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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011.07.12 Forest Lands Commission Minutes Mintues FOR A MEETING OF THE ASHLAND FOREST LANDS COMMISSION Tuesday, July 12th, 2011 5:30PM to 7:30PM Siskiyou Room, Community Development Building 51 Winburn Way I. CALL TO ORDER: 5:38 PM II. INTRODUCTIONS Chris Iverson, Gary Pool, John Williams, Stefanie Seffinger,Albert Pepe, Marty Main, Greg Lemhouse, Chris Chambers. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: May 10t'meeting(no meeting in June) Corrections need to be made to Carrie Zoll's name. It is incorrectly spelled in some parts of the minutes. Williams moved to approve with corrections to Carrie Zoll's name, and Pool seconded. IV. PUBLIC FORUM V. ADJUSTMENTS TO THE AGENDA Not an adjustment, but Seffinger mentioned that the Parks Commission gave approval to a City plan to cool effluent water by improving riparian shading on Ashland Creek. VI. BUSINESS A. Watershed Map Distribution Discussion began with whether or not to frame the poster for the Council meeting. Williams suggested mounting it on foam board to present to the Council and then letting them decide whether or not to frame it. Williams and Chambers will figure out how to print the posted and then Williams will get it mounted before the meeting. Iverson brought up distribution of the watershed map at different places around town. Suggestions included the Chamber of Commerce, City Hall, Fire Stations,N. Mt. Park, Parks Office, Nature Shop, Forest Service, Science Works, Schools, Community Development, outdoor stores, local businesses (through Chamber), the Food Co-op, restaurants could order posters if they wanted to pay for them. Williams suggested using the Cafe Press website to facilitate ordering of prints and posters. It wouldn't cost anything and there could be a small profit. Chambers will look into how they could absorb any profit generated from selling posters. B. Firewise Communities Recognition at Oak Knoll Chambers explained the Firewise Communities program and how it's part of a national effort to recognize communities or neighborhoods that take steps G:\fireTorest Interface DivisionTorest Lands Commission\MINUTES\2011\July 12th 2011 minutes.docx toward wildfire safety. Ashland adopted the Firewise program a year ago and now Oak Knoll Meadows has become the first officially recognized community in Ashland and one of only 9 in Oregon. Many are in process in Ashland and Chambers expects there to be more in Ashland than in the entire state within a couple years. Pool asked about education as a component of Firewise and Chambers said there are many educational tools including brochures, videos, classes, and the Firewise website. Pool asked if a neighborhood could get a presentation about Firewise and Chambers said that the program coordinator Ali True would come out to a neighborhood if they are interested in organizing. C. Trails/Recreation Policy Subcommittee Chambers and others gave an overview of the meeting including the necessity of the trails management effort, the issues coordinating with Forest Service, Parks, and private landowners. There was a review of draft policies and goals that Chief Karns wrote up. Edits were submitted back to the Chief. Marty Main talked to the group about the fragile nature of the watershed and how many municipal watersheds are off limits to recreation and/or any public access. Another meeting will be scheduled at the end of July. D. AFR Project Update including Community Engagement Main gave an update on the AFR project including prescription writing that is taking place in blocks 1 and 2 including public review of prescriptions and tree marking that's currently happening in block 1. Lomakatsi is actively working this week and next to thin units in block 1 where recently certified prescriptions called for non-commercial thinning. Chambers brought up that there is a company finishing work today to move madrone firewood to a landing at the end of the 300 road where it can be accessed by the public in a firewood sale. Chambers said that there might be 20-25 cords of madrone stacked there. The AFR partnership will discuss how to best open up the availability of the firewood to the public and/or the Jackson County Fuels Committee. There are federal regulations that dictate how property(wood) can be disposed of and the project will have to follow those regulations. Community Engagement is moving ahead especially on developing interpretive signage for several sites including the swimming reservoir, White Rabbit trailhead, Four Corners, and Mt Ashland. The swimming reservoir site is being considered for a three panel installation that would include information about the AFR project, recreation maps, and watershed regulations. One possibility for the White Rabbit trailhead is a sign framed with round wood taken from the project as a by-product. The committee will work on a plan for all the sites that ties them together. Another project is an educational video that will get posted on YouTube and circulated in the Community. The video is almost complete at this point, but needs further AFR partner review and edits before it's sent out publicly. E. Update on City lands controlled burning project Chambers explained that although no burning took place, a lot of progress was G:Afire\Forest Interface Division\Forest Lands Commission\MINUTES\201 I\July 12th 2011 minutes.docx made in creating burn plans, working with the City's burn consultant(Tom Murphy), getting regulatory permission from the Department of Forestry, and working with a contractor. Burning didn't go ahead because of dry weather and fire season coming. Pool asked when the next opportunity would be to burn and if the fall is a consideration. Chambers explained that fall burning in decomposed granitic soil is tricky due to the lack of moisture in the lower portion of the soil organic layer, which creates a risk for erosion if burning were to impact that organic soil. With that in mind, the City will pursue creating a burn plan that addresses much of the City's lower watershed ownership and that also has more acres that will get a better price per acre in competitive bidding. F. Ashland Water Advisory Committee Update There hasn't been a meeting in several months waiting for information on utility bills from the City. There are still 2 main options being considered including tying into the Talent pipeline and then developing Ashland's water infrastructure by investing in local capacity over the next couple decades. Lemhouse mentioned the City of Sherwood raising their rates by 48% to cover a new treatment plant whereas Ashland has covered similar costs through hotel or restaurant taxes. Williams talked about a recent Central Point dilemma with the Medford Water Commission and how this would be one of Ashland's issues if we hooked up to the Talent pipeline. Seffinger asked if there would be any impact from the Mt. Ashland expansion on the City's water. Williams said there have been many studies and although they can't know for sure, it looks like mitigations will limit any erosion from the expansion. Iverson and Seffinger had to leave so the meeting was adjourned at 7:02. G. Commission 3-Year Goals progress VII. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS VIII. REVIEW AND SET COMMISSION CALENDAR/NEXT MEETING A. Next Regularly Scheduled Meeting: August 9th, 2011 IX. ADJOURN: 7:02 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(TTYphone 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). G:Afire\Forest Interface DivisionTorest Lands Commission\MINUTES\201 I\July 12th 2011 minutes.docx