Tree Board

TUMWATER TREE BOARD MEETING MINUTES OF VIRTUAL MEETING May 9, 2022 Page 1 CONVENE: 7:00 p.m. PRESENT: Chair Trent Grantham and Commissioners Brent Chapman, Joel Hecker, Michael Jackson, and Tanya Nozawa. Excused absence: Commissioners Dennis Olson and Jim Sedore. Staff: Planning Manager Brad Medrud and Sustainability Coordinator Alyssa Jones-Wood. Others: Mayor Debbie Sullivan. CHANGES TO There were no changes to the agenda. AGENDA: APPROVAL OF MINUTES: TUMWATER TREE BOARD MEETING MINUTES APRIL 11, 2022: MOTION: Commissioner Chapman moved, seconded by Commissioner Jackson, to approve the minutes of April 11, 2022 as published. A voice vote unanimously approved the motion. TREE BOARD There were no reports. MEMBER REPORTS: MANAGER’S Manager Medrud acknowledged the attendance of Alyssa Jones-Wood, REPORT: the City’s new Sustainability Coordinator. Coordinator Jones-Wood said she joined the City last week and is tasked with implementing the City’s Climate Action Plan, providing support to the Tree Board to implement actions within the Urban Forestry Management Plan, and working with the City’s Green Team on different environmental initiatives. She is from south Florida and is learning about the different tree species in the state as the state has more diversity of trees than in Florida. She looks forward to working with the Board. She has a master’s degree in geoscience with a focus on human environment and sustainability. Her master’s work focused on cultural ecosystem services of salt marsh ecosystems along the Eastern Seaboard and in Massachusetts, Virginia, and Georgia. Chair Grantham welcomed Coordinator Jones-Wood to the City. Commissioners provided self-introduction and shared information on their respective professional background. TUMWATER TREE BOARD MEETING MINUTES OF VIRTUAL MEETING May 9, 2022 Page 2 PUBLIC COMMENT: There were no public comments. MAYOR’S MEETING Mayor Sullivan said her goal as the City’s new Mayor is beginning with WITH THE TREE an introduction to boards and commissions and establishing connections BOARD: between boards and commissions and external entities. She was born in Montana and raised on a horse ranch. In 1986, she moved from Montana joining 20% of Montana’s population leaving the state to assume a position as a real estate appraiser in Bellingham, Washington. She eventually moved to the Phoenix area in the late 1980s working as a property tax support specialist for an international leasing company. After deciding the desert was not to her liking, she returned to Washington. She has lived in Tumwater since 1996. She has been a business owner, was employed by one of the largest corporations in the world; Intel Corporation, and worked in state government in several positions for 10 years. She recently retired from the state after deciding to run for Mayor. She is serving as the first woman Mayor for the City of Tumwater. She also served 10 years on the Planning Commission and eight years on the Council. She wants to ensure that all members are aware of her open door policy. The City has amazing employees and she is appreciative of board and commission members who work with the City. Mayor Sullivan explained her goals to ensure good connections with boards and commissions. After serving on the Planning Commission she understands how important the Commission’s work is to the City and the Council. Often there is some overlap between the Tree Board and the Planning Commission. It is important to schedule joint meetings. She is not planning to combine boards and commissions because of the volume and specialization of the work completed by each body. She commented on recent efforts to increase joint meetings with local tribal councils, as well as with the Port of Olympia Commission. Following the unfortunate disconnect with the Panattoni/Port proposal, it became apparent that it was important to establish better relationships and communications. Chair Grantham cited several areas of interest to former Mayor Pete Kmet and asked Mayor Sullivan to share information on issues of importance she plans to achieve during her first term. Mayor Sullivan referred to Mayor Kmet’s interest in parks and trails. It is important for her to ensure the City provides those amenities for the health of the community. Flooding experienced by the City earlier in the year caused much damage on the golf course and at Pioneer Park. One of her goals is ensuring actions by the City benefit those areas. She plans to focus on observing and learning during her first year. For example, the City has been removing street trees that have been creating problems with sidewalk displacement and utility conflicts. The City initially received many calls from the community when some of the trees were removed along Capitol TUMWATER TREE BOARD MEETING MINUTES OF VIRTUAL MEETING May 9, 2022 Page 3 Boulevard. She is hopeful community members understand that prior practices may not be beneficial in the long term. 2022 ARBOR DAY Chair Grantham recapped the results of the recent Arbor Day celebration. EVENT: This year, the weather cooperated and many volunteers participated. The event included planting a tree at Tumwater Historical Park. The schools participated in the planting event by staging a contest. This year, Arbor Day was celebrated in conjunction with the City’s Earth Day event affording an opportunity to speak with Councilmembers and staff from the Parks and Recreation Department in an environment that speaks to the importance of trees and the environment. Manager Medrud reported of the 100 tree seedling, 92 seedlings were distributed to community members, as well as 26 activity bags. The remaining trees will be planted around the City by the Parks and Recreation Department. Dogwood and crabapple trees were the most popular. He noted that the Tree Board’s primary mission is education and outreach on urban forestry in support of the Urban Forestry Management Plan. The Arbor Day activities offered an opportunity for the Board to reach out to the community. Staff continues to explore other options for educational outreach by the Board during the year. He asked Commissioners for ideas on other activities to consider for public outreach and education to increase interaction between the Board and the community. Commissioner Chapman commented that outreach to schools is often difficult because of the structured curriculum imposed by schools. He suggested exploring ways to coordinate with environmental science or science curriculum in the schools to offer training on the benefits of trees in the urban environment with some tree plantings with students on school campuses. Manager Medrud added that some of the science educators at the high schools pursue some specialties of interest, such as aeronautics in the classroom. He suggested exploring ways to become more involved without being part of the official curriculum but as another important element of the environment students should learn about. Chair Grantham suggested that with the addition of staff, the Board might have a better opportunity to reach out and engage with local schools. Black Lake Hills High School sponsors a greenhouse and hosts a number of plant activities, such as a plant giveaway on Mother’s Day. The Tumwater FRESH Farm might be another opportunity to coordinate a possible presentation or demonstrations on proper ways to plant trees. TUMWATER TREE BOARD MEETING MINUTES OF VIRTUAL MEETING May 9, 2022 Page 4 Mayor Sullivan offered that the New Market Vocational Skills Center might have a program through its agriculture department, which might provide another opportunity. Manager Medrud said Tumwater High School also has a horticulture program. Chair Grantham offered that the Board could consider sponsoring an activity during Tumwater Farmer’s Market throughout the summer or during the 4th of July festivities and the Artisan Brewfest. Manager Medrud noted that staff participated in the Farmer’s Market during the development of the Urban Forestry Management Plan by exhibiting and distributing survey information. Manager Medrud reported the Communications Department reported the Arbor Day event generated positive feedback from the community on social media in response to the City’s posting of pictures of the tree planting and the event. Manager Medrud invited Commissioner to submit ideas or suggestions for next year’s Arbor Day event. Commissioner Chapman referred to previous discussions for scheduling a field trip during the summer. Manager Medrud reported the City has drafted a new Heritage Tree application for future review by the Board, as well as developing a scope of work for the consultant for tree protection ordinance amendments. The public process for updating tree protection regulations would likely begin in July through September and could coincide with a field trip. Commissioner Chapman recommended considering not only the paper application but also cross-walking the design with the field environment. Chair Grantham inquired as to whether public outreach would be in-person or a virtual meeting format. Manager Medrud said action by the City is dependent on the Governor’s order that likely will result in some changes in the format of City meetings. After the information is received, the Board could begin discussing the possibility of more in-person events. In response to questions about coordinating activities with parks and recreation events, Manager Medrud offered to follow up to determine which programs and activities would be offered through the Parks and Recreation Department this year for possible coordination with the Tree Board. NEXT MEETING The next meeting is scheduled on June 13, 2022. Tentative agenda items DATE: include discussions on trees preservation regulations and the development TUMWATER TREE BOARD MEETING MINUTES OF VIRTUAL MEETING May 9, 2022 Page 5 review case study. Dependent upon whether staff has sufficient time to prepare for the briefings, the Board may want to consider deferring the items to the July meeting to include the review of the Heritage Tree process. The Board supported canceling the June meeting. The next meeting is scheduled on July 11, 2022. ADJOURNMENT: With there being no further business, Chair Grantham adjourned the meeting at 7:37 p.m. Prepared by Puget Sound Meeting Services, psmsoly@earthlink.net