Staff outlines financing plan and next steps to implement Ashland’s Community Wildfire Protection Plan

City staff and consultants briefed council on progress implementing the Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP). They showed GIS tools at three scales (citywide risk patterns, neighborhood summaries, and an internal building‑level screening tool) and summarized on‑the‑ground work already completed: dozens of residential assessments, neighborhood presentations, and grant‑funded thinning and prescribed burns on city forest lands.

A city work group and consultant (Viridian Group) presented financing options. Their analysis concluded the full CWPP (about $154 million in the plan) would be best financed in stages: begin with a revenue bond tied to the existing wildfire resilience fee (roughly $1M/year today) to produce an initial ~$10M program, and continue to pursue larger general‑obligation or other bonds and outside philanthropic or insurance leverage for scale. The group recommended either hiring a facilitator to produce a near‑term operational implementation plan and budget or engaging the Community Mitigation Assistance Team (CMAT) for an on‑the‑ground accelerated assessment; both options could be coordinated.

Council asked staff to return with a proposed facilitation timeline and to provide a study/session-level briefing on the speed and scale council wishes to pursue (e.g., fee-only rollout vs. accelerated bond/finance path). Staff said they expect an operational plan and budget recommendation by late winter/early spring if facilitation begins this fall; CMAT involvement could accelerate technical outputs but both pathways should converge in early 2027.

What happens next: staff will propose a facilitator‑led stakeholder process (and explore CMAT as a complementary technical partner), produce a near‑term implementation roadmap and grant-ready project packages, and return with budget and financing options ahead of the next biennial budget cycle.