Tree Board

Clarksville Tree Board 9, March 2022 @ 4:00 PM 4 Floor Staff Conference Room th City Hall Agenda 4:00: Call to order—Wes Powell Adoption of minutes from previous meeting. Continuing business: 1. City Forester Update – Kathrine a. Downtown TAEP Grant tree replacement b. Riverside Dr. trees Old business: 1. TN Arbor Day Tree Give-away re-cap 2. Art Contest- 40 entries 3. Tree City Growth Award categories a. City Canopy Survey- quote from APSU GIS b. City Inventory and Management software- quote from ArborPro 4. Tree Board Member Roles nominations and vote a. Vice Chairperson b. Secretary c. Social Media and Communications Liaison d. Special Event Planner e. Educational Outreach Planner New business: 1. Select Art Contest Winners Other business: Public Comments: Next meeting: 13, April 2022 at 4:00 p.m. 4th Floor Mayor’s Conference Room, City Hall c. 5:00: Adjourn  Tree Board Minutes February 9, 2022 @ 4:00 pm 4th Floor Mayor’s Conference Room City Hall Attendance: Wes Powell, Cindy Miller, Linda Friend, Sheela Clark, Karla Kean, and Kathrine Killebrew 1. January minutes were reviewed and approved. 2. Kathrine announced that the TAEP grant trees were delivered on 2-8-22 and installation is set to begin in the next few days. She is still waiting on trees to be delivered for the Riverside Dr replacement project. Once installed a watering schedule will be created for the warmer months. Also, the Arbor Day seedlings have been delivered and are being stored at Katherine’s office until our tree give-away on 3-4-22. Wes asked that all board members who could, attend and help out. Karla has a list of Master Gardener volunteers to help out as well. Alex has created the order forms and also has quite a few mini pencils. 3. Katherine also announced that she recently completed an online certification for Tree Board members and encouraged the board members to do this training. This brought on a discussion of other potential professional development opportunities for the board and the community as a whole. Karla mentioned the Master Gardener program and Wes talked about the Citizen Forester program, as well as the ISA arborist certification. 4. The Arbor Day Foundation notified Katie that we are officially a Tree City USA for the 33rd year and also received our 17th Growth Award. Congratulations and thank you to all who assisted with this accomplishment. 5. Wes and Katie went through the potential questions for a community Urban Forestry Survey. A copy of this survey will be sent to the board members for review and edits to be discussed in March. 6. Alex reported that the Landmark Tree map has been completed and shared as a google map file. 7. Wes brought up the need for officers within the Tree Board. He suggested for the board to consider nominations for Vice-Chair, Secretary, Educational Outreach Coordinator, Event Planning Coordinator and External Communications/Social Media liaison. Linda showed interest as Secretary, Sheela showed interest as Educational Outreach and Alex showed interest as Communications/Social Media Liaison. Official nominations and votes will take place in March. With no further business the meeting was adjourned. Next meeting: February 9th at 4:00 p.m. City Hall 4th floor Mayor’s Conference Room  Example of Tree Survey Questions Introduction Thank you for your interest in protecting and managing Clarksville’s trees! Clarksville’s “urban forest” makes our community special. An urban forest is defined as all the trees that grow within the city, on both public and private property. The Clarksville community- led Tree Board is developing plans we can all follow to protect our existing trees and plant more for our future generations. This winter, the Tree Board is working on a draft of our Urban Forest Plan and would like to recommend updates to the Clarksville’s tree ordinance to City Council. We need your ideas and feedback to develop an Urban Forestry Plan and updated tree ordinance that works for our community. Please complete the following short survey to share your ideas and opinions on these important efforts. The survey takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. Your connection to Clarksville’s Urban Forest: 1. Do you….(select all that apply) a. Live in Clarksville b. Own property in Clarksville c. Work in Clarksville d. Work for a tree care or landscaping company e. Travel to Clarksville for recreation activities or visit Clarksville parks f. Shop in downtown Clarksville g. Go to school in Clarksville 2. If you live in Clarksville, how long have you lived here? a. Less than 1 year b. 1-3 years c. 3-5 years d. 5-10 years e. More than 10 years 3. What do you value the most about Clarksville’s trees? Select the top three benefits that matter most to you. a. They are beautiful and improve the look of our community. b. They provide health benefits (e.g. trees clean our air) c. They make Clarksville a nice place to visit and live, boosting our economy. d. They provide habitat for wildlife. e. They capture stormwater and help prevent floods. f. They provide shade from the sun. g. They fight climate change by storing carbon and making our community a better place to live. h. Other. (describe) 4. Which of the following tree-related issues are most important to you? A. Aesthetics/ Appearance B. Sidewalk conflicts C. Street Trees are too small D. Tree Regulations E. Stormwater Retention F. Tree Protection G. Recreation/Open space H. Climate Change I. Species Variety J. Sewer line conflicts K. Street Trees too large L. Shade M. Tree Health N. Views O. Property Value P. Pruning/Maintenance Q. Power line conflicts R. Leaf litter/Debris S. Pollution Reduction T. Tree Age U. Community Tree Programs V. Historic / Specimen Trees 5. What priorities should the City have in managing City trees? 6. What do you think residents can do to contribute to the health of the urban forest? 7. Have you ever contacted the City about a tree issue? What was the reason? 8. How familiar are you with the City’s tree preservation policies. A. Unfamiliar B. Somewhat familiar C. Very familiar 9. I would like to learn more about: A. Caring for trees on my property B. Benefits of trees C. Caring for Street trees D. Different trees species in the City E. Planting Street trees F. Other Forest Size: Creating a draft of the Urban Forest Plan will be a first-step toward realizing priority actions from our Community Vision related to trees. It will include goals, policies, and near-term actions for our City to help manage and preserve our tree cover. The Tree Board will evaluate progress regularly and review the Plan every two years. 10. The draft of the Urban Forest Plan recommends policies for the City to adopt to help achieve goals related to forest size. Select the top three proposed policies that are the most important to you. a. Promoting sustainable design principles in site development and redevelopment to integrate tree canopy into future built environments. b. Make tree planting affordable to residents c. Maintaining existing tree canopy cover by restricting needless canopy reductions. d. Require replanting for dead and removed trees whenever possible e. Preserve and protect trees and properties in development. 11. How important is it to you to save large, mature trees from being cut down on both public and private property? a. Very important b. Somewhat important c. Not very important d. Not at all important e. No opinion. 12. Most of Clarksville's trees are located on private property. To protect and grow Clarksville’s urban forest, would you support a permit system for large removals on private property? a. Strongly support b. Somewhat support c. Somewhat oppose d. Strongly oppose e. No opinion 13. Have you ever contacted the City regarding tree maintenance and planting, or removal? a. Yes b. No c. Not sure. Forest Health: 14. The draft for creating our Urban Forest Plan recommends policies for the City to adopt to help achieve goals related to forest health. Rank the top three proposed policies that are the most important to you. (1= top most important) a. Manage Clarksville’s urban forest as a functional ecosystem and factor climate change into urban forest management plans. b. Require certified professional arborists to perform tree maintenance, and restrict improper pruning practices. c. Protect trees on property in development through tree protection plants and an auditing process. d. Promote proactive tree maintenance by supporting residents with creative resources (e.g. financial incentives, free materials, etc). 15. Requiring professional arborists to prune trees can help keep trees healthy, but professional tree care can be expensive. How important is it to you to be able to prune your own trees beyond routine maintenance? a. Very important b. Somewhat important c. Not very important d. Not at all important e. No opinion. Street Tree Management 15.The draft Urban Forest Plan recommends policies for the City to tadop to help achieve goals related to street tree management. Rank the following policies by what is most important to you (1=top most important) a. Manage street trees as necessary to maintain existing green infrastructure. b. Track all planting, maintenance and removals of street and public trees to ensure proper tree care. c. Proactively plan for mature tree preservation and new tree planting in all public infrastructure improvement projects. 16. Would you be willing to support Green Street designs which incorporates vegetation such as perennials, shrubs and trees, soil and engineered systems (e.g. permeable pavements) to slow, filter, and cleanse stormwater runoff from impervious surfaces (e.g., streets, sidewalks). a. Yes b. No c. No opinion. Demographics 17.. How old are you? 18.. What is your annual household income? 19.. How do you identify yourself culturally? 20. What is your gender identity? (check all that apply)