Tree Board

Tree Board minutes 01/23/17 1 Morgantown Tree Board (MTB) Minutes, meeting of January 23, 2017 Present: MTB members Dan Brown, Jonathan Cumming, Greg Dahle, Phil Crim, Ken Hacker (MUB), Secretary Jon Weems, Chair Dave Barnett, City Council liaison Nancy Ganz, and City employee Marchetta Maupin. Chair D. Barnett called the meeting to order at 4:55 PM in The Public Safety Building conference room and noted that a quorum was present. The meeting followed a site visit to consider large sycamores on Ashland Ave. G. Dahle moved, and D. Brown seconded, that minutes of the 12/05/16 meeting be approved as amended. The motion carried unanimously. Report from M. Maupin MTB membership postings were out of date. M. Maupin was working to update them. The two scarlet oaks that arrived last fall had been mulched in, pending planting in City parks. MTB members were welcome to join M. Maupin at a January 31 meeting with Bartlett to discuss pruning. M. Maupin asked about a WVU contact, needed for Tree City USA purposes. D. Brown suggested Bob Frame or Byron Smith. G. Dahle expressed interest in WVU becoming a Tree Campus USA if Morgantown could still qualify as a Tree City USA without counting WVU expenditures. The 1/23/17 site visit to consider two large sycamores on Ashland Ave. was discussed. Consensus was that the trees appear very sound and healthy, but the consequences of failure would be very significant. Further assessment measures included possible coring or climbing. D. Barnett said he would ask Bartlett for an assessment. Unfinished Business 1. Deckers Creek planting. D. Barnett said silky dogwoods should be available from Mountaineer Treeways, but other species of varying sizes were needed. Matting to protect the streambank was also discussed. J. Cumming and K. Hacker mentioned the ease of establishing willows from sticks tapped into the ground. D. Barnett asked everyone to continue thinking about this planting project. 2. Demonstration City Grant Application(s). M. Maupin reported that City employee Damien Davis hoped to get started on the High Street application soon. Several MTB members expressed approval of the appearance of the High Street ginkgoes, especially the cultivar ‘Saratoga’ with dense foliage. The possibility of a second grant, for Pleasant Street, was discussed. D. Barnett said he would contact Damien Davis about this. 3. Tree List for Community Forestry Ordinance. J. Weems and others suggested trees to add or remove from the list. It was noted that the beginning of the list seemed to be missing. M. Maupin said she would see that MTB members receive the entire list. D. Barnett thanked members for their input and urged continued attention to this matter. P. Crim said he would be willing to oversee this task.  Tree Board minutes 01/23/17 2 New Business 1. Planting Date for Scarlet Oaks. It was noted that soil was too wet for good planting, so setting a date had to be delayed until conditions improved. M. Maupin said that sites had been determined for these two trees. 2. Tree Database. D. Barnett distributed a draft MTB budget request for FY 2017-2018. The draft included funds for a tree database. After discussion, D. Brown moved, and J. Cumming seconded, that the budget request be submitted without alteration. The motion carried unanimously. Further discussion centered around the database called “plan-it GEO.” D. Barnett and M. Maupin said they were favorably impressed with this program already in use by some West Virginia municipalities. The cost was reported to be $5500 for three years. G. Dahle and J. Cumming emphasized the importance of continuous database management. M. Maupin said she would be involved with that. The idea was that the City would manage the database with MTB’s help, and that citizens would have read-only access to the database. G. Dahle and M. Maupin reported that plan-it GEO was highly recommended. D. Barnett said he would try to set up a demonstration for the next MTB meeting. Open Discussion – none Next meeting not announced Motion to adjourn made at 5:57 PM by J. Cumming, seconded by J. Weems. All in favor. Respectfully submitted, ______________________ Jon Weems, Secretary