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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFD Regional Wildfire Prevention____________________________________________________________________________________ FOR CITY CLERK ONLY Council Meeting: 09/03/2019 Disposition: Accepted Report Agenda Item No: 6.a Meeting Date: September 3, 2019 SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT Department: Fire Department Prepared by: Christopher Gray, Fire Chief City Manager Approval: ______________ TOPIC: REGIONAL WILDFIRE PREVENTION SUBJECT: MARIN WILDFIRE PREVENTION AUTHORITY INFORMATIONAL REPORT RECOMMENDATION: Accept report and provide direction to staff. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The deadliest and most destructive wildfires in our state’s recent history have occurred in the past two years. Marin County’s and San Rafael’s wildlands and lush vegetation leaves San Rafael particularly vulnerable to devastating and deadly wildland fires. San Rafael has a long history of leading efforts to proactively address wildfire risks. Despite our best local efforts, fire does not respect jurisdictional boundaries and immediate and sustained action is needed to better protect all communities in Marin. Given the changing climate and increased risk of wildfires, we have been partnering with FireSafe Marin and all our neighboring Marin towns and cities to develop a countywide approach to wildfire prevention. The purpose of this report is to update the City Council on these countywide efforts and present the proposed plan that would create a new joint powers authority agreement (JPA). A countywide coalition that includes the cooperation of all Marin fire and cities/towns has proposed the creation of the Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority (MWPA). The MWPA would be a multi-agency authority to fund, coordinate and oversee wildland fire detection, fuel reduction, public education, defensible space evaluations, and local agency wildfire prevention efforts. A fact sheet that describes this new initiative and the MWPA can be found in Attachment 1. BACKGROUND: In 2007, the City Council adopted a model ordinance, entitled Wildland-Urban Interface—Vegetation Management Standards, for vegetation management to proactively reduce the risk of wildfires (S.R.M.C. 4.12). This ordinance specifically codifies required vegetation management standards for parcels located in designated Wildland-Urban Interface (“WUI”) areas, with the goal of creating defensible space around structures that will minimize the spread of fires from wildlands to structures, from structures to wildlands, and from structures to structures. SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT / Page: 2 In September 2018, the Marin County Fire Department presented a Lessons Learned Report to the Board of Supervisors with recommendations developed by a multi-disciplinary sub-committee, which includes a list of proposed areas across the County for improvement in managing local wildfire risk. In August 2018, City staff presented an informational report to the City Council relating to the City’s wildfire prevention efforts. As part of the presentation, the City Council provided direction to staff to draft a bold and comprehensive plan to further address wildfire risk in San Rafael. On March 18, 2019, the City Council approved the San Rafael Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan. The 38-point plan outlines various goals to proactively and aggressively address the growing risks associated with wildfire. The implementation of this framework is underway, with continual feedback from the Citizen Wildfire Advisory Committee, co-chaired by Mayor Phillips and Councilmember Bushey. However, the vast majority of the actions require additional funding and/or countywide collaboration to be fully and effectively implemented. On April 25, 2019, the Marin County Civil Grand Jury released their investigative report on the conditions of wildfire preparedness and made recommendations for improvement in the areas of vegetation management, public education, evacuations, and creation of a joint powers authority to improve wildfire safety in Marin County. The City Council responded to this report on June 17, 2019. At the July 15, 2019 meeting, the City Council adopted the Marin County Multi-jurisdictional Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (MCM LHMP). This plan fully incorporated the existing Local Hazard Mitigation Plan while demonstrating countywide collaboration and commitment to mitigating the multiple natural hazards impacting Marin County. ANALYSIS: Marin County has 19 local fire agencies and no single agency responsible for coordinating wildfire prevention and mitigation efforts. A working group of city managers (including San Rafael’s City Manager), fire chiefs and staff have been working on a new approach to coordinate prevention and mitigation efforts countywide. This new approach proposes to create a new joint powers authority, the Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority (MWPA), as well as a revenue measure for sustained support of wildfire prevention activities. The proposed new revenue measure for consideration by voters in March of 2020 would accomplish key initiatives such as: improving emergency alert and warning systems, reducing combustible plans and vegetation, improving evacuation routes, and expanding and enhancing defensible space and home evaluations. All proceeds of the measure would stay local and be protected from any taking by the State. Funds would be dedicated to wildfire prevention and cannot be diverted. In addition, independent oversight and annual audits would be required. Finally, the new revenue source would help all Marin agencies collectively qualify for state and federal grants that would otherwise go to other communities around the state. If the proposed tax measure is not passed, the MWPA would dissolve. The proposed annual budget of the MWPA of approximately $20 million would be allocated as follows: • 60% or $12 million for Wildfire Detection & Evacuation Program Improvements, Vegetation Management and Fuel Reduction, Grants and Public Education/Outreach. • 20% or $4 million for Defensible Space Evaluations. • 20% or $4 million countywide for Local-specific Wildfire Prevention Efforts. The 20% allocated to local-specific efforts would mean approximately $930,000 annually in direct funds to San Rafael. These funds would support unique needs in San Rafael (like our need for Open Space SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT / Page: 3 Park Rangers) that would not be supported by the efforts of the MWPA, such as: addressing encampments, installation of parking boxes on narrow hillside streets, or other efforts. These funds would allow us to implement critical actions in San Rafael’s Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan that do not currently have a funding source. An 11-member Board of Directors would provide governance, with two elected from each of five proposed zones. These five zones would include San Rafael, Ross Valley, West Marin, Novato and Southern Marin – as well as 1 area representing the small fire districts. An Operations/Budget committee of 11 would be comprised of agency staff, such as the City Manager or Fire Chief, from the member agencies from the five proposed zones. Finally, an Advisory Committee of technical staff would help provide advice and help inform the annual workplan and budget. COMMUNITY OUTREACH: Over the next six weeks, the Marin County Fire Chiefs Association in cooperation with local Fire departments, will provide informational presentations to fire district boards and city and town councils. Once all the feedback is received, the City Manager/Fire Chief working group will finalize the plan. Then outreach efforts can continue with the goal of each fire district board, and city/town council responsible for fire suppression to join the Joint Powers Authority by agreeing to the JPA agreement. Locally, San Rafael continues community outreach and education related to wildfire. On June 10, 2019, San Rafael held its first Wildfire Advisory Committee meeting. The committee is made up of 15 residents of San Rafael. The committee has met four times and is providing excellent feedback on the specific items of the Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan. Staff expects to have a presentation to the City Council with all the committee’s feedback in late October/early November. FISCAL IMPACT: This informational report has no fiscal impact. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Accept the report and provide direction to staff. ATTACHMENT: 1. Local Wildfire Prevention & Mitigation Initiative Fact Sheet Local Wildfire Prevention & Mitigation Initiative Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority Marin’s Communities are Threatened by Wildfire More than 260,000 people live in Marin County, served by cities, towns, the County of Marin, and well-coordinated fire agencies. Marin’s wildlands and lush vegetation make our neighborhoods beautiful and desirable places to live, but also leave residents and visitors vulnerable to wildfire. Local fire agencies and communities must coordinate wildfire prevention and disaster preparedness, including maintaining defensible space, reducing combustible vegetation, making homes fire resistant, and planning for organized evacuation in an emergency. Individual homes and properties are more fire resilient when preparedness is approached at the community scale. A collective effort by all citizens and property owners is necessary to build a resilient community and reduce the threat of wildfire to life, property, and infrastructure. A Wildfire Prevention Effort to Reduce Marin’s Fire Risk Wildfires are bigger, burn longer, cause more damage, and kill more people than ever before. This new reality requires greatly expanding prevention, preparedness, and fuel-reduction efforts throughout Marin. The Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority (MWPA) is a coalition of local fire agencies, emergency service providers, and cities, towns, and county government being formed to support the development and implementation of a comprehensive wildfire prevention and emergency preparedness initiative. MWPA Initiative Key elements of this initiative include:  Improving emergency alert and warning systems to enhance early alert for organized evacuations  Expanding coordinated efforts to reduce combustible plants and vegetation  Improving evacuation routes and infrastructure to enhance traffic flow and promote safe evacuations  Expanding and enhancing defensible space and home evaluations and educating homeowners about how to reduce the vulnerability of their home and neighborhood to wildfire  Providing grants and support to seniors, persons with disabilities, and low-income homeowners who need assistance maintaining a defensible space, making homes fire resistant, reducing combustible vegetation, and preparing for emergencies  Creating and sustaining a coordinated local wildfire public safety and disaster preparedness program  Supporting residents to establish Firewise USA programs in neighborhoods through ongoing public education Bringing a Local Wildfire Prevention Initiative to Reality  Marin’s fire agencies, cities, towns, and county government are currently working to form the MWPA and develop a coordinated program for wildfire prevention.  To be successful, a stable source of locally-controlled funding dedicated to wildfire prevention and public safety is required.  A comprehensive wildfire prevention strategy is under development and will be announced later this year. Questions? If you have questions about this planning effort, please contact Christie Neill at cneill@marincounty.org or (415) 473-3759.