HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Aug 12 2014 Nat Res Protection Perf-f ES
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For Recording Stamp Only
< Deschutes County Board of Commissioners
1300 NW Wall St., Bend, OR 97701-1960
(541) 388-6570 - Fax (541) 385-3202 - www.deschutes.org
Meeting of Board of Commissioners and County Forester
August 12, 2014
Natural Resource Protection Performance Update
Board members present: Tammy Baney, Tony DeBone, Alan Unger
Staff present: Tom Anderson, County Administrator, Ed Keith, County Forester
The meeting began at 10:00 a.m.
Ed started off the meeting stating he intended to cover what he thought the major focus areas
of the Natural Resource program would be in the next 3-5 years.
The first focus area discussed was the FireFree program. The success of this program is that it
gets citizens involved in creating their own defensible space. It will continue to be a challenge
in the coming years to find sustainable ways to deal with the large amounts of debris that come
in during FireFree. There is hope that the upcoming waste to energy project may be able to
utilize the material, however other alternatives will continue to be explored. The group also
discussed pros and cons of trying to spread the flow of material out over the year instead of
collecting it all during May.
The second focus area discussed was the upcoming FEMA grant and the associated workload.
Due to the requirements that FEMA has for documentation there will be a large administrative
workload in delivering this grant. Ed explained that he continues to work with OEM and FEMA
on reaching agreement as to how the work will be conducted so that implementation goes
smoothly.
The third focus area was about the cohesive strategy. The group discussed how the various
ongoing efforts including the Deschutes Collaborative, Firewise Communities, Ready Set Go,
CWPP's and codes all contribute toward successfully engaging with the cohesive strategy.
The final area of focus discussed was noxious weed management. The county saw a large
increase in the extent of noxious weeds during the recent recession. Ed stated that his
experience over the last year is that many of those properties not being managed have been
purchased by new owners interested in gaining control of their weeds. Tools that the County
offers including technical and financial assistance is helping owners get on the right track. The
group also discussed the importance of assisting with efforts such as the Let's Pull Together
event so that it can be sustained over time.
Tom pointed out that the financial viability of the program is much more secure in the near
term because of the board electing to devote some of the PILT funds to natural resources as
Title III funds continue to decline.
The meeting concluded at approximately 11:15 a.m.
DATED this Day of 2014 for the Deschutes
County Board of Commissioners.
Tammy Baney, Chair
Anthony DeBone, Vice Chair
ATTEST SIGNATURES:
Alan Unger, Commissioner
Recording Secretary