Tree & Landscape Board

Minutes of the Tree and Landscape Board City of College Park Virtual Meeting February 21, 2024, 7:00PM Term Exp. Members Present Absent Staff David Wigglesworth, City Arborist Staff Brian Barr, Assistant Director 06/30/2026 Christine O’Brien, Chair 06/30/2024 Todd Reitzel, member 06/30/2025 Emily Friend, member 06/30/2026 Tina Batten, member Alexa Bely, CBE representative Also Present: Erik Valentine, Planning Carleveva Thompson, Contract Secretary Ms. O’Brien called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. 1. Approval of Meeting Agenda: The Board reviewed the February 21, 2024, meeting agenda and the Board added Arbor Day tree planting location and a discussion on the ideal tree canopy. Motion: Approve the February 21, 2024, agenda as amended. Moved: Ms. Batten Second: Mr. Reitzel Aye: Unanimous Nay: 0 Abstain: 0 2. Discussion with Planning on Autoville Development: Mr. Valentine informed the Board the developer recently filed an application for the property on Autoville Drive and they are moving forward with a 10-unit proposal. There are about 3-4 specimen trees on the property and the developer will attempt to save as many trees, however, the developer will need to replace any tree that is removed or pay a fee as outlined per the Tree Ordinance. Mr. Valentine also shared that the City has received notice that the preliminary development plans for the Campus Village shopping center have been accepted by the County. The Board asked if there were any updates on the proposal to redevelop the College Park Car Wash and Paint Branch Preserve, but Mr. Valentine did not have any updates on these proposals. 3. Approval of January Meeting Minutes: The Board reviewed the meeting minutes of the January 17, 2024, meeting and edits were made to the minutes.  Motion: Approve the January 17, 2024, meeting minutes as amended. Moved: Ms. Batten Second: Mr. Reitzel Aye: Unanimous Nay: 0 Abstain: 0 4. Public Works Department Report: Mr. Barr shared the following highlight:  The landscape crew is working on early spring cleanup. Mr. Wigglesworth shared the following highlights:  Tree permit applications: # Tree Permits issued -3 # Pruning permits issued-0 # Denied permits-0 # Rescinded permits-0  Casey Trees Residential tree planting program: o Working on maps for tree planting at 33 properties (54 trees) to submit to Casey. o Secured 20 additional trees from Casey. o Completed pre-planting meetings for 13 properties. Will need to complete additional maps. o A total of 74 trees will be planted this spring, March -May.  Gogov App complaint system called “College Park Connect” available for your phone. -Start Request -Trees -New Street Tree, or Street Tree Maintenance, or Tree Planting on Residential Or-Code Enforcement -Construction/Building Permit or Tree Removal permits Not Posted (fill out location).  Contract Tree Work o Work started on 1/18/24 is nearly completed. (prune 26, 10 removals, 16 stumps).  Municipal Scene o Mr. Reitzel submitted article “Time to Plant Trees”. Edited and submitted.  Violation meeting with Public Services o Had a meeting with Jatinder Khokar, PS staff, and the City attorney to discuss violations procedure. The attorney had a procedure outlined that  we discussed and worked on. We will meet again to continue the discussion.  Tree Canopy Assessment o Presentation to the City Council by Mike Galvin was held on Tuesday 2/13/24. 5. CBE Report: Dr. Bely shared the following highlights:  The electric/manual lawn equipment incentive program is moving forward and will be rolled out soon. City flyer and website have been generated and the program will start this spring. There is $8k allocated for this year (through June 2024) and the potential for $20k for the next year (starting July 1, 2024). Incentives will be available for purchase of electric mowers or manual reel mowers ($100 rebate), electric weed whackers, leaf blowers, and hedge trimmers ($50 rebate each), rakes ($20 rebate, up to two rakes), multi electric equipment combo kits (e.g., leaf blower, hedge trimmer, weed wacker all share one battery) ($150 rebate). Maximum lifetime household rebate: $250  Sustainability Survey is revised and will soon be sent to the City communications office.  Permaculture garden cleanup scheduled for April 20th.  CBE sending a letter recommending to Mayor and Council that the City support several pieces of proposed environmental and environmental justice legislation in the state legislature: o Responding to Emergency Needs from Extreme Weather (RENEW) Act: This landmark legislation would “invest $900 million a year into making Maryland a cleaner, more resilient state despite the growing threat of climate disasters and without additional cost to Maryland taxpayers,” according to the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN), a coalition of environmental nonprofits. The legislation would be paid for by a tax on fossil fuel companies. o Clean Water Justice Act: This bill seeks to supplement the capacity of the state’s regulatory agency to protect its waterways following the regulatory void left by the Supreme Court’s decision in Sackett v. EPA, which turned regulation of many waterways over to the states. o Reclaim Renewable Energy Act: The bill would take trash incineration out of Maryland's renewable energy program, which currently ranks incineration the same as solar and wind energy. MD has provided $51 million in subsidies to trash incineration over the past three years, even though this is a highly polluting source of energy. o Climate Crisis and Environmental Justice Act: CCEJ Act would work to reduce fossil fuel emissions. It raises revenue by charging fossil fuel companies two types of fees, that would generate billions of dollars for investment in clean energy infrastructure, while providing protective benefits to Maryland’s small businesses and its most vulnerable low- and moderate-income households. 6. Old Business a. Municipal Scene Articles  TCEP/Tree planting – March (Mr. Reitzel)  Oak trees and insects – April (Ms. O’Brien)  Solar Companies and Trees (possible topic) b. Autoville development – The Board discussed adding to the letter being drafted for City Council a request that no trees be removed during the property development and to include a picture of the property that shows the trees in the letter. c. Vine Removal Video – Mr. Reitzel was recorded by the City videographer conducting vine removal at Attic Towers and the finalized video should be available by the end of the week. Once the video is finalized, a QR-code will be created and added to door hangers. 7. New Business a. Arbor Day on April 26, 2024 - Mr. Wigglesworth is looking for suggestions on locations and the type of tree to plant. The Board discussed asking the District Councilmembers and residents for suggested locations to plant a tree. Lakeland and Berwyn Heights were discussed as suggested areas for a tree planting location. b. Target Tree Canopy – The City’s tree canopy has been at 38% and the City Council’s goal is 40% for the 2024-2025 strategic plan. Based on other cities, 40% is a low number, so the Board discussed what would be considered a healthy goal for the City’s tree canopy. 8. Next Meeting Date The next meeting is scheduled on March 20, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. 9. Adjournment Ms. Friend motioned to adjourn the meeting. Second by Ms. Batten. All members in favor; no opposed. Motion carries, 5-0-0. The meeting adjourned at 8:58 p.m.