2012-05-03 Tree Board Minutes.r
City of Edmonds
Citizen Tree Board
Minutes
May 3, 2012
Members present: John Botton, Steve Hatzenbeler, Anna -Marie Heckman, Susan Paine,
Sandy Seligmiller, Laura Spehar
Members Absent: Rebecca Wolfe
Staff Present: Arborist Dave Timbrook, Edmonds City Council member Joan Bloom
The meeting was called to order at 6:15 pm by Anna -Marie Heckman.
The April 2012 minutes were approved with no corrections.
Unfinished business:
Anna -Marie Heckman reflected on the content of Linden Mead-Lampman's talk at the last
meeting. She suggested we each note three main points in regards to where we might take
our Board.
Anna mentioned that the Community Tree Management Institute class she and Sandy
Seligmiller are attending had completed Session 2 and summarized the topics covered,
including:
Urban Forestry in Municipal Government
Benefits of Trees
Cultivation Urban Forestry Stakeholders
Community Outreach and Urban & Community Forestry Volunteers
Financing & Funding Urban Forestry
Urban Forestry Public Policy
Anna offered to share information and reading material from CTMI with other Board members if
they are interested. She plans to talk with Kernan Lien about her proposed Edmonds Canopy
Assessment project for the class.
Arbor Day planning needs to proceed. We need an outline, etc., and Sally Lider of Parks &
Recreation is interested in partnering.
There was discussion of possible Arbor Day projects. Dave Timbrook mentioned the Girl Scouts
being interested in planting in an Edmonds Park,
Susan Paine said Sustainable Edmonds wants to do something for Arbor Day. Fruit tree
planting, having a business sponsor a fruit tree, planting a grape vine by a wine shop, building a
grape arbor at the garden as a Boy Scout Project were some ideas. Susan mentioned possible
locations for a community garden such as a city vacant lot or 7th and Elm park. Ongoing
maintenance issues connected with the creation of a Community Food garden were discussed
and there is possible pruning and care by Edmonds Community College Students or Master
Gardeners, and building and planting by Washington Conservation Corps' "MLK Week of
Service".
Steve Hatzenbeler suggested that we haven't defined a vision of our Arbor Day Celebration yet,
and need to do this as a group: "How would we like the Tree Board to be Involved in Arbor Day
in Edmonds?"
There was further discussion about planting fruit trees in Parks, maintenance issues, and long-
term commitment. Steve thought we could go with a private location and partner, such as a
church property. Susan mentioned the old Esperance School site for a p-patch or community
garden. Joan Bloom mentioned that the Floretum has a P-Patch behind the Ethiopian Church.
Sandy noted that the City of Shoreline has a new Community Garden this Spring at Twin Ponds
Park. Anna asked her to do research into P-Patch type programs and report back.
New Business:
Anna and Susan will be representing the Board at the Watershed Fun Fair Saturday May 5th at
Yost Park. Anna plans to have an assortment of native plants (donated by National Resources
Conservation Service) for kids to learn how to pot up, emphasizing "right plant, right place".
Laura Spehar will also be there with the Edmonds Backyard Wildlife program.
It was determined that we need to add to, or change, our web page, that it contains repetitive
information, and Anna asked that Board members look at it and respond with suggestions.
A tree value project was discussed. It might involve attaching temporary plaques with
environmental and monetary values to selected public trees to educate and spark comment.
This might include single and group values. Potentially, homeowners could have a place to get
value information on their own trees with a take home printout. Susan suggested having the
`Tree Benefit Calculator' (National Forest Service/Davey Tree) available through a link on our
website.
Anna asked about an existing Street Tree Inventory. Dave indicated that there isn't one.
In June, Kernan will be bringing city employees from Parks, Planning and Public Works to our
meeting to discuss their tree issues. We are asked to come up with a few questions for all to
address to expedite the presentations and keep the topics consistent, and to get the information
we need to go forward in updating codes.
Suggested questions include:
• Code: how it is, or is not, working for them
• Consistent comments heard 'on the street' and at the permit counter
• Who does what?
• What are your questions about us and what we're doing? (Include copies of Chapter
10.95 defining the creation of a Citizens' Tree Board)
Permits are required for right-of-way trees. Dave mentioned a consistent level of acceptable
pruning practices being important. Anna asked about just requiring ANSI standards. Susan
mentioned Seattle naming trees in their code as "essential infrastructure", the same as a stop
sign, etc.. If an adjacent homeowner plants the tree, he must abide by the regulations. Laura
wondered about setting up pruning workshops, through Plant Amnesty, for example.
We were reminded about the Urban Forest Symposium at University of Washington Botanical
Gardens, Center for Urban Horticulture, on May 14th.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 pm.
Respectfully submitted by:
Sandy Seligmiller
May 7, 2012