2022-11-03 Tree Board MinutesCITY 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 Staff Present
Janelle Cass, Chair Deb Powers, Urban Forest Planner
Bill Phipps, Vice Chair
Chris Eck Others Present
Andy Lyon
Crane Stavig
Wendy Kliment
Board Members Absent
Ross Dimmick (excused)
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.
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The agenda was approved as amended.
AUDIENCE COMMENTS
There were no audience comments.
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 4"' 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
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November 3, 2022
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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.
3. Administrative
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• Tree City USA application — Board members should submit volunteer hours to Deb Powers by
Nov 9t'.
• 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
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November 3, 2022
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