Title
A Resolution Approving an Intergovernmental Agreement for Wildfire Mitigation and Suppression Planning
Presenter:
Aram Benyamin, Chief Executive Officer, Colorado Springs Utilities
Body
Summary:
Colorado Springs Utilities ("Utilities") requests City Council approval of two separate intergovernmental agreements ("IGAs") between the City of Colorado Springs on behalf of Utilities and Pueblo County, on behalf of the Pueblo County Sheriff's Office ("PCSO").
Background:
In order to comply with several United States Congressional land grants to the City of Colorado Springs related to watershed planning and protection, the Catamount Wildland Fire Team ("WFT") was established within Colorado Springs Utilities. The Catamount WFT is a 50 plus volunteer fire team whose membership is comprised from CSU, Pikes Peak America's Mountain and the City of Colorado Springs Public Works. The team is designed to provide wildland fire suppression support resources to help protect Utilities infrastructure and provide operational knowledge about Utilities' system during disasters like wildland fires, floods, and windstorms. The Catamount WFT currently works with local fire protection districts, counties where Utilities' has infrastructure, the State of Colorado, the U.S. Forest Service, and local military bases to protect Utilities' infrastructure from these types of disasters.
In 2014, Utilities developed an internal team to work on formalizing agreements with various counties, local fire protection districts, and the local military bases to ensure that Catamount WFT resources are used to assist in the event of fires that could pose a risk to Utilities' infrastructure and the Colorado Springs community. As part of this effort, Utilities' has worked with Pueblo County to develop two IGAs related to: (1) wildland fire protection and incident response services and (2) wildland fire mitigation and suppression planning. The two IGAs work together to ensure that...
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