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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWildfire Advisory Committee 2019-09-19 Minutes WILDFIRE ADVISORY COMMITTEE THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2019 AT 4:30 P.M. REGULAR MEETING SAN RAFAEL COMMUNITY CENTER, ROOM 4 618 B STREET, SAN RAFAEL, CALIFORNIA MEETING MINUTES MEMBERS PRESENT: Gary Phillips, Mayor Romeo Arrieta Gina Daly Paula Kamena Larry Luckham Tom Obletz Tom Unterman Thomas Vogl MEMBERS ABSENT: Maribeth Bushey, Councilmember; Lisa Dal Gallo; Kevin Hagerty; Robert Chatham, Brian Waterbury; Sandra Luna; Lauren Withey; Stephen Mizroch OTHERS PRESENT: Cristine Alilovich, Assistant City Manager-- Quinn Gardner, Emergency Manager Coordinator, Staff Liaison-- Christopher Gray, Fire Chief Stephanie Moulton-Peters, Mill Valley Councilmember Christine Foster, Digital Services INTRODUCTION Mayor Gary Phillips welcomed and thanked committee and members of the public in attendance. OPEN TIME FOR PUBLIC EXPRESSION Resident, Katie Miller of East San Rafael, raised concerns of costs and benefits of the 3-foot hardscape proposal. She hopes that the City of San Rafael will follow in Mill Valley’s footsteps and make this voluntary and not mandatory. Mayor challenged her on “the greater good”. Miller went back to the cost and believes we should be more concerned about eucalyptus trees and drone batteries. Quinn brought clarification to the definition “hardscape”. Romeo Arrieta stated that “we” have not determined the distance, asked for confirmation about whether there has been a formal vote. Quinn responded. Bonnie Morris from Dominican neighborhood raised concerns about the bio-diversities within the 5-foot distance from her home. She expressed that even though residents care very much about fire safety, but there are other factors we need to take into consideration with climate change. The Mayor asked for committee introductions. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM August 28, 2019 MEETING Quinn addressed the content change in regard to the JPA, bullet point 3 to clarify how all percentages of the potential tax funds would be spent. Paula Kamena was added to the members present list. There were also some minor typographical corrections. Arrieta voted to accept changes, Luckham seconded. Minutes were approved as amended. MATTERS BEFORE THE COMMITTEE Stephanie Moulton-Peters introduced herself and spoke briefly of her involvement with fire safety and the City of Mill Valley. Mill residents did not support the proposed 3-foot defensible space rule, so the Mill Valley committee opted to keep the plant removal but gave residents two years to meet compliance. Her advice is to be proactive, yet, realistic. Mayor Gary Phillips shared his concerns about the extended compliance timeline. Gina Daly brought up the incentives that were used during the drought to get residents to replace lawns and use less water, how can we learn from that. She suggested reserving the chipper program for elderly residents on a fixed income. There was general agreement that wildfire mitigation will require “sticks and carrots”. Open discussion continued about implantation and deadlines. Moulton-Peters suggested “phasing in” tasks and dates to make it more manageable for residents. Mayor asked Quinn to direct the discussion. Quinn touched on enforcement and regulations of short-term rental units in the City. Mayor posed a question regarding the distribution of the funds from a potential wildfire tax measure. He wants to be assured that San Rafael will see equivalent benefits to what it contributes, recognizing projects in neighboring committees also benefit San Rafael. Luckham says the key is getting buy in from the public, all you need is the stick but if you can get some carrot, i.e. chipper program, replacement solutions, that implementing decisions would be easier. He expressed that this is a statewide issue. Unterman asked the Chief is the state would come in and overrule any implementations that San Rafael pushes forward. Chief responded that he does not believe the state minimum will exceed the local regulations put into place. He believes anything San Rafael ends up implanting will exceed the state. Mayor asked Katie Miller how she felt the meeting was going so far and if the discussion had provided any clarity or eased her concerns. Miller said the discussion helped her understand the City wanted to take a nuanced approach to the landscaping requirements but that most people don’t know or understand that. She believes the City needs to do a better job communicating with the public their intent and process. Cristine Alilovich asked Chief Gray to speak to the funding of the JPA. Chief Gray spoke to the effects of the recession and the support of Measure A to perform vegetation management in the open space. There will be administrative costs to maintaining the JPA. “We need a unified method and a unified agency to tackle what’s in front of us.” Chief expressed his concerns and difficulties with hiring and keeping vegetation management employees. Gina Daly mentioned AmeriCorps and asked about potential to work with them or other out of the box solutions. Quinn shared her knowledge and experience with AmeriCorps. The City recently had an AmeriCorps group working in the San Rafael for 10 weeks, costing the City less than $5,000. The City currently has another application with AmeriCorps for assistance next year. Vogl suggested the committee spend additional time discussing the immediate ignition zone standards. Alilovich stated there will be community meetings following the City Council meeting. Future meeting dates were set for October 9th, at 4:30pm at 618 B street. Meeting Adjourned at 6:02 P.M.