CITY OF PICKERINGTON

TREE COMMISSION

CITY HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD

MONDAY, JANUARY 25, 2010

REGULAR MEETING

6:30 P.M.

 

 

  1. ROLL CALL.  Mr. McKinley called the meeting to order at 6:30 P.M., with roll call as follows: Ms. Shelts, Mr. Goodrich, and Mr. McKinley were present.  Mr. Neill and Mr. Malone were absent.  Edward Drobina and Angie Perrine were also present.  Mr. Malone attended after the election of chairman positions.

 

 

  1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES of November 23, 2009, Regular Meeting.  Mr. McKinley moved to approve; Mr. Goodrich seconded the motion.  Ms. Shelts, Mr. McKinley, and Mr. Goodrich voted “Aye”.  Motion carried, 3-0.

 

  a. Organization Positions

The election of chairman positions was discussed.  Ms. Shelts moved to approve herself as Chairman; Mr. McKinley seconded the motion.  Ms. Shelts, Mr. McKinley, and Mr. Goodrich voted “Aye”.  Motion carried, 3-0.  The meeting turned to the co-chairman position.  Mr. Goodrich stated he would like to hold this position.  Ms. Shelts moved to approve Mr. Goodrich as Co-Chairman; Mr. McKinley seconded the motion.  Ms. Shelts, Mr. McKinley, and Mr. Goodrich voted “Aye”.  Motion carried, 3-0.

 

  b. Meetings

Discussions over dates and times when this year’s meetings should take place was held.  Mr. Malone moved to approve the 2010 Tree Commission meetings to take place on the last Wednesday of the month at 6:30 p.m.; Mr. Goodrich seconded the motion.  Ms. Shelts, Mr. McKinley, Mr. Malone, and Mr. Goodrich voted “Aye”.  Motion carried, 4-0. 

 

 

  1. COMMUNITY COMMENTS.  No comments.

 

 

  1. REPORTS.   
    1. Street Tree Report

Mr. Drobina stated that the City Arborist, Gregg Ellis has officially retired and would like to know what the tree commission would like to see on the street tree report.  Some discussions went on regarding what should be on the report.  Mr. Drobina stated that before Gregg Ellis retired Scott Parker a city worker and Gregg went down to the arboretum and recorded the location of the trees.  This will be entered in the GPS mapping system.  At that time Staff Engineer, Brenda VanCleave will be able to print off a drawing that shows where each tree is located and what type tree. Mr. Malone asked who will now be responsible for the city trees and reports.  Mr. Drobina stated at this time his staff will take on these job duties.  Ms. Shelts asked if we now have any employees under the Urban Forestry budget.  Mr. Drobina stated that City Council didn’t fund the City Arborist position.  Mr. Drobina stated we have line items for professional services, new trees and replacement trees.  Ms. Shelts stated she was concerned if we still meet the $2.00 per capita for the Tree City USA qualifications.  Mr. Drobina replied that Angie Perrine his Administrative Assistant had already talked with him about this.  He stated that all of our time counts toward the Tree City USA program.  Ms. Shelts agreed that we should not have any problem meeting the requirements.  Mr. Drobina stated for the Tree Report next month Angie and him will be keeping track and preparing the report.  Mr. McKinley wanted to know if it is possible for us to keep track of the hours spent by the service department employees doing tree type work.  Mr. Drobina replied that this would not be a problem.  Ms. Shelts, asked when the city reapplies for Tree City USA.  Ms. Perrine replied the application was due by December 11th and she had turned this in and has not heard back from them yet.  If they have a problem with the application they will give you a call.  Mr. Drobina stated that Angie does all the paperwork for the Tree City USA and could provide them with a copy of the application.  Ms. Shelts stated that this was something she would like to have.                         

 

  

       5.    SCHEDULED MATTERS.

                  a.   Tree Preservation Update. 

      No Comments.

 

    1. Emerald Ash Borer.

      No Comments. 

 

    1.   Arboretum.

Mr. Drobina asked the tree commission how they felt about the mowing of the arboretum this year. Mr. Ellis usually mowed paths around the trees, but I thought it would look better if we mowed the entire arboretum.  Mr. Malone stated it was done this way for a variety of reasons.  Some more discussions occurred and were decided to take some more time to think about this and talk more at the next meeting.

 

                  d.    Arbor Day.

Ms. Shelts commented that she thought they should dedicate the Arbor Day tree to Gregg Ellis.  Mr. McKinley questioned if Gregg Ellis would attend the ceremony.  Mr. McKinley stated the tentative date for the Arbor Day celebration is Friday, April 30th.  Mr. Drobina questioned if they should consider another day rather than Friday to try and have a bigger crowd.  Mr. Malone stated that’s a hard decision on what day would be best to have it.   Some discussions were held and possibly combining Pick up Pickerington with Arbor Day.  Mr. McKinley stated he would check into this.  Mr. Drobina stated he could talk to Danny Mahaffey and see if a day has already been planned for this event.    Ms. Shelts stated that she had been in contact with a scout troop and believed they were going to do the ceremony.         

                        

                                                                                                                                                

  1. COMMUNICATION.

            a.      Tree Commission Packets.

Mr. McKinley stated that Ms. Perrine wanted some feedback on how the Tree Commission would like to receive there packets since Municipal Clerk Lynda Yartin will no longer be sending them out.  Mr. McKinley asked what would be the easiest way for Angie to do this.  Ms. Perrine responded that e-mail would be the easiest but if they wanted her to send out packets she could do this, it was up to the tree commission.  Mr. Goodrich stated he thought the e-mail would be fine.  It was decided to email the packets.      

 

 

7.   OTHER BUSINESS.  Mr. Malone asked Mr. Drobina about the trees behind the City Hall Building.  Mr. Drobina replied that Gregg Ellis had dug them up before he left and was waiting until spring to replant them.  I was also going to talk to Eric Vannatta or the Mayor about any future additions to City Hall before having the trees replanted.

 

      Mr. Malone stated that he had communication with the Mayor regarding the City Christmas Tree.  He stated the property by the railroad tracks next to Diley Road was acquired by the city and would interested in turning this property into a grow your own Christmas tree area and grow other trees and remove them and replant trees.  Mr. Malone told the Mayor that it sounded interesting and would bring it up before the tree commission.  Mr. McKinley stated he would like to have a copy of the email.  Mr. Malone replied yes he would forward this to him.  Ms. Shelts thought the idea could be nice but would take a long time to grow the trees.  Mr. Malone commented this was something they all could think about and talk more next meeting.

 

      Mr. McKinley stated he has reviewed the Parks & Recreation master plan and there are a couple of action items that affect the Tree Commission.  He will make copies for Angie to place in next month packets and we can address the issues next meeting.     

                   

      8.   ADJOURNMENT. 

            Their being nothing further, Mr. Malone moved to adjourn, Mr. Goodrich seconded the motion.   Ms. Shelts, Mr. McKinley, Mr. Malone, Mr. Goodrich, voted “Aye.”  Motion carried, 4-0.  The Tree Commission adjourned at 7:21 P.M. on January 25, 2010

           

 

 

 

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

 

 

________________________________

Angie Perrine, Administrative Assistant

 

 

________________________________

Edward Drobina, Service Manager