Open Space Advisory Board Agenda and Packet 2012 05 09

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Open Space Advisory Board Nlinutes April 11, 2012 Page 3 of 4 VIII. Public Comments on Items Not on the Agenda • Charlotte Keith, 192 S. Tyler Ave. - • Ms. Keith came to OSAB to express her concern about the application of herbicides and the related run off along the steep grades along the ditches in Warembourg. • Caryn Greer — 161 Raintree Ct. — • LOSST went out and picked up a lot of poop on numerous open spaces. She and others have also reached out to people to encourage them to be responsible and clean up after their dog. o Caryn has also been working with Staff on signage about dog waste. IX. Discussion: Wildfire Mitigation on Open Space • The City used to mow buffers on open space, but with cuts to the mowing program, the City no longer mows. o From a budgetary perspective, there is not funding in place for the current season, but there is the opportunity to seek funds as a CIP or O&M for the next year. • The Fire Report/Study recommended bi-annual mowing on property lines for some of the high risk open spaces. • One component of wildfire mitigation is to ask homeowners to make sure their own homes are protected. Ex: Homeowners are permitted to mow on open space a 10' along the fence line. o Homeowner -driven fire mitigation is a topic that should be discussed at our Open Space Open House. • OSAB would like to know what a targeted, open space - specific fire mitigation plan would look like and the budgetary implications. X. Discussion: Prescribed Fire on Open Space • Ember commented that prescribed fires in Louisville grassland would be more manageable than woodland/forest area fires. She also noted that because of the relatively small, flat acreages of open space and the natural and manmade barriers that exist on Louisville open space, a prescribed burn on open space could be performed in a relatively safe manner. • Staff is thinking of proposing that a small section of Davidson Mesa be used for a pilot prescribed burn area to see how some of the issues (smoke, results, etc.) would play out. • Staff is looking for a recommendation as to how to proceed and to see if OSAB is in support of prescribed burns as a management tool. • The idea is to have a pilot burn in a small area of open space by Fall 2013. • Davidson Mesa, Aquarius and portions of North have sufficient areas of native vegetation and would be the open spaces that are the most amenable to using fire as a restorative technique.