Urban Forestry Commission

URBAN FORESTRY COMMISSION REVISED Minutes of January 25, 2024 IN PERSON REGULAR MEETING Room 208 Municipal Building MEMBERS PRESENT MEMBERS ABSENT ALSO PRESENT Jane Harris, Chairwoman Howard Weissberg- Deputy Director of PW Bob Grimm Chris Donnelly- City Forester Jonathan Morris Carl Lecce- Guest Steve Cronkite Dave Meyering 1. Roll Call Jane Harris, Chairwoman, called the meeting to order at 4:30 pm, in Room 208 of the Municipal Building at 245 DeKoven Drive. The roll was called and a quorum was determined. 2. Review of Minutes The minutes of December 28, 2023 were reviewed and approved with a correction under the Public Works report. 3. Old Business Tree Warden Report  There has been no additional work to report on. Public Works Report  The Public Works Report was provided in the packet to committee members. Account Balance  Account balances were not discussed in detail but noted on the agenda. Downtown Business District Tree Pit Bid  Deputy Director Weissberg and Chairwoman Harris walked with the City Engineer from Union Park to Washington Street. There are 31 problematic installations. There are still locations that need to be assessed and identified. DEEP Tree Inventory Grant  Chris Donnelly spoke to State and Federal grant programs and that it would be a good time to start thinking about projects the City may have. He stated there are at least 5 vendors that could do the inventory for the City under the DEEP tree inventory grant. He provided the committee with some information from a few of the vendors. The committee spoke about putting documentation for this grant program into Google Docs. Chris Donnelly questioned who in the City is responsible for maintaining the GIS and whether that is the best system to keep using. Chairwoman Harris will get an answer. Carl Lecce Nomination  Chairwoman Harris stated that she has Carl Lecce’s self-nomination letter and has provided it to Director Holden. She will be following up with Director Holden to get it on the next Council Agenda. Wesleyan Hills Pool & Tennis Club Proposal  There is no additional information to share other than the leaves have not been able to get delivered due to the weather and muddy conditions. Additional Tree requests  Chairwoman Harris stated that Forest City seems to not be interested in doing tree plantings for the City. Director Holden will need to report back about the numbers that were questioned in the Public Works report from the previous month regarding Forest City. 4. New Business  Arbor Day and spring planting sites- Councilwoman Harris stated that they would like to plant a tree in honor of Jane McMillan. There is another woman under consideration as well.  Should we look for a new landscaper to plant trees? –In the past they used a company out of Portland. Chairwoman Harris requested if the committee members know of any other landscaping companies that would do this. They mentioned Uncle Bobs and New Image and Torrison. 5. Other/Correspondence  Request for tree for Ellen Lukens- this was a request from the Chair of the Conservation Committee. She lives on Pine Street so perhaps a tree there would be nice.  It was requested by Steve Cronkite to get 4 cubic yards of topsoil for the arboretum. 6. Public Comment  None. 7. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 5:38pm.