Community Tree Council

1 1/25/2021 COMMUNITY TREE COUNCIL COMMITTEE MEETINGS MINUTES: Meetings were viewable by the public on You Tube at: https://youtu.be/csknCyD569o 12:00 - 12:10 PM - CTC Executive Committee meeting 12:10 - 12:40 PM - CTC Steering Committee meeting 12:40 – 12:50 PM - Interview Work Group check in 12:50 – 1:00 PM - Trees for Tomorrow Work Group check in 1:00 - 2:00 PM - CTC Promotions Committee meeting 2:00 - 3:00 PM - CTC Policy Committee meeting 3:00 – 4:00 PM - CTC Education Committee meeting ◆ Executive Committee Meeting Minutes (01/25/2021, 12:00 – 12:10 PM): Members: Joe, (chair), Mary Attaway (president elect), Pam (treasurer), Rodney (secretary) Attendance: Joe, Mary, Rodney 1. What Operational/Organizational Issues or Needs are there: a. Discuss idea for CTC Member email accounts, (ie: joe_schmoe@athenstreecouncil.org) b. Ask Tori to ask the Attorney’s Office if there are any concerns about the CTC establishing individual CTC email accounts. 2. Annual report - receive from Shawn, and attach Annual Treasure’s report from Pam (received). 3. Russell Edwards, as far as we know, is still the CTC commissioner lesion for 2021 (Joe will verify this with Russell Edwards). 4. Vote Time Sensitive – The Executive Committee voted in favor of using Chaulk Maples instead of the crape myrtles at the TfT Firefly trail planting this winter (near Old Winterville Rd & Little Oak St.), (Joe, Mary and Rodney voted in favor, Pam was absent). 5. Vote Time Sensitive: The Executive Committee voted to send Rodney to the Intersection of the Built and Natural Environment charrette on February 3rd, 2021: 11:00am-12:30pm hosted by the ACC Sustainability Office & Southface Institute to represent the CTC in the development of a Clean and Renewable Energy Action Plan for Athens(Joe, Mary and Rodney voted in favor, Pam was absent). 6. The Executive Committee in general agreed to direct Members to access agendas and minutes at the ACC gov, CTC webpage instead of sending them out all the time to reduce the amount of emails involving CTC business. Adjourn:  2 ◆ CTC Steering Committee Meeting Minutes (01/25/2021, 12:10 – 12:40 PM): Members: Joe, Mary Attaway, Pam, Rodney, and Committee Chairs Attendance: 1. MLK & Green Life Expo planning and follow up: a. Draft a motion to provide Silas with an individual award 2. GA Arbor Day planning (Friday, February 19th at 1:00PM) on Firefly Trail near RaceTrac at the intersection of Old Winterville Rd. and Little Oak St. a. Phil will be Master of Ceremony b. Commissioner Russell Edwards will read the Athens Arbor Day Proclamation. c. Mary Songster will invite Mariah Parker (District 2 Commissioner) And Carol Myers ( District 8 Commissioner) to the Arbor Day Ceremony 3. Moon Tree Signage – CTC offers to install the Moon Tree Sing a. Jeanne Connell is obtaining an aluminum sign for this tree. - CTC would like to be involved - Joe will meet with Jeanne to discuss Adjourn: ◆ CTC Interview Workgroup check in (01/25/2021, 12:40 – 12:50 PM): Members: Joe (chair), Pam, Edith, Rodney Attendance: Shawn, Joe, Edith, Rodney 1. New Work group member roster verification: (Joe (chair), Shawn, Pam, Edith, Rodney) 2. Request to appoint the following nominees will be sent to Jean Spratlin along with the 2020 Annual CTC Report once it has been received: • Ernie Cox • Patrick Perry • Holly Campbell 3. Abel Kleibaum will work with the CTC as a volunteer, but wasn’t able to make it to the MLK event. 4. Mayor & Commission Meeting • Hirees will potentially go before the Mayor & Commission mtg in March, but likely April. • Rodney has created a hiree profile to go along with the appointment. Adjourn: ◆ CTC Trees for Tomorrow Workgroup check in (01/25/2021, 12:50 – 1:00PM) Members: Phil Hale (chair), Mary Attaway, Joe, Rodney, Pam Attendance: 1. Work group member roster was verified (Phil, Mary, Joe, Rodney, Pam) 2. Planting plan this winter along the Firefly Trail (CTC donated chaulk maples will be planted by LMD before Arbor Day). Adjourn:  3 ◆ Promotions Committee Meeting Minutes (01/25/2021, 1:00 – 2:00 PM): Members: Mary Attaway (chair), Jessie, Joe, Phil Hale, Tori Attendance: In attendance: Mary Attaway, Jessie McClellan, Joe Perloff Phil Hale, Tori Goff, Mary Songster, Discussion of having a CTC- specific email address for each member- Jessie researched and it will cost $3-4 per address, so this item is tabled for now. Jessie will add a page for the policy committee to the web page. This will have a link to the county tree ordinance. This is where we will list championship trees for the county. The tree ordinance has info on landmark trees, which are special trees in county (not just the biggest) 8- 7-12. Here is the link to the county site page regarding the tree ordinance. It can be embedded into our site. https://www.accgov.com/273/Tree-Ordinance Jessie will add links to our Facebook and Instagram pages on to the site Mary will send the bio forms to our new members and upload pics in info on members monthly. Mary Songster is working on a carbon footprint calculator for the office of sustainability- we should be able to embed this calculator in the “Tree Benefits” page, instead of the iTree tool. Tori has put together a sheet of the past projects and edited it to include the dates. I have asked Pam to add the most recent events at AHA. Mary stated a goal of 2 social media posts per month, one of these being a bio of a member. Adjourn: ◆ Policy Committee Meeting Minutes (01/25/2021, 1:00 – 2:00 PM): Members: Mary Songster (chair), Joseph Bates, Lea Clark, Rodney Walters 1. Verified 2021 committee members for: Mary Songster Chair, Joseph Bates, Lea Clark, Rodney Walters a. Way to remediate loss of trees - Planning Commission (waver fee) - 8-10 wavers per year - Tree Ord. Text Amendment for planning commission waivers - General Fund (language could specify tree planting or maintenance) - Fee could incentivize keeping trees b. Planning Process - Scale (Large Dev. w/ land use changes or small scale variants) determines what level decisions are made from (staff or Planning Commission) - Planning Commission (large scale) - Special Use - Zoning changes  4 - Plan & Dev. Process - Issues (stream buffers, etc.) 2. Continued discussion of text amendment to ACC Tree Ordinance to capture fee for developments/builds that receive waiver from Planning Commission. 3. Discussed street trees downtown, perhaps the need for special consideration for care and maintenance compared to other street trees since they are an iconic part of downtown. CTC develop a management and funding plan for the M & C. 4. Began discussion on parking lot tree requirement and possible text amendment recommendation to improve that for the M & C 5. Began discussion on improving planting requirements for large maturing street trees from 30’ on center to 40’ on center. Looking into if requirement based on canopy requirement or lot size requirement. 6. Began discussion on what policy committee can do to help Landmark trees. Possibly policy recommendation for protection to M & C Adjourn: ◆ Education Committee Minutes (01/25/2021 -3:00 – 4:00 PM): Members – (Edith Jackson, Chair), Stacee Farrell, Lea Clark, Seth Hawkins, Holly Campbell Present: Edith Jackson, Lea Clark, Stacee Farrell, Holly Campbell Absent: Seth Hawkins (excused due to work conflict) Agenda items discussed: 1. Membership: New member Holly Campbell welcomed. Active 2020 members to continue in 2021. Edith nominated as Chair and accepted. 2. 2021 Goals: A. Spring Project: In-person event not feasible due to Pandemic and short turn-around time. CTC may be able to partner with and support another community organization which already has a project underway. ACC Public School Outdoor classroom/schoolyard project would dovetail with our mission. Stacee outlined BOE protocol for community projects on public school grounds, and valuable lessons learned. Stacy Smith of Keep Athens-Clarke County Beauty(KACCB) is the point person for all the Green School Coordinators - Lea will contact her to see if CTC can assist. B. Fall Event: Difficult to plan but COVID-19 CDC precautions would be observed, so contingencies of a self-guided event or in-person event discussed. Holly suggested a Tree ID walk on the Greenway. Could be incorporated to include other disciplines(example:ornithology) and community organizations (example: KACCB). An “away-game” October weekend identified as  5 optimal time. Trees would need tagging which might involve a budget request. Seedlings could be given away. Greenway section- Holly will walk and identify best portion Partnerships: KACCB - Stacee will canvass KACCB Board of Directors for support. All members will need to identify possible other organizations which may be interested. Permits - Edith will contact Rodney about process; requirements. C. Virtual or Self-guided Scavenger hunt: could be incorporated with promotion of Athens-Clarke County Champion Trees. Lea will contact Seth about identification D. Educational Outreach: focus on contributions to CTC webpage; social media - all members Next Meeting: Monday, February 15, 2021 3-4 PM Attendance: Adjourn: END COMMUNITY TREE COUNCIL COMMITTEE MEETINGS YOU TUBE SESSION