2014-07-03 Tree Board MinutesEDMONDS CITIZENS' TREE BOARD
APPROVED MINUTES
July 3, 2014
The Edmonds Citizens' Tree Board Meeting was called to order at 6:01 p.m. by Board Member Susan
Paine in the Brackett Room, 3rd Floor City Hall, 121 5th Avenue North, Edmonds.
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT
Barbara Harrell
Steve Hatzenbeler (arrived 6:06 p.m.)
Anna Heckman (arrived 6:03 p.m.)
Darcy MacPherson
Susan Paine
Roy Smith (arrived 7:03 p.m.)
Renee Travis (arrived 6:02 p.m.)
Rick Zitzmann
1. CALL TO ORDER
STAFF PRESENT
Kernen Lien, Senior Planner
Jeannie Dines, Recorder
Joan Bloom — City Councilmember
Board Member Susan Paine called the meeting to order.
2. ROLL CALL
Board Members MacPherson, Zitzmann, Harrell and Paine were present. (See above for arrival times
of remaining board members.)
3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Board Member Zitzmann moved to approve the agenda; seconded by Board Member MacPherson.
Motion carried unanimously. (Board Members Hatzenbeler, Travis, Heckman and Smith were not
present for the vote.)
4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
a. April 2014 Minutes
b. May 2014 Minutes
c. June 2014 Minutes
Board Member MacPherson moved to approve the April, May and June 2014 minutes; seconded
by Board Member Zitzmann. Motion carried unanimously. (Board Members Hatzenbeler,
Heckman and Smith were not present for the vote.)
5. AUDIENCE COMMENTS
Roberta Poletes said she has a PhD in English and Comparative Lit; she can write and loves trees
and is present to listen.
Val Stewart described four wooded parcels for sale located at 184th St. SW and 80th Avenue W; the
neighbors have named the area Seaview Woods. She listed reasons for preserving the site and
offered to send board members a link to the Seaview Woods Facebook page.
Board Member Paine introduced the new minute taker and advised there is now a door monitor to
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ensure the public has access to the Tree Board's meetings.
6. DISCUSSION
a. Consultant Presentation — Elizabeth Walker, Urban Forestry Consultant
Elizabeth Walker explained she began by looking at a matrix of criteria that communities consider
when developing an Urban Forestry Program. She provided a survey to Tree Board Members
and to staff in Planning, Public Works, Engineering and Parks. She reviewed the Tree Board
Member's responses (6 members completed the survey) to the performance indicator spectrum
for criteria related to vegetative resource, resource management and community framework and
the key objectives identified. (She did not provide staff's responses.)
During her review, Board members discussed with Ms. Walker information to be gathered via a
tree inventory, potential for a $10,000 DNR grant to do a canopy cover assessment, the cycle for
maintaining publicly -owned trees, adding an objective to establish a Citywide Management Plan,
homeowners associations versus interest groups, and using top objectives to develop a strategic
plan.
Ms. Walker distributed and reviewed top objectives identified via the survey:
• Achieve climate -appropriate degree of tree cover, community -wide
• Establish a genetically diverse tree population citywide and at the neighborhood level
• Comprehensive inventory of the tree resource to direct its management; this includes age
and species distribution, tree condition, risk assessment
• Develop and maintain adequate funding to implement a citywide urban forest
management plan
• Employ and train adequate staff to implement citywide urban forestry plan
• Urban forest renewal is ensured through a comprehensive tree establishment program
driven by canopy cover and species objectives
• The benefits derived from large-stature/mature trees are ensured by the enforcement of
municipal -wide policies
• Large private landholders embrace citywide goals and objections through specific
resource management plans
• The general public understanding the role of the urban forest — and cooperate in urban
forest management
Ms. Walker suggested adding the following to the list of top objectives:
• City-wide Management Plan
• Interagency Cooperation
Tree Board Members discussed the priority of the list of top objectives. There was concern
expressed with the small sample size and that some of the key objectives were identified by only
three Tree Board Members. Ms. Walker suggested distributing the list of top objectives at the
public meeting and conducting a dot exercise. Discussion followed regarding the budget
implications of the top objectives and the timeline for implementation.
7. NEW BUSINESS
a. Outreach Planning for Code Implementation
Ms. Walker suggested presenting information at the August 7 Tree Board meeting and holding
the public meeting on August 14 in the Council Chambers or Library Plaza Room. She suggested
the public meeting be advertised as an open house with an introduction and a dot exercise to
identify priorities and provide comment cards. A variety of ways to advertise the public meeting
were identified. Board Members Paine and Harrell, Mr. Lien and Ms. Walker will draft the press
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release. It was agreed final planning of the August 14 public meeting will be done at the August 7
Tree Board meeting.
8. OLD BUSINESS
a. Public Works Policy Review
Board Member Heckman reported the subcommittee has developed a draft. She will email it to
board members following her review. This item was moved to the August agenda.
b. Arbor Day
Board Member Paine reported the Arbor Day celebration is October 4. The Tree Board will make
a presentation to the City Council and have an Arbor Day Proclamation at the September 23
Council meeting. A brief discussion followed regarding the Heritage Tree Program.
9. TREE BOARD MEMBER COMMENTS
Board Member Zitzmann reported he obtained the database that Seattle uses to track data for their
Heritage Tree Program. It can be easily modified for Edmonds.
Board Member Hatzenbeler reported several trees were removed on 91" Avenue. Board Member
Travis described the conditions that killed the trees.
10. ADJOURNMENT
With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:58 p.m.
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