WCC Brushwork

All,

I will attend tonight too.

I learned about another FireWise meeting earlier this week hosted by the SB Fire Safe Council and joined last minute, spending a couple hours there with Kate, Kenna, various FireWise community leaders, and other members of the Fire Safe Council board. Hearing from other communities (e.g., trout club, painted cave, paradise road) that have gone through the process or are serious about applying was informative and helpful.

I think there are clear advantages to applying for the designation (e.g., insurance discounts, Fire Safe board prioritizing our needs with their present and future grant money) and only minor downsides (e.g., needing to submit hours worked & $$ spent each year). The end goal of improving the fire safety of our community is also vital for our community.

Steps to proceed

1. Decide on the boundary
2. Ask the SB FireSafe Council to come out and perform a community risk assessment (or do it ourselves)
3. Identify liaisons & come up with a 3-year action plan for the community. This would document our goals for…
   • Education
   • Fuel reduction
   • Evac plans
   • Home hardening
   • Note – our goals should be manageable (i.e., they don’t need to be ambitious)

After applying, we theoretically should be able to receive the designation within a couple weeks…

Regarding the boundary

I’ve heard two options discussed seriously for the community boundary…

• One community with multiple pods (e.g., Ranch Romaldo & outer 12 WCC properties). E.g., from Dennis a while back, “… That sounds good to me, two pods, one large group is what I am hearing.”
• Or two related communities that work closely together.

I don’t think it really matters, and the decision shouldn’t hold us up… We can change our minds later to split/merge/add.

Personally, I think one community with multiple pods makes sense to start with. One advantage is that the community boundary would encompass our primary evac route. Beyond that, it would be less paperwork overall and, after talking to Kenna, I’m comfortable that the “outer WCC” has volunteers (e.g., Kenna) willing to herd their set of cats. I think our goals have significant overlap as we all benefit from fuel reduction, additional evac routes, etc. I expect the Fire Safe council will most likely be the ones applying for grants on our behalf… and the Fire Safe Council will be listening to both sets of households regardless of our designation.

Additional thoughts

• I think we should move quickly. Kate anticipates that the insurance companies will become stricter about what they accept in the near future, so let’s get in while the getting is good.
• I’ve been talking to Kate off and on since the chipping program, and I’m happy to discuss details with neighbors who have questions. Note – Kate is also very accessible, if you’d like to reach out to her. I’ve also found it helpful/informative to sign up for the SB FireSafe Council emails. 
• In an ideal world, we could find a volunteer from each color road within Ranch Romaldo.
• I’m happy to send out a Zoom meeting invite for this Friday or Sunday (or attend an in-person meeting), if that would be interesting to the people who cannot make tonight’s in-person meeting. Just let me know.

I’m looking forward to meeting with other community members tonight.

Regards,

Ryan