Shade Tree Committee

PARKS & RECREATION SHADE TREE COMMITTEE MINUTES Tuesday, April 25, 2023 Activity Center 12:00 P.M. MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE: Matt Hill, Ken Knoch, Kim Johnson, Rich Potter, Sam Ellsworth, Brandon Lerwill, Lee Washburn, Duston Edwards, Brian Stevens, Ronnie Campbell CALL TO ORDER – Matt Hill Matt Hill called the meeting to order at 12:05 p.m. CITY REPORT  Heritage Park Update- Within the next few days, the sprinkler system, creek bed, and electrical will be finished in phase one. The ribbon cutting is planned for June 20 th. The Rotary Club made another donation that will be used for sod and irrigation. No time frame for when trees will be planted yet. When trees are planted, they will be a mix of ball and burlap, containers, and spaded trees. There will possibly be some community involvement in the planting of the trees with staff on site to provide adequate training on proper planting.  Next meeting is scheduled for May 30, 2023. APPROVAL OF MINTUES April Minutes Approved by Ken Knoch 2 nd Sam Ellsworth. GENERAL TREE DISCUSSION  Ordinance Revision – Lee received some feedback from some of the committee members on the approved street tree and utility list. Some suggestions include more native species, and less species that grow slender/columnar. Lee will go through that and add/remove the applicable species. Lee mentioned that since we are already changing the ordinance that we should go ahead and include the category classification descriptions. It would be nice to go through the ordinance and make any changes all at 1  once instead of in stages. Brian Stevens was asked if it was possible to change the planning and zoning ordinance to include wider planting strips for tree health. He said that they are already 4 feet wide and it is highly unlikely that it would change. Brian suggested planting larger caliper trees, making larger root boxes, or planting tree species that grow taller to compensate with smaller planting strips. Silva cells were brought up however, due to their cost it is highly unlikely to use them. Lee mentioned with larger planting strips you wouldn’t run into issues such as along Sunnyside where you have trees growing into utilities both above and below ground because of lack of space. It was brought up that tree height, especially along roads similar to Sunnyside, be looked at closely because of the cost to keep trees below utility lines.  Forestry Master Plan – The forestry master plan is in progress but still has a long way to go. A large part of that is reliant on an updated tree inventory, which is being worked on but will take time. There have only been two applicants for the tree inventory intern position neither have experience in tree identification. Lee is looking at what other cities have in their master plans and building ours off of theirs.  Tree Protection Plan- It has been sent to legal but has stopped there. Lee is working on finding out why. This plan covers all sorts of things to do with tree health during construction.  Street Tree Zone – This year’s street tree zone is the Pinecrest zone. Trees are needing trimmed that hang down into the streets so that Public Works can do street maintenance. The city has sent out information to homeowners in this zone so that they can possibly trim their own trees. It was asked if dead trees in private yards would be dealt with while doing this street zone, and because the way the ordinance reads it could be a possibility if the tree is a nuisance. With this being said, several people have advised Lee to try and stay away from dealing with private trees as much as possible.  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. ANNOUNCEMENTS AND ADJOURNMENT  Committee members wanted to finalize the parks tour at the next meeting.  Matt Hill wanted to have a discussion about Ips beetles and the Emerald Ash Borer.  Tree damage report Meeting adjourned and motioned by Sam Ellsworth 2nd by Ken Knoch. Next meeting will be May 30, 2023. Meeting recorded by Duston Edwards 2