CITY OF
PICKERINGTON
TREE COMMISSION
CITY HALL, 100
LOCKVILLE ROAD
WEDNESDAY,
DECEMBER 12, 2007
REGULAR MEETING
6:00 P.M.
A. Street Tree Report
Ms. Carter asked if the fire down at the park did any damage to the trees. Mr. Drobina stated not that he is aware of, just the shelter building.
5. SCHEDULED MATTERS.
A. Tree Preservation Update
No comments.
B. Tree Data Base
Ms. Carter stated the tree database is done. Mr. McKinley asked what the final total was. Ms. Carter stated it was close to 4,000. Ms. Carter stated there are 1,237 Ash trees.
C. Arboretum.
Mr. McKinley asked if there has been any further damage down there. Mr. Drobina stated there has not. Mr. McKinley stated he talked with someone from the Columbus Metro Parks and they informed him that they have a lot of vandalism of their tree tags also. He continued that they haven’t found anything that works other than keeping a closer eye on the area. Ms. Carter asked if we should check somewhere else. Mr. McKinley stated he would check with ODNR and see what they do for their state parks.
D. Emerald Ash Borer
Mr. McKinley stated he asked Mr. Drobina before the meeting whether Service Committee had to vote on the Management Plan and he stated they do not. Mr. McKinley stated the City of Pickerington officially now has a Management Plan for the Emerald Ash Borer and they will put that on the website. Ms. Carter asked if there have been any more outbreaks. Mr. Drobina stated not that he is aware of. Mr. McKinley asked if ODNR comes back next spring. Mr. Drobina stated that they would and that Lisa updates us pretty regularly about any outbreaks in the area.
E. City Beautification Campaign.
Mr. Pawlowski stated he has been following the Tree Commission’s activities by reading the Minutes and back in August or September you put out some brochures. Mr. Pawlowski asked what is the intent of the Tree Commissions activity here. Mr. McKinley stated that basically we were tossing around the idea of possibly expanding and getting community involvement in beautification of the city whether it be neighborhood competitions between each other or businesses competing with each other for spring or fall clean-up, things like that. Mr. Pawlowski stated that he is on the Parks & Recreation Board and they are working on a similar plan. Mr. Pawlowski stated he has been outlining that. Mr. Pawlowski stated that Mr. Mahaffey with Zoning sponsored the first clean up day back in September targeting the area around 256. He continued that he hasn’t been in direct contact with Mr. Mahaffey but suspects that he will organize something else in the spring. Mr. Pawlowski stated that rather than duplicate efforts, he has been organizing around the Keep America Beautiful week that starts in March and continues through May and you can pick any day in there. He continued that we do not want to put a lot of expense into this and would rather piggyback on some of the national organizations. Mr. Pawlowski stated that in his research he has found no one here in Fairfield County that is a member of this Keep America Beautiful affiliation. Mr. Pawlowski stated Franklin County and Columbus both have staff on that so we can’t get any materials kicked down to us from that organization but we can be on their website as a contact for people that are surfing that and can see there is an activity in Fairfield County and in fact it’s going to be Pickerington. Mr. Pawlowski asked if we had any formal dates we are shooting for. Mr. McKinley stated there is no formal date; we are just looking at spring or summer. Mr. McKinley stated that we are just going through the very preliminary steps of looking at what our options are. Mr. Pawlowski stated another option he is looking at in Parks is to piggyback on the ORSANKO Ohio River Sweep. He continued we are essentially the head waters of the Ohio River and he has been speaking with a woman at that organization who is excited about this type of campaign where they can do a little bit more advertising for us on their end. Mr. Pawlowski stated most of their activities are on the Ohio River itself. He stated his reason for being here is because he doesn’t want to duplicate any efforts and asked if Mr. McKinley is coordinating this program. Mr. McKinley stated it would be better for them to work together rather than do it separately. Mr. Pawlowski stated he is the point person for Parks & Recreation and Mr. McKinley is the point person for the Tree Commission so when he gets in contact with Mr. Mahaffey the three of them can stay in the loop and hopefully move this forward for spring. Mr. McKinley stated that sounds good. He continued that we have also brought up an idea of talking with Pickerington Garden Club as well. Mr. Goodrich stated that would give them the opportunity to put flowerbeds in some of the center lane areas. Ms. Shelts asked if we should make a contact person with the Garden Club? Mr. McKinley stated he is in the process of doing that.
F. Arbor Day.
Mr. McKinley asked what the exact date was for Arbor Day. Mr. Drobina stated that April 25th is the last Friday. Ms. Carter asked if we were going to try to coordinate something with the schools. Mr. McKinley stated that it will be tough to get in contact with the schools this month because of the holidays but he will try to contact someone with the elementary schools and work his way up. Mr. McKinley stated if the school becomes involved we would have to do the celebration during the day instead of the evening. Mr. McKinley stated if we do not hear a confirmation from the schools by February we would schedule Arbor Day for the evening hours. Mr. McKinley suggested the Commission members think about nominations for the person we want to honor on that day. Ms. Shelts stated she would ask the scout troop who did it last year if they want to do it again and that way if they decline we will have some time to find someone else.
6. COMMUNICATION. Nothing to report.
Ms. Carter stated that her commission is up this month and she enjoyed working with everyone and you can call her at any time and she’ll assist in anything you need to get done including Arbor Day. Mr. McKinley thanked her for all the work she has done especially on the Tree Database.
Ms. Shelts stated she would like to discuss planning the budget so we can be sure we have enough money to plant the necessary trees. Mr. McKinley stated the 2008 budget has already been decided and that Mr. Drobina stated he would bring copies of the new budget to the next meeting. Mr. Drobina stated that it is on the website now.
Mr. Malone stated that Lisa from ODNR is requesting copies of the Management Plan be forwarded to her. Mr. Drobina stated he would pass on the Preparedness Plan.
8. ADJOURNMENT
Their being nothing further, Ms. Carter moved to adjourn, Mr. Malone 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 6:20 P.M. on December 12, 2007.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:
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Diana Fuller, Administrative Assistant
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Ed Drobina, Service Manager