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Regional Open Space
MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT
Meeting 08-27
SPECIAL MEETING
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
December 4, 2008
MINUTES
SPECIAL MEETING
I. ROLL CALL
President Pete Siemens called the Special Meeting to order at 7:04 p.m. He asked for the Roll
Call.
Members Present: Pete Siemens, Jed Cyr, Nonette Hanko, Ken Nitz, Larry Hassett and
Curt Riffle.
Members Absent: Mary Davey
Staff Present: S. Abbors, S. Schectman, G, Sam, D. Sanguinetti, M. Freeman, K.
Lenington, L. Maze, S. Hooper, P. McKowan, T. Gibson, C. Cleve, E. Simmons, M. Newburn,
R. Jurgensen, G. Laustsen, M. Baldikowski, S. Hooper and C. Beckman
I1. ADOPTION OF AGENDA
Motion: Director Cyr moved that the Board adopt the Agenda. Director Nitz
seconded the motion. The motion passed 6 to 0.
1II. BOARD BUSINESS
A. Agenda Item No. 1 — Study Session to Review Draft Wildland Fire Management Policy
Review Discuss and Comment on the Draft Wildland Fire Management Policy
(Report R-08-138)
K. Lenington led the study session and began with an overview and summary of the
November 6, 2007 workshop.
President Siemens asked for public comment after K. Lenington's report.
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Public Comment
Rick Parfitt, Santa Clara Fire Safe Council, Los Gatos. Mr. Parfitt said he was a resident
of the Summit Road area. He suggested that the District incorporate adjacent land
owners in the fire management plan. He commented that there is not enough defensible
space around some homes near District land. He suggested creating trails that serve as
fuel breaks. He commented on Section 18.7 that it is important to incorporate the
creation of study areas for research into the Watershed Management plan. He said his
group has received grant funding, but they need to secure permits to remove trees in
exchange for having property owners create defensible space around their properties.
Jitze Couperus, Los Altos Hills Country Fire District, Los Altos Hills. Mr. Couperus
said he was looking for more interaction between MROSD and the LAH Fire District.
He said he appreciated Section 18.3.
Andrew Gere, San Jose Water Company, San Jose. Mr. Gere thanked the District for the
Fire Safe Program. He commented on Section 18.1 and requested the District
incorporate private organizations into the policy to encourage and develop participation.
He said that 100' clearance is a good goal. He suggested that the District staff also
consider public utility structures in their planning process.
Richard Schwind, South Skyline Fire Safe Council, Los Gatos. Mr. Schwind stated that
he started the South Skyline Fire Safe Council and that the South Skyline Association
sponsors them. He said he would like all of the volunteer fire departments included. He
said that defensible space is idealized and does not apply to all situations. He said there
is a fiscal impact because it costs thousands of dollars to clear an area. Referring to
Section 18.3, he said they should consider dropping the word "permitted" and the second
bullet should include Fire Safe Councils. Under Section 18.5, the fourth bullet regarding
public outreach, he said an insert should be included in the South Skyline Association's
quarterly newsletter. He also asked for clarification in Sections 18.3 and 18.4.
Board Discussion
Director Hassett referred to Section 18.8 and asked if the bullets should also apply to the
whole District and not just the coastal area. He also asked if the District actually closes
preserves. K. Lenington stated that the bullets did apply only to the coastal area. He
said that staff proposed to include the closure of preserves during high fire danger
conditions. Director Hassett referred to Section 18.4, and questioned the word "evaluate"
in the second bullet.
Director Hanko referred to Section 18.3 and asked staff to add language that would
include miscellaneous occupied property. The language was updated to read, "Work
with adjacent landowners and fire agencies to maintain adequate fire clearance around
peRnitted habitable occupied structures."
Meeting 08-27 Page 3
Director Cyr referred to Section 18.1 and suggested moving the phrase, "protect public
health and safety" so that the heading would state, "Implement necessary fire and fuel
management practices to protect public health and safety,protect natural resources, and
to reduce the impacts of wildland fire."
Director Cyr recommended removing"the establishment of a Fire Hazard Abatement
District" from the fourth bullet under Section 18.3 so that it would instead state,
"Investigate alternative funding sources in conjunction with fire agencies and residential
communities within the Wildland-Urban Interface (V*rUl) adjacent to District Preserves
to fund and implement fire hazard reduction projects." President Siemens agreed that
the District should not be involved in setting up either an abatement district or a
community fire protection plan; however being involved with fire safe plans is an
appropriate role for the District.
Director Nitz asked staff to explain the difference was between Sections 18.3 and 18.2.
K. Lenington answered that Section 18.3 refers to working with the community and
neighbors, while Section 18.2 deals with responses to fires on District land.
Director Cyr asked what a dry hydrant was (Section 18.8) and D. Sanguinetti explained
that a dry hydrant is a hydrant that is not pressurized and if is hit by a vehicle it will not
create a geyser.
Director Hassett asked how the District incorporates the problem of Sudden Oak Death
(SOD) and said that SOD infected trees deep within District Preserves should be a lower
priority than those infected along the Skyline corridor. K. Lenington said he agreed and
that SOD is a big problem that can complicate firefighting. He said that staff s focus is
on the trees adjacent to roads and trails.
President Siemens suggested deleting the fourth bullet in Section 18.4 and eliminate any
reference to SOD. Director Riffle said that the input about SOD is specific in this
section and that he was glad it is in this policy. Director Cyr said that they could
mention SOD in a sidebar, and that the policy should be more general. K. Lenington
said that the scale of SOD is immense which is why there is a statement about it in this
policy. President Siemens said they need a more generalized statement in the policy, but
that it is okay to include an example of SOD.
Director Nitz asked if there are coordinated meeting areas or staging areas. D.
Sanguinetti said there are specific staging areas in the District. S. Abbors said that the
policy is consistent with the incident command system. Director Nitz suggested adding
"prioritize and" to the beginning of the second bullet under Section 18.2 so the first
sentence would read, "Prioritize and prepare Preserve specific wildland fire response
plans that identify appropriate fire suppression activities for District lands in the event of
a wildland fire." K. Lenington gave an example of how the District would discuss with
owners how they could achieve 100' defensible space and explained that staff would
also review the owners' plans. Director Hanko said that she thought this conflicted with
the Good Neighbor Policy and that the Board should review situations of trees to be
Meeting 08-27 Page 4
removed, especially from District land. There was further discussion between the staff
and Board about the permitting process to be handled by staff and notifying the Board
about approved permits. President Siemens said that the Board should approve the
permit system process and then let staff administer the program.
Director Nitz asked if there is anything in the policy about clearing areas around large
ponds. K. Lenington stated there was nothing in the policy that deals specifically with
this issue; however, it does occur. M. Freeman said that where District ponds are
deemed large enough and appropriate for helicopters to use as a water source, keeping
the area clear would be a good practice.
Director Riffle said that all of his questions and points were covered by his colleague's
questions and discussions. He said that K. Lenington did a great job of capturing
everything that was covered in the previous workshop. He thanked the public for
attending the meeting tonight.
V. ADJOURNMENT
President Siemens adjourned the Special meeting of the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula
Regional Open Space District at 9:06 p.m.
Lisa Zadek, Recording Secretary