Manton Firesafe Council Community Meeting Notes from November 15, 2021 at MVFD
Manton Fire Safe Council
Meeting Notes
Nov. 15, 2021, 6:00 p.m.
Manton Volunteer Fire Station
Meeting was called to order by Janet Jensen.
Round table introductions of all in room- there were 29 community members in
attendance, 3 Cal Fire fire fighters, Brian Desmet (Red Bluff CalFire Battalion Chief),
Bob Cords (Manton Assistant Fire Chief), Dennis Garton (District 3 Supervisor).
Michelle Heino updated us on our Fire Chief, Marion Rocksvold’s, condition after the
devastating hit and run accident on Nov. 12. Joanne Sproul made an announcement
regarding a fundraiser being organized for Dec. 3 and Silent Auction items being
requested by Judy Ramos.
Joanne Sproul gave a brief history of the origination of the MFSC, the 2005 fire, the
Red Cross donation and the connection between the Battle Creek Watershed
Conservancy which was created for as an umbrella for donations.
Dennis Garton gave an overview from his involvement then. He said that after the 2005
fire when the Red Cross gave the first donation, MFSC had “no checking account” and
through the coordination with Sharon Paquin Gilmore and the BCWC, a sponsorship
was set up under their 501c3 to “park” the monies donated.
He went on to say that various projects were organized working with MVFD, mapping
being an important one. He also mentioned the MFSC should get in touch with Brin
Greer from the Tehama County Resource Conservation District. Janet Jensen
mentioned that we have, and Joanne added that we will be working with Seronica Biggs
as she is the Fire Safe Council lead.
Bob Cords spoke about the Red Cross trailer that is at the Manton School. He said that
the bulk of the Red Cross funds went into the creation of the shelter operation. He
added that the Red Cross donation is very directed in the ways that it can be used,
unfortunately not for fire breaks or clearing.
Bob stated that the Fire Safe Council can bring a lot to the community as a “group” itself
and that there are many projects that can be worked on.
Brian Desmet, Bob and Dennis Garton talked about the insurance industry and the ISO
ratings that are set by insurance- 2 criteria used are response time and equipment. He
spoke about fuel maps: the slope, fuel type, accessibility and wind components.
Brian Desmet mentioned how Fire Wise opens up opportunities for grants and that
MFSC should utilize that.
Tom Twist, from the Shingletown Fire safe Council, was on the agenda but was not able
to attend, so Janet gave an overview of what they have done. Their FSC had also
languished, but is revitalized. They recently qualified for a $9 million dollar grant. Their
programs include chipping, SLASH and SNAP.
Someone in the audience asked about applying for grants and Patti Nolan mentioned
that the BCWC group had already begun working on them. Another person asked who
was in attendance from the Conservancy and 4 people raised their hands. A question
was asked about why Trey Hiller or Bob Nolan was not there and Patti said that they
were not there because they did not want the separation between the two groups and
that they did not want to get involved in a “dog pile”.
Dennis Garton again gave history that the two groups had been separate. He also
suggested that the two groups get together and talk about what plans they each had for
the MFSC.
Bob Cords mentioned that the connection between the two had been in name only, that
the MFSC had operated as a separate entity. He said that we should use the handbook,
California Fire Safe Council Handbook, to decide what kind of group we want to be.
https://cafiresafecouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/FINALFINAL2020-
CFSC_FSC-Handbook_FINAL-revised.pdf
The group talked about the choices:
~501c3- a a non-profit standalone group, uses for tax deductions, etc.
~Or as a group under the umbrella of another group with a 5013c.
Bob Cords brought up how we should look at the guidelines in the FSC handbook to
define what a fiscal sponsor looks like. Discussion took place about the difference in the
BCWC when it became the fiscal umbrella for the MFSC and now. The BCWC is just
getting its legs under it and isn’t what it used to be, as the projects are different.
Renee Timmons brought up how the focus is different now, there are common goals
between the two, but not the same as in the past.
Pat Dwyer gave a good picture of the what a Fire Safe Council has before it and what
the watershed conservancy has to focus on.
The discussion turned to what are the pros and cons of separating form the BCWC and
Janet Jensen called for a vote vote- simple “Yes” if community member wanted to
separate from the BCWC and become a standalone group or a “No” if you didn’t want to
separate and to continue the agreement between the two groups.
After a vote and a small break, the votes were counted- The votes were unanimous
“Yes”, with one “No”.
The group decided that next meeting is Nov. 29, 6:00p.m. at the Fire Station.
A sign-up sheet was passed around for people to sign if they were interested in being
on the board or as a committee member.
Meeting ended at approx. 7:30p.m.
