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2010-209-Minutes for Meeting April 05,2010 Recorded 4/19/2010FICIAL NANCYDESCHUBLANKENSHIPTES COUNTY CLERKDS Cj 24+4.149 COMMISSIONERS' JOURNAL 0411912010 08;20;02 AM 111111 11III III 2 -20 Do not remove this page from original document. Deschutes County Clerk Certificate Page If this instrument is being re-recorded, please complete the following statement, in accordance with ORS 205.244: Re-recorded at the request of [give reason] previously recorded in Book _ or as Fee Number to correct and Page Deschutes County Board of Commissioners 1300 NW Wall St., Suite 200, Bend, OR 97701-1960 (541) 388-6570 - Fax (541) 385-3202 - www.deschutes.ora MINUTES OF WORK SESSION DESCHUTES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MONDAY, APRIL 5, 2010 Present were Commissioners Alan Unger and Tammy Baney; Commissioner Dennis R. Luke was out of the office. Also present were Dave Kanner, County Administrator; Erik Kropp, Deputy County Administrator; Joe Stutler,' County Forester; David Inbody, Assistant to the Administrator; and three other citizens. Vice Chair Unger opened the meeting at 1: 30 p. m. 1. Forester Update. John Allen, U.S. Forest Service, was unable to attend as planned. Molly Brown of the Bureau of Land Management presented an oversized map showing BLM property ownership. They will be shifting their interest to the Cline Buttes area in the future - rights of way, fuels treatment and other projects. She advised of some prescribed burns that are consistent with wildland fire control efforts. They have been working closely with those at Eagle Crest regarding some of the dense vegetation nearby. It will affect the view shed, but the work is necessary to keep wildfire from spreading. Joe Studer stated they are starting with fuel breaks on 85 acres, with the cooperation of residents. In the past, Newberry Estates was a target project due to the density of vegetation. Commissioner Unger asked if subcontractors are used for this type of work. Mr. Studer stated they have an ongoing contract with Heart of Oregon Corps when someone needs to be brought in. Eagle Crest went out to bid and Patrick Fire in Redmond was the winner. Commissioner Baney asked about land acquisitions in the La Pine area. Ms. Brown stated that they are selling properties through projects by which properties can be disposed or traded, mostly in south County. Minutes of Board of Commissioners' Work Session Monday, April 5, 2010 Page 1 of 5 Pages Ms. Brown said she is working with Teresa Rozic of the County's Property & Facilities regarding a transfer station to facilitate a DEQ project. They are trying to fit this exchange in even though it is not one of the properties currently slated for disposal. Sometimes the easiest way is to accomplish this through legislation. They are also working on the Badlands Wilderness Area process, which is very time consuming. George Ponte, Forester for the Oregon Department of Forestry; and Kristin Cotugno, Assistant Forester, said there are twelve counties in the District and they try to meet with all of them on a regular basis. Mr. Ponte said the Department of Forestry administers two programs - wildland protection for State and some federal forest lands, as well as private lands. The funding comes from both sources. The biggest fires and lowest value timberlands are in this District. There are laws that apply to logging and reforesting; and providing technical assistance to those who own less than 5,000 acres; and a community forest plan to help them grow their urban forests and obtain "Tree City USA" status. They are building a new facility in Sisters at this time. The current structure is decades old and can no longer be utilities. They tried to partner with ODOT and State Park & Recreation, but the arrangement did not work out. They are also building a new facility in John Day. Half the funding is stimulus money and half is through certificates of participation; both projects have been planned for years. He confirmed that the process through the County is going well. SB 360, adopted in 1997, encourages homeowners in the wildland urban interface areas to work towards having defensible space. It took until about 2005 to start in Deschutes County, one of the first areas to move forward with the plan. (They referred to an oversized map) Discussion took place about `red' properties, where development may not be allowed. An oversized map was referenced that shows the forest protection districts. Forest land is classified through the Department of Forestry, which decides how areas are handled. They will further classify those lands that are suitable for timber production. Minutes of Board of Commissioners' Work Session Monday, April 5, 2010 Page 2 of 5 Pages Commissioner Unger asked how juniper is classified. Mr. Allen said that the primary intent is to protect the forests. Those lands are not suitable for forest production but can be a source of wildfires. They want this to be a community- driven process. Some want to use the material for biomass fuel. There is a big difference between State Forestry, the BLM and the Forest Service in how lands are managed. Historic and old growth juniper stands are protected. Some chipping is done to protect areas from fire. Grants are being pursued for biomass power facilitation and transportation. Commissioner Unger asked if it is possible to treat areas, such as the old diatomaceous earth - dicolite mine in the Lower Bridge area, by covering it with ground-up biomass material. Mr. Ponte said it is possible, but depends on how much someone wants to pay for it. Even if the material is free, there are costs involved with transportation and application. Joe Stutler stated that adding flammable material to a site like this one could result in an even greater problem. Mr. Ponte said that they have lost some staffing positions due to the economy. A reduced level of service has resulted, or some of the previous services are not being provided. The fire protection budget for the next fiscal year is about $3.60 per acre. Private landowners pay about half of the cost; public landowners pay the full amount. In regard to a complaint about smoke from controlled burns and a subsequent letter to the Forest Service, all agencies including the DEQ have been contacted and were asked to respond. Commissioner Baney wants to encourage partnerships and cooperation whenever possible with all of the agencies. Mr. Stutler then discussed his update regarding projects and issues already accomplished or to be addressed. (A copy of his memo is attached for reference) He added that Deschutes County and Central Oregon is one of the few areas in the country that has an active wildfire mitigation program through the Wildland Urban Interface project. Minutes of Board of Commissioners' Work Session Monday, April 5, 2010 Page 3 of 5 Pages 2. Community Grant Application Criteria. David Inbody stated that the same objectives and criteria as last year would apply. $190,000 has been budgeted for Fiscal Year 2010-11, which is primarily used for agencies that need emergency funding for a variety of programs. About half of the applicants receive an award. In the past all of the funding was given at the same time. He suggested perhaps giving half at first and the rest later in the year. Mr. Kanner said that crime prevention funding could be run through this program instead of going directly to the agency. The Commission on Children & Families stated that this is important to them to achieve their goals, and this would result in no funding. They suggested the crime prevention services funding be put in the juvenile crime prevention fund of the Commission on Children & Families, which is still competitive. There is a decline in juvenile crime, and this has to be attributed in part to prevention programs. Commissioner Baney said that the County is almost the sole support for this funding. The bridge program could be wrapped back in to Health Services, but this funding fills the gaps. She asked if Mental Health has the funds to cover this. Mr. Kanner replied that the bridge program is specifically identified as being funded by general fund dollars. 3. Update of Commissioners' Meetings and Schedules. None were discussed. 4. Other Items. The Board went into Executive Session, under ORS 192.660(2)(h), Litigation. Being no further items addressed, the meeting adjourned at 3:15 p.m. Minutes of Board of Commissioners' Work Session Monday, April 5, 2010 Page 4 of 5 Pages DATED this 5th Day of April 2010 for the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners. De is R. Luke, Chair U/n f9,- Alan Unger, Vice Chair ATTEST: Recording Secretary Tammy Baney, Coffii'nissioner Minutes of Board of Commissioners' Work Session Monday, April 5, 2010 Page 5 of 5 Pages Deschutes County Board of Commissioners 1300 NW Wall St., Suite 200, Bend, OR 97701-1960 (541) 388-6570 - Fax (541) 385-3202 - www.deschutes.org WORK SESSION AGENDA DESCHUTES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS 1:30 P.M., MONDAY, APRIL 5, 2010 Forester Update - Joe Stutler, Forester; John Allen, U.S. Forest Service; Molly Brown, BLM,• George Ponte, Oregon Department of Forestry 2. Community Grant Application Criteria - Dave Inbody 3. Update of Commissioners' Meetings and Schedules 4. Other Items Executive Session, under ORS 192.660(2)(h), Litigation PLEASE NOTE: At any time during this meeting, an executive session could be called to address issues relating to ORS 192.660(2) (e), real property negotiations; ORS 192.660(2) (h), pending or threatened litigation; or ORS 192.660(2) (b), personnel issues Meeting dates, times and discussion items are subject to change. All meetings are conducted in the Board of Commissioners' meeting rooms at 1300 NW Wall St., Bend, unless otherwise indicated. If you have questions regarding a meeting, please call 388-6572. Deschutes County meeting locations are wheelchair accessible. Deschutes County provides reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities. For deaf, hearing impaired or speech disabled, dial 7-1-1 to access the state transfer relay service for TTY. Please call (541) 388-6571 regarding alternative formats or for further information. o N N _ ~ 9 lLn Q co - E , s ~ o ~ o tl 60 t N ~ N Cj N Q) 1 U ~ 4 i ~ C G O ~ /11 D 7 co, O • 1 C ~ S ~ E Z C AQ ) M MEMORANDUM DATE: April 2, 2010 TO: Deschutes County BOCC FROM: Joe Stutler, Deschutes County Forester RE: Forester Update For the last two months the following projects and issues have either been accomplished or addressed: 1. New Grants-we are working with ODF to finalize an agreement which will provide approximately $775,000 for fuels/biomass treatment in central Oregon on private lands. This particular grant is stimulus funding that we will be working cooperatively with ODF and our various neighborhoods. Additionally we learned that the pre-disaster mitigation grant application to FEMA was favorably received and appears that we will get the final word on our $3 million proposal in May for Deschutes, Crook and Klamath Counties. 2. Existing Grants-Utilizing existing grants we have treated over 400 acres this winter on county owned and private lands. Heart of Oregon and All Season Cleanup along with Aspen Lakes continue working on fuels treatment. We have finalized work on 9 projects this coming spring and summer in neighborhoods across the county treating fuels. Specifically we will be treating fuels in the following neighborhoods: a. Ponderosa Pine b. Newberry Estates c. Woodside Ranch d. Deschutes River Woods e. Awbrey Glen f. Tollgate g. Camp Sherman h. Aspen Lakes i. Sunriver We are also exploring fuels treatment opportunities in Alfalfa and eastern Deschutes County in the unprotected lands. 3. We have begun the process of updating the Sunriver CWPP and are on schedule to complete by May. We will schedule Bend and Redmond updates with expected completion by years end. 4. Project Wildfire/FireFree Programs-we had the opportunity to participate in the International Fire Chief's Association Wildland Urban Interface Conference along with the Western Governors Association in Reno. Katie Lighthall, Gary Marshall, George Chesley, Jake Keller and Renee Lamoreaux (all part of PW steering committee) attended and our programs were well received by over 1000 participants at the conference. 5. 1 continue working with a group of "collaboratives" throughout Central Oregon which will enable the Deschutes National Forest to compete for significant funding from the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration (CFLR) program which was established by Congress in 2009. Congress has allocated $40 million annually for this program and if selected could make a significant difference in landscape restoration on public lands. The initial application was approved by the Forest Service so we will continue the application process with follow up efforts in April and May 2010. Joe Stutler Deschutes County Forester