65B - RPT - SANTIAGO CREEK FIRE PREV PLAN

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SANTIAGO CREEK FIRE PREVENTION ACTION PLAN November 5, 2014 Page 4 of 4 varying terrain, and to get to portions of the property, OCFA /City staff would seek to traverse over adjacent private property. Although OCFA /City fuel removals will be limited to City property only, staff will request permission from the adjacent property owners to facilitate access to the creek and haul -off the collected fuel debris either through the their yards along Park Lane, or through the creek bed. The duration of the access will coincide with the period of vegetation removal. City /OCFA staff will ask individual property owners to execute an access agreement. The extent of City property to be cleared will depend on the number and location of neighbors willing to participate in granting temporary access. Of particular importance is cooperation from the parcels at the east and west edges of the narrow section of the City's property. Staff will also request permission from the owners of interior Park Lane parcels through their side and rear yards to access as much of the City property as possible. City staff and OCFA would: 1) Engage in community outreach by sending a the boundary map along with a letter to all residents along the Santiago Creek advising them of the inherent risk associated with combustible vegetation accumulating on their private property and encourage them to remove the dead vegetation on their property. 2) Conduct a community outreach meeting to establish a clear understanding of risks, City /OCFA staff recommendations, requests and actions to be taken. Staff will clarify that the actions are strictly related to safety. 3) Set stakes demarking property boundaries to help residents and staff visualize limits of City's ownership in Santiago Creek. 4) Conduct a second community outreach meeting in the creek to view limits of removals and identify types of vegetation to be removed. 5) Identify access needs and request written permission for ingress and egress for crews during removals (See Required Permission to Access over Private Properties below). 6) Confirm removal dates and send reminder notification to the residents. 7) Where necessary, reset property boundary demarcation to ensure that removals by OCFA and City staff do no extend beyond City ownership. S) When the removals are being done, OCFA with the help of City staff will remove dead or previously burned trees and brush within the City's right of way and within 100 feet of habitable structures. The crews will use hand tools and cut larger trees with small power tools. The waste will be carried to a designated staging location within Fisher Park and /or directly to Park Lane where private property access is granted. The waste will be chipped at the staging sites and loaded into dumpsters.