TREE BOARD MEETING

1 City of Lake Forest Park – Tree Board Meeting 2 Meeting Minutes: December 3rd, 2025; 7:00-9:00pm 3 Hybrid Meeting Held in the Forest Room at City Hall and Virtually via Zoom 4 5 Tree Board Members present: Richard Olmstead, Richard Saunders, Victoria Kutasz, Doug 6 Sprugel, Mark Phillips and Stacey Spain virtually 7 8 Staff and others present: Larry Goldman, LFP City Council; Sam Kull, Urban Forest Planner 9 10 Members of the Public present: Kyle Gati 11 12 Tree Board Members absent: No members were absent. 13 14 Call to order: 7:00 PM 15 16 Short Reflection: Holly Article from University of Washington, Management Options 17 18 Introductions: The Tree Board members introduced themselves. Mr. Gati introduced himself as a 19 first-time guest. 20 21 Approval of Meeting Agenda: Vice Chair Kutasz motioned to approve the agenda; Board Member 22 Olmstead second the motion. The agenda was approved unanimously. 23 24 Approval of Minutes: Board member Sprugel motioned to approve the minutes; and Vice Chair 25 Kutasz seconded. The November 2025 minutes were approved unanimously. 26 27 Public Comment: Mr. Gati was concerned on the trees being removed for new homeowners. 28 29 Next meeting: The next meeting occurs on January 7th, 2026. 30 31 Reports and Announcements: 32 Councilmember Goldman Update 33 Councilmember Goldman stated they would investigate the status of Tree Board applicants who 34 have not received follow-up after submitting applications, including coordination with the City 35 Clerk’s office. 36 37 City Staff Update 38 Mr. Kull reported that a red tag was placed on the Town Center property related to unauthorized 39 trimming conducted near Lyons Creek. Mr. Kull also stated that clearing activities had occurred at 40 Blue Heron Park by the Stewardship Foundation 41 42 Old Business: 43 Arbor Day – Green Fair 44 The Tree Board discussed potential Arbor Day activities in conjunction with the Green Fair, 45 including tree giveaways, an Arbor Day tree walk, and a possible photography contest. Location 46 options and overall goals for increased public engagement were discussed, including creating more 47 interactive and visible opportunities focused on trees. A tentative timeframe of late April was 1  1 discussed. Outreach to local schools is underway, with responses pending. The Board also discussed 2 evaluating staff and volunteer capacity to support a potential Tree Board-led tree giveaway. 3 4 Recruiting Ideas 5 Vice Chair Kutasz stated that a draft recruiting sign-in sheet had been created and distributed 6 previously. The Board discussed continued recruitment efforts, including the possibility of 7 developing an internship or student engagement program to provide exposure to Tree Board 8 activities. 9 10 KCD and SFI grants Update 11 Mr. Kull stated that King Conservation District shapefiles would be acquired by city staff and shared 12 with appropriate parties. The SFI grant timeline has been delayed, with updates anticipated in 13 January. 14 15 New Business: 16 2026 Work Plan Draft Edits 17 The Tree Board discussed the draft 2026 Work Plan, including the need to clarify priorities, define 18 deliverables, and determine whether tasks should be assigned to individual members or leads. 19 Discussion included identifying which tasks generate meaningful outcomes, developing actionable 20 leads, and refining the scope of work. Mr. Kull offered to assist with guiding task development and 21 next steps. 22 23 Agenda for Next Meeting: The Board will discuss finalizing the 2026 Work Plan, reviewing the 24 Annual Report, Arbor Day planning (including outreach to nurseries for seedling availability), and 25 consideration of an Exceptional Tree nomination. 26 27 Adjournment: Board member Olmstead motioned to end the meeting and board member Sprugel 28 seconded. 29 30 Meeting adjourned at 9:00 PM 31 32 APPROVED: 33 34 ______________________ 35 Mark Phillips, Chair 36 37 2