HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019.03.20 Wildfire Safety Commission Minutes MINUTES FOR A MEETING OF THE WILDFIRE SAFETY COMMISSION
Wednesday, March 20, 2019 l l:OOAM to 1:OOPM
Training Room, Ashland Fire Station#1, 1860 Ashland Street
I. CALL TO ORDER:
Chris Chambers,Alison Lerch, Dan Dawson,Kent Romney, Steve Asher,Tracy Peddicord, Tonya
Graham, Doug Kay, Bruce Moats, Stephen Gagne, Hazel Wheeler
II. INTRODUCTIONS
Fran Adams,Ashland Resident
Pricilla Franco, Interest Citizen,Forest Lands Commission
Charisse Sydoriak, Interested Commissioner
III.APPROVAL OF MINUTES: February 20&March 6 (Spring Retreat)
Double check name,
IV. PUBLIC AND GUESTS FORUM
V.ADJUSTMENTS TO THE AGENDA
VI. CITY COUNCIL CHECK IN
The City Council formally accepted their goals, establishing that essential services. Value added services
like reducing wildfire risk is in the 2nd tier of priorities. It will be public record when the results are posted
today.
VII. OLD BUSINESS
A. Wildfire Preparedness Campaign(Tonya, Daniel)
a. Jefferson Exchange:
i. Daniel contacted his neighbor at Jefferson Exchange. April 3rd at 8:30am is
scheduled, and he is working on getting dates/times for May and June. The
Jefferson Exchange program would like a contractor on the conversation in April.
Dan can represent a landowner who has done work on his building. Dan also
showed new eave vents that he fabricated. Doug also has Vulcan vent
ii. May: Terri Eubanks, a CERT Volunteer and someone who has been evacuated.
Kent will ask his friend who was evacuated from Paradise and how lives in
Ashland.
iii. June: Sandra Slattery,Alison Lerch and Hazel Wheeler
b. Media Plan: Alison sent information to the Sneak Preview for the April edition. Kent
would like to to see more representation on TV stations. Chris has a connection with
Miles Feritchi of Channel 5. Alison has advertiements in the Ashland Tidings.
c. Co-Sponsors: Tonya and Alison presented at the Chamber of Commerce Board on the
14th. We have a number of sponsors on board including the Chamber of Commerce,
Ashland
d. Grocery Store sponsors will be asked to put up a display for the May campaign. We are
still in need of reach outs to the faith based community. Alison will order easels and flyer
holders for May.
e. Charisse will help for the month of April. Steve Asher can go to Ace Hardware.
VIII. NEW BUSINESS
A. Evacuation Study Session(D'Orazi)
a. Alison, Chris and Chief D'Orazi had a process meeting in regards to a useful mock
evacuation this spring. The problems exixt in liability,resources and participation. Chris
met with the City's GIS Specialist to start a traffic modeling. Then start sectioning off
the city for planned evacuations. Chief D'Orazi looked into this creatively. If we end up
doing an exercise, it needs to be within the budget. There will be a follow up meeting
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with Ashland Police and CERT to further discuss the evacuation process. The biggest
thing is this cannot be a one time event. There needs to be a sustainable plan that is
practiced regularly. Emergency Management Advisory Committee (EMAQ meeting is
scheduled to include evacuation. It also can't just be government,we need to have
community members involved. In the design of the exercise,what is the scope?Kent has
been a part of exercises like this and suggests doing a table top exercise with the public
safety officials. The EOC exercise will contain an evacuation portion, and focus on
communications. Monday is a good day for an exercise since Oregon Shakespeare
Festival is not running. CERT volunteers and Firewise USA group leaders could also be
harnessed in this exercise. There is a product called a SIM Table that is useful for
tabletop exercises. Ashland is in a situation to think about a more timed evacuation, and
a phased approach will be more safer. A tabletop exercise coupld also be streamed live
like the City Council meetings.
i. Google maps could be used to help code the travel times.
ii. Is there any thought of having a bicycle route area where a bus may be placed for
travel outside of the city.
iii. French Creek in Scotts Valley did a staged evacuation
B. Intterra Data(Chris)
a. Chris is presenting at the WUI Reno conference next week on the data and what we are
doing with it. The Intterra program automatically puts the same parcel score for the
entire city,which made the data questionable. Chris is working on a model to better
describe the "exposure rating" and combine it with the Intterra data set. Exposure is
determined by Rate of Spread, Ember Spread/Spotting Distance. When you put the
model to use, it shows that embers may spread one mile and up to to miles away. The 4th
factor is the"nearest neighbor factor."There is great research that within 40 meters of
your home that is where the influence of your neighbors property can effect you. Chris
will try and get feedback from the Reno conference. When he returns, we will convene
local fire experts and vet the data. Once the updated scores are created, we would like to
include this with the WiRe team and the user interface portal. Chris and Alison have a
conference call with Jim from Intterra on Friday.
C. Earth Day with Tree Commission(Stephen)
a. Doug has offered to co-staff a table at the Earth Day celebration. He will bring vents and
hardscape material to the event.
D. Firewise Plus (Stephen)
a. What is the best and most effective way of having Firewise. The overall issue is that we
do not have staff time. The City Council is still working out on a cutting space.
E. Vacant Lot Count(Chris)
a. The total sum of vacant lots includes city parks and HOA. The private side of this picture
was 556. Daniel is wondering how many acres are included in the 556 private count.
Chris will follow up with City GIS to make sure this is an accurate number. We could
come up with new specs into the nuisance clause in the weed abatement. Daniel had an
idea that staff brings the commission examples of vacant lot ordinances from other
jurisdictions. The commissioners can look through the ordinances and bring a
recommendation to staff.
F. Spring Retreat
a. There are topics that still need more discussion. Fire safety inspection with home sales,
fire safe business license for landscaping, illegal camping and cultural implications.
Daniel would like to pick one topic for highest priority at the Retreat and suggested
Firewise Plus or Nuisance Ordinance expansion. 1 st week of June, and will send out a
doodle poll.
G. David Lane's Proposal (12:30pm—Stephen)
a. There are a lot of parallel work already occurring in the city. Some of the proposl could
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help support the work. As a whole,the proposal seems unrealistic with the budget
situation and all the requirements. Daniel would be the first person to approve an
ordinance that requires all property owners to do defensile space. We can start to learn
about standards on vacant lots then we can move to developed lots. Not everyone would
agree on a bond measure to pay for people to reduce their wildfire risk. There is not a
logistical way to get the funding for this. A lot of the proposal comes down to cost.
FEMA grants are very competitive. We have a volunteer culture in Ashland and we
should continue to utilize that resource. This community will react negettively with the
heavy hand that this proposal brings. What does it look like for the city if we carried
community leveled insurance?Parametric insurance?
IX.REPORTS IF TIME ALLOWS(2 min each)
A. Illegal Campfire Issue (Chris)
a. Coop Agencies/Mutual Ordinance
b. Ashland Police Permission to Enforce beyond jurisdiction(Chris)
c. Drone Operations idea: status,bid, including Federal Property Fly-over, enforcement
jurisdictions update
d. OHRA(Alison)
e. Fire Adapted Communities Network Call
B. Chamber Wildfire Task Force (Smoke/Evac/Business)—(Alison)
a. Rogue Regional Resiliency Forum Report
C. Plant List Subcommittee(Alison)
D. Real Estate Presentation(Tracy)
E. Tree Commission Report
F. WMC members attending other committees-anything pertinent to report?
X. REVIEW AND SET COMMISSION CALENDAR/NEXT MEETING
A. Next WSC Meeting: April 17,2019, 11:00am(Station 1)
B. Rogue Valley Earth Day: April 20, 2019 (Science Works)
C. Commission Presentation to City Council: May 21, 2019, 7pm(Council Chambers)
XI. AGENDA ITEMS FOR April 17,2019
A. Cooperative Law Enforcement Agreements/Drones (Pricilla)
B. Maintenance of electrical grid outside city boundaries(Tom)
C. New Building Code Standards (Ralph Sartain, Fire Marshall)
XII. 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(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).
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