Firewise Meeting January 14, 2026
LCMC Board Room
Meeting was called to order by President Alec Pennington at 10:11 a.m.
Present were board members: Alec Pennington, Gary Nelson, Paul Bogacz and Vicki Knox.
Ray Menard and Uriel Hansen attended in person. There were no Zoom attendees.
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Review of Previous Minutes
Several edits were made to the December 10, 2025, Firewise Meeting Minutes:
- Two name spelling corrections were made.
- It was suggested that when mentioning the Treasurer during the Financial Report, he should be referred to either by name or as Treasurer for consistency.
- The next meeting information was left out.
Gary made a motion to approve meeting minutes with edits noted. Alec seconded the motion and the minutes were approved unanimously.
Treasurer’s Report
Financial Report was published prior to the meeting.
- No changes of concern.
- $15,762.06 – total assets.
- CD maturing tomorrow with a 7-day grace period. Gary will call to confirm rollover of the CD and the interest rate.
- Gary took $250 out of Columbia savings and deposited it into our business savings account at OURCU.
Alec moved to approve the financial report. Paul seconded and the financial report was approved unanimously.
OLD BUSINESS
Address Marker/Assessment Update:
No change in markers. The list is on the drive. This weekend is supposed to be dry so Alec and Gary will knock some of them out. Especially the older ones. Supplies are in the shed.
Ray advised that he can assist with assessments now as his calendar has adjusted.
Annual DNR Grant:
Alec advised that the DNR grant for 2026 is in question. Funding is not fully established. Alec will check back on the grant with Jesse.
Disaster Preparedness Day Event:
The committee members discussed lack of resources, volunteers and time to run this event next year. We would participate if someone else presents the event, but we don’t have the bandwidth to do the work this year. Alec will let other participants know.
Wildfire Preparedness Day:
Alec suggested we present our normal Firewise items, with a focus on address markers.
A single speaker was suggested – Ray suggested one of the Fire Commissioners and he agreed to see if he can get one of them to commit. It would be advantageous to promote the Fire Department infrastructure as the accepted leader in disaster management.
This event is held the first Saturday in May which is May 2nd this year.
Ray will research availability of the Lake Cushman Firehall on May 2nd.
It was suggested we should get or make a video of what the markers look like at night and we should demonstrate how difficult it is to find locations in the dark.
The speaker needs to highlight how important community involvement is to Firewise and to our efforts to secure grants.
A Q&A session should be included.
In advertising the event, we need to use last year’s wildfire as a hook and use free plants and the raffle as incentives.
Gary volunteered to spearhead the plant sale, and obtain the raffle items.
Volunteer Recruitment Activities/Green Shield Challenge:
Paul submitted the State Farm grant including the project description, specific activities, promotional plan and supporting documentation. Alec will review the grant application.
Discussion occurred regarding changing the community mindset and creating a leaderboard and a competitive nature to improve neighborhood Firewise assessments. Gary volunteered to contact volunteers to see if we could get a subcommittee from our established volunteer list. This will be dependent upon what Alec determines as he examines the grant.
Official FW Shirts and Jackets:
Gary guided us to the website to review the proposed clothing items. Blackstar printers in Shelton will do the work, and jacket option J331 was selected. We should develop a simple inventory control to know what we have on hand.
Alec moved to purchase 5 jackets for the Firewise staff to include 1 long and tall, 2 large and 2 medium sizes. Vicki seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
Vicki moved to purchase 25 short-sleeved shirts to include men’s sizes; 10 large, and 5 medium, as well as women’s sizes; 5 large, 3 medium and 2 small. Alec seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
Gary moved to add logos to the high-vis jackets we have on hand, adding a Firewise logo on front and “FIREWISE” on the back. Paul seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
Gary will return with details after the order is discussed with the supplier.
Procedures-Outline Project Update:
Uriel has been working on Google workspace and provided a two-page handout with the category suggestions for reorganizing our electronic files.
Naming convention will be 4 digit year, two digit month and two digit day. No spaces, hyphens, periods or underscores.
Archives & Historical documents will be placed in a separate major category.
Uriel would welcome any feedback from the committee.
Uriel will start looking at new website applications. SITE in google workspace.
Firewise Leadership Succession:
Gary Nelson, Firewise Treasurer, intends to step back from the leadership of Firewise at the end of May.
Alec is willing to continue in the efforts but not be President. Alec is the registered agent, and some official work will need to occur including changing the registered agent, signing authority with our banking accounts, and other possible details.
A recruitment drive needs to happen. Offering incentives, like titles, branded clothing and other incentives were discussed.
LCMC is bringing back their printed bi-annual newsletter. Firewise needs to take advantage of that publication.
NEW BUSINESS
Ray advised the Squaxin Island Tribe has a grant for Hood Canal improvements. Ray will send the link to Alec to review.
Ray also advised that Public Works is looking at the elephant of Disaster Preparedness.
LCMC Office buildings should be FIREWISE assessed.
Gary moved to adjourn the meeting at 12:19. Paul seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
Next regular meeting will be on February 11, 2026, at 10:00 am in the LCMC Boardroom.