Minutes January 18, 2005
Board Members in Attendance: John Bauer, Clint Kearns, John Aziz, Susan Crew, Hank Hallmark, Chuck Carroll, Chris Gibson
The meeting was called to order at 7:04 pm. Minutes from the December meeting were approved.
Agency reports
USFS – Per John Bauer, the Saugus location of the ANF district office is moving to Valyermo due to road and phone damage from recent storms. Clint reported that Highway 2 may be closed well into late spring or summer. There is major damage between Islip Saddle and Vincent’s Gap. Highway 2 may not be a viable evacuation route this year. Highway 39 also has several problem areas that may delay plans to reopen.
John B. said that evacuation routes are becoming more critical as evidenced by weather effects this year. It is quite likely in a disaster that Wrightwood could be cut off from immediate evacuation.
Cid Morgan, District Ranger, ANF reported they are obtaining trailers for temporary offices (in Valyermo). She expects the offices will be used from 6 months to 1 year.
Her office is working with Caltrans to designate the area along Highway 2 between Mountain High East and West as no parking. Over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, sales of adventure passes totaled approximately $3600. There was some discussion on the Adventure Pass program. Cid said the program expires in December of this year and it is uncertain whether the program will continue.
Concern was expressed over the gridlock experienced by the area over the past month due to snowplayers. John Aziz met with Captain Wayne Bennett and Jim Wilkins at Station 101 to discuss concerns over the situation. Attention placed on the issue through the Wrightwoodcalif forum resulted in several calls placed by concerned citizens to Bill Postmus’ office and other agencies. Subsequently, the Barstow and Antelop Valley CHP offices have stepped up communications with Station 101 (SBCF) to remedy the gridlock conditions. Of greatest concern is the inability of emergency personnel to access the Mountain High area during heavy traffic conditions.
Big Pines Fuel Reduction Project – The Forest Service is looking at handling brush removal “in house” according to Cid. TEAMS is working on a service contract for tree removal.
Wrightwood Fuel Reduction Proposal – This project has hit a snag with regard to a disagreement between TEAMS and ANF Biologists. Cid is concerned that limited funding for fuel reduction projects may impact the plan. SBNF has received a lot more funding for fuel reduction projects than ANF.
Side note: The FSC Board discussed the need to contact government representatives regarding funding of fuel reduction projects for our ANF.
A new Biologist and Resource Staff Officer has been hired. Bill Brown will be retiring in March.
Tim Tate, SBCF Fire Hazard Abatement, reported weather conditions have impacted progress on the block projects. He is still trying to get NRCS to sign off on the first Wrightwood block project. He is waiting for bids on the other blocks. They do not have a Forester in place yet.
Adopt-A-Hydrant
As the weather permits, John Aziz continues to check actual hydrant locations against the master map. He has found 7 hydrants so far that were not on the map. He has completed checking the East side of town.
The group discussed the problem of snowplows leaving large berms in front of the hydrants.
501c(3) Update
The Articles of Incorporation were returned and denied because Chuck Carroll was improperly listed as Treasurer on the document. According the denial letter, officers are not selected until the organization has been certified as a corporation. Therefore, officers are not supposed to be named in the document. The filing fee submitted was also incorrect. The Articles will be revised and the application resubmitted. Once the Articles of Incorporation have been filed, and a certified copy returned to the FSC, the 501c(3) application will be submitted to the Franchise Tax Board.
Community Fire Plan Progress
The WWCWPP is about 85% complete. We hope to send a draft to Cid Morgan in March.
Caltrans Letter and Highway 2 Hazardous Fuels
No follow up letter has been received from Armand Silva outlining the discussion with WWFSC board members John Bauer and John Aziz.
Wildfire Awareness Day
The Board will schedule a meeting to begin planning this year’s event. John A. got a call from Leona King—the WW Chamber of Commerce is thinking about changing the date of the Garden Tour to later in May. Last year the events were held on the same day. Leona expressed an interest in keeping the events on the same day.
Tom Pinard spoke about efforts in the past by Wrightwood residents to reduce the number of trees to create a healthier forest. He expressed his support for the Wrightwood Fuel Reduction Proposal. Tom agreed to speak to owners of large (undeveloped) parcels regarding the importance of fuel reduction. He will advise owners that funding may be available to assist in tree removal. He will also communicate the benefit gained by reducing fuels.
Adjourned 8:30 pm.
Respectfully submitted by Susan Crew