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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018.07.18 Wildfire Safety Commission Minutes MINUTES FOR A MEETING OF THE WILDFIRE MITIGATION COMMISSION Wednesday,July 18, 2018 11:00AM to 1:00PM Training Room, Ashland Fire Station#1 455 Siskiyou Blvd I. CALL TO ORDER: 11:00am Stephen Gagne, Hazel Wheeler, Doug Kay,Tonya Graham, Tracy Peddicord,Bruce Moats, Julie Smitherman II. INTRODUCTIONS Stephen Jensen,new City Council Liaison Dan Dawson, Citizen Caitlin Foulkes,Mail Tribune III.APPROVAL OF MINUTES: June 20,2018 Bruce motioned to approve the minutes, Tonya Seconded, all in favor. IV. PUBLIC AND GUESTS FORUM V.ADJUSTMENTS TO THE AGENDA Move CWPP Risk Assessment to August Agenda(15 minutes) VI.REPORTS (2 minutes each) A. Report on Planning Meeting—Stephen a. Since the last Wildfire Mitigation Commission meeting in June,the Wildfire Mitigation Ordinance was presented to the Planning Commission and City Council. The Open Forums that were put together before the City Council were good but it looks like there needs to be another open forum after ordinances this critical come to the City Council. There appears to be a lot of misunderstandings about the ordinance. Some examples were concerns about affordable housing/cottage housing. The ordinance does not address this issue. What is the process to address this misunderstanding-can these be cleared up through a private meeting with a councilor's concerns?At the end of the council meeting there was a request the Planning/Fire Staff to address the concerns that have been brought up throughout the 4 years of public meetings. These questions need to be answered publically not privately. The concerns that Stef brought up felt like they were difficult to be brought up at a larger meeting(equity analysis?) so have a private meeting first and then share the conversation publically. b. The Fire Staff was requested to have one more public meeting before the next first reading. The Staff was also asked to put together a list of questions and concerns from public meetings and city councils. c. One testimony from Shannon Downey talked about how the focus should be on building materials not vegetation. She felt that the Prohibited Flammable Plant was too coarse of a cut. d. Can the Prohibited Flammable Plant List can still be tweaked until an official First Reading? The 30 feet sounds restrictive if we are talking about removing all flammable trees within 30 feet. This needs to be clearer that we are talking about NEW plantings. Shannon wants to see where the science is that says 30 feet is the distance for the plant list. e. Can we pass this ordinance without a flammable plant list or a much smaller plant list? f. The Commission needs to address the issue of excluding neighborhoods in the city. g. Planning/Fire Staff could create a document or do a white board overview: i. This ordinance is this: ii. This ordinance is NOT this: iii. This ordinance could be this: use Cal Fire as an example ACTION ITEM: Fire/Planning develop a list of asked questions during open forums and the city council, including questions that address insurance concerns. Does the expansion of the wildlands overlay increase rates for the city? Is there a difference in insurance rates with houses in the current WLTI and ones outside? Alison will ask the FACnet forum about this. ACTION ITEM: Pick a date for an open forum that is in the next 4 weeks before the next scheduled second reading on August 7t''. ACTION ITEM: Alison will ask Brandon about if we can change the Prohibited Flammable Plant List. ACTION ITEM: Meeting with Shannon Downey about the Prohibited Flammable Plant List with the Plant List Subcommittee(Brandon, Tracy,Julie, Chris,Alison, Shannon)Discuss expanding the plant list the species level? B. Chamber Wildfire Task Force(Smoke/Evac/Business)—Alison a. SmokeWISE Ashland is up and running at smokewiseashland.org b. Nixle Update: The City has adopted a new alert system called Nixle. Since the Klamathon Fire there have been over three thousand sign ups. c. Tonya would like to attend the Task Force meetings. Alison will send her an invite to the next meeting. C. Plant List Subcommittee(Waterwise/Firewise) a. Nothing to report D. Farmer's Market—Doug a. Starting to attend next Tuesday and Alison and Doug will meet next Monday to finalize details. E. FEMA Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant—Alison quick update a. Ashland Fire &Rescue is putting out a request for Proposal for a contractor to complete the Benefit Cost Analysis. The grant process is projected to open August lst F. Firewise USA—Alison quick update a. Grants are extended until June 30,2019. Communities will have $750 available from July 2018-June 2019. G. Firewise Landscaping a. Nothing to report H. WMC members attending other committees-anything pertinent to report? VII. OLD BUSINESS A. Firewise Demonstration Trailer—Doug a. Moving forward. B. WiRE(Intterra)Public Portal Update (Alison, 15 min) a. Put this on the August Wildfire Mitigation Commission Agenda. C. 011ie—(Stephen) a. 011ie will not be attending our meetings for the foreseeable future due to his position with the Forest Service. D. Pricilla vs. Melissa(Stephen) a. Pricilla is applying to be on the Forest Lands Commission. VIII. NEW BUSINESS A. CEAP credit issue update (Tonya on committee) a. The CEAP Ad Hoc Committee requested that the Wildfire Mitigation Ordinance include verbiage about how the ordinance moves forward with CEAP action goals. This language is already imbedded in the presentations and summary of the ordinance,but is not in the ordinance itself. IX. REVIEW AND SET COMMISSION CALENDAR/NEXT MEETING A. Mayors Brown Bag Lunch: July 27, 2018, 12:00pm(CommDev) B. WMO City Council Second Reading: August 7, 2018, 7:00pm(Council Chambers) C. Next WMC Meeting: August 15,2018, 11:00am(Station 1) X. AGENDA ITEMS FOR August 15,2018 CWPP Risk Assessment Presentation(Chris, 15 min) MyHOME Page Discussion(All, 30 min) XI.ADJOURN: 12:40pm 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).