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Agendas and Minutes

Wildfire Safety Management Advisory Committee (View All)

Regular Meeting Minutes

Agenda
Wednesday, January 20, 2016

MINUTES FOR A MEETING OF THE
WILDFIRE MITIGATION COMMISSION
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
11:00AM to 1:00PM
Conference Room, Ashland Fire Station #1
455 Siskiyou Blvd

I. CALL TO ORDER: 11:03
In Attendance: Stephen Gagne, Bruce Moats, Tim Bewley, Doug Kay, Vicky Sturtevant, Ron Parker, Alison Lerch (AF&R), Chris Chambers (AF&R), Kevin Preister (CSEPP)

Not in Attendance: Greg Lemhouse, City Liaison

II. INTRODUCTIONS

III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: December 18, 2015
Tim moves to approve, Stephen second, all in favor.

IV. PUBLIC FORUM

V. ADJUSTMENTS TO THE AGENDA

VI. BUSINESS

Social Ecology Assessment (60 minutes)
1. Outline missing links/additional outreach
  - How important is the change of citizen behavior in the outcome of the plan?
  - How important is additional citizen input to do this?

Main concerns:

Evacuation Routes
Pets
Firewise
Vulnerable Population
Landowner buy in for treating their own properties/creating defensible space
Leveraging of partners can help further the goals of the Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP)
Utilize CERT to get into the community

Kevin’s suggestions:
1. Stay ahead of the crowd
2. Stay as informal as we can in our contact (less positional language)
3. Ask our subjects if there are other people that we need to talk to

Approve the report

Ron moves to approve the CSEPP, Stephen second, all in favor.

Discussion:

This report was a sampling, the Wildfire Mitigation Commission (WMC) should take it from here to the larger organizations.
If we are coming up with a game plan to use this in the CWPP, do we have enough information? Are there any other segments that are in the Ashland community that we did not hit: School District, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Hospital, Landscape Architect, General Contractor, Carpenters, Realtors, Jackson County?
What we learned from Kevin was that 1 on 1 is the best approach. We can invite Tracy to a WMC meeting.
Chris mentioned that after the Measure 56 was sent out that we will have a lot of adverse reactions to the WHZ. Vicky would like to get out ahead of the negative crowd. We need to give the citizens with concerns an opportunity to be heard.
There has more to do with the Community Engagement process. The CWPP may not happen until 2017. Kevin believes that there is greater awareness in the community because of their work on this report. Maybe we should do small (3 working sessions at most) short lived working groups in neighborhoods using CERT or Map Your Neighborhood groups.
Do we have Evacuation Zones? We have Evacuation Routes. Who determines where people go? With pet evacuation, are we talking domestic animals or farm animals. The Biscuit Fire of 2002 had to work through a lot of these issues.
Would it be possible for our next meeting to have the Evacuation Routes/Zones Expert join? That would be Chris and Chief Karns. The Red Cross takes care of the evacuation areas. There might be something in the Emergency Operations Plan.
Firewise Communities/USA is a good lead in to the bigger conversation about wildfire since we have fire scars on the landscape.
Setting up at the Farmers Market would hit a good sample of the community
We still need to create an Action Plan. Do we need a retreat or a special meeting. Station 2.

ACTION ITEM: Alison will send out a doodle poll for meeting dates for the retreat in February/March. We will contact Don Fergusen to facilitate. The retreat will work on the Community Engagement Action Plan and the CWPP Outline.

Wildfire Hazard Zone Expansion (30 minutes)
1. Current Timeline:
  1. Planning Commission Study Session February 23^rd at 7pm– this could be a joint commission meeting.
  2. Notice drafted by March 8^th
  3. State required notice Measure 56 mailed out March 22^nd
  4. Planning Commission hearing is scheduled for April 12^th. First official public hearing.

Does the WMC want a joint meeting on 2/23? The WMC could have 1 or 2 representing members?

Tim motions to request to participate in a joint session with the tree commission and planning commission on February 23^rd at 7pm, Stephen second, All in favor.

b. Flammable Plant List

The WMC would like a list of “Recommended Plants” to accompany the “Prohibited Plan List.” A longer list of recommended plants portrays a more proactive and positive approach to the process. A suggestion was made to adjust the language to include “Prohibited NEW Plant List” to reduce confusion.

ACTION ITEM: Chris and Alison will talk to Brandon about getting a draft cover letter for the notice.

CWPP Outline (30 Minutes)
1. About 50% of the CWPP outline is already composed, either from the previous CWPP or from the Forest Plan.
2. Two notable new elements are: Vulnerable Populations & Post-Fire Recovery
3. We should to include non-private land/all lands approach
4. Alison will collect a list of documents that we can take verbiage from for the outline (For the retreat)
Action Item Update (If time allows)
1. Ashland Food Bank will post a link to the Firewise Landscaping brochure from their site to our site using a direct link. Maybe we could also include information about Ready, Set, Go! Evacuation.
Old Business (If time allows)
1. Risk Assessment Map
New Business
1. City Council Representative
2. Commission Vacancy
Next Agenda
1. WHZ Cover Letter
2. Endorse WHZ
3. Pet Evacuation

VII. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS

VIII. REVIEW AND SET COMMISSION CALENDAR / NEXT MEETING

Next meeting February 17, 2016

IX. ADJOURN: 1:01 PM
Stephen motions to adjourn, Tim second, all in favor.

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).