CC SR 20190618 03 - Fuel ModificationRANCHO PALOS VERDES CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: 06/18/2019
AGENDA REPORT AGENDA HEADING: Regular Business
AGENDA DESCRIPTION:
Consideration and possible action to authorize Staff to expand wildfire prevention efforts
within the City and receive and file a presentation on Emergency Evacuation Protocols
RECOMMENDED COUNCIL ACTION:
(1) Authorize Staff to expand wildfire prevention efforts within the City, and come
back to the City Council with a budget appropriation;
(2) Approve an amendment to the contract with StayGreen in a form approved by
the City attorney’s office; and
(3) Receive and file a presentation and an oral report on Emergency Evacuation
Protocols from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s and Fire Departments.
FISCAL IMPACT: None at this time
Amount Budgeted: N/A
Account Number(s): N/A
Additional Appropriation: N/A
ORIGINATED BY: James O’Neill, Engineering Assistant
REVIEWED BY: Elias Sassoon, Director of Public Works
APPROVED BY: Doug Willmore, City Manager
ATTACHED SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS:
A.
B.
C.
Map (page A-1)
Letter from Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy (PVPLC) and their
attached maps (page B-1)
Amendment to contract with StayGreen (page C-1 forthcoming)
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION:
“Rancho Palos Verdes holds a dubious honor: It's the most populated city in California
to have 90 percent or more of its population living within a ‘very high fire hazard severity
zone.’” – Sacramento Bee, 4/11/19
In response to the threat of wildfires, the City makes significant investments in Wildfire
Prevention efforts, previously referred to as Fuel Modification (or “Fuel Mod”), to reduce
and remove overgrown weeds, brush and neglecte d vegetation in areas of the greatest
concern at the 61 parcels (representing approximately 1,240 acres) of land that it owns.
1
Additionally, Los Angeles County’s Department of Agricultural Commissioner/Weights
and Measures requires property owners to maintain their properties “hazard free”, and
state “dry weeds, brush, or neglected vegetation within 100 feet up to 200 feet from a
home or other structures, or ten feet of a road, are considered a hazard.”
The City’s current efforts consist of the following budget:
Description
Approximate
Annual Cost
Goats (from late March through June) (approx. 71 acres) $145,000
Los Angeles Conservation Corps (approx. 50 acres) $75,000
Long Beach Conservation Corps (approx. 50 acres) $75,000
Los Angeles County Department of Agriculture
Commissioner/Weights and Measures (approx. 20 acres)
$25,000
$320,000
The work performed to date by the two conservation corps has been less efficient than
expected, and Staff believes that unused funds budgeted for those agencies would be
better utilized by the City’s current landscape maintenance vendor, StayGreen.
StayGreen is prepared to perform fuel reduction services for the City, and Staff is
confident that the work can be performed m ore efficiently, more timely, and produce the
desired results. Therefore, Staff is recommending that the City amend its current contract
with StayGreen to perform these additional services , and reduce the contracts with the
Conservation Corps’. As these expenses were already budgeted for other vendors, no
additional appropriation is needed.
Additionally, Staff is recommending to expand its wildfire prevention efforts, with the
potential options to do so:
Description
Approximate
Annual Cost
Removing mustard plants from roadways within the existing right-
of-way (approx. 20 acres)
$30,000
Removing brush and dead trees from other City-owned open
space areas (approx. 40 acres)
$70,000
Removing select brush and dead trees from the 17 parcels that
the City owns in the Portuguese Bend area (approx. 15 acres)
$30,000
Teaming up with the Los Angeles County Department of
Agriculture Commissioner/Weights and Measures and other
property owners to further facilitate the removal of fire hazards
(approx. 30 acres)
$50,000
Working with the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy
(PVPLC) for removal of dead brush and trees, where possible
(approx. 5 acres)
$20,000
$200,000
2
Recently, the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy (PVPLC) also approached Staff
with a request for $200,000 in one-time, new/additional funding to remove additional non-
native plant species from the Palos Verdes Nature Preserve (Preserve). They proposed
investment to remove non-native plant species, such as acacia shrubs and mustard
plants, would benefit conservation needs while also reducing the fuel load in the preserve.
It is important to note that the City of Rancho Palos Verdes encompasses 8,620 acres.
The vast majority of that acreage is privately owned. It is important that the City and LA
County increase efforts to educate and support private property owners to take necessary
steps on their private property to reduce fuel load.
Given the increased attention that today’s climate related fire danger has garnered, we
have received a number of requests from residents regarding pre-determined evacuation
routes. Los Angeles County Fire and Sheriff have recently performed extensive
evacuation planning for a large variety of wildfire scenarios. The evacuation routes vary
greatly depending on the scenario. For that reason, they don’t and won’t publish pre-
determined evacuation routes. For this simple reason: they don’t want residents following
a route they read or heard about some time prior to an emergency that doesn’t fit the
current emergency scenario. Rather, they want residents following directions in real time
that fit the scenario that we are facing. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s and Fire
Departments will be presenting the protocols related to emergency evacuation.
ALTERNATIVES:
In addition to the Staff recommendation, the following action is available for the City
Council consideration:
1. Take other action as deemed appropriate by the City Council.
3
7546026903 75780029007578003900
7578003901
7588001901
7572001900
75720079027572007900
7572004001, 7572004900-7572004909
7581023902
7572001905
7572001903
7573003900
7572001901
7564019900
7572001902
7564024901
7564001918
7582024900
7564024900
7558001904
7564001914 7558001901
7546022900
7581032902
7589013907
7578002901
7583022912
7564001915
7582022900
7564021912
7558001902
7578003903
7583024901
7578003902
7546026902
7546026901
7583024900
7588001900 7583039900
7583022909
75810239017581023903
7572019901
7573004900
7564005900
7573007900
7568007900
7572007901
7561039900
7566016900 LOS ANGELES
LOMITA
ROLLING HILLS
PALOS VERDES ESTATES
TORRANCE
ROLLING HILLS ESTATES
CARSON
Legend
Parcels identified by LADOAC for Fuel Mod in the Perserve (approx. 1169 acres)
Additional parcels identified by LADOAC for Fuel Mod (approx. 69 acres)
Areas of the Palos Verdes Nature Preserve not in the Fuel Mod area (approx. 233 acres)1 Miles ²
City Owned Parcels
* LADOC = Los Angeles County's Departmnet of Agricultural Commissioner/Weights and Measures A-1
B-1
B-2
B-3
B-4