On January 30, 2016, the SWNA annual meeting was held at the Walnut Fire Station Community Room

Agenda:
1. Welcome – Karyle Butcher, SWNA President
2. Introductions – Karyle Butcher
3. Web and email update/questions – Dan Hellin
4. Safety Committee report /questions – John Krochta, Chair Safety Committee
5. Roads report/questions – David Brooks, Chair Roads Committee
6. Turkey committee report/questions – Wayne Gladwin
7. Street Captains – Selma Starns, Treasurer
9. Other

COMMITTEE SUMMARY REPORTS for the Annual Meeting
Safety Committee Report
Roads Committee Report
Turkey Committee Report

A 13-minute video by the National Fire Protection Association’s Firewise Communities Program on how you can protect your home can be found here.

On Oct. 16, 2015, Corvallis Fire Department Division Chief Douglas Baily and Corvallis Urban Forester Jonathan Pywell, accompanied by SWNA Safety Committee members, conducted an assessment of wildfire risk in the Skyline West community. This involved assessing from the street each property for risk to wildfire. The assessment correlates with recommendations of the national wildfire protection program, Firewise® Communities.

Chief Baily and Forester Pywell have submitted the results from their assessment. This is available below as a pdf.

Firewise Assessment (PDF)

The assessment uses standard codes to identify vulnerabilities of each Skyline West address to wildfire flames or embers. These codes can be found in the PDF.

Now that the fall rains have begun, we are relieved from immediate concern with wildfire. The months ahead provide an opportunity to make changes to our properties that will reduce wildfire risk and aid fire fighters in the event of a fire emergency during the next wildfire season. We encourage residents to review the information for their addresses and take whatever steps are possible to reduce wildfire risk. Not all possible steps may be feasible, at least not all at once, but each individual step reduces risk.

In addition, the following documents provide useful information for modifying homes and landscapes to make them less vulnerable to fire:

Firewise Tips Checklist for Homeowners (PDF)
Fire Resistant Plants for Home Landscapes (PDF)

As comprehensive as this list is, it doesn’t cover the most prolific vegetation in Skyline West. When evaluating your property, know that English ivy is fire resistant and doesn’t carry a fire well.

In order to continue our effort on reducing risk of wildfire in Skyline West, we are establishing a Firewise® Committee that will focus on this goal, including follow-up to the Skyline West assessment.

If you interested in being a member of the Firewise® committee, please let us know.

SWNA Safety Committee <safety@skylinewest.org>

A recent New Yorker Magazine article, The Really Big One discusses the potential for a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake and its potential effects.

Potential Nearby Development – AKS Engineering and Forestry, LLC and Cardno, Inc are representing Venture Properties, Inc regarding the property located in the 5200-6000 block of NW Ponderosa Avenue, also known as Suncrest. Venture will be submitting applications to complete the approved Suncrest Master Plan. They held a public meeting to discuss the proposal in more detail with the surrounding property owners and residents on Tuesday, June 2, 2015. A map of the area is available here and the invitation letter is available here.

Karyle Butcher’s notes from the meeting are available here. A picture of the Suncrest concept map is available here.

The City has information about the original 1996 plan available here. Note: the current plan is very different to the initial plan.

On January 17, 2015, the Skyline West Neighborhood Association held its first meeting from 1-3pm in the meeting room of the Zimbrick fire station on Walnut Blvd. The meeting focused on roads and safety update. Notes from the meeting will be available here shortly.

On September 5, 2013 a Skyline West Neighborhood Meeting was held with City Councilor Biff Traber and a number of City of Corvallis officials to discuss: fire service options; issues with emergency access to the neighborhood; and maintenance of neighborhood streets. The meeting was held at 6:30 pm in the meeting room at Fire Station 5. Notes from the meeting (in PDF format) can be found here.