complete in the CWPP?
• What is our CWPP timeline?
• O&E design and timeline
  • Who is the target audience?
• Outside agency representation
• CWPP grant guidelines
• Overview of Council Goals- how can the commission help to support those goals. Or are there things that are missing from the goals that need to be added.
• Chief Karns- how can the fire department help?

           
VII. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS
Greg Lemhouse would like the commission to compile a few bullet points of accomplishments.
 
VIII. REVIEW AND SET COMMISSION CALENDAR / NEXT MEETING
A.Next meeting March 11 , 2015
 
IX. ADJOURN: 1:00 PM
 
 
In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, if you need special assistance to participate in this meeting, please contact the Public Works Office at 488-5587 (TTY phone number 1 800 735 2900). Notification 48 hours prior to the meeting will enable the City to make reasonable arrangements to ensure accessibility to the meeting (28 CFR 35.102-35.104 ADA Title I).