CITY OF PICKERINGTON

TREE COMMISSION

CITY HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2011

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:  Mr. Malone, Mr. Goodrich and Mr. McKinley. Ms.Shelts was not present until after meeting started.  Mr. Vega was absent.  Mayor O’Brien, Mr. Vance, Mr. Barletta, Mr. Drobina, Mrs. Medinger, Mr. Henderson, Mrs. Carter, Mr. Hague and Ms.  Perrine was also present.  

 

2.   ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING

 

      A.        Motion to elect Chairperson and Vice Chairperson.  Mr. Malone moved to    approve for Mr. McKinley to be Chairperson; Mr. Goodrich seconded the motion.  Mr. McKinley, Mr. Malone and Mr. Goodrich voted “Yes”. Motion         passed 3-0.  Mr. Malone moved to approve for Mr. Goodrich to be Vice Chairperson; Mr. McKinley seconded the motion.  Mr. McKinley, Mr. Malone and Mr. Goodrich voted “Yes”.  Motion passed 3-0.

  

      B.         Motion to set regular meeting day and time for 2011.  Discussion was held Mr. Malone moved to approve for Tree Commission meetings to be the 4th Wednesday of the month at 6:30 p.m.  Mr. Goodrich seconded the motion.  Mr. McKinley, Mr. Malone, Ms. Shelts and Mr. Goodrich voted “Yes”.  Motion passed 4-0.

 

  1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF November 30, 2010.  Mr. Malone moved to approve; Ms. Shelts seconded the motion.  Mr. McKinley, Mr. Malone, Ms. Shelts and Mr. Goodrich voted “Yes”.  Motion passed 4-0.                

             

  1. COMMUNITY COMMENTS   Mr. David Hague a resident of Pickerington stated that he was in attendance tonight to discuss the Emerald Ash Borer in particular he would like to see the committee look into treating the trees not replacing them.  Mr. Hague asked if the City has received the grant to replace to trees yet.  Mr. Drobina replied that the City should be finding out in mid February.  Mr. Hague went on to explain that he has been successful in treating his own Ash trees by injecting a chemical into the root system.  He stated it cost him about $10.00 per tree to treat.  Mrs. Carter stated she was concerned that this would contaminate the water and storm drainage system if all these chemicals were placed into the ground.  Mr. Hague stated that you only injected about 6 inches into the root system of the trees.  Mr. Drobina asked when they should treat the trees.  Mr. Hague replied mid May.  After some more discussions Mr. Drobina stated that he would pursue looking into this.

 

       5.   REPORT

           

             A.           Street Tree Report (Mr. Drobina)       No Comments.

 

             B.           Public Safety and Community Affairs Report (Mr. Drobina)      No Comments.

                             

  1. SCHEDULED MATTERS

 

             A.           Tree Preservation Update.     Mr. Malone stated that Mr. Drobina and himself went last week and looked at different locations and discussed what areas                   needed some brush clearing along the streams that had been overgrown.  Mr.                       Malone commented he would like to leave the arboretum alone and let nature do its thing.  Mr. Drobina stated that after walking the streams they are really  not that many trees that we are going to remove.  Mr. McKinley asked if Mr.Drobina had narrowed down the timeframe as to when this would be done. Mr. Drobina replied he would like to do it this winter when the ground is  frozen. 

 

              B.         Arboretum Improvements.     Mr. Malone stated that signage has been a problem with vandalism.  He would like to see us consult with other parks and areas and see what they are using.  Mr. McKinley responded and said that he would look into this.  City Manager, Mr. Vance suggested that they check into this and come back to it in the spring as an agenda item.  Mr. McKinley replied yes with some figures of how much it would cost.  Ms. Shelts commented that maybe they could use some of the VIP groups to help them out.  Mr. McKinley asked Ms. Shelts if she could check into this and see if the VIP groups would be interested in doing this.  Ms. Shelts replied, yes she would do this.   Mayor O’Brien asked if they are planning any community education at the arboretum.  Mr. McKinley responded to add this in for next months agenda so they can talk more about it.  But is definitely something that we need to raise more awareness of.  Mr. Malone stated this has been a challenge in the past but perhaps there is more opportunities now. 

 

             C.           2011 Arbor Day Action Plan.     Mr. Drobina commented that it was staff’s recommendation to move the Arbor Day celebration to the third Saturday in April at 10:00 a.m.  Recreation Administrator, Rebecca Medinger has offered to assist with this and possible have the school students write essays.  By having it on a Saturday they could get kids involved and this would get parents also involved.  Mr. McKinley questioned for the Tree City USA application if we have to celebrate on actual Arbor Day.  Mr. Drobina replied no just celebrate Arbor Day.  Mr. Drobina  commented that they were looking at other locations to have the Arbor Day celebrations.  City Manager commented that these are just some ideas to get more community involvement by getting the schools and other places in the city such as the Water, Wastewater Facilities and the Parks.   Mr. McKinley moved to approve moving the Arbor Day Celebration to third Saturday in April at 10:00 a.m. and to coordinate with City staff.   Mr. Malone seconded the motion.  Mr. Goodrich, Ms. Shelts, Mr. McKinley and Mr. Malone, voted “Yes”.  Motion passed 4-0.  City Manager stated that the staff would keep communication going through email to the Tree Commission regarding the Arbor Day celebration.

 

            D.          2011 Beautification project proposals and goals.  City Planner, Joe Henderson stated that this year the City has budgeted for $10,000 for 20 hanging flower baskets and banners for the Old Village area.  There was a cost that was not

included in the budgeted for the brackets on the hanging pots.  Due to this cost the City is only purchasing 20 hanging baskets this year instead of 40 to 50 in the past.  Rebecca Medinger and Eric Vannatta drove around and came up with a plan as where to hang the flower baskets to be the most visible.  Mr. Henderson stated that there is a town meeting on January 27th  at 7:30 p.m. to further discuss this and the downtown revitalization with Executive Director Jeff Siegler of Ohio Heritage.   Mr. McKinley asked that if the Mayor or City Manager receive any emails regarding the City Beautification that they forward them on to the commission.  City Manager responded, certainly.  Mr. McKinley moved to approve with the downtown hanging flower baskets.  Mr. Malone seconded the motion.  Ms. Shelts, Mr. McKinley, Mr. Malone and Mr. Goodrich, voted “Yes”.  Motion passed 4-0. 

                                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                    

COMMISSION ANNOUNCEMENTS AND FUTURE AGENDA RECOMMENDATIONS   Mr. Drobina asked if anyone had any agenda items to add.  Also the Tree Commission has taken steps to change the name to Tree and Beautification, what involvement does the commission want to have?  Mr. McKinley stated that he would like to discuss this at February’s meeting and the 2011 Budget.    Tree Maintenance was also noted as an  agenda item.  

                                                                                                                    

8.         ADJOURNMENT     There being nothing further, Mr. McKinley moved to adjourn, Mr. Malone seconded the motion.  Mr. Goodrich, Ms. Shelts, Mr. Malone and Mr. McKinley voted “Yes”.  Motion passed 4-0.  The Tree Commission adjourned at 7:10 p.m. on January 26, 201.                                  

 

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

 

 

________________________________

Angie Perrine, Administrative Assistant

 

 

ATTEST:  _______________________

Edward Drobina, Service Manager