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t , COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
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DATE: JUNE 4, 2013
TO: MAYOR AND TOWN COUNCIL A,
FROM: GREG LARSON TOWN MANAGER
MEETING DATE: 06/17/13
ITEM NO: l
SUBJECT: ABATEMENT OF HAZARDOUS VEGETATION (BRUSH)
OVERRULE OBJECTIONS AND ORDER HAZARDOUS VEGETATION
ABATEMENT (BRUSH)
RECOMMENDATION:
1. Open and hold the Public Hearing.
2. Close the Public Hearing.
3. Overrule objections and order hazardous vegetation abatement (brush).
BACKGROUND:
On May 6, 2013 the Town Council passed Resolution 2013 -015 declaring hazardous vegetation
(brush) a public nuisance and set June 17, 2013 as the date for the public hearing. The required
public posting and publishing has been completed (Attachment 1). Property owners have been
noticed by mail from the Santa Clara County Fire Department (Attachment 2) to remove brush in
accordance with fire safety standards. The public hearing is an opportunity for those objecting to
the potential charges to come forward and be heard.
DISCUSSION:
As part of the annual Brush Abatement Program with Santa Clara County, the Town annually
declares hazardous vegetation (brush) a nuisance due to fire danger and enters into a contract
(along with other municipalities) with the County to abate the hazardous vegetation (brush) not
removed by property owners. The focus of this program is the identification of perennial
vegetation, brush, trees, and shrubs in designated high fire hazard areas.
Attached for information is a Town Council Hazardous Vegetation Abatement Schedule (for
brush) for the year 2013 (Attachment 3 .
PREPARED BY: TODD CAPURSO
Director of Parks and Public Works
Reviewed by: Assistant Town Manager. Town Attorney Finance
N:\PPW\ MANAGEMENT \COUNCIL \COUNCILREPORTS\2013 Repor406l7l3 \Brush.Pub.Hearing.061713.doex
PAGE 2
JUNE 17, 2013
MAYOR AND TOWN COUNCIL
SUBJECT: ABATEMENT OF HAZARDOUS VEGETATION (BRUSH)
CONCLUSION
Staff recommends that the Town Council overrule any objections that are received as of the June
17th public hearing and order hazardous vegetation abatement (brush). No objections have been
received to -date.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact.
Attachments:
1. Notice of Public Hearing
2. Santa Clara County Fire Department letter to property owners
3. Los Gatos Town Council Hazardous Vegetation Abatement Schedule for the year 2013
Distribution:
Dirk Mattern, Deputy Chief of Fire Prevention, Central Fire District, 14700 Winchester
Boulevard, Los Gatos, CA 95030
Kevin O'Day, Acting Agricultural Commissioner, County of Santa Clara, Department of
Agriculture and Environmental Management, 1553 Berger Drive, Building #1, San Jose, CA
95112
Moe Kumre, Program Manager, County of Santa Clara Office of the Agricultural Commissioner,
Agriculture and Environmental Management, 1553 Berger Drive, San Jose, CA 95112
TOWN OF LOS GATOS
OFFICE OF THE TOWN CLERK
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Town Council of the Town of Los Gatos has set
Monday, June 17, 2013 at 7:00 P.M. in the Council Chambers, 110 East Main Street, Los Gatos,
California, as the time and place for a Public hearing to consider declaring that hazardous
conditions exist on the properties listed and authorize the County contractor to perform the brush
abatement work necessary to comply with the standards.
INTERESTED PERSONS may appear and be heard at this hearing. Please be advised that if
you challenge the nature of any of the above in court, you may be limited to raising only those
issues you or someone else raised at the Public Hearing described in this notice, or in written
correspondence delivered to the Clerk Department prior to the hearing.
/s/ Jackie Rose
Interim Clerk Administrator
PUB: LG 5/28/13 & 6/4/13
Attachment 1
This Page
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Left Blank
February 18, 2013
Dear Property Owner,
The tire season wiflebe,ugon us in a few
short, ffibilths. We must not become complacent when it comes
to protecting our homes from hillside fires. 6
. Your. property, as referenced above., is
located in the
designated Wildland-Urban Interface Fire Area, and preparations for your home need t 0 occl:r aver e
. r tile
next few months. This information is being sent to all owners of'homes in hillside locations in ail effort
to improve the chances of home,, in these areas survivin- a fire.,
Creating and maintainin 1 11 an ifibEtntly increase th& chances of
.g defensible space on. youk.propotty, will M
your home surviving a. Hillside fire. This is accomplished b [0 flarbinable brush. And dry
TeMovin
grasses adjacent to structures. Your property detrtified above ils 'located in
I the ve�liivfi Pir
1. 1.:.::, y .,..,> —e Hazard
Severity Zone (VHFHSZ) of the, Wild (and Interface, Area as determined by CAL FIRE. 'S ate
law now requires A. Def6hs-ible, Space. of l--00 I feet around homes and any acres° ory.strudtunes.i
in the
Fire 'fs:.As ciatioti has developed the . fdlloWing list of
VHFHSZ Area. The Santa Clara County;!,,.. Chiefs
both required and recomiriended preventative 'measures.. When .,co erty
completed your prop
will be in
compliance with the applicable regula"tiong' which will greatly reduce the he ri'k
s of los's or damage to your
home in the event of a `hillside fire.. If j: Old like more information about t cr
you 61� eating 100 feet of
defensible space, please contact us at (408) , 3 8-4010 or go to wwvv.fWe.ta.wv
Required Safety Regulations (Items A.-F
A. Create 100 feet of Defensible Space around . your home. I To accorop I lish this, create a Green Zone
by: clearing all flammable veggetatia and thin shnfbs M 'feet around structures. Additionally,
create a Reduced Fuel Zone for the reniairting 70 feet or to your property line.
B. Clear ornamental shrubs and trees of dead leaves and. branches.
C. Remove all pine needles, and leaves fi.bril roofs, caves and rain gutters,
D. Trim tree limbs :10 feet from chimneys or stovepipes, and remove .dend I
in-ths that hang over
rooftops.
E. Cover chimne Y outlets or flues with a 112" mesh spark arrester.
F. Post a clearly Visible house address, using at least 4" high nurftbers, f6r easy identificati
t�� on.
Organized as the Santa Clara County Central Fire Protection. District
Seruing Santa Clara Countp and the communities of Campbell, Cupertino, Los Altos,
Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, and Saratoga
Attachment 2
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PRA 0 1
14700 Winchest er Blvd., Los Gatos, CA 9503.2-1818
aaunreswsaeanae
P,
(408j 318-4010'4(4M) '378-93 WWW rg
42 (fax)* * kcfd.o
Dear property owner,
Your property located, in the hillside area was recently inspected by
Santa Clara County Fire Dep a"Ament. personnel and found to not be
in satisfactory compliance w'i4i. the Hazardous Fire Area safety
regulations. Enclosed is a copy of a -notice that was left at the
residence and indicates the corrections that are necessary.
Please note that a public hearing will be held, Auring the Town of Los
Gatos council meeting on 17,�2.013 . at 7.00..PM. At that time, all
properties identified by the Fire Department as being non: compliant
with Hazardous Fire Area safety regulations will be declared to have
hazardous conditions requiring abatement. An addiiiorQ inspection
of all identified properties will be conducted aftenthehOarin, 9 and
'prior to ordering any abatement work..
Note: If your property is found to be. in compliance at the time of
11 t Orl.
the re-inspection or upon the:4rriva'l of e']a* a, contract
no work will be done and no charges will e irnpoted.
If the compliance work identified for your property involves brush or
weed removal, you may request the services of the approved County
of Santa Clara abatement contractor. If you are interested in this
service, please call the HazardO us Vegetation Department of Santa
Clara. County (408) 299-5765 to request more information and/or to
schedule an inspection appoi 1. ritnent for a cost estimate. For your
convenience, a price list indicating the rates for the County approved
contractor is included on the reverse side of this notice.
if you should have any questions about the information on this
notice, please contact the Fire Prevention Division of the Santa Clara
County Fire Department at (408) 378-4010.
Organized as the Santa Clara County Central Fire Protection District
Serving Santa Clara County and the communities of Campbell, Cupertino, Los Altos,
Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Monte Serena, and Saratoga
If this is your first year in the Brush Abatement Program, you will be responsible for a fee of $41.00
per parcel to cover the cost of creating and maintaining a file in our database.
Please be advised that any parcel found to be non - compliant on or after the June 1st deadline
will be scheduled for abatement by a County contractor. If you complete the abatement work
before the County contractor performs the abatement, you will not incur any charges. Should
the abatement work be performed by a County contractor, you will be.assessed the
contractor's charges plus a_County administrative'fee of $169.00 per parcel.
2013 COUNTY CONTRACTOR'S BRUSH ABATEMENT PRICE LIST
A) Disc Work **
PARCEL SIZE:
11 Disc +
2"' Disc
= Total Discs
0- 12,500 sq.ft..
1"79.00
$120.00
$299.00
12,501sq.ft.- 43,560sq.ft.
$208.00
$150.00.
$358.00
Larger than 1 Acre
$99.0 0`
79.00
168.00 (PER ACRE)
** It is required that parcels be•disced.twice a year. The cost for the first discing is higher due to
additional work normally required during the first discing.
B) HANDWORK $2.90 PER 100 sqft
C) FLAIL. 6 Foot Mower $2.00 PER 1000 sgft
MOWING 12 Foot Mower $2.00 PER 1000 sgft
D) LOADER WORK $9750 PER HOUR
E) DUMP TRUCK $90.00 PER HOUR
F) BRUSH WORK $2.90 PER 100 sgft"
G) DEBRIS REMOVAL $34.28 PEkHOUR
H) DUMP FEE ' 1000/0
Added to orders with debris .removal at 100% of the dump site charge.
*Please note this program does not offer herbicide application as a method of abatement.
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TOWN OF LOS GATOS
PARKS AND PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT
SCHEDULE TOWN COUNCIL REPORTS THAT REOUIRE PUBLIC HEARINGS
HAZARDOUS VEGETATION ABATEMENT (BRUSHI
May 6, 2013 Hazardous Vegetation Abatement (Brush)
A. Adopt resolution declaring hazardous vegetation (brush) a public
nuisance and providing for their abatement.
B. Set June 17, 2013, as a public hearing on this annual program.
June 17, 2013 Abatement of Hazardous Vegetation (Brush)
Adopt resolution overruling objections and ordering hazardous vegetation
abatement (brush).
1. Open and hold the Public Hearing.
2. Close the Public Hearing.
3. Adopt resolution overruling objections and ordering hazardous
vegetation abatement (brush).
August 5, 2013 Abatement of Hazardous Vegetation (Brush)
A. Conduct Public Hearing to consider the report of the County
Agricultural Commissioner (available in the Clerk Department) on
the abatement of hazardous vegetation (brush) for the 2013 -2014
season.
B. Adopt resolution approving said report (available in Clerk
Department).
Attachment 3
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