CITY OF
PICKERINGTON
TREE COMMISSION
CITY HALL, 100
LOCKVILLE ROAD
WEDNESDAY, JUNE
13, 2007
REGULAR MEETING
6:00 P.M.
A. Street Tree Report
Mr. Ellis stated he stripped bark off trees for the Department of Agriculture to check for the Emerald Ash Borer. He stated they would come back in August to check them.
5. SCHEDULED MATTERS.
A. Tree Preservation Update
Mr. Malone stated that there is nothing new going on right now.
B. Tree Data Base
Mr. Goodrich stated that the database is pretty much ready to go and he will now start entering the data into the database. Mr. McKinley asked if he needed any help with that. Mr. Goodrich stated that he did not.
C. Arboretum.
Mr. Malone asked what type of vandalism was done at the Arboretum. Mr. Ellis stated that they were breaking limbs off of the trees and knocked the 2 dead trees over. Mr. Ellis stated they took a hammer or something and were hitting the nametags and destroying those. Ms. Shelts asked if the police were notified. Mr. Ellis stated they were not. Ms. Carter asked if he knew when the vandalism took place. Mr. Ellis stated he didn’t know. Ms. Shelts stated she feels the police should be notified of the vandalism. Mr. Malone stated the police should be notified, otherwise the people responsible may continue damaging the property if they think nothing is being done about it. Mr. Goodrich asked if he knew the cost of the damage. Mr. Ellis stated he would add up the cost and contact the police to file a report.
D. Emerald Ash Borer
Mr. McKinley stated that Franklin County was officially quarantined because of the Emerald Ash Borer. Mr. McKinley stated he passed out copies of the Emerald Ash Borer Management Plan for the City of Sandusky and the Ordinance from the City of Granville. Mr. McKinley stated he feels the Commission could just tweak the Ordinance from Granville and get it to the city attorneys so we can get an Ordinance written pretty quickly and get it voted on by next meeting so we can send it to Service in July. Mr. Goodrich asked whether the Parks Department would want input in this ordinance as well. Mr. Goodrich stated he feels that the July meeting would be too soon to get everything completed. Mr. McKinley stated he would send a copy to Steve Carr and get his input.
Mr. Drobina stated he knows everyone wants to move quickly on this but he spoke with Lisa Bowers from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and she stated she would be willing to attend a meeting and discuss our management plan and how to get started. Mr. McKinley asked if she would be able to attend the July meeting. Mr. Drobina stated he would contact her to find out her schedule. Mr. Malone stated if we are going to do that we should also invite Parks and Recreation, the City Manager and others who may be involved to attend the meeting also so all the questions could be answered at one time.
Mr. Malone stated after skimming the two documents there are two different approaches that could be taken. Mr. Malone stated the City of Sandusky is looking to actively remove Ash trees and the City of Granville looks like they will remove them as they become infected. Mr. Goodrich stated another approach to explore is a mixture of the two. Mr. Drobina stated he was thinking it would be best to remove the smallest Ash trees now and wait on the larger Ash trees because of the cost. Mr. Malone stated we should probably use a variation of the Sandusky management plan.
Mr. Malone asked if the city has an ordinance or authority as to being able to remove infected trees on private property. Mr. Drobina stated we do have an Ordinance where we can require people to cut trees down if there is a safety factor. Mr. Drobina stated if it’s just a tree sitting on an acre of property not causing any damage he isn’t sure what can be done.
Mr. McKinley stated just take the time to review the two options, make a list of the questions you have and at our next meeting we can have all our questions answered at one time.
Mr. Drobina stated the Emerald Ash Borer proclamation was signed by the Mayor and can be displayed at City Hall.
Ms. Carter asked who trims the trees in the park overhanging the bridge at the pond. Mr. Ellis stated the Parks Department is responsible for trimming those trees and he would let the Parks Department know.
Ms. Carter stated she got hold of the people about the American Chestnut and they put our name on the list to receive some trees to plant.
7. OTHER BUSINESS
Mr. McKinley stated he had a meeting with Judy Gilleland about the City Beautification Campaign. Mr. McKinley stated that Ms. Gilleland felt Arbor Day should be bigger than it is and maybe include the schools. Ms. Shelts stated she feels the schools should be involved by each one of them getting a school to connect with and just let them know so they could at least make an announcement about Arbor Day. Ms. Carter stated we could talk to the Junior High and High School science classes. Mr. Malone stated that past efforts to include schools resulted in only a few elementary school teachers who thought this might be of interest. Mr. McKinley stated that now that school is out for summer it would be a good time to talk with the schools about a partnership for next years Arbor Day. Mr. McKinley stated he would call the school and start with the school board.
Mr. McKinley stated another issue brought up was neighborhood beautification. Mr. Kinley stated we could sponsor city clean up day, planting flowers, reaching out in more areas than just trees. Mr. McKinley stated we could raise public awareness, neighborhood volunteers and things like that. Ms. Carter stated there are elderly people who can’t take care of their yards and we could do clean up projects for them. Mr. Malone stated this is the kind of thing that starts out with grand intentions and then end up straying way off our original intent here. Mr. Malone stated Granville has a tree landscape commission description so that’s not to say there isn’t some room for us to become a little broader in our scope. Mr. Malone stated we could try to help neighborhood associations to find resources or provide guidance and education. Mr. Goodrich stated he is okay with expanding the scope of the work we are doing but I don’t want to lose sight of the Tree Commission issue. Mr. McKinley stated he would come up with some ideas that the Commission could all review next time.
8. ADJOURNMENT
Their being nothing further, Mr. Malone moved to adjourn, Mr. Goodrich seconded the motion. Mr. Goodrich, Mr. Malone, Ms. Carter, Mr. McKinley and Ms. Shelts voted “Aye.” Motion carried, 5-0. The Tree Commission adjourned at 6:45 P.M. on June 13, 2007.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:
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Diana Fuller, Administrative Assistant
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Ed Drobina, Service Manager