El Dorado County Fire Safe Council
P.O. Box 1011
am
Diamond Springs, CA 95619
Phone: (530)
1011 647-1700
Email: board@edcfiresafe.org
95619
Website: edcfiresafe.org
1700
"Public and Private Partners Working Together to Protect People,
Homes, and Natural Resources"
Council
Resources"
Board of Directors Meeting
January 28, 2014, 9:30 am
USFS Headquarters, 100 Forni Road, Placerville, CA
“Draft Minutes”
1. Meeting Call to Order: 9:28 am, Pat Dwyer, Chairperson
2. Roll Call & Sign In: Pat Dwyer, Ken Hasse, Ernie Lory, Steve Willis, Bill Bergen, Jim Stewart,
Richard Krek, Ray Griffiths. Members absent: Dylan Thomas, Bill Brandt
3.
Approval of Agenda: Added Action Item f., Required Signatures for CWPPs. Added Item 10,
Correspondence. Richard Krek made a motion to approve the agenda as amended. Ray
Griffiths second the motion. Motion passed by unanimous vote.
4. Consent Agenda: Board Action Items: Richard Krek requested item d. “Ratify Mountain
Enterprises Contract Extension through March 31 2014 be pulled for further review. Item d. was
pulled, Richard Krek moved to approve Consent Agenda as modified, and Ernie Lory second the
motion. Motion passed by unanimous vote. There followed discussion on the responsiveness
and accountability of Mountain Enterprises. It was suggested, however, that the best course of
action at this time would be to extend the current contract in order to maximize the use of our
remaining funding and re-compete the contract in April under the new grant funds. Ray
Griffiths made a motion to ratify the contract extension through March 31, 2014. Jim Stewart
second the motion. The motion passed by a majority vote.
5. Public Comment: Dave Crespo from SMUD provided a summary of SMUD,s fire fuels reduction
program, including ongoing efforts at Iowa Hill and future efforts at Sly Park. Karen Hess from
Arrowbee Lake Estates attended hoping to gather information to facilitate creating a fire safe
council there. George Schwab from Georgetown Fire Department asked if there were any fire
safe councils that crossed jurisdictional lines. There was discussion on the various maps in
existence and being created. Darin McFarlin from CalFire is preparing a map that will contain
jurisdictions, CWPP boundaries, and Fire Safe Council boundaries. Any relevant maps should be
provided to Darin McFarlin in GIS format. He will incorporate them and share his final map(s)
with us.
6. Information Items:
a. New CalFire AEU Chief Mike Kaslin was not available for his scheduled introduction, so it
has been moved to the February meeting. Pat advised that Grizzly Flat has asked for
Defensible Space Certification training and it will be provided in the USFS conference
room after the February 25, 2014 meeting, at 12:30pm. The training is open to the
general public. Darin McFarlin offered to provide maps of areas CalFire will be
inspecting so that we don’t duplicate their efforts.
b. Luke Miller was unable to attend but sent Pat Dwyer a PowerPoint presentation of his
efforts on our website. Pat Dwyer offered to show the presentation at the end of the
meeting, but the meeting ran long. Pat can email the presentation to anyone interested
in viewing it.
c. Chairman’s Report:
i. Linda McDonald: Chairman Dwyer recognized Linda McDonald for her service to
the Council, but she was unable to attend the meeting to accept her certificate
and flowers. Arrangements will be made to deliver them to her.
ii. Christine Swenson: Chairman Dwyer introduced Christine Swenson as the new
volunteer PSS. The Board unanimously passed the revised volunteer agreement
between Ms. Swenson and EDCFSC.
iii. Grant Awards: Chairman Dwyer announced that El Dorado County received
more grant funding, $299,680, than any other California county. There was
discussion of the possibility this landfall might reduce our chances of receiving
significant funding in the future. It was agreed that some sort of prioritization
method should be employed for grant applications.
iv. BOS Meeting: Chairman Dwyer attended the January Board of Supervisors’
meeting to thank them for their letter of support.
v. Friends of Seniors Spaghetti Feed: Board members were provided flyers and
tickets to sell for the Friends of Seniors Spaghetti Feed scheduled for Sunday
March16, 2014 at the Placerville Lyons Hall. He also ask for volunteers to help
serve and for each Fire Safe Council to donate one “Basket” for the raffle.
Funding generated from the Spaghetti Feed along with matching funds from our
council, will be utilized re-start our Senior Assistance program.
vi. Insurance: It was clarified that if an organization has a separate fiscal sponsor
they are not covered under our insurance except under a co-sponsored event. It
was offered that possibly there may be a way to be included as a rider on the
EDCFSC policy, if that were cost effective. Steve Shortes from Motherlode
Insurance will be invited to address the Council at the April22nd meeting.
vii. Chipping and Dumpster status/2012 Grant Balance: Discussed under Treasurer’s
Report.
viii. Title III: The funds from the County Board of Supervisors have not been
transferred to our bank. There is an item on the BOS consent agenda on
February 4th to authorize the transfer. Additional Title III funds may be available
for 2014. The Executive Board will work with the Sheriff’s Office and the County
Administrative Office to insure a smooth and equitable distribution.
ix. RCD Mutual Support: Supervisor Briggs requested a meeting with Chairman
Dwyer regarding a Mutual Support Agreement with the Resources Conservation
District. The possibility of sharing an address and perhaps support staff was
investigated, but determined not feasible at this time.
x. Correspondence: We received a newsletter and invitation to the Volcanoville
FSC. The newsletter contained an excellent FEMA article about evacuating
people with disabilities. A registered letter of Contract Termination sent to our
previous web designer was returned unopened. Chairman Dwyer received an
email from Dave Pratt from the County Planning Commission regarding the
replacement of the Buck’s Bar Bridge. There is a public meeting on January 30th
at Pioneer Park at 6pm. The project may affect evacuation routes.
d. Treasurer’s Report:
i. Financial reports: Ken Hasse summarized the current financial status. The
Chipping program has $37,635 remaining from the 2012 funding. He will request
the remaining $12,000 due on that grant. Ken cautioned against overspending,
especially considering the high demand and fair weather. Richard Krek
requested a budget for the additional $26,000 Title III money we are expecting,
plus the extra $25,000 that we hadn’t counted on.
ii. Accountant: We are using the accountant that bought our old accountant’s
business. Ken Hasse will file the necessary changes.
e. Governance Committee Report: Jim Stewart
i. By-Laws Update: Steve Willis summarized the changes suggested to the bylaws.
The revised version will be provided to the Board of Directors for review. Board
member comments and suggestions are to be submitted by February 15 so that
the finalized document can be distributed at the February 25 meeting and voted
upon at the March meeting. Richard Krek will be submitting a change to the bylaws limiting each Fire Safe Council to not more than one member on the
EDCFSC’s Board of Directors at any one time in order avoid any appearance of
impropriety and to ensure all decisions are equitable.
ii. Policy Update: Updates to the Policies and Procedures has not begun yet,
awaiting completion of the By-Laws update.
f. Projects Committee: Steve Willis requested any changes to any projects be sent either
to him or to Steve Hupner. They will maintain a spreadsheet of all projects.
g. Board Member/Satellite Reports: Steve Willis reported on the Lakehills fuel reduction
project that is going well. Ray Griffiths stated the Georgetown CWPP projects will be
reviewed in two days and will be sent out for comment shortly. Doug Forrest reported
that Auburn Lake Trails is doing chipping for their residents and the demand is
overwhelming. They have a grant for a fuel break to be accomplished by the end of
March. Ernie Lory thanked Chairman Dwyer for attending the Grizzly Flat Fire Safe
Council meeting. Ernie will forward a listing of their proposed volunteer activities. Ken
Hasse followed that Logtown also received a grant and are seeking a new contractor to
do the work. Pat Dwyer reported that Logtown is having Jeff Mussell, Vegetation
Manager from PG&E brief the Logtown FSC on Feb 8th and a Fire Incident and
Evacuation “tabletop” exercise is being planned for the March 8th meeting. The exercise
will include multiple scenarios and cover fire behavior and evacuation plans.
7. Action Items
a. Christine Swenson was approved as Volunteer PSS
b. Foundation Day of Giving: Chairman Dwyer just reminded that this is coming in May
c. Dumpster Policy: Will be addressed at a later date
d. Senior Assist Procedures: Will be addressed at a later date
e. Defensible Space Training: Training is scheduled for February 25, 2014, 12:30 pm in
USFS Building.
f. CWPP/BOS Involvement: Ed Grout and Doug Forrest from Auburn Lake Trails reported
that they were working to get Supervisor Briggs and the Board of Supervisors to sign off
on their CWPP. Chief Schwab emphasized that presenting their CWPP to the BOS is a
great opportunity to get some “face time” with the BOS and encouraged all of us to take
advantage of this. Chairman Dwyer will accompany Ed Grout and Doug Forrest to the
BOS meeting next week to lend his support.
8. Discussion: Chief Schwab reported several statistics reinforcing how severe the current drought
is. He also mentioned that in the future the Fire Department’s time to attend our meetings will
be limited. Chairman Dwyer will plan to attend every Chief’s meeting so that he can carry their
message to the Board in lieu of a Chief having to attend. Richard Krek volunteered to work with
Luke on the website design/updates. Lastly, Chairman Dwyer reminded everyone that we are
again emphasizing the CalFire Ready-Set –Go approach to Fire Protection and reminded
members to pass out the brochures at their local meetings.
9. Good of the Order: Meeting adjourned to the February 25th meeting at 12:10 pm.