Urban Forestry Tree Board (Meets as needed/quarterly)

URBAN FORESTRY TREE BOARD Minutes November 17, 2022 Regular Meeting The meeting was called to order by Chair Ludwig at 4:31 pm on November 17, 2022 in Government Center Room 217. 1. ROLL CALL Members Present: Ruth Ludwig, Nick Nelson*, Richard Kaufman, Robert-Jan Quené* Members Absent: Meghan Gil-de-Lamadrid City Staff Present: Linda Cadotte, Russ Behlings, Jodi Saylor Jane Anklam resigned her position and so was not in attendance. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 2.1. Urban Forestry Tree Board (Meeting held August 25, 2022) MOTION by Quené, second by Kaufman and carried to approve the minutes from August 25, 2022. 3. OLD BUSINESS 3.1. Update Tree Permit/Policy for planting private trees on public property (held from August meeting) There are two changes to our Tree Permit. One is a donation checkmark. The second is on the 2nd page under special conditions there was a point that said all trees must be planted according to City Tree planting – added was, “Depending on desired planting location, special consideration may be given for species not on the recommended tree list. City Forester or Certified Arborist may deny the permit to plant trees from a 3rd party based on the condition of the tree.” MOTION by Kaufman, second by Quene and carried to approve the updated Tree Permit/Policy for planting private trees on public property. 3.2. Discuss/Approve the Davey Tree Management Plan (held from August meeting) Committee members overall felt this a pretty extensive plan. Behlings believes it is an aggressive plan with a six year planting cycle which is 502 trees every year. If we run those numbers out to a 10 or fifteen year cycle, considering the percent of die back, what already has to be removed, and stumps, 10 years it would mean 370 trees per year (closer to what we are already doing) and 15 years would mean 304 trees per year. This would likely be more achievable. While the cost can be a lot if we were to have contractors doing all of the removals, the Park Crew has already started to implement part of this by taking zones and going in to remove the trees that need to be removed starting with the highest priority removals. *Attended the meeting virtually Urban Forestry Tree Board November 17, 2022  The plan ties in to maintaining the current canopy. The City can make a conscious choice to be more aggressive or to scale back the canopy. Davey is factoring in when we remove big and replant smaller, which lowers the canopy. We are on the higher end of canopy cover within the state. Overall, this was a great value for this plan and gives the City a lot of good data. When trees are ordered for next year, this information will be helpful in deciding what is ordered. If the committee decides to accept the plant, it means we do not want other revisions to the plan but does not necessarily mean we want to follow it exactly. Councilor Ludwig express interest in teaching homeowners how to prune a young tree. This could be a good tie in for the annual Arbor Day 2023 Celebration. MOTION by Quene, second by Kaufman and to approve the Davey Tree Management Plan. Cadotte and Behlings are planning to take this as a presentation to the City Council with the Tree Board’s recommendations. They will present it to the Tree Board first during the January Tree Board meeting. The City will go forward with this year’s tree order prior to the next Tree Board meeting. 3.3. Davey Software Demonstration – Russ Behlings Behlings gave an overview of how the software is working and how he is able to pull pertinent data from it. 3.4. Update on Center City Holiday Tree Planning The Mayor preferred to not make the press release focused on the retirement. There was mention made on the flyer, but it will not be discussed at the event. He would like to see a small tree that can grow with the City. The Parks Crew is hoping for a taller tree that would be more established and harder to damage as a sapling could more easily be removed or broken off. The thought is to transplant a tree from the Superior Municipal Forest (SMF) – either white spruce or balsam fir. Either would be of significant size once mature. After discussion the committee would like to plant a tree that is at least 6 feet tall, wind resistant and something that would be full and plush. The Parks Crew will keep an eye out for a tree that meets the requirements while grooming and we can encourage those that recreate in the SMF to also keep an eye out and send us a picture. Balsam would be favored if we are able to go with a native tree. MOTION by Quene, second by Kaufman and carried to secure a new Holiday tree from the SMF that is preferably balsam fir and around 5-6’ tall. The plan is to make ornaments from the old tree that will be available at the tree lighting the following year. *Attended the meeting virtually Urban Forestry Tree Board November 17, 2022  3.5. Superior Municipal Forest Master Plan Draft Some updates were made of photos and some additional requested items. Director Cadotte will be meeting with Rettler next week and would like to have any edits, additions, or etc. before that meeting. The plan would then to have the plan ready for public input. This draft did have added specific details from other plans instead of just referring to the different plans. There are a few things about the proposed site plan maps and still a few sections that could be more robust. Overall it is a much better and solid draft. Still hope to have public feedback on the plan in the spring. 4. NEW BUSINESS 4.1. Approve 2023 Meeting Schedule MOTION by Quene, second by Nelson and carried to approve the 2023 Meeting Schedule location and times. 5. RECURRING BUSINESS 5.1. Director’s Update 5.1.1. Community Solar Garden – when the City was in process of approving location, the Planning Dept contracted a firm in town to do a planting design around the garden. That design came to around $71K of a lot of trees, shrubs and plantings to hide the fence. Cadotte feels they did an excellent job of picking out high quality fencing that looks really good. There still is some desire to some sort of screen or planting around the fence. She has had conversations with SWL&P and the City Planning Department. Planning is willing to put a couple thousand dollars toward the plantings. We will partner with them to come up with what that looks like. Snow removal will be of great consideration as there is Hollywood sidewalk there and so really only 5-6 feet between the sidewalk and the fence. We may recommend no plantings there. 5.2. Superintendent’s Update 5.2.1. Barkers planting completed. Added enhancement to soil on them that will help them grow. The contractor did a good job with watering them. 5.2.2. The new bucket truck is in Minneapolis now and going through final install. City staff will be going to do an on-site visit in January or February with an estimated delivery sometime in February. 5.2.3. The sidewalk route has been checked and pruned for the season. There were some minor tweaks in a couple of areas, but it largely remains the same. *Attended the meeting virtually Urban Forestry Tree Board November 17, 2022  5.3. Future Agenda Items 5.3.1. Holiday Tree ornaments/magnets 5.3.2. Arbor Day – pruning demo (January) 5.3.3. Applied Davey Management Presentation (January) 5.3.4. SMF Master Plan (March/April?) 5.3.5. Solar Garden planting update 5.4. Confirm next meeting date as January 19, 2023 in Room 217 of the Government Center 6. ADJOURNMENT Councilor Ludwig announced the meeting adjourned at 5:58pm. *Attended the meeting virtually Urban Forestry Tree Board November 17, 2022  For Office Use Only: Permit No. ___________________ Date Received ________________ Fee Required_________________ Payment Received______________ Tree Permit Parks, Recreation, and Forestry 1316 N. 14th Street, Suite #200 City of Superior, Wisconsin □ Planting □ Donation □ Removal □ Maintenance – Any use of pesticides requires an Exemption Request Application □ Special Use (specify in comments) Applicant Name: _____________________________________ Phone #: _________________ Contractor Name and License Number (if applicable):__________________________________ Address, Phone:________________________________________________________________ Description of tree(s) to receive work (location, species, diameter, number) and date work is scheduled to take place. ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ 1|Page SPECIAL CONDITIONS: 1. This permit is subject to all rules and regulations pertaining to the Code of Ordinances, City of Superior, Wisconsin, Chapter 90 Parks and Recreation, Article IV Trees and Shrubs, Division 4 Permits and Licenses, Sec. 90-240 Permits required. 2. All trees must be planted according to the City of Superior’s Tree Planting Standards. See the Recommended Street Trees list and for important information on planting in the urban forest. Depending on desired planting location, special consideration may be given for species not on the recommended tree list. City’s Forester or Certified Arborist may deny the permit to plan trees from a 3rd party based on the condition of the tree. 3. All work shall be completed at the applicant’s expense, including clean up and removal of all debris. 4. Standard safety precautions of the tree care industry are to be adhered to at all times. ANSI ZI133.1 5. Traffic control is the responsibility of the applicant and their contractor. All lane closures and restriction require a minimum of a 24-hour notice to Public Works at 715-395-7334. 6. This permit is valid for 90 days from the issued date. 7. Any person requesting removal of a tree that is otherwise determined to be a healthy tree by the City’s Certified Arborist may be required to pay $50/inch diameter to aid in the replacement costs of the tree canopy in the City of Superior. 8. The applicant shall be responsible for contacting Diggers Hotline at 1-800-242-8511, Verification #________________________ . 9. The City assumes no liability in connection with this action. 10. Please contact the City’s Certified Arborist for final inspection of work upon completion. 715-715-395-0268. I hereby certify that I am the owner of the subject property or I have been authorized by the owner(s) of the property to represent this application, and that I have read and examined this application and know the same to be true and correct. All provisions of law and ordinances governing this type of work will be met whether specified herein or not. The granting of a permit does not presume to give authority to violate or cancel the provisions of any other state or local law regulating construction of the performance of construction. I understand that the City of Superior may revoke, annul or terminate this permit if applicant fails to comply with any or all of its provisions, requirements or regulations as herein set forth or through willful or unreasonable neglect, fails to heed or comply with notices given. __________________________________ ___________________________________ Signature of Applicant Date Superior is proud to be celebrating its 22nd Year as a Tree City USA! For Office Use Only: Permit Approved City Arborist or Forester Signature:______________ Date: ________________________ 2|Page