MINUTES
 
El Dorado County Fire Safe Council
Board of Directors Meeting
Diamond Springs Fire Station
September 22, 2010
11 AM

 
  1. The meeting was called to order by Ken Hasse at 11:15 AM. Those in attendance were: Bill Brandt, Mary Cornelison, Janet Gastaldi, Ken Hasse, Joan Jennings, Richard Krek, Jim Stewart, Vicki Yorty, Linda Columbo, and Tom Mahach.
     
  2. Approval of Agenda
     
    The Agenda was unanimously approved.
     
  3. Approval of Minutes from August 25th, 2010 Meeting
     
    The Minutes of the August 25th 2010 meeting were unanimously approved.
     
  4. A Secretary is desperately needed. Minutes must be taken or we are in violation of our Bylaws. We may have to hire someone to transcribe minutes from the recorded meetings. Darlene is a possibility.
     
  5. Senior Assistance
     
    Senior assistance statistics covering about a six month period were presented in tabular and graphic form. A realistic average time to job completion is 44 days not one month.
     
    Volunteers put in about 30 hours of outreach at the FSC booth at the Diamond Springs Bazaar. About 40 green waste vouchers were handed out. Only a few senior assistance flyers were handed out. Senior assistance handouts were not pushed because of limited funding. A discussion of eligibility (qualification) for senior assistance followed.
     
    Jim Stewart suggested putting information about requirements for senior assistance and a message directing people to contact local Fire Safe Councils or fire districts on the website. Linda Columbo said some similar information is available on an EID flyer.
     
    MORE will be doing evaluations in greater Placerville area. Senior assistance money will run out in the 4th quarter.
     
    In areas not served by local Fire Safe Councils, referrals can be done by local fire districts in conjunction with there LE100 inspections.
     
    Tom Mahach reported that fire districts budgets have been cut to bare bones.
     
    Bill Brandt asked about grant admin costs and whether they were included in grant applications.
     
    Rich Krek moved to add a statement to Senior Assistance/Disabled forms that stated that by signing the forms they acknowledged that they were neither physically and financially able to do the work themselves. The motion was seconded by Jim Stewart and unanimously approved.
     
    The Board also agreed by to place a similar statement on the website.
     
  6. Executive Coordinators Report
     
    Status of audit preparation.
    The audit preparation was supposed to have been completed by the 2nd of September then set back to the 20th. Vicki agreed now to have the information ready for Carol by the 4th of October.
     
    Vicki handed out copies of her Exec Coordinators Report and her report for the BOS meeting.
     
    The Volcanoville project is expected to be finished by May 2011.
     
    $524,000 will be available by next September. The $87,000 is coming in from Air Quality.
     
    The $80,000 coming in from Title III will be used for FSC operations and outreach. Vicki expects to have the Title III money in 3-4 weeks. A 45 day posting, period is required so the time to receive money will be more like two months
     
    Vicki will submit a budget for Title III funding for BOD approval.
     
    No money will be available for defensible space inspections next year.
     
  7. Operations Manual Committee Report - Joan Jennings
     
    The committee met on August 30th.
     
    The section on the Budget process is being refined.
     
    The Records Retention Policy is nearly finished. The required retention time for some records was a surprise.
     
    More information is needed from Richard E on formation of Satellite Fire Safe Councils.
     
    The next meeting will be at Diamond Springs on October 11th
     
  8. Webpage update:
     
    Richard E was not present.
     
    Mary had question about a security alert on the website.
     
  9. Treasurers report:
     
    Richard E was not present but the Treasurers reports had been circulated by email. There were no questions.
     
  10. Directors Reports:
     
    Ken Hasse, Logtown: Herbicide will be used to stop rapid Chamise regrowth in the cleared area off south Crystal Blvd.
     
  11. Public Comment
     
    Tom Mahach. made a statement about the history of the Fire Safe Council and expressed support for Vicki. He expressed concern about reports of doom and gloom.
     
    Mary C. Reported a near miss in Volcanoville because of small suspicious fire that started in the middle of night and was quickly extinguished by the FS.
     
    A motion to adjourn made by Rich Krek and seconded by Bill Brandt was unanimously approved.
     
    The meeting was adjourned at 12:20 P.M.
     
    The next meeting will be at 11:00 A.M. on October 27th at Gold Hill.
     
Submitted by: Ken Hasse, Chairperson