Tree Board Meeting

TREE BOARD October 1, 2018 The Tree Board of the City of Norman, Cleveland County, State of Oklahoma, met in the Study Session Room on the 1st day of October 2018 at 4:00 P.M. ITEM 1, being: ROLL CALL Present: Chairman Menzie and Commissioners Huffman, Janaway, Lavastida, Spain, Tedder-Loffland, and Winegardner Tardy: Commissioner Fagin Absent: Commissioners Grisso City Officials Jud Foster, Director of Parks and Recreation James Briggs, City of Norman Park Planner Karla Sitton, Administrative Technician IV ITEM 2, being: APPROVAL OF THE SEPTEMBER 10, 2018 MEETING MINUTES Commissioner Lavistida made the motion and Commissioner Huffman seconded to approve the minutes. The vote was taken with the following results: YEAH: Chairman Menzie and Commissioners Huffman, Janaway, Lavastida, Spain, Tedder-Loffland, and Winegardner NAY: None ITEM 3, being: APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA Commissioner Spain made the motion and Commissioner Huffman seconded to approve the agenda. The vote was taken with the following results: YEAH: Chairman Menzie and Commissioners, Huffman, Janaway, Lavastida, Spain, Tedder-Loffland, and Winegardner NAY: None __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Chairman Menzie requested the Board discuss Item 5, and come back to Item 4, once Commissioner Fagin arrives at the meeting. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ITEM 5, being: CONTINUED DISCUSSION REGARDING POTENTIAL CHANGES OR ADDITIONS TO ORDINANCE O-1112-19, CHAPTER 1, LANDSCAPE REGUIREMENTS Mr. Jud Foster, Director of Parks and Recreation, said the proposed draft to Ordinance O-1112-19, was distributed to the Park Board before today’s meeting. He felt it was very close to being completed and asked if any of the Commissioners had any additions or changes. Mr. Foster said any changes would need to be made and the final draft could be circulated to City Staff for comments and input to include the City Attorney, Planning and Public Works Departments. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Commissioner Fagin arrived at the meeting at 4:15 p.m. Tree Board Page 2 of 3 October 1, 2018 Mr. Sean Rieger, representing Norman Developers, said the proposed appeals process in the draft ordinance states 10 days; however, the appeals process is generally 30 days. He said 10 days would probably be fine, but wondered if it should be changed to 30 days and Mr. Foster felt 30 days might best since that was the typical timeframe for any appeals process. Commissioner Spain said he would change the appeals process for decisions regarding trees from 10 days to 30 days. The Board discussed minor changes to the ordinance to include language clean-up and changes to Sections 3, 4, 10, and 11. Mr. Rieger thanked the Board and Staff for working on this important issue and said it has been a good process. He said he appreciated the efforts of the Tree Board and Staff very much. Mr. Richard Bewley, OG&E Forester, said he is a certified arborist and was very proud for the City of Norman, including the Tree Board, for working diligently on this ordinance. Commissioner Spain said he would make the changes to the draft ordinance and get it to City Staff. He said the next step was for the Community Planning and Transportation Committee (CPTC) to discuss the draft at its next scheduled meeting on October 25, 2018. Commissioner Tedder-Loffland made the motion to make the proposed changes to the draft Ordinance O-1112-19, and Commissioner Fagin seconded to approve the proposed changes to the draft Ordinance O-1112-19. The vote was taken with the following results: YEAH: Chairman Menzie and Commissioners, Huffman, Janaway, Lavastida, Spain, Tedder-Loffland, and Winegardner NAY: None _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ITEM 4, being: ANNUAL TREE STORY CONTEST Commissioner Fagin said he got a PDF version of the information about the Annual Tree Story Contest to Norman Public Schools; which has a new digital system in place. He said once he gets their approval, the information will be ready to upload to all the fourth and fifth grade class parents. The contest will run from October 16th to November 16th, and prizes will be given out before the Christmas holiday. Chairman Menzie highlighted the prizes that will be given to the 4th grade participants as well as 5th grade participants; however, there will be one Grand Prize Overall for all participants. Commissioner Tedder-Loffland asked who judged the tree stories and Chairman Menzie said the entire Board will look over them. He said he will send out all the tree story entries and will ask for feedback regarding the Commissioners’ 1st, 2nd, & 3rd place choices. Commissioner Fagin requested a scale to judge all the entries, so everyone will be on the same page. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ITEM 6, being: MISCELLANEOUS DISCUSSION Chairman Menzie asked the Board if they would like to participate in the Christmas Parade this year. He said it is the first or second Saturday in December and he has a pickup and trailer to pull a float. Everyone said they would think about it and discuss it at the November meeting. Commissioner Janaway said the tree nursery distributing the trees for the Apache Tree Grant contacted him and he is trying to get the 120 trees delivered by the end of October. He asked if Saturday November 3 rd or 10th would be a good day to meet up and get some of the trees planted for the ReLeaf Berry Road Project. Chairman Menzie said even if OU football played on either of those days; the Board and volunteers could meet for a couple of hours, maybe 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and get a lot accomplished. Commissioner Tedder-Loffland said she would be happy to take care of getting property owners’ information and Commissioner Fagin said she could go to the Cleveland County Assessor website to obtain those records. Tree Board Page 3 of 3 October 1, 2018 Commissioner Lavastida suggested putting a press release to the Norman Transcript for the ReLeaf Berry Road Project. Mr. Jud Foster, Director of Parks and Recreation, said Staff also applied for the Apache Tree Grant and was informed the City would receive approximately 900 trees. Staff is planning the Free Tree Giveaway on Friday, November 2nd at Reaves Park. Mr. Foster said Norman citizens will need to register online if they would like to get a free tree and will be able to choose from several different species. Registration will be available on the City website Thursday, October 11, 2018, by completing a “Survey Monkey” form. ITEM 7, being: ADJOURNMENT Commissioner Huffman made the motion and Commissioner Tedder-Loffland seconded to adjourn. The vote was taken with the following results: YEAH: Chairman Menzie and Commissioners Fagin, Huffman, Janaway, Lavastida, Spain, Tedder-Loffland, and Winegardner NAY: None Passed and approved this ____________of ________________________ 2018 Don Menzie, Chairperson