MINUTES FOR A MEETING OF THE
WILDFIRE MITIGATION COMMISSION
Wednesday, March 15, 2017
11:00AM to 1:00PM
Training Room, Ashland Fire Station #1
455 Siskiyou Blvd
IN ATTENDANCE: Doug Kay, Stephen Gagne, Tracy Peddicord, Bruce Moats, Vicky Sturtevant, Tim Bewley, Chris Chambers, Alison Lerch, Julie Smitherman
NOT IN ATTENDANCE: Stef Seffinger
- CALL TO ORDER: 11:00am
- INTRODUCTIONS
Julie Smitherman from the City’s Water Conservation Department
- APPROVAL OF MINUTES: February 15, 2017
Steven Moved to approve, Doug Second, all in favor.
Action Items:
Commissioner adjustments: Stephen and Tracy have extended their appointments. Vicky will leave the Commission at the end of April.
Paul Hessburg: Getting a better video- Leavenworth or Bend. First week of May.
Burn to Learn: Alison handed out a flyer. The Event is May 12-13 at Jackson County Fire District 3 in White City.
Emails on the website: Email addresses are required on the City’s website. Alison will work with Dana Smith and report back in April.
Insurance Letter: Circulated to John Karns and Chief Shepherd; one change to the letter. Who is this letter from? Fire Chief/City Administrator/Wildfire Mitigation Commission. The initial discussion was to encourage State Farm to include a discount. Once we hear back from State Farm we will push out this process additional Insurance agencies.
Commission Vacancies: Steve Asher is interested in attending the next meeting
- PUBLIC FORUM
- ADJUSTMENTS TO THE AGENDA
- Discussion about how to conduct the meetings. Should we invite others to do a presentation. How much time do we give people in public forum?
- Mayor’s Brown Bag Commission Meeting: Tim connected with Alison and Julie about the new landscaping project at the airport. Kerry Kenkairn, the Landscape Architect, will set up a meeting with Alison, Julie and Tim to talk about their new project.
- BUSINESS
- New Business
- 2016 Accomplishments
- Ongoing Business
- 2017 Commission Priorities
- Committee Updates:
- Plant List Subcommittee
- The intent of this document is for tabling at the Farmers Market and to align with the Wildfire Ordinance
- This list needs to be tailored to small landscapes and to the Rogue Valley.
- What does the Commission want from this? A tri-fold pamphlet is too small to include ornamental grasses and perennials.
- Rogue Valley vs the larger Market. Rogue Valley Firewise Plants. Rogue Valley Firewise Plants best used at least 10 feet from structures.
- 3 Icons:
- deer head- benefits from deer protection
- water drops- drought tolerant,
- bee-friendly
- Remove “Beneficial’s” and explain what they are
- Plant material within 3 feet of a structure is something that is trying to be prohibited.
- Add “Minimize Foundation Planting”
- Creating Zones in the city “Flatland Zone” “Hillside Zone”
- We may still want to create a postcard.
- The back of the 1 pager could include an image with appropriate distances to structures.
- Do we need to put a publication date on this? Brand the pamphlet with Ashland Firewise?
- Julie will co brand it with waterwise Ashland.
- Wildfire Mitigation Ordinance (WMO)
- Community Planning Assistance for Wildfire (CPAW) created a memo with notes about the Draft Wildfire Ordinance and attended the February 21st WMO Meeting. A suggestion was made to divide Ashland into 2 zones, the lower valley and steep ground. The big take away from the meeting was that a 5 foot distance around structures with no vegetation was science based and needed to be valued. Next meeting is April 7th.
- Wildfire Task Force (Smoke, Evac/Com, Business Resilience)
- Evac/Com: Each incident is different, so we need to enhance the communication strategies that we have.
- Smoke Committee is meeting on April 5th.
- Community Wildfire Protection Plan Subcommittee (Risk Assessment)
- Farmer’s Market 2017
- Doug attended the famers market and we are invited and good to go. There will be sign up opportunities at the April meeting.
- Send out an e-blast to the 2300 households on the Ashland Food Project when the new Firewise Plants sheet is ready.
- Firewise Newsletter: Ask Julie if she can plug the Firewise Newsletter in her Waterwise newsletter.
- Mayor’s Brown Bag Lunch
- Forest Division Update
- AFR- helicopter thinning has started, log trucks going on Tolman Creek Rd with only one complaint. A 5-acre prescribed burn was conducted this week and more is planned for the rest of the week. A Prescribed Fire Training Exchange (TREX) is the first 2 weeks of May.
- Firewise- New Firewise Community Meadowbrook Park Estates
- Parking Lot Issues
- Wildfire Mitigation Ordinance
- Flammable Plant List/Landscaper-Nursery Update
- Community Wildfire Protection Plan
- Branding the WMC
- Wildfire Commission Collateral
- Firewise Website
- COMMISSIONER COMMENTS
- REVIEW AND SET COMMISSION CALENDAR / NEXT MEETING
- Mayors Brown Bag Lunch: March 24, 2017, 12:00pm (ComDev)
- Chamber WTF Meeting: April 5, 2017, 10:30pm (Station 1)
- WMO: April 7, 2017, 10:30am (Station 1)
- Next WMC Meeting: April 19, 2017, 11:00am (Station 1)
- Firewise Class: April 22, 2017
- Ashland Firewise Clean Up Day: May 6, 2017
- Firewise Expo: May 12-13, 2017
- WMC Report to the City Council: May 16, 2017
- AGENDA ITEMS FOR April 19, 2017
- What is the mechanism for city owned landscape review? Tim will find this out as well as bring this up at the Mayor’s Brown Bag Lunch.
- Landscaping Field Trips
- Tracy would like to go on a Firewise Assessment with Alison
- ADJOURN:
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).