Urban Forestry Commission

Tree Commission Meeting Wednesday, December 17, 2014 v 7:30 - 10:00 pm Dogwood Room, City Hall Present: Larry Dorr, Bob Donaldson, Kathleen Philpott Costa, Kate Reich, Christian Autor, Anna Wilson and Dennis Szymanski Guest: None Absent: David Chojnacky, Karen Oliver, Lindy Hockenberry 1. Call to order. The meeting was called to order by Larry Dorr at 7:30pm. 2. Approval of Minutes — November minutes were approved. 3. Public Comments. None 4. New Business. — Tree Commission Annual Report. Larry Dorr requested input to the Annual Report with the intent of discussing at the January meeting and presenting to Council in February 2015. 5. Old Business.  Private Maintenance Agreements on Falls Church City streetscape trees and adherence with adopted, existing standards. Kate Reich had no updated information.  Tree Recognition Program. Dennis Szymanski provided a draft "To Do" list for Tree Commission members to review. In the ongoing discussion of how to incentivize participation in urban forest programs like this, Christian Autor suggested that a credit could be given for using Yard Waste stickers.  Canopy Cover Study - How to Use and Present the Results? In his overview, David Chojnacky allowed as how the 20% canopy cover within 10 years was somewhat arbitrary. Although the overall canopy has seen a reduction, it remains difficult to clearly identify patterns, in part because the 1  data do not account for perhaps significant variables, e.g., planned vs actual planting, trees removed but not accounted for. Christian Autor will attempt to present the data in a more presentation-friendly format for the next meeting. In the meantime, the Arborist will research what other jurisdictions are doing in the area of percent canopy cover planning horizons and consider a separate goal for residential rather than lumping into a single category that includes commercial. A discussion followed addressing what to do with the information once it is finalized. Suggestions for consideration included addition to the Comprehensive Plan and Green Infrastructure as well as using for urban forestry promotional materials.  Tree of the Year (TOTY). The American Holly has been named Tree of the Year for 2015. The Tree Commission will investigate the possibility/advisability of expanding consideration to shrubs for TOTY for 2016.  Prioritizing the backlog of Commercial Sites with missing Landscaping. Agreements. Follow up for the January meeting. 5. Informational Items  Holiday lights on business area street trees. Lights were strung this week using street lights as the power source.  Preparing to Develop a Falls Church City tree inventory. As cost is a potential barrier to moving forward, Kate Reich will research the availability of a crowd sourced app for Smartphones.  Tree City USA application. The Arborist is aware of the December 31st deadline and would contact the Tree Commission should any assistance be required. 6. Next Meeting: January 21, 2015 7. Adjourned at 9:30pm. These minutes are respectively submitted by Dennis Szymanski, Tree Commission Secretary. 2