CITY OF
PICKERINGTON
TREE COMMISSION
CITY HALL, 100
LOCKVILLE ROAD
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY
10, 2007
REGULAR MEETING
5:30 P.M.
Ms. Carter moved to nominate Mr. McKinley as Co-Chairman; Mr. Goodrich seconded the motion. Mr. Goodrich, Ms. Carter and Mr. McKinley voted “Aye.” Motion carried, 3-0.
Mr. Goodrich moved to nominate Ms. Carter as
Chairman; Mr. McKinley seconded the motion. Mr. Goodrich, Ms. Carter and Mr. McKinley
voted “Aye.” Motion carried, 3-0.
Mr. McKinley moved to keep the meeting day the same
and changing the time from 5:30 to 6:00; Ms. Carter seconded the motion. Mr.
Goodrich, Ms. Carter, and Mr. McKinley voted “Aye.” Motion carried, 3-0.
A. Street Tree Report
Mr. Drobina stated that the fall tree planting was completed with 202 trees planted. Mr. Goodrich asked where they were planted. Mr. Drobina stated some in Preston Trails and scattered about in other subdivisions. Mr. Goodrich asked if the arborist had ordered trees for the spring planting. Mr. Drobina stated that he has not. He continued that if the weather stays nice he would start going out and start marking to stay ahead of the curve.
Mr. Goodrich stated that he saw on the last report that the arborist had gone out and accounted for all the Ash trees that we would be primarily responsible to replace. Mr. Drobina stated there were over 1,000 Ash trees that will be the city’s responsibility. Mr. Goodrich asked if that included Parks. Mr. Drobina stated that it did. Mr. Goodrich stated that the budget money used replace the Ash trees should be split with the Parks Department. Ms. Carter asked if the arborist had found any problems with the Ash trees at this time? Mr. Drobina stated that nothing has been found so far. Mr. Goodrich stated that the damage usually doesn’t show until the Emerald Ash Borer is done.
Mr. Drobina stated that tomorrow the arborist is going to start inventory on all the trees with the actual street and address. Mr. Goodrich stated that he should also get the diameter of each tree. Mr. Goodrich stated that he was already starting to look into putting together some type of access database. Mr. Goodrich stated that if the arborist starts giving them the information, they could start building the database. Mr. Goodrich stated they would need a secondary meeting to try to put together some kind of database.
Ms. Carter asked if there was anything the city could do about people bringing firewood into the city. Mr. Drobina stated we could research what other communities have done and get our own Ordinance put through. Ms. Carter stated that all she has found is that once they find a problem then they can quarantine it, but that she hasn’t found anything that says we can so no, the firewood cannot be brought into the city. Mr. Drobina stated that he could check with the city attorney and see if he has any ordinances from other communities concerning that.
Ms. Shelts asked whether a meeting date should be decided on to discuss the database further. Mr. Drobina stated maybe the date should be in February to give the arborist time to gather the data that they would need to look at. Mr. Goodrich stated that we should add a separate line item in the agenda for the tree database.
5. SCHEDULED MATTERS.
A. Tree Preservation Update
Mr. Malone stated the only thing going on is the continued work behind Fairfield Condominiums and that work was completed and the stream work was completed in November. Mr. Malone continued that they did a replanting as they went along and they removed the larger trees on the west bank. Mr. Malone stated he hasn’t checked after the last couple rainstorms as to whether there were any problems. Mr. Malone stated the bank they were going to protect if you go out and look you see that you still have that slumping.
Mr. Goodrich stated that he noticed in the Planning & Zoning Minutes the person who is developing the property next to Kohl’s is complaining about the number of trees our ordinance requires. Mr. Drobina stated that he hadn’t heard about that.
B. Arboretum.
Mr. Goodrich asked if the arborist has done anything over at the Arboretum. Mr. Drobina stated that the sign has been removed because it keeps being vandalized. Mr. Drobina stated that it has been repaired and is going to be put on the other side of the bridge.
Ms. Carter asked if in the spring the city was going to hire someone to take care of the flowerbeds or get volunteers. Mr. Drobina stated the city would do a better job taking care of the flowers than last year.
6. COMMUNICATION
No comments.
7. OTHER BUSINESS
Mr. Drobina stated that we should start deciding on what tree to pick for Arbor Day so the arborist has time to get it ordered and also start thinking about which person to dedicate the tree to. Ms. Shelts asked how the decision is made as to whom the tree is dedicated to. Mr. Drobina stated the Tree Commission members decide that. Ms. Carter stated that a gentleman from Pickerington stopped a robbery at a gas station and she felt he would be a good candidate to dedicate a tree to. Mr. Malone stated that does seem like something the community should recognize but he feels that for Arbor Day they usually try to dedicate the tree to someone who has done something related to that specific topic.
Mr. Drobina stated that the Tree City USA application has been sent in.
Mr. Goodrich asked if we were all set budget wise for this year. Mr. Drobina stated that we were but he has not yet received a copy of the new budget lists yet because they have not been printed.
8. ADJOURNMENT
Their being nothing further, Ms. Carter moved to adjourn, Mr. McKinley seconded the motion. Mr. Goodrich, Ms. Carter and Mr. McKinley voted “Aye.” Motion carried, 3-0. The Tree Commission adjourned at 6:00 P.M. on January 10, 2007.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:
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Diana Fuller, Administrative Assistant
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Ed Drobina, Service Manager