2022-10-06 Tree Board AgendaCitizens' Tree Board Regular Meeting Agenda
October 06, 2022 at 6:OOPM
Staff Contact: Deb Powers
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
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 October 1st Summer Farmer's Market Booth event
2. Special Events/Projects
a. Brief status update on tree code amendment project
b. Preparation for joint Planning Board meeting (date TBD)
c. Discuss process for Tree Board input on tree code amendments. Can we focus on the big
impact changes? How do we form consensus? How do we share and communicate with the
Planning Board?
3. Administrative
a. Discuss process for agenda item submission
b. Discuss meeting process/time limits
NEW BUSINESS
1. Continued relationship with Edmonds School District/teachers to encourage tree planting
TREE BOARD CHAIR, MEMBER COMMENTS
ADJOURNMENT
Upcoming Tree Board meeting dates: November 3, December 1, 2022.
CITY OF EDMONDS
�, � TREE BOARD
�•� Summary Minutes of Special Meeting
September 19, 2022
CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
Chair Cass called the Tree Board Special Meeting to order at 6:10 p.m.
Board Members Present
Janelle Cass, Chair
Bill Phipps, Vice Chair
Chris Eck
Wendy Kliment
Andy Lyon
Ross Dimmick (Alternate)
Board Members Absent
Bill Grant
Crane Stavig
Staff Present
Deb Powers, Urban Forest Planner
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT — ROLL CALL — INTRODUCTIONS
Board Member Eck read the Land Acknowledgement.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
The agenda was approved as presented.
4 ED
Inc. L890
Board Member Eck requested a discussion at some point regarding the maximum length of these meetings. She
suggested they conclude by 8 p.m. Chair Cass indicated she would put that on a future agenda.
NUNITTES:
Approval of August 4, 2022 Tree Board Minutes
Board Member Lyon recalled that there had been discussion at the August meeting about him being present at the July
meeting. The August 4 minutes should reflect that correction to the attendance section of the July minutes.
Motion made by Chair Cass to add a discussion to these minutes regarding the fact that Board Member Lyon
was present for the July meeting. The motion was seconded and approved unanimously.
The August 4, 2022 minutes were approved as corrected.
AUDIENCE COMMENTS
There were no audience comments.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
Annual/Ongoing Events
Summer Farmer's Market Booth Oct 1 - Vice Chair Phipps gave a briefing about his progress on this. He
has confirmed the booth. Board Member Eck will do the raffle. Vice Chair Phipps and Board Member Lyon
bought two larger trees. Vice Chair Phipps bought 30 small to medium trees (six varieties) and has been
taking care of 30 conifers over the summer. He would like to get a few more medium trees. He has spent
$666 so far on trees and supplies. Board Member Lyon will help with unloading trees early in the morning
of October 1. There was discussion about staffing assignments from 9-2. Vice Chair Phipps will investigate
doing a press release and signage. Board Member Phipps suggested having some bags on hand for people
that need them for trees. There was also discussion about brochures and having a flyer describing the
characteristics and care of the trees and helping people choose the appropriate tree for their yard. There was
consensus to let people know in the press release that the trees go fast so they should get there early and that
delivery of the raffle trees would only be provided to Edmonds residents. Everyone expressed appreciation
to Vice Chair Phipps for all his work on this.
Motion made by Board Member Lyon, seconded by Board Member Dimmick, to approve
expenditures of $750 for the October 1 Farmer's Market supplies. Motion passed unanimously.
Arbor Day proclamation at Sept 27 City Council meeting — Ms. Powers solicited feedback on the draft
proclamation. There was discussion about when to have the official Arbor Day celebration. There was
consensus to remove the October 29 date and just celebrate Arbor Day on October 1 this year with the
Farmer's Market tree giveaway event. Board Member Dimmick indicated he would be present at the
September 27 City Council meeting to accept the Proclamation. A couple other members may attend if they
are available.
Motion made by Chair Cass to recommend approval of the revised Arbor Day proclamation. The
motion was seconded by Board Member Dimmick and approved unanimously.
Tree Code project status — Ms. Powers reported on her meeting with the Planning Board last week regarding
no -policy -impact code amendments and the systematic approach she was taking to address the Tree Code
amendments. She also discussed the Planning Board's major code amendment recommendations to
maximize tree retention. She encouraged the Tree Board to listen to that meeting and be prepared for the
upcoming joint meeting. Staff is recommending a focus on simplifying the code and streamlining the review
process.
Vice Chair Phipps spoke in support of counting trees greater than 24" as special trees. He argued that the
proposed change was not a minor change. Ms. Powers clarified that minor refers to the policy impact and
does not refer to how important the changes are. Chair Cass requested that staff provide printouts of the
proposed minor amendments.
There was discussion about expectations for the Tree Board's level of involvement in making code changes
and in the joint meeting. Vice Chair Phipps commented that the code states the Tree Board is to be involved,
but they have not been in the past. He expects to be involved either on his own as a citizen or as part of the
Tree Board but cautioned against expecting them to go through the code on a line -by-line basis. Board
Member Dimmick commented he didn't think the Tree Board was in a position to write code but stated that
they were interested in reviewing what others have written and offer input. Board Member Eck spoke to the
possibility of the Board's role being one of making the code more understandable for the average Edmonds
resident. Ms. Powers concurred.
She discussed potential objectives of the Tree Code and how it is or is not achieving those. If the highest
priority of the Tree Code is tree retention with development, it is doing that. If tree replanting is the goal, it
is not achieving that with the fees -in -lieu. Developers are retaining 50% of trees, but they are not necessarily
replanting trees that were greater than 24 inches. Board Member Dimmick commented that the City could
collect and use the fees -in -lieu in an efficient way to do some sort of conservation on a larger scale. Ms.
Powers replied that is how it is supposed to work.
Chair Cass commented that the Tree Board is listed as an advisory board to the Tree Code, and it does have
a huge impact on the residents of Edmonds. All board members indicated an interest in being part of this
code amendment process. Board Member Lyon suggested that the Board's focus be on simplifying the code.
Ms. Powers was supportive of that and encouraged them to point out any proposed changes that would not
simplify or streamline things. There was discussion about how this process could work.
2. Special Events/Projects
• Joint meeting with Planning Board Oct 12 - preparation — discussed above
Administrative
• Staff role on boards and commissions
Regular and special meeting agendas/noticing - Chair Cass apologized for difficulties she had in meeting
the deadline for the September 1 meeting and discussed what she had learned about the process for calling
special meetings. Vice Chair Phipps requested that they try to stick to meeting on the first Thursday of the
month as much as possible and offered to help with the agenda in the future if needed. Ms. Powers reviewed
how the agenda submittal process works. There was disagreement about whether the Board can meet
without a staff person present. Ms. Powers did not think they were and encouraged them to clarify this with
Director McLaughlin.
ADJOURNMENT
Motion made by Board Member Lyon, seconded by Chair Cass, to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed
unanimously.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:17 p.m.
Next meeting: October 6