Arbor Committee

MAPLE GROVE ARBOR COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING AUGUST 13, 2020 VIRTUAL ONLINE MEETING 7:00 PM Call to Order The regular meeting of the Arbor Committee was called to order by Chairperson Parenteau at 7:00 p.m. Members Present Mary Parenteau, Frank Kampel, Sarah Piket, Steve Courtney, Julie Gamber, Cody Lensing, Don Varney, Bob Henke. Marilyn Arnlund Members Absent Dan Sanford, Ed Reichow Also Present Judy Hanson, Council Liaison Jesse Corrow, Staff Liaison Approval of Agenda Chairperson Parenteau asked if there were any and Minutes additions or revisions to the agenda. Hearing none, Committee Member Courtney made a motion to approve the agenda. The motion was seconded by Committee Member Henke and passed unanimously on a voice vote. Chairperson Parenteau asked if there were any revisions to the July 9th, 2020 minutes. Chairperson Parenteau noted some corrections on the Forest Management Land Trust discussion that took place at the previous meeting. Hearing no additional revisions, Committee Member Lensing made a motion to approve the minutes of the July 9th meeting as presented. The motion was seconded by Committee Member Piket and passed unanimously on a voice vote. Old Business Forest Preservation Chairperson Parenteau shared that the Maple Grove Conservation Easement Forest Preservation Area has been accepted by Hennepin County as a project that is worth pursuing and we are now in a fact-finding phase. The Arbor Committee has been working with Kristine Maurer from the Hennepin Habitat Conservation Group and Kristina Geiger from Minnesota Land Trust. The cost to the city would be minimal to nothing thanks to a grant from Hennepin County to cover staff and contractor time needed. Arbor Committee Meeting Minutes August 13, 2020 Page 2 The city would continue to own any land that is placed under an easement but could donate the easement rights to the county, however the city would not receive money for the easement rights as private residential properties often times do. The county is able to research the land on their own, including determining general condition, natural history, developing detailed recommendations about wildlife and develop a management plan. Any parts of the property that are already protected, for various reasons, would not be included in the easement, however the county would still contribute towards the preservation and management plan for those parts. Staff is researching if any of the parcels are permanently protected and what parts were purchased with DNR grant money. Hennepin County is requesting any information on property ownership and any pre-existing protections as part of the application process. Christina Geiger has offered to attend a future City Council work session to present information regarding this. The desired output of the work session would be to write a resolution for the council to approve moving forward with the easement. Fall Tree Festival Planning continued for the Fall Tree festival. The event will take place over the course of two weeks running from Saturday, September 26th through Sunday, October 11th. The Committee discussed a map design that will include trail layers, select tree locations and other points of interest. Staff will work on the map to present at the September meeting. Committee Member Lensing presented the idea of a scavenger hunt for participants to find trees in several city parks and submit photos of the trees to be entered into a drawing for prizes. Staff will check if the same infrastructure can be used from the city’s photo contest as a way for scavenger hunt participants to submit photos. Committee member Varney will help Cody put Arbor Committee Meeting Minutes August 13, 2020 Page 3 together fun facts for the different types of trees at the Arboretum and city parks, along with creating signs for the trees. The Arbor Committee has a supply of Home Depot kits and other small prizes from previous years can be used as participation prizes. Larger prizes may include cutting boards provided by Committee Member Lensing and local nursery gift cards that would be awarded with the scavenger hunt drawing. The city Facebook page and website will be used to promote the event. Committee Member Piket will mock-up a flyer for the event to be reviewed at the September meeting. Staff Liaison Corrow will double- check that we can publish all the necessary details about the event on the city website. New Business The Village at Arbor A landscape plan was presented for the Villages at Lakes Senior Housing Arbor Lakes Senior Housing Building. Committee Landscape Plan Member Kampel inquired about plantings in the adjacent lots to the south. Ten of the documented trees are in those adjacent lots and should not count towards the current development’s required trees, although the minimum requirement will still be met. The ten additional trees will count as existing trees when those lots are developed in the future. Committee Member Varney inquired about the amount of impervious area on the lot that is dedicated towards parking. It is presumed that the large number of independent living residents will utilize the surface and underground parking provided. Committee Member Kampel inquired about how the perimeter of the lots to the south will be measured. Staff Liaison Corrow indicated that the south lot lines for the current development will also be included in the perimeter measurement when future lots are developed. Arbor Committee Meeting Minutes August 13, 2020 Page 4 A follow up on July area reports was presented by Area Reports Staff Liaison Corrow: • The area near HyVee North was being graded with the necessary permits in order to improve drainage and run-off for the nearby 99th Avenue Apartments. • The Code Enforcement Officer was informed about the Hirschfield’s trees that appear to be in poor health. Chairperson Parenteau asked if money could be added to the budget for additional staff. Staff Liaison Corrow indicated that the city had planned to bring a summer intern on board this year to help with code enforcement, but that plan did not happen due to the COVID pandemic. • Committee Member Lensing confirmed that the park path connecting East Fish Lake Rd to Cardinal Circle has been repaired. New Area Reports: • Committee Member Henke noted that the new Caribou near the hospital has 2 dead trees on their patio. • Marilyn followed up on utility work on Lawndale Lane which she mentioned in area reports a few months ago. The work area still has not been restored. Staff Liaison Corrow will follow-up with staff. • Council Member Hanson noted that during the last council workshop, Ken Ashfield indicated that EAB has gotten quite bad. He anticipates around 7,000 trees in the public right of way will need to be removed and it will cost around $10M. The city is working with Rainbow to determine if any trees are worth treating, but they want to move quickly and take trees down while they are still safe. It was unknown if the city has tried to apply for any grants to get funds for replanting trees. Committee Member Varney expressed concerns if the city does not plan to replace the lost trees since they are an integral part of Arbor Committee Meeting Minutes August 13, 2020 Page 5 communities and part of the cost of running a city. • Cook Lake is a single family, residential development (near Hwy 101 and Co Rd 10) which will have approximately 50 rental homes. While the landscape plan is not under the purview of the Arbor Committee, Chairperson Parenteau is concerned how close these homes are to the lot lines, and if there is enough room for trees and shrubs to be planted. She questioned who will maintain the area once developed and if the community building is required to have a landscape plan. Staff Liaison Corrow will look into these questions. Adjournment Committee Member Kampel made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:33 P.M. The motion was seconded by Committee Member Courtney and passed unanimously on a voice vote. Respectfully submitted, Jesse Corrow, Staff Representative City of Maple Grove Arbor Committee