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2023-05-04 Tree Board MinutesE CITY OF EDMONDS TREE BOARD ��� Summary Minutes of Regular Meeting May 4, 2023 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 (online) Wendy Kliment Crane Stavig Kevin Fagerstrom Ross Dimmick (alternate) Board Members Absent Andy Lyon (excused) Staff Present Deb Powers, Urban Forest Planner David Levitan, Planning Manager Others Present Jenna Nand, Edmonds City Council Liaison Vice Chair Phipps reported that Board Member Lyon had contacted him and indicated that he may have to resign. LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Board Member Fagerstrom read the land acknowledgement. MINUTES Approval of April 6, 2023 Tree Board Minutes The April 6, 2023 Tree Board minutes were approved as presented. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Motion passed by Board Member Dimmick, seconded by Board Member Kliment, to remove the tree code update from the agenda. Motion passed. The agenda was approved as amended. AUDIENCE COMMENTS Tree Board Meeting Minutes May 4, 2023 Page 1 of 5 There were no audience comments. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Final 2023 Tree Board Work Plan/Budget • Chair Cass thought they had voted to remove Heritage Trees from the 2023 Work Plan. Ms. Powers explained that it's shown as a potential project, not under an approved 2023 Work Plan item. Chair Cass reiterated that the group thought this would be too controversial and had voted to remove it. Councilmember Nand said she could see the value of memorializing that it was tabled in 2023. Chair Cass thought that would be reflected in the minutes. Ms. Powers recommended having a separate list of potential projects to be able to look at at the beginning of every year for possible projects or programs to work on. If they do that, Chair Cass thought there should be a reference to the particular minutes where this was discussed. Councilmember Nand thought this could be valuable if it wasn't too much work for staff. Chair Cass offered to add a note to reflect that in the FTP document. Ms. Powers addressed the "controversial" part of a heritage tree program and clarified that the heritage tree program as a goal in the Urban Forest Management Plan is voluntary and is not related to any legal protection. She referred to the history and guidelines of Plant Amnesty's volunteer Heritage Tree Program. She emphasized that there is no level of protection or legal requirement for that property owner or future property owners to protect those trees unless they opt to do that. Chair Cass replied that the Board already discussed it and opted not to include it in 2023. She will add a note to the document to reflect this. Ms. Powers noted the steps for developing either program are the same. She recommended that if the Board wants to remove Heritage Trees from the Work Plan, the description of steps is added to the Exceptional Tree program. Board Member Kliment noted that Board Member Lyon was going to head the Exceptional Tree program as well as the Sierra Park project. She wondered who would handle those now. Vice Chair Phipps said he will talk with Board Member Lyons about the status of Sierra Park signs. There was consensus to add the title "Not Approved for 2023 Work Plan" below the approved projects and above the potential projects to clearly distinguish that the Heritage Tree Program item was not approved for the 2023 Work Plan. 2. Discuss upcoming events/projects • Garden Tour Signs - Board Member Kliment asked who to contact. Ms. Powers is working with tour committee members to identify trees and once the signs are ready to print, will pass along that information to her, the same as last year. She noted that six gardens have been selected. Vice Chair Phipps passed on a list of signs that he already has saved from last year. Ms. Powers mentioned that using the signs from last year depends on the gardens/trees this year. Chair Cass will forward Carol's contact information to Board Member Kliment. • Arbor Day — Board Member Fagerstrom said the booth is reserved, paid for, and ready to go. They still need to talk about tree purchases. He volunteered a utility trailer for the event to pick up the trees. The Board has not decided whether they will do a raffle this year. Vice Chair Phipps has 25 conifers that are doing well at his house. Board Member Stavig said he contacted a wholesale tree grower in Oregon and another nursery in Oregon. There was some discussion about options for any trees that might be leftover. Ms. Powers noted that if the trees were purchased with city funds, they need to consider how any leftovers can be planted on public property. Councilmember Nand Tree Board Meeting Minutes May 4, 2023 Page 2 of 5 commented she has heard that some cities are prioritizing planting edible plants and fruit -bearing trees so that people can one day go into public spaces and forage food. Board Member Stavig noted that there is a food forest in Seattle. Ms. Powers noted that Cascadia College has one too. There was some discussion about factors to consider with fruit and nut trees such as pollination needs. The Board discussed how to bring critical areas as a public education component for Arbor Day. Ms. Powers displayed the critical areas layer on the city's online GIS map which they had discussed using at the event. She noted that the 25% slope layer could be printed out in color for display on an easel in case the live versions on laptops don't work with the Wi-Fi. There was interest in understanding the mechanism used to measure the slope. Ms. Powers noted that it is based on aerial imagery, and they could submit a request online about anything related to GIS mapping. The Board was interested in having wetlands included on the map because tree removals are also limited in those areas. Board members liked the idea of being able to enter people's addresses on a laptop at the event in order to show them if they are in a critical area. It was noted that the map is a screening tool but is not 100% accurate. The Board expressed an interest in having some sort of informational handout that includes a QR code to the Tree Board website where people can also find a link to the GIS information. • Tree Walk Tour — The budget was previously approved to pay a contractor for a tour in early October on a Saturday, potentially the Saturday following the Arbor Day event. The contractor is familiar with the area and will be selecting the best location for the tour. Councilmember Nand suggested adding a second tour led by a volunteer along the Interurban Trail for people that don't come down to The Bowl very often. 3. Proposed Project Status • Sierra Park Signs- Continued to next time. (Board Member Lyons is currently lead.) • Exceptional Street Tree Designation — Continued to next time. (Board Member Lyons is currently lead.) 4. Tree Code Amendments — Removed from agenda. Ms. Powers briefly noted that it has been proposed to have a joint Planning Board/Tree Board meeting in June or July with a date to be determined. NEW BUSINESS 1. Events/projects under consideration • Tree voucher program — Vice Chair Phipps gave an update on what he learned from his research about the tree voucher program in Lynnwood. Kayla Grattan, who is involved with the City of Lynnwood's program, offered to come speak to the Board at some point if there is interest. The program is City -run and supported by staff with an estimated 10 hours per week. Councilmember Nand asked to have this information conveyed to the Council. She will work with the administration to determine the best way to do this. She noted that this could be something that they block grant to a community group or a non-profit to manage so it wouldn't necessarily require staff time. Vice Chair Phipps said he could write up a summary to give to Council. Ms. Powers thought this was a good project but also noted that the City could focus on increasing resources for managing existing trees, starting with an inventory so they know what they actually have. Vice Chair Phipps said he has been in contact with Director McLaughlin who has some ambitious plans for street trees. Tree Board Meeting Minutes May 4, 2023 Page 3 of 5 Councilmember Nand encouraged the Board to talk to the Council about why street trees and beautification needs to be a priority for the City's budget because it plays into a lot of things like shade equity, perceptions of the city, environmental aspects, urban canopy, urban wildlife, etc. Vice Chair Phipps also referred to his discussion with Director McLaughlin about Green Streets. Review of development projects — Vice Chair Phipps discussed his idea of following a project through its development process with regards to tree retention. Ms. Powers said if staff asked private property owners or developers to come on their property, that might be an undue influence. Councilmember Nand said Director Feser was looking into Parks property development that might be an opportunity for the Tree Board to explore. Ms. Powers pointed out that capital projects don't always involve Planning or her review. She suggested she could do another mock development scenario exercise that might help the Board. The Board was interested in this as a future activity. 2. Discussion regarding a printed letter from an anonymous citizen that was received by Vice Chair Phipps, who distributed hard copies at the April 6, 2023 Tree Board meeting: • Board Member Dimmick spoke to land use conflicts between built environments and trees that he has experienced personally and professionally similar to those mentioned in the letter. It is important for the Tree Board to be aware of those conflicts. • Councilmember Nand commented that from a legal perspective, everything the citizen is suggesting is requesting that government conduct overreach on private property. This is a dispute between two property owners and government has no role in telling one property owner what to do. • Board Member Stavig commented that there were conflicting points made in the letter where the person complained about Douglas Fir trees on the fence line causing plants on the other side of the fence line to suffer because of the shade. The person mentions "right plant, right place" and yet planted the wrong plants for that place. Board Member Dimmick thought it had more to do with not having a choice. He reiterated the importance of being aware of both the positives and negatives of trees. • Ms. Powers noted this was an anonymous letter, and she was wondering if it can be included as public testimony for Planning Board and Council as they are looking at tree code amendments. Chair Cass noted that this is a very concerned citizen who took a great deal of time to write this. She recommended at the very least including it as an addendum to the minutes from tonight's meeting. Vice Chair Phipps noted the person made 7 copies so it was their intent that it be brought to the Tree Board. • Councilmember Nand commented that there is a strong presumption that this is a private citizen but with unregistered lobbying the Council tries to keep an eye on anonymous comments coming forward to government bodies. Motion made by Chair Cass, seconded by Board Member Fagerstrom, that the anonymous letter from a concerned citizen be attached to the May 4 meeting minutes/packet. Motion passed unanimously. Ms. Powers said she would check if that's OK, versus as an attachment to the next Tree Board meeting agenda. TREE BOARD MEMBER CHAIR/MEMBER COMMENTS Board Member Stavig noted he would be gone next month. Board Member Fagerstrom commented that the market starts on Saturday. Tree Board Meeting Minutes May 4, 2023 Page 4 of 5 • Councilmember Nand said she was excited by all the research Vice Chair Phipps did on Lynnwood's tree voucher program, and she is hoping that the administration and Council can somehow bring it to Edmonds. • Chair Cass also was very much in favor of a tree voucher program. I\ 03[$IN.701►� I �1►Y Y The meeting was adjourned at 7:59 p.m. Next meeting: June 1 Tree Board Meeting Minutes May 4, 2023 Page 5 of 5