HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021.01.20 Wildfire Safety Commission Minutes MINUTES FOR A MEETING OF THE WILDFIRE SAFETY COMMISSION
Wednesday, January 20, 2021 l l:00AM to 1:00PM Zoom
As the January 20"Wildfire Safety Commission (WSC)will be held electronically, any public forum testimony is to be
submitted in writing by members of the public by 10AM the day before the scheduled meeting. Staff will compile all
written testimony into one document and send the document to the Commission members and post the testimony on the
agenda the day before the meeting after 10AM. The written testimony will also be included in the minutes.
Members of the public are welcome to listen or view the Wildfire Safety Commission meeting live. Please contact
katie. ig bble&ashland.or.us if you would like to listen to this meeting live.
Meeting protocol via Zoom: raise hand to chime in and Stephen or Katie will facilitate when you can begin speaking
I. CALL TO ORDER
A. Dan Dawson,Bruce Moats,Kent Romney, Charisse Sydoriak, Stephen Gagne, Chris Chambers, Steve
Asher, Doug Kay, Brian Hendrix, Katie Gibble, Tonya Graham, Paul Behrhorst
II. INTRODUCTIONS
III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
A. All approve
IV. PUBLIC AND GUEST FORUM
V. ADJUSTMENTS TO AGENDA
VI. CITY COUNCIL CHECK-IN
A. Town Hall update
1. Town hall meeting still set for February, exact date TBD
2. WSC reviewed the shortened one-page WSC Recommendations list to approve.
a) Motion to submit letter to council as is. Charisse makes motion, Dan seconds. Passed
(1) Amendment to motion to attach sample letter for weed abatement
(a) Steve motions, Paul seconds, discussion:
(b) Group decides no weed abatement letter to county is needed, but that
WSC supports movement by county to move toward more proactive fire
preparedness.
B. Fire Chief update
1. Adam should see contract/candidates for interim fire chief at next meeting.
VII. OLD BUSINESS
A. Working Group List
1. FAC Expansion/integration(KG,KR, CS, DK)
a) No new items to report
2. CWPP (CS, PB, KR)
a) No new items to report
3. Nuisance Ordinance Expansion(DD, CS, CC, KG)
MINUTES FOR A MEETING OF THE WILDFIRE SAFETY COMMISSION
Wednesday,January 20,2021 11:OOAM to 1:OOPM Zoom
a) Dan D. -this ordinance is meant to be complaint based. Language in draft that Dan and
Charisse created is consistent with Jackson County's draft weed abatement language. This creates
consistency across the county.
b) Charisse requests that Chris send comments of ordinance draft to Dan and Charisse
before bringing it back to Council.
4. Home Inspector Capacity-building(KR, CS,PB)
a) Charisse—presents front end documents developed by the working group for the Wildfire
Risk Assessment Program(WRAP) and Wildfire Risk Reduction Program(WRRP). The ultimate
goal of the program is to reduce risk on the ground.
(1) Charisse walks through flow chart that outlines how to facilitate action for those
who can do the action themselves vs. those who cannot.
(2) Charisse makes call for a different commissioner to enter the Risk Reduction
Program group
(a) Steve A. agrees to provide assist,with emphasis on providing
construction guidance to the group.
5. Nursery/Landscaper Education(CS,KG)
a) No new items to report
6. Fire-Safe Business License Program for Landscapers and Contractors (KG, SG)
a) No new items to report
7. New Building Code Adoption advocacy(KG, SG)
a) Staff meeting scheduled in Feb.to move forward on adopting this ordinance, and will be
brought forward to Council this Spring.
8. Electric Utility Risk Assessment(SA)
a) Pacific Power was supposed to send Steve their pruning protocol,but they have not yet.
Pacific Power is working on expanding the clearing of the wires.
B. Farmer's Market(Doug)
1. Market opens March 2°1 in back of Armory.
C. Homeland Security Grant for evacuation planning(Chris)
1. City staff coordinating closely with contractor to provide best data for the evacuation study and
provided clarification/improved data and methodology regarding wildfire risk and traffic flow.
D. DEQ Grant(Katie)
1. DEQ provided Ashland with$20,000 additional dollars to purchase and distribute 100 more air
purifiers to Ashland's most smoke-vulnerable residents.
E. Real Estate Engagement Program(SG,KG)
1. Katie reports that the NFPA class is still on hold for inspectors until COVID restrictions are lifted
MINUTES FOR A MEETING OF THE WILDFIRE SAFETY COMMISSION
Wednesday, January 20, 2021 11:00AM to 1:00PM Zoom
F. Intterra/WiRe Program rollout(DD,BM, KG, KR)
1. Dan requests more information about the Interra sidewalk assessments in next meeting.
G. Spring Wildfire Preparedness Campaign(KG, KR, CS,DK)
1. The Campaign working group met for the first time last week. Will be meeting regularly moving
forward
H. Illegal Camping Ignition Sources (KG, CC)
1. Expansion to Greenway
a) Nothing new to report
VIII. NEW BUSINESS
A. Brian—weed abatement
1. This year Brian issued warning letters sooner than usual. Usually he sends letters to 400-500
residents in May,but decided to target a larger audience, and earlier than before. The audience that
received a letter this year has not necessarily received abatement warning letters from the City before.
There was a mistake on the date that caused confusion.
2. The letter included the specific requirements for weed abatement and Wildfire Safety Ordinance.
Noncompliant recipients will receive a citation.
3. Brian has received hundreds of calls with questions about the letters, and is prioritizing calls
because we can't get to every property every year. Because we do not have the funds to abate every
property, we are moving towards enforcing the weed abatement more. This has been a good educational
opportunity.
B. Working group discussion(Kent)
1. Kent expresses concern that there is a lot of work to be done,but not enough people to get the
work done on the working groups. Provides two suggestions:
a) Look at own commitment, is there any room to step up in time commitment
b) Look at capacity of existing commissioners, look on recruiting additional commissioners
to work on/accomplish agenda set up by the commission.
IX. REPORTS AS TIME ALLOWS
A. Forest Lands Commission
B. Chamber Wildfire Task Force (Chris)
X. NEXT MEETING
A. Wednesday,February 17th,2021. 11 AM-1 PM, Zoom
XI. ADJOURN