Shade Tree Committee

PARKS & RECREATION SHADE TREE COMMITTEE MINUTES Tuesday, March 28, 2023 Activity Center 12:00 P.M. MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE: Matt Hill, Ken Knoch, Gerry Bates, Lisa Burtenshaw, Rich Potter, Sam Ellsworth, Brandon Lerwill, Lee Washburn, Duston Edwards, Brian Stevens, John Radford, Jon Russell CALL TO ORDER – Gerry Bates Matt Hill was unable to attend the first part of the meeting. A motion was made by Rich Potter 2nd Ken Knoch for Gerry Bates to start the meeting. Gerry Bates called the meeting to order at 12:07 p.m. CITY REPORT  Upcoming spring projects that Lee Washburn has planned. o Tree trimming along Snake River Parkway. o Tree trimming along Memorial Dr. o Tree that has fallen in the river across from Japanese Garden need removed. o Trees need spaded as soon as ground is soft enough to dig. o Tree spraying will start.  Next meeting is scheduled for April 25, 2023. APPROVAL OF MINTUES February Minutes Approved by Sam Ellsworth 2nd Ken Knoch. CURRENT CITY FORESTRY STATUS  Winter Projects- o Nine trees were removed from Central Park because they died of IPS Beetle. Gerry asked if it was a possibility to start spraying the trees now; however, temperatures need to warm up so that the chemicals will work properly. o Nine other trees were removed from around the River Walk. 1   Tree damage report- Lee mentioned that it was too early to see any tree damage occurring in trees from this winter. Most of the damage being seen right now has happened some time in the past and is not caused by this winter weather. He mentioned some target areas such as Central Park and Pinecrest where we had an IPS Beetle outbreak and are monitoring/treating it so that we can get it under control. The Arbor Jet Injection System is what will be used to treat some of these trees. It has a two- year residual, and will be rotated with other chemicals to reduce resistance. Brian asked if it was possible to replace disease susceptible trees with less susceptible trees. The answer to this is that you can for a little bit but it is not the end all answer and diversity is key to keeping mature trees in parks. GENERAL TREE DISCUSSION  John Radford Resolution - John has met with legal and a resolution is being worked on. Part of the resolution is going to be informational while the other part is a formal committee. That committee is going to answer to the Shade Tree Committee and will dictate what trees will be planted in areas and in what areas trees will be planted in. They are primarily looking at storm retention ponds. The first pond that they want to start putting trees in is the Merlin Pond behind Bucks Gas Station. John mentioned that the Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce Leadership Training group needs to find money for the trees and asked if they could plant smaller caliper trees. Lee mentioned that it is a drainage pond that is not used for play so smaller trees might work there but it is preferred to plant larger trees that can handle the abuse from the public. John was given permission to give his resolution presentation to council in May. It will be the same presentation that he gave the Shade Tree Committee. They want to use a similar structure to what Boise set up for getting carbon credits. They want to get council on board with the idea and make up the plan as they go. Brian mentioned that if they move this into subdivisions, that they would need to look over the regulations to see how close things can be planted to sidewalks to prevent damage. Trees that are tolerable with lots of water are being considered for the drainage ponds.  Review Shrub & Tree City Ordinance – Lee asked the committee for more input for the revised tree list. Most members asked him to email them the list so that they can look it over and get him the ideas for what should be in there. Lee also told the committee that he had talked with legal about possibly changing the tree ordinance and taking the list out and replacing it with a referred to list. Legal advised him that it was doable but he would have to add his phone number so that any questions regarding trees could be sent directly to him and that it could possibly become overwhelming. With as often as the tree list gets changed (3 times in Lee’s career) legal suggested that it just stays in the ordinance. If the committee feels trees need to be added or removed from the list, then they should make suggestions and take it to council yearly. 2   Tree Plotter – Forestry and Horticulture staff are in the process of getting trees from old system combined with the new system. They are also fixing and updating trees already in the system so that the inventory is current. The job posting was put out to the public for a Tree Inventory Intern. Lee passed around the job description so that everyone could look it over and pass information along to possible candidates. The inventory is top priority for Lee so that he can accomplish other tasks such as the Tree Steward Program.  EAB Pest Preparedness – Gerry still does not have a finalized plan from his boss at the Department of Lands. Gerry talked more about the Inflation Reduction Act and how it would be used for Emerald Ash Borer education. They want to use some of the money to host educational workshops and to add features to the Tree Plotter program to help with inventory. They are also working on getting a template out for writing the grant so that cities can apply for leftover money. Gerry stated that cities can use the money from the grant with zero match for underserved areas. He also mentioned that areas that were not considered underserved could also apply for and use the money from the grant if a one to one match was done. Would need to have any and all projects done within five years of getting the grant. Department of Agriculture does not care to help with this plan because it does not threaten any Idaho Agriculture.  Arbor Day 2023 – Arbor Day 2023 will be held at the second Ryder Pond. It will be Monday, May 15th at 1:00 PM. Students from the District 91 Technical High School will be there to help plant.  Park Tour Prep - Lee asked the committee if they had any suggestions on times, days, and places they would like to see for the park tour. They wanted to see areas that will have new projects started in, current projects going on, and problem areas within the Parks Department. They would like it to be a short trip, something that would just take an afternoon. They suggested that with all Parks Department has going on that they could possibly do a tour twice a year to cover more area. They would like to have it sometime in June. It would not be an official shade tree meeting but more of an education tour of our parks systems.  House Bill 271- Gerry said that the house bill is at the discretion of the chair. He went on to explain that it means the bill is mostly dead and will more than likely not do anything. Those for the bill did not have great representation and may have helped lead to this decision. The bill basically said that trees within 200 feet of any sign could be cut down at the request of the sign holder. ANNOUNCEMENTS AND ADJOURNMENT  Matt mentioned that Parks and Rec Commission wanted some EAB discussion on the State Department of Lands’ Plan. 3   Matt from the Department of Lands would be in Southern Idaho next week and could meet with people regarding the grant and EAB if people would like. The committee wanted the cities grant writer at that meeting so that they could start preparing for the Inflation Reduction Act Grant.  Tree damage report for future meetings does not need to be on next agenda, just when more damage appears. Meeting adjourned and motioned by Gerry Bates 2 nd by Ken Knoch. Next meeting will be April 25, 2023. Meeting recorded by Duston Edwards 4