Tree Board

Tree Board minutes 4/24/23 Morgantown Tree Board (MTB) Minutes, meeting of April 24, 2023 Public Safety Building conference room, 4:36 PM. 1. ATTENDANCE: MTB members Dan Brown, Donna Marie Foster, Chelsea Hilty, Secretary Jon Weems, Chair Dave Barnett, and City Council Liaison Joe Abu-Ghannam. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: D. Brown moved, and D. Foster seconded, that the minutes of the Mar. 27 meeting be approved as amended. The motion carried unanimously. 3. REPORT FROM URBAN LANDSCAPE DIRECTOR: D. Barnett read a note from M. Maupin, who was unable to attend. It was reported that new City Arborist Kaitlyn Deskins was expected to begin work on May 8. 4. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: Approved Tree & Shrub List. By prior agreement, this MTB meeting was devoted to a thorough and wide-ranging consideration of Morgantown’s “Approved street tree and shrub list.” Several specific changes in the form of updates and corrections were suggested. Members examined Louisville KY’s “Master Tree List” and liked the format, which provided more kinds of useful information than Morgantown’s current version. There was consensus that “Master Tree and Shrub List” would be a more descriptive title for Morgantown’s revised list, and that the symbols in some columns of Louisville’s list could be confusing and hard to search electronically. It was agreed to investigate the feasibility of updating Morgantown’s list using a format more like Louisville’s, but replacing symbols with (searchable) words. Hope was expressed that K. Deskins might be interested in working on this project. 5. NEW BUSINESS: None taken up at this dedicated meeting. 6. OPEN DISCUSSION: MTB’s participation in Morgantown’s Handmade Market on April 22 was reviewed and deemed a success. M. Cummons/Mon Power provided white oak, red oak, and red maple seedlings that were popular with the public. 7. NEXT MEETING: 4:30 PM, Monday, May 22, Public Safety Building conference room. 8. ADJOURN: J. Weems moved, and D. Brown seconded, that the meeting be adjourned. The motion carried unanimously at 5:50. Respectfully submitted, _____________________ Jon Weems, Secretary