Tree Advisory Commission Meeting

City of Urbana, Illinois Minutes of the Urbana Tree Commission Meeting Public Works Engineering Conference Room 706 S. Glover Ave. Urbana, IL 61802 Wednesday, September 4, 2013 2:00 P.M. Members Present: Barbara Anderson, Carol Augspurger, Stewart Berlocher, Jeff Dawson, Michael Stevenson Members Absent: Darin Eastburn, Thom Fehrmann Staff Present: Michael Brunk, City of Urbana Arborist Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 2:06 p.m. Approval of Meeting Minutes The minutes from March 6, 2012 were presented for approval. Augspurger moved to approve the minutes, Anderson seconded, and the minutes were approved. Public Input There was no public input. Legacy Tree Program Update Brunk distributed copies of the Legacy Tree Program Ordinance, which he said had been passed by the City Council in the spring. He said that that the program is currently unfunded and that his intention is to market the program to the public in order to raise funds. He reported that he had made presentations about the program to some local elementary school students and to residents of Clark Lindsey Village. He said he would like to raise between $15,000 and $20,000 to get the program started. Brunk also distributed a list of trees which had been designated as “notable” during the City’s tree inventory. He said these trees were potential candidates for the Legacy Tree program. The commission discussed facilitating a tour in order to inspect each tree on the list. The commission also discussed several trees on the list; Brunk reported that a citizen had contacted him in order to informally nominate a tree for the program, however the tree was outside city limits. Tree Inventory Update Brunk presented the tree inventory database to the commission. He explained how to decipher information on the list such as tree location, tree condition, and risk ratings. He also presented a list of hazardous trees, explaining that there are approximately 200 hazardous trees on the removal list. Brunk reported that staff is in the process of organizing the trees on the list based on their location in the City, so that crews can move through the list more efficiently. The commission also discussed changes and fluctuations in City tree species. Brunk reported that there are currently 153 tree species, and that all species appear to be below 7% of the total species count, down from the 10% totals for the most predominant species in the past. Brunk said that there are still some glitches to be worked out in the data and before the public access site would be available. He said the public access site would feature at least three tree trails: Fall Color, Spring Flower, and Best of Species, and asked the commission for recommendations of trees to be included on those trails. Former Business Berlocher reported that his research on Big Grove trees is now available online. He said the site is somewhat educational in nature, and that he would email the web link to commission members. He said he is also still looking for leads and information on Big Grove trees. Brunk said he would ask the City’s tree removal contractor about keeping a trunk slice from large tree removals for Berlocher to examine; he said the feasibility of this would depend on funds available Brunk said that he could also provide Berlocher with the removal list so that he could inspect the stumps before they are removed. New Business There was no new business to discuss. Adjournment This meeting was adjourned at 3:46 p.m. Femi Fletcher, Recording Secretary Tree Commission