Firewise Southwest Colorado Council Meeting
Meeting Summary
November 18, 2003

 

 

Next Meeting: December 16th at 6:00 p.m. at LPEA’s Board Room

Present: Dan Ochocki, Kristie Borchers, Joy Mathis, Chas Carmichael, Ron Tyner, Richard Geer, Lisa Hutton, Ben Cordova, Pam Wilson, Nicole Smith, Marsha Porter-Norton and Jerry McGeorge.

1. The second draft of the membership guidelines and operating procedures were discussed. A statement will be added that clarifies that Firewise Southwest Colorado is broad-based and grassroots. Anyone can be a part of it. While there is no official membership, we can include as many people as possible through the email tree, projects, media, events, future newsletters, etc. Then, Firewise Southwest Colorado is governed by a 25 member “council”. Anyone can attend the monthly meetings whether they are on the Council or not. A decision was made not to have a formal membership base (e.g. where folks have to pay or sign up). This competes with existing organizations and is too formal. We want to make involvement really easy.

2. Marsha will email out a suggested list of duties for the President, President Elect, and the Secretary/Treasurer. In December, officers will be voted in.

3. Plans were made for recruiting additional people and sectors. Several members volunteered to make phone calls to various groups:

Joy – Red Cross
Marsha – schools, appraisers, Sub-District planning groups’ representatives
Ben – Homebuilders, utility companies and BIA
DanO- State Farm insurance
Kristie – Shields and Levitt insurance
Richard – Colvig Silver Camps
Nicole – Dr. Julie Korb with FLC

The goal is to get folks contacted, on board and in attendance at the next meeting.

4. A sign up sheet went around with Council members signing up for which Committee(s) they want to serve on and their preferred term of office (either 1 or 2 years). In the future, the Council will nominate and elect new members. Council members are asked to help find a replacement when they leave.

5. The status of the county-wide fire mitigation policies was tabled until someone from the County or the DFRA can give an update.

6. The clearinghouse project has not gone too far. Carolyn and Lisa will still try to make in-roads. The group agreed that instead of the clearinghouse formally occurring, that perhaps, we should promote an existing web site (www.fourcornersag.com) which has a firewood exchange function on it. Members felt that perhaps this web site could be updated to include some type of disclaimer about beetle infestation which Chas agreed to draft. This web site is not widely known. So, the “clearinghouse” project could evolve into Firewise Southwest Colorado collaborating with the San Juan RC&D – the organization that hosts the web site. Lisa said her research showed there isn’t a need for firewood exchanges. The papers are advertising that people will pay folks to take their firewood. So, maybe a need does not exist to the extent it was originally thought but we should collaborate with this existing web site, everyone agreed.

7. Kristie covered the brochure project. She is asking for input ASAP. Display boxes are being made by students in Mancos. Council members will be asked to take two boxes of brochures and distribute them widely. Two more brochures are planned: a) how to get involved; and b) how to actually get wildfire prevention work done on one’s property. Laurie Robison has also been working on this project. The project is funded by monies from the National Fire Plan through the San Juan Mountains Association. April Fire Month can be utilized to promote the brochures but they can also be distributed earlier in March, 2004. The plan is to tie the brochure distribution to a speaker’s bureau. The brochures will be placed on the www.southwestcoloradofires.org web site. DanO suggested the name of the web site be changed so it is not so crisis oriented.

8. At the December meeting, the Council Committees will meet and determine their 6-month goals and work plans. At that time, we will brainstorm how any of our efforts might be integrated into April Wildfire Prevention and Education Month. This effort is led by SJMA with Fort Lewis, the San Juan Public Lands Center, the Colorado State Forest Service and local fire districts/departments. There will be massive publicity and any Firewise Southwest Colorado projects could tie in as members see fit. A decision was made to make sure that Firewise Southwest Colorado is included in any Fire Month publicity as a way for residents to get involved after April. Another idea is to have tours of subdivisions that have done successful defensible space projects on the calendar of events.

9. The “seal of approval” project, it was clarified, is not off the table. The fire departments don’t want to officially give someone a “seal of approval.” However, we need to explore opportunities for residents to have an inspection from the departments to see if emergency vehicles can get to their property or not. This will be brought up in December as a potential project.

9. It was decided that the group will explore what it takes to be a Firewise community. This formal and official designation could help our region get better access to FEMA grant monies that can pay for mitigation. This also needs to be considered a project as FEMA has big grants to help get work done “on the ground.” One small community in New Mexico received $100,000. Kristie said it would take someone spending the time to research the grant and writing it. Marsha will research what the Firewise, Inc. requirements are and bring to the next meeting.

10. DanO handed out a CSU publication that offers information about defensible space including standards. The group discussed recent attempts by insurance companies to create and enforce standards. The CSU publication can serve as the benchmark for what those standards should be. Without such standards, it is difficult to gauge if someone “has” or “does not have” defensible space.

Submitted by Marsha Porter-Norton
11/19/03