Tree Commission

TREE COMMISSION MINUTES 10-12-2023 Circleville Tree Commission convened in Council Chambers, 127 South Court St., Circleville, OH on Thursday, October 12, 2023, at 6:00 pm. Roll call: Present members, Chair Roman Cline, Lori Pritchard, Lisa Wiseman, Alan Gribler, Council Liaison Sheri Theis, and Clerk Melissa Burns. Excused members: Mark Fouch, VC Beth Kowalski and Laura Schweitzer. Other guest present: Richie Verito. Cline called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm. 1. Approval of the Tree Commission minutes from August 10, 2023. Pritchard motioned to approve the August 10, 2023. Gribler seconded. Motion carried. Approval of the Tree Commission minutes from September 14, 2023. Pritchard motioned to approve the September 14, 2023. Wiseman seconded. Motion carried. 2. Discussion:  Budget Discussion: There are enough funds to place the purchase order for the trees. There will be enough funds remaining after the purchase to cover any other materials needed. Will look at the budget in the spring for possibly planting more evergreens at Ted Lewis.  Fall Planting Day #1 - South Court Street/Pickaway Street/Union St winner Date  Tree order and supplies  Volunteers  Fall Planting Day #2 - Emerine Park/2 Contest winners/Monce cul-de-sac Date  Tree order and supplies  Volunteers  Tree location marking  OUPS Locate - Call (Service Dept) Discussion: Theis suggested flipping the planting days and moving South Court to the 2 nd planting day on November 7th. Emerine will become the first planting day of November 3 rd. The committee will go out and place markers down on October 29 th at 1:00pm. There will be kids from PCBDD with adult supervision to help on the 1st planting day. There will be kids from CHS FAA to help with the 2nd planting day. Gribler will coordinate the delivery and tag the trees with the address they need to go. Two trees are not available for the contest winners. The committee will contact the winners to order different trees. Roman will reach out to the Service Department to contact OUPS to mark the utility lines.  Community Forestry Grant - Update Discussion: Awarded $1million dollars that can be used over 5 years. The Hargus Creek project is complete. The Main Street project may need to be scaled back. The planting of 160 trees yearly for 5 years will possibly need scaled back to cut the cost of professionally having them planted. Maybe hire an Arborist part-time instead of hiring a full-time person to help save costs.  ODNR Forestry Grant - Update Discussion: The committee will hold off on applying for this grant.  Tree City USA application Discussion: The committee would like to apply to join the Tree City USA community. The mayor is in support of this idea. The application is due in December.  TREE COMMISSION MINUTES 10-12-2023  Tree Ordinance revision status Discussion: Pritchard has made revisions, and the Tree Ordinance is ready to be submitted to the Law Director. 3. New Discussion items Richie Verito spoke regarding his neighbor wanting a tree removed in front of his property and replaced with a pot. An application was submitted on Tuesday to the City. The homeowner will need to apply for a permit and then it would need to be approved. The City will review the application and respond back to the property owner. Next meeting is November 9, 2023. Pritchard motioned to adjourn the meeting at 6:57 pm. Seconded by Wiseman. Motion carried. Respectfully submitted by: Melissa Burns, Clerk.