The Highlands County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) is a community plan that was developed over the course of an eleven-month long planning process that was formally initiated in July 2009 and completed in May 2010. The planning process served three main functions: 1) to ensure that the final plan met the minimum CWPP requirements; 2) to receive input and guidance from the Wildfire Mitigation Committee, a multi-jurisdictional group of community members representing the interests of the County and its municipalities, and 3) to keep the public informed of the development of the plan through a variety of public outreach methods including a webpage, informational video, and a public meeting.
Highlands County Board of County Commissioners
On January 6, 2009, the Highlands County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) accepted a $136,000 Fire Protection and Safety (FP&S) Grant from FEMA in order to facilitate the development of a countywide Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) to address wildfire hazard mitigation through regulation, fuel reduction, and public education. This grant is the implementation of mitigation initiative under unincorporated Highlands County.
On May 19, 2009, the BCC unanimously approved a contract with CSA International, Inc. (CSA) to provide consultant services in the development of the CWPP.
On July 7, 2009, the Highlands County BCC approved a resolution that established a Wildfire Mitigation Committee (WMC) for Highlands County’s CWPP (Resolution 08-09-151). The resolution provided bylaws for the composition of the WMC, notification of appointments, election of chairman and vice-chairman, meetings, notices, quorums, and voting protocols, a mission statement, and primary functions of the WMC.
On July 6, 2010, the Highlands County BCC approved the finalized Highlands County Community Wildfire Protection Plan.
Wildfire Mitigation Committee
The Wildfire Mitigation Committee (WMC) is a multi-jurisdictional stakeholder committee that has been formed to oversee the project’s process, provide input, and to oversee long-term implementation of the CWPP after this project’s completion. This committee was officially declared through a resolution (included below) passed by the Highlands County Board of County Commissioners on July 7, 2009. The WMC consisted of thirteen members, each with a designated alternate. Members represented unincorporated Highlands County and its municipalities (i.e., Highlands County Fire Services, Highlands County Planning Department, City of Sebring, Town of Lake Placid, City of Avon Park), Highlands County Agricultural Extension Office, Florida Division of Forestry, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Archbold Biological Station, American Red Cross, The Nature Conservancy, Highlands County Homeowners Association, and Highlands County School Board.
Three committee meetings were held throughout the course of this planning process:
· July 30, 2009 (Bert J. Harris, Jr. Agriculture Center, Sebring, FL): This meeting elected a chairman and vice-chairman, provided a project overview and timeline, discussed the County’s fire risk assessment, and the Firewise Communities program.
· November 2, 2009 (Bert J. Harris, Jr. Agriculture Center, Sebring, FL): This meeting discussed the institutional capacity and preliminary policy recommendations, provided an overview of the education risk assessment, and discussed the results of the countywide risk assessment.
· February 26, 2010 (Engineering Training Room, Sebring, FL): This meeting presented a list of possible actions related to the risk assessment map and current public outreach initiatives and solicited feedback from committee members to inform the final CWPP action plan.
Meeting minutes are included in the “Documents” Section of this website.
Public Meeting
On May 13, 2010, the County held an evening public meeting at the Sebring Civic Center. The purpose of this meeting was to: inform the public of the WMC planning process, present an overview of the risk assessment results, show an educational video on prescribed burning in the County, provide an opportunity for receiving input on implementation of the plan, distribute educational materials, and continue to raise awareness of wildfire risk in the County. Representatives from the Highlands County BCC, County Fire Services, Division of Forestry, and the Highlands County Planning Departmentspoke at the meeting. The meeting was attended by more than 25 people, consisting of County Commissioners, local government officials and fire services personnel from the County and municipalities, HOA representatives, DOF representatives, and members of the public, including representatives of the development community. Written feedback was solicited following the meeting and delivered to the Highlands County Planning Department as part of their meeting records.
Educational Risk Assessment
On February 27, 2010, CSA conducted an educational risk assessment that targeted neighborhoods with high wildfire risk. Approximately 50 homes were visually assessed, but due to rainy weather conditions or other external factors (e.g. no trespassing signs) only twenty-five assessments were delivered. The purpose of the risk assessment was to determine specific areas of improvement that the homeowner could address, such as trimming high amounts of hazardous vegetation near the house, removing leaf debris from the roof and gutters, ensuring portable propane tanks are a safe distance from the home. The risk assessment was delivered to the homeowner along with educational materials to learn more about the Highlands County CWPP and wildfire mitigation. These educational materials were distributed during the public meeting and provided to the Highlands County Planning Department for future public outreach efforts. On May 13th, 2010, a visual re-assessment was performed and determined that 25 percent of the homes originally assessed had made landscaping or other changes to their home to reduce their wildfire risk. The data on the risk assessment results and follow up was delivered to the Highlands County Planning Department.