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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018.09.19 Wildfire Safety Commission Minutes MINUTES FOR A MEETING OF THE WILDFIRE MITIGATION COMMISSION Wednesday, September 19, 2018 11:OOAM to 1:OOPM Training Room, Ashland Fire Station#1 455 Siskiyou Blvd I. CALL TO ORDER: 11:OOam Stephen Gagne, Tonya Graham, Doug Kay, Tracy Peddicord, Steve Jensen, Hazel Wheeler, Alison Lerch, Chris Chambers II. INTRODUCTIONS Dan Dawson,New Commissioner III.APPROVAL OF MINUTES: August 15, 2018 Doug motions to approve,Hazel seconded, all in favor. IV. PUBLIC AND GUESTS FORUM Timothy Doland, Guest. V.ADJUSTMENTS TO THE AGENDA Commission recommending certain fire resistant products Mulch flammability test(A-1 Rental Compostable Mulch) VI.REPORTS (2 minutes each) A. Council Liaison a. Councilor Jensen complimented City Staff with their work on presenting the insurance issue at the City Council meeting on September 18'. B. Report on Wildfire Mitigation Ordinance 2nd Reading a. The Wildfire Mitigation Ordinance was passed on September 18'and will become effective on October 18', 2018. A permanent Plant List Subcommittee is now a part of the Wildfire Mitigation Commission. The current Plant List Subcommittee (Doug, Bruce &Tracy)will email each other and come up with potential candidates for the committee members and present at the October meeting. C. Chamber Wildfire Task Force (Smoke/Evac/Business) a. A seven county regional workshop is scheduled for February 2019. The Task Force will invite key County&City leaders, Chamber of Commerce Directors, Emergency Managers and Federal/State fire personnel to an evening event. i. Will there be tactical approaches to county evacuations, like where does Ashland go if we have to have a city evacuation? Could there be a breakout session? There could be time for Redding representatives to speak and tell their 2018 wildfire season evacuation story. Is there a way to collaborate across the counties that is appropriate on that scale? For example, "These are the things I wish someone told me to prepare. I wish someone had told me this information." D. Farmer's Market a. The last 4 weeks have been a spectrum of smoke in the air,with very dense to beautiful blue sky. The table has the Smoke Brochure in English and Spanish. As the air cleared up,the firewise plant list was more of an emphasis. The last two weeks there were a myriad of questions about insurance rates going up or being dropped. b. Insurance rates Frequently Asked Questions: Chris will make a 1-pager so Doug and Alison will hand out at the Farmers Market. Hilton Landscaping was able to locate the Rock Bark and 10 loads are on the way. c. Ideas for 2019: Create an HVAC filter demonstration that shows the difference between a clean filter and a filter that has been in use with 3 weeks of smoke? E. FEMA Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant a. Alison has attended two grant webinars so far and has an Advanced eGrants webinar on Thursday, September 20tn F. Firewise USA—Alison quick update a. There are currently 28 registered Firewise USA neighborhoods-and that number will be 34 at the end of this year. Alison will send the FAC Ambassador packet to the Commissioners. There was discussion that the city should focus on training a few key volunteers not a huge cadre. G. WMC members attending other committees-anything pertinent to report? VII. OLD BUSINESS A. A-1 Rental Mulch Flammability Test a. Doug tested the compostable mulch from A-1 in Talent and it did not burn. B. Firewise Demonstration Trailer—Alison a. Moving forward with Kari the City Attorney. VIII. NEW BUSINESS A. Ashland Firewise Annual Gathering a. The 2018 annual Ashland Firewise gathering is tentatively set for November 13"at the Community Center on Winburn Way. Alison will contact Cindy Bernard about catering again. The theme of this year is Coping with Smoke. Doug is going to approach an HVAC Specialist about doing a presentation. B. Report from City Attorney on the Commission endorsing fire proof building materials a. Chris will report back on this through an email to the Commission. C. Wildfire Mitigation Commission Retreat a. It is time to redefine the priority of the Commission now that the Wildfire Mitigation Ordinance is passed. Now that a landowner can complain about their neighbor's fire prone plants,what is the process for dealing with this? b. Topics: i. More ordinances,Nuisance provisions, Appendix W. ii. Annual Wildfire Outreach Schedule iii. Plain English rules on this subject of code compliance/complaints iv. What is the current requirement and is there a backlog in the current dead tree complaint system? c. ACTION ITEM: Chris will invite Andrew Barrow(Code Compliance Officer)to attend and present at the October 10, 2018 meeting. d. Appendix W will be passed and ready for local adoption by January 2019. e. Chris and Alison can put together a presentation laying out the Wildfire Mitigation Actions that are currently in process in the city, including a wish list of future activity. f. Identify the end state of what the Commission wants to be at. Then work back at where the holes and gaps are and what is appropriate for a citizen volunteer commission to work on. Then prioritize the gaps. D. Wildfire Commission Meeting Dates to Change: a. Alison will talk to the City Recorder about changing the October meeting to October 10' and the November meeting to November 14'. All will be 11 am-1 pm at Station 1. IX. REVIEW AND SET COMMISSION CALENDAR/NEXT MEETING A. WMO City Council Second Reading: September 18, 2018, 7:00pm(Council Chambers) B. Mayors Brown Bag Lunch: September 28,2018, 12:00pm(CommDev)—Cancelled C. Next WMC Meeting: October 24th, 2018, 11:00am(Station 1) D. November WMC Meeting:November 14, 2018, 11:00am(Station 1) E. Commission Retreat: November 14tn: 4pm-8pm X. AGENDA ITEMS FOR October 17, 2018 A. Expanded Plant List Subcommittee Member List B. Code Compliance Presentation(Andrew Barrow) C. Appendix W brief presentation(Ralph Sartain,Fire Marshal) D. Wildfire Mitigation Commission Retreat Brainstorm(Second half of meeting, 60 minutes) a. Chris and Alison will present list of mitigation efforts for the city of Ashland and what pieces should the commission look at. (FAC Ashland Sunrise graphic). What are the component pieces? b. Tonya will send a framework for moving this information in a strategic planning process. XI.ADJOURN: In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, ifyou 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).