After returning to in-person meetings for their July 15 session, the Beverly Hills City Council returned to a virtual format on July 27. The Council spent the majority of time at its Regular Meeting reviewing the Wildfire Assessment Report. The 57-page report on the city’s fire risks and responses was released July 9. After discussing the report in detail with Beverly Hills Fire Chief Greg Barton, Director of Public Works Shana Epstein, Urban Forest Manager Ken Pfalzgraf, and four expert consultants, Councilmembers praised the report’s thoroughness, but questioned what exactly will come of it, and when.
“The report has many elements of an action plan, but I don’t think it really is a fully-fledged action plan,” Mayor Robert Wunderlich said at the end of the meeting. “It has recommendations, it has assessments, but an action plan would get more specific. The report has many tactics, but it’s really not an action plan that’s prioritized in terms of, let’s start with doing these things, and we’ll get these things accomplished by certain time periods.”
