MINUTES FOR A MEETING OF THE

Wednesday, April 20, 2016 11:00AM to 1:00PM

I.  CALL TO ORDER: 11:01AM

In attendance: Stephen Gagne, Bruce Moats, Doug Kay, Tim Bewley, Vicky Sturtevant, Alison Lerch, Chris Chambers

Not in attendance: Ron Parker

2. INTRODUCTIONS

3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: March 16, 2016

1. Action Items
   1. Commission Vacancy: Tracy Peddicord is willing to join the Wildfire Mitigation Commission (WMC) and will be putting in an application.

2. Evacuation Update- Chief Karns
   1. April 2014 an evacuation plan was conceived. The effort is broken down into 4 areas. 1) Public Outreach- Ready, Set, Go! (RSG). Making sure citizens are not expecting a personal invitation with a knock on the door. 2) How does the fire service make that decision process?  Do we evacuation? Do we shelter in place? A policy is in place on how the Incident Commander moves down the system, creating a Unified Command. 3) Staying ahead of the media. Social media and freelance style reporters can put out invalid information, so working with local media entities ahead of the game to provide up to date information, and 4) Implementation evacuation and when can you return.  This is the job of Law, not Fire. The funding of the staffing of keeping a city safe in a large evacuation situation is yet to be determined.  Returning home is all based off communication.
   2. Where do people go?  AF&R has an agreement with schools depending on the time of the day. City Parks is in charge of cared facilities.
   3. Public Outreach for evacuation? RSG was a huge push on Channels 12 & 5 with three commercials.  Citizen Alert works. There is no perfect way to get information out to everyone.  A mass notification system (reverse 911) is the best way to get information out.  If you do not have a landline, you need to sign up for Citizen Alert on your cell phone.
   4. Is there anything that the Commission can do to help with evacuation? How is this going to be put into the CWPP? It will be mentioned in the County Fire Plan.  Citing the importance of RSG, Mass Notification System of the County, and the preparedness level. Put a media blitz into the CWPP for June or spring for evacuation outreach. Add a reference to the Rogue Valley State Mobilization Plan citing the Evacuation Policy that Chief Karns handed out at this meeting.
   5. WMC needs to alter our talking points about evacuation and focus on citizens being prepared.  What about the media? The media will be informed through Citizen Alert in an incident.
   6. Can we create “safe houses” for evacuation?  This is probably out of the scope of the WMC, but it could be a need for the community.

3. One Year Marketing Plan for distributing the Firewise Landscaping Brochure
   1. Doug went to the Farmers Market on Tuesday 4/12 & 4/19.  The information booth had the Firewise Landscaping pamphlet in a plastic holder. Doug would like to visit Plant Oregon and Shooting Star in Central Point.

4. Wildfire Hazard Zone (WHZ) Cover Letter
   1. The WHZ process is on hold and we are waiting for the Mayor to give us a new schedule and meeting date with the Tree, Planning and Wildfire Mitigation Commissions. The WMC will wait until we hear from the Mayor.
   2. Could we invite the Mayor to a WMC meeting?
5. Chamber Email and Follow Up
   1. May 3^rd is the next Task Force meeting and we will talk about the “Chamber Wildfire Summit”
   2. Tim will be talking with the Asante Director about the Cascadia Rising and he can talk about the CWPP/wildfire issues when he is there.
      • Can Asante help us come up with a best practices for smoke inhalation?
   3. Vicky is willing to talk to the manager of OSF about smoke.  Maybe it is best to have a general peer discussion at the “Chamber Wildfire Summit”
6. Meeting Reminders
   1. Vicky will check on the next Mayor’s Brown Bag Lunch in April

4. PUBLIC FORUM

5. ADJUSTMENTS TO THE AGENDA

6. BUSINESS
   1. Ongoing Business
      1. Vulnerable Populations (follow up with Kevin/Connie)
         1. Rogue Valley Council of Governments (RVCOG) has a disaster registry list and it is hit or miss.  Ashland has been the most proactive in getting people to sign up. They don’t go into senior centers.  They are willing to share their database for outreach or just knowing who was on it. They get a lot of information out through the Food & Friends. AF&R needs to follow up this to make sure we have HIPPA compliance.
         2. Let’s add this to our ongoing education and outreach talking points (including RSG and Firewise)

2. New Business
   1. Commission Renaming

2. Timeline For Electing a New Chair

3. Firewise Clean Up Day- April 30^th
   1. Alison still needs more volunteers. Doug, Vicky and Ron are available.
4. Ashland Food Project/Firewise Website
   1. Send an email to Alison and Doug if you approve the Firewise Landscaping PDF on the web.
5. CWPP Outline Approval

7. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS

8. REVIEW AND SET COMMISSION CALENDAR / NEXT MEETING

1. Mayor’s Brown Bag Lunch: April 22, 2016: 12PM-1PM (COMDEV, 51 Winburn Way)
2. Firewise Clean Up Day: April 30, 2016: 9AM-3PM Valley View Transfer Station
3. Next meeting May 18, 2016, 11AM-1PM at Station 2 (1860 Ashland Street)

9. ADJOURN: 12:40PM