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2022-12-01 Tree Board AgendaCitizens' Tree Board Meeting Agenda December 01, 2022 at 6:OOPM Staff Contact: Deb Powers {c 1gc�0 425-771-0220 Tree Board meetings take place in Council Chambers in the Public Safety Complex located at 250 51" Avenue N. Edmonds, Washington CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL - excused absences: Ross Dimmick, Chris Eck Reading of Land Acknowledgement for Indigenous Peoples We acknowledge the original inhabitants of this place, the Sdohobsh (Snohomish) people and their successors the Tulalip Tribes, who since time immemorial have hunted, fished, gathered, and taken care of these lands. We respect their sovereignty, their right to self-determination, and we honor their sacred spiritual connection with the land and water. APPROVAL OF MINUTES CHANGES TO THE AGENDA AUDIENCE COMMENTS - we respectfully request that guests limit comments to 5 minutes. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 1. Annual/Ongoing Events a. Review of joint meeting with Planning Board b. Consensus on code amendment input — review and vote 2. Special Events/Protects a. 2023 Work Plan — review, add activities 1. Tree planting with Edmonds School District 2. Tree Walk — City Park 3. 2023 Arbor Day 3. Administrative a. Officer elections b. Position #1 vacancy NEW BUSINESS N/A TREE BOARD CHAIR, MEMBER COMMENTS ADJOURNMENT Upcoming Tree Board meeting dates: January 5, February 2, 2023 CITY OF EDMONDS �, � TREE BOARD �., Summary Minutes of Regular Meeting November 3, 2022 CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Chair Cass called the Tree Board meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Board Members Present Janelle Cass, Chair Bill Phipps, Vice Chair Chris Eck Andy Lyon Crane Stavig Wendy Kliment Board Members Absent Ross Dimmick (excused) Staff Present Deb Powers, Urban Forest Planner 4 ED Inc. L890 Others Present Jenna Nand, Edmonds City Council Representative The Board welcomed Councilmember Nand as the Council Liaison. LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Board Member Stavig read the Land Acknowledgement. MINUTES: Approval of October 6, 2022 Tree Board Minutes The October 6, 2022 Tree Board minutes were approved as presented. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Ms. Powers suggested adding an item related to attendance to the agenda to make sure there will be quorum in December and January. There was unanimous consent to add this under Unfinished Business, item 3 - Administrative. Vice Chair Phipps requested a discussion regarding projects for 2023. Chair Cass thought they could include this under Unfinished Business, item 3 - Administrative. There is also planning for 2023 under New Business. Vice Chair Phipps requested a discussion about whether they can have a meeting without Deb Powers present. Chair Cass thought this would be covered under Unfinished Business, item 3 — Administrative. The agenda was approved as amended. AUDIENCE COMMENTS There were no audience comments. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Annual/Ongoing Events Review process for agenda item submission and meeting minutes availability — Chair Cass noted she had created a recurring event on Outlook calendar for the 4th Tuesday of the month as a reminder for board members to submit items for the agenda. She welcomed emails or phone calls. There was discussion about the timing of draft minutes availability and asked if it would be possible to get the draft minutes as soon as they are available rather than waiting for the agenda packet. She thought this would be helpful in creating the agenda for the next meeting. Ms. Powers explained that the timing of this varies, but they generally are received just in time for the agenda packet to be published. She reviewed the process for this. Staff update on status of tree code amendments/Planning Board meeting report out — Ms. Powers gave an update on the outcomes of the October 12 Planning Board meeting regarding the tree code amendments. She summarized that the Planning Board is looking forward to touching base with the Tree Board on the minor code amendments before moving forward. Review process for input on tree code amendments. Board members discussed their experiences using "track changes" in the FTP server. Some members expressed frustration about the process. There was discussion about how all the comments will be incorporated. Ms. Powers noted there is only one comment. Chair Cass thought that a shared document would be a little easier for board members to use. Ms. Powers reviewed that it is a shared document and how all comments are tracked. Ms. Powers explained that the FTP server is set up by the City's IT for all boards for this purpose. Board Member Kliment noted she was opening the document live -time and using tracked changes without difficulty. Councilmember Nand wondered if there was something that would be easier for lay people to use and suggested if members are uncomfortable with the FTP process, they could bring paper comments to the meeting as an alternative. Ms. Powers noted the comment sheet was requested by the Tree Board so if it's not working, consider how other boards and Council review materials before the meeting, then discuss and reach consensus at meetings. There was discussion about ways they could compile written comments and help each other work this out. Councilmember Nand noted that the Tree Board could have working groups outside of regular meeting times as long as they were below quorum (three or fewer members). Ms. Powers deferred to the Director to decide on this. Consensus on minor code amendments — review and vote — Vice Chair Phipps raised a concern about what to do with the Landmark Trees (greater than 24-inch DBH) under minor 16, Tree Replacement Requirements. He recommended having a flat fee for those. Ms. Powers reviewed the difference between minor and major code amendments. Board Member Lyons moved that minor code amendments 16-18 be reclassified as moderate because they require significant change to be fully functional. Ms. Powers reviewed the difference between minor and major code amendments and explained we're just trying to reach a consensus on the minor code amendments now. Board Member Lyons thought that is why they should change those to moderate since they would likely be addressing those at a later time. Ms. Powers agreed that the degree to which the code is changed will push it into a moderate or major, as shown in the table. After significant discussion about the process Board Member Lyons withdrew his motion and acknowledged that his recommendation of flagging moderate and major code amendments was already shown in the table. Councilmember Nand spoke to the importance of the detailed work that the Board is doing. She stated the by-laws say they can make recommendations to the Council. Ms. Powers acknowledged that is why staff is working with the Board at this level of detail. Motion made by Board Member Eck, seconded by Vice Chair Phipps, to extend the meeting for 15 minutes until 7:45. Motion passed unanimously. Board Member Stavig referred to minor amendment 3, regarding the definition of a nuisance tree. He wondered if this ought to be expanded to be "potential" or "threatening". Board Member Lyons said he would like to see it defined as invasive or on the noxious weed list like hollies or cottonwoods as opposed to potentially causing structural damage because almost any tree could do that. He said that what Board Member Stavig was referring to was a "high risk" tree. Councilmember Nand cautioned that over the past few years she has heard of developers using very loose definitions of nuisance trees to intimidate homeowners to cut down trees for aesthetic reasons. This is a tactic the Tree Board needs to pay careful attention to. Ms. Powers noted that the word "significant" is also very subjective. There was discussion about the difference between nuisance trees and high risk or hazardous trees. Board Member Lyons recommended everyone write their comments on this for the next meeting. Vice Chair Phipps referred to minor amendment 18, and said he had a problem with the $2/square foot limit on fees -in -lieu of He doesn't think this adequately takes into account the loss of significant trees and weakens the tree code. Ms. Powers clarified that what he was referring to would be a major code amendment. • Moderate code amendments - timeline — continued to December meeting 2. Special Events/Projects • Discuss continued relationship with Edmonds School District/teachers to encourage tree planting continued to December meeting • Joint meeting with Planning Board November 30th —Ms. Powers reviewed the format of the upcoming meeting and explained that the Tree Board would the guest of the Planning Board. As such, the Planning Board members would be the only ones voting at that meeting. There was consensus to add 9 minutes to the meeting, extending to 7:54. Administrative • Tree City USA application — Board members should submit volunteer hours to Deb Powers by Nov 9`h • Bill Grant's resignation and replacement status — It was noted that Bill Grant had resigned in September. The appropriate council member will be working through the replacement process. Clarify Tree Board regular/special meeting requirements — Vice Chair Phipps again asked if they could have a meeting if Ms. Powers wasn't present. He was concerned about what would happen if she was sick or couldn't make it for some reason. Chair Cass said she had exchanged voicemails with Director McLaughlin about whether the Board could meet without a staff member if necessary. She was informed that there is nothing codified that would require a staff member to be present. Ms. Powers commented she had been informed that a staff member must be present. If she can't make a meeting another staff person would be assigned in her place. Vice Chair Phipps stated they used to meet all the time without a staff person. There was agreement to get further clarification on this. Discussion about December/January attendance — It appeared that there would be a quorum for December 1 and January 5. Ms. Powers noted she would be out of town on January 5, so there will be another staff person in attendance. NEW BUSINESS Planning for 2023 — budget and projects — continued to December meeting TREE BOARD CHAIR, MEMBER COMMENTS None ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 7:54 p.m. Next meeting: December 1