Tree Board Meeting

TREE BOARD August 6, 2018 The Tree Board of the City of Norman, Cleveland County, State of Oklahoma, met in the Study Session Room on the 6th day of August 2018 at 4:00 P.M. ITEM 1, being: ROLL CALL Present: Chairman Menzie and Commissioners Grisso, Huffman, Janaway, Lavastida, Spain, Tedder-Loffland, and Winegardner Absent: Commissioner Fagin City Officials James Briggs, City of Norman Park Planner Karla Sitton, Administrative Technician IV ITEM 2, being: APPROVAL OF THE JULY 9, 2018 MEETING MINUTES Commissioner Huffman made the motion and Commissioner Lavastida seconded to approve the minutes. The vote was taken with the following results: YEAH: Chairman Menzie and Commissioners Grisso, Huffman, Janaway, Lavastida, Spain, Tedder-Loffland, and Winegardner NAY: None ITEM 3, being: APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA Commissioner Winegardner made the motion and Commissioner Spain seconded to approve the agenda. The vote was taken with the following results: YEAH: Chairman Menzie and Commissioners Grisso, Huffman, Janaway, Lavastida, Spain, Tedder-Loffland, and Winegardner NAY: None __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ITEM 4, being: SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS Chairman Menzie asked the Board if they would like to have a Tree Story Contest again this year and the Board said yes. The Board discussed whether to have only 5 th grade students participate versus having both 4 th and 5th grade students participate. The Board determined that there will be 1st, 2nd, and Best Overall prizes for both 4th grade participants as well as 5th grade participants; however, there will be one Grand Prize Overall for all participants. Last year the contest ran from October 16th to November 16th and prizes were given out before the Christmas holiday. Chairman Menzie asked Staff to include the Tree Story Contest as an item on the September Tree Board Agenda. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ITEM 5, being: CONTINUED DISCUSSION REGARDING POTENTIAL CHANGES OR ADDITIONS TO ORDINANCE O-1112-19, CHAPTER 1, LANDSCAPE REGUIREMENTS Chairman Menzie said he and Commissioners Spain and Huffman met the week prior to today’s meeting to work on proposed amendments and distributed a draft to the Board. He highlighted the proposals and stated he included an alternate proposal for Section 4 (b)(2). The Board discussed and agreed the alternate proposal for Section 4(b)(2) Tree Board Page 2 of 2 August 6, 2018 should be used. Commissioner Tedder-Loffland suggested adding an opening statement explaining the purpose of the ordinance, i.e., “in order to protect and preserve the canopy …” and the Board agreed it was a good idea. She also felt the exceptions in Section 12 needed to be addressed, i.e., this ordinance does not apply to utility franchise agreements because it does not supersede state law and the Board agreed. Commissioner Lavastida suggested adding this exception at the end of the proposed ordinance and the Board agreed. Commissioner Huffman asked for comments regarding replacing Diameter at Breast Height (DBH) with the same size tree and the Board discussed and determined the property owner could replace/replant more than one tree equal to the DBH removed in order to gain a total DBH equal to the DBH removed. The Board also agreed to add Section 4(7) to the ordinance stating …”the tree replacement must live for at least one (1) year…” Chairman Menzie said the ordinance does not apply to trees in back yards and Commissioner Spain said he will include proposed language addressing “Historic Trees” in the draft and bring back to the September meeting. Commissioner Tedder-Loffland said a Historic Tree Tour would be a fun event and Commissioner Lavastida agreed stating it could be organized around Earth Day and/or Arbor Day festivities. Mr. Curtis McCarty, CA McCarty Homes, asked whether any proposed changes to the ordinance would address existing trees only and Chairman Menzie said yes, the ordinance would only address existing trees and only trees on public property, not private. Chairman Menzie and Commissioners Spain and Huffman will continue to work on proposed amendments. Chairman Menzie and/or Commissioner Spain will get the amendments to Staff so the amendments can be forwarded to the rest of the board before the September meeting. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ITEM 6, being: MISCELLANEOUS DISCUSSION The next regularly scheduled meeting is Monday, September 3, 2018, which is Labor Day and City offices are closed. The Board discussed and agreed to reschedule the meeting to Monday, September 10, 2018, in order to make recommendations to the Council Community Planning and Transportation Committee (CPTC) regarding the potential changes and/or additions to Ordinance No. O-1112- 19, prior to the September 27th CPTC meeting. ITEM 7, being: ADJOURNMENT Commissioner Tedder-Loffland made the motion and Commissioner Huffman seconded to adjourn. The vote was taken with the following results: YEAH: Chairman Menzie and Commissioners Grisso, Huffman, Janaway, Lavastida, Spain, Tedder-Loffland, and Winegardner NAY: None Passed and approved this ____________of ________________________ 2018 Don Menzie, Chairperson