Municipal Infrastructure Commission

12/3/2020 - Minutes I. Call to Order Members Present: Laura Dlugolecki; Corey Mack; Jason Williams; Mike Myers (liason) City Staff Present: Jon Rauscher Guests Present: Jim Duncan; Sue O’Brien; Cara Montague; Carrie Finklestein; Kathryn Koberna; Lonnie Briggs; Skylar Alger; Anna Meeks Call to Order by: Laura Dlugolecki Meeting Start Time: 6:36 PM Minutes Recorded by: Corey Mack II. Public Comment None. III. Approve Previous Meeting Minutes Decision: Approved 3 - 0 Motion by: Jason Williams Second: Corey Mack IV. Update on Public Trees Inventory Jim: request to discuss tree planting prioritization map before other items with the students, group agreed. Jim introduced the Senior Capstone class: Carrie, Kathryn, Lonnie, Skylar, and Anna. The Capstone Project is intended to be a partner to the city to meet needs with a deliverable. These 5 students have done a lot of work with the tree committee to help develop a tree planting prioritization plan. Google doc link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1X10b3wPB5ui3fPTKuzym7ieEW_kuarP1JY- JQivdNPM/edit# Presentation from UVM Senior Capstone: Carrie: there are documented links between human health, the environment, and urban tree spaces: improvements to mental and physiological health, improvements to ecosystem health, stormwater runoff benefits, provides habitat for pollinators, counters urban heat island effects, etc. Skylar: Winooski has a diverse population and urban environment and is a good opportunity to make investments in tree canopy benefits. Kathryn: model developed to estimate priority locations for tree plantings with minimal investment, estimated by noting presence of sidewalk, utility poles, construction projects,  Skylar: Winooski has a diverse population and urban environment and is a good opportunity to make investments in tree canopy benefits. Kathryn: model developed to estimate priority locations for tree plantings with minimal investment, estimated by noting presence of sidewalk, utility poles, construction projects, hydrant, other easily mapped features. Lonnie: framework within prioritization attempted to account for social justice, sustainable development, and utilitarian approach. Developed species recommendations in report. Next steps: continue development of map, complete an in-situ analysis to compare prioty areas with actual opportunity. Jason: how will this be used to inform public works decisions? Jon: water main replacement drives street reconstruction, and that does give us an opportunity to evaluate street makeup. Corey: recognizes this priority plan identifies places to plant trees in the existing environment. The plan places low priority in certain places, but this doesn’t imply trees are not a priority in these locations, only that additional investment is needed. V. Tree Planting Prioritization Map Discussion Jim: The public tree inventory provides a snapshot of publicly managed trees. The original inventory was conducted in 2015 with the goal to inventory the full set every eight years to docment health, hazards, and identify trees that require attention. This year, Cara and Kirk did the entire inventory, thanks! The inventory this year documented 89 trees, rated by condition; noted 12 poor trees. Draft recommendations: l Evaluate if poor-condition sugar maple on Solar View Dr is in the public right of way, and consider hazard mitigation through pruning of dead wood or removal/replacement. l Evaluate if poor-condition silver maple on Franklin St is in the public right of way, and consider hazard mitigation through pruning to reduce branch loading and remove deadwood, or removal/replacement. l Consider corrective pruning on smaller diameter trees that are currently in good and fair condition and can recover, and removal of small diameter trees that cannot be improved through pruning or other maintenance. l Prioritize and prune larger good condition (four littleleaf lindens, four Norway maples, one honey locust, one northern red oak one crab apple and one mountain ash(?)) and fair condition (one Norway spruce and three Norway maples) trees to remove hazards and improve form. l Consider removing and replacing invasive European buckthorn l Evaluate whether two black cherries on Thornton St are in the right of way and whether maintenance or removal should be considered Regarding approach to maintenance, it would be good to know the cost of specific actions / approaches, available budget for tree maintenance and how we can best use the money. Is it more costly to conduct regular maintenance, or to remove problem trees? No ash tree / emerald ash borer management plan, would be good to identify several specimen trees to maintain regularly. Many of these trees are along or cross public and private rights-of-way; residents may have an attachment to the trees. We should be considerate in our approach to maintenance and removal, and perhaps engage in partnerships with directly affected residents in maintenance. VI. Selection of Priorities for a TD Bank Grant Application Jim: $20k available to promote urban canopy, can only spend half of the grant on tree purchase,  attachment to the trees. We should be considerate in our approach to maintenance and removal, and perhaps engage in partnerships with directly affected residents in maintenance. VI. Selection of Priorities for a TD Bank Grant Application Jim: $20k available to promote urban canopy, can only spend half of the grant on tree purchase, the rest must be spent on programs / engaging people / collaborative planning Options: l Shade Tree Plan + Ash interplanting l Tree Stewards Program + Arbor Day l Canopy Improvement + Ash interplanting l Canopy Improvement + Grate Cutting and replacement l Shade Tree Plan + Hickok Streetscape l Tigan Greening Campaign l Public Tree Nursery Establishment Laura: likes maintaining existing canopy and fixing known issues with street trees, like tree grate impacts Mike: wants to make sure we’re not all concrete jungle and buildings, need more trees Jon: considering coordination with Meredith at Downtown Commission Corey: coordinating tree improvements into existing Hickok St project would provide tree canopy plus traffic calming features VII. Update on Tree Warden Statute No update on the tree warden statute. VIII. Parking Study Currently working on the inventory phase of the parking study. Jon sent an email to the committee documenting the approach and opportunities to participate. Looking to crowd source parking occupancy data collection. IX. Department and City Updates None. X. Adjourn Motion by: Jason Williams Second: Corey Mack Meeting End Time: 8:02 PM