Tree Board

CITY OF HENDERSONVILLE TREE BOARD City Operations Center 305 Williams Street Hendersonville, NC 28791 - Second Floor Meeting Room Monday, December 09, 2024 – 2:30 PM MINUTES MEMBER S IN ATTENDANCE: JANET THEW, MARY DAVIS, BECCA DOLL, NATALIE WILCOXEN, MELODY CRAWFORD, GLENN LANGE, SCOTT HARMON 1. CALL TO ORDER 2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Motion to approve: Glenn Lange Second: Melody Crawford Motion approved 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. Minutes from November 11, 2024 Motion to approve: Glenn Lange Second: Mary Davis Motion approved _____________________________________________________________________________________ CITY OF HENDERSONVILLE TREE BOARD City Operations Center 305 Williams Street Hendersonville, NC 28791 Second Floor Meeting Room Monday, November 11, 2024 – 2:30 PM MINUTES MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE: LYNDSEY SIMPSON, MARY DAVIS, NATALIE WILCOXEN, MELODY CRAWFORD, GLENN LANGE AND SCOTT HARMON (REMOTELY) 1. CALL TO ORDER 2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Motion to Approve: Glenn L. Second: Melody C. Motion Approved 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES  A. Minutes for September 9, 2024 Motion to Approve: Glenn L. Second: Natalie W. Motion Approved 4. OLD BUSINESS A. City Council Update Vegetative debris removal is continuing from Helene. Construction Debris has not started due to the County not having an approved site. They are trying to get it permitted. Gina Dixon will be the newest council member. It is possible there could be a different council liaison after the first of the year. B. Urban Forestry Plan and NCFS Grant The grant process is moving along with NCFS and looking very positive. The City Council approved the grant process to proceed. C. Bradford Pear Bounty Update We will proceed with the bounty again next year. D. NeighborWoods - Natalie Wilcoxen We have several groups interested and are considering delivering trees in December. Natalie contacted multiple high schools and can link NeighborWoods developments with volunteers if needed.  Natalie is in discussions with Upward Elementary School about the possibility of the horticulture program growing some trees and pollinator plants for next year. E Bradford Pear Bounty Becca Doll will reach out to the state committee to finalize a date for this years event. 5. NEW BUSINESS A. Proposed Tree Board Schedule 2025 Motion to Approve: Melody Crawford Second: Glenn Lange Motion Approved TREE BOARD REGULAR MEETINGS 2025 The regular meetings of the City of Hendersonville Tree Board will be held on the second Monday of each month beginning, at 2:30 PM in the Second Floor Conference Room of the Operations Center located at 305 Williams Street, Hendersonville, NC. January 13, 2025 July 7, 2025 February 10, 2025 August 11, 2025 March 10, 2025 September 8, 2025 April 7, 2025 October 13, 2025 May 12, 2025 November 10, 2025 June 9, 2025 December 8, 2025  B. Open Board Positions Applications have been requested from the City Clerk for review. C. Tree Board Response to Helene The Tree Board is checking into setting up various pop-ups to provide city property owners with free trees. D. Hiring a replacement for Mary Jo Melody C. off Motion to Approve: Melody Crawford Second: Glenn Lange Motion Approved Melody agreed to take on most of Mary Jo’s responsibilities. E. Proposed Ordinance Discussion: New concern with the recent Landscape Zoning Ordinance changes. There appears to be a loophole in part of the new Tree Preservation Ordinance. Lyndsey S. will address this and close the loophole before the next public hearing. Parkland dedication for development projects. Glenn L. discussed the need for additional parkland dedication and how that could be achieved. He will look into options and develop a plan fo the board. Proposal to rewrite the existing Chapter 46, Article 4, Trees and Shrubs city code language. The board voted to have a committee work on an alternative version of Chapter 46, Article 4 and report back to the board. Motion to Approve: Glenn L. Second: Natalie W. Motion Approved 6. OTHER BUSINESS A. Staff Comments Mary D. will check on all of the Heritage trees and report back to the board as to their status. TREE BOARD – November 11, 2024 Page | 3  7. ADJOURNMENT The City of Hendersonville is committed to providing accessible facilities, programs and services for all people in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Should you need assistance or an accommodation for this meeting please contact the City Clerk no later than 24 hours prior to the meeting at 697-3005. ____________________________________________________________________________________ 4. NEW BUSINESS A. City Council Update New Board Members were elected: Mark Madsen, Rich Bowman New City Council member: Gina Dixon Lyndsey Simpson will remain the Council representative for the Tree Board. B. Heritage Tree Report - Mary Davis 5 of the 14 heritage trees have been lost. Mary Davis will head up a committee to reinvigorate the Heritage Tree Program. She will create content for an initial social media blast and when they are ready melody will create a press release. Once a new batch of trees are voted in as Heritage Trees, new maps will be created. The overall goal is to identify and call attention to large stately trees in our community. C. Proposed subcommittee to rewrite the Tree, Shrub, and Tree Board city code. Glenn and Scott will review and make recommendations to the board. Becca will review content and Natalie will edit. 5. OLD BUSINESS A. NeighborWoods - Natalie Wilcoxen The board decided to immediately move ahead with a few planting projects. The drought in the spring prevented planting and hurricane Helene tied up resources to prevent planting to this point. B. NCUFC Grant Update - Scott Harmon Grant is under review. We now need to create an outreach plan. TREE BOARD – December 09, 2024 Page | 4  \C. Proposed Ordinance Revision - Glenn Lange The Brooklyn Ave development brought up some possible issues with the ordinance. Glenn reached out to Lew Holloway from the Community Development Department. Lew agreed that certain changes will likely occur, however he would like to see several developments go through the process and then address the needed changes. He also did not agree with the developers interpretation of the intention of the ordinance. The board discussed that it would like to change the ordinance for single family developments to require 1 tree to be located in the back yard of each lot. This would be in addition to the street tree. D. Helene Storm Response The board decided it will have booth at the farmers market during the month of May to give trees away to city residents. 6. OTHER BUSINESS A. Website Update For the foreseeable future the Tree Board website will not be posting articles. B. Board Communications Board members can meet in groups of three or email groups of three, but 4 board members make a quorum, and would constitute formal meeting which would need to be advertised ahead of time. C. Chair of the Board Discussion The chairperson decision will be voted upon in the January meeting. 7. ADJOURNMENT The City of Hendersonville is committed to providing accessible facilities, programs and services for all people in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Should you need assistance or an accommodation for this meeting please contact the City Clerk no later than 24 hours prior to the meeting at 697-3005. TREE BOARD – December 09, 2024 Page | 5