2016-12-01 Tree Board MinutesEdmonds Tree Board meeting Notes Dec. 1, 2016
Attendees:
Board Members Present: Steve Hatzenbeler, Chair; Vivian Olson, Bill Phipps, Barbara Chase,
Doug Petersen, Jed Marshall
Elected Officials Present: City Council Liaison Diane Buckshnis
Staff Present: Jenn Leach, Rich Lindsay
The Edmonds Tree Board convened on Dec. 1, 2016. A quorum was present and the agenda
and previous meeting notes were approved. No citizen guests were present. Also attending
were Rich Lindsay and Jenn Leach from the Parks Dept.
Jenn Leach, Environmental and Sustainability co-ordinator for the Parks Dept, presented a
proposal for a joint Parks Dept/Tree Board event in April 2017. It was agreed that an ivy pull at
Pine Ridge Park would be held on Sat., April 22, to roughly coincide with Earth Day. Rich
Lindsay suggested that any planting and mulching be delayed until fall, when newly established
plants were more likely to survive. Details of the ivy pull and recruitment of volunteers would be
decided at future Tree Board meetings.
Chair Steve Hatzenbeler then brought up new business items for consideration. He suggested
that board members think about events and programs for 2017, with the idea of finalizing a
calendar early in 2017. Some ideas mentioned included a Cass Turnbull presentation, Tree
Identifier tags (done previously), a heritage tree program, and joint events with the Edmonds
School District. Vivian Olson suggested a program she called PSST, or Perfect Site Specific
Trees. This would be a program whereby citizens could apply for signs indicating unusual and/or
significant trees on their property. This would hopefully encourage Edmonds residents to value
and protect important trees in the city.
A tree inventory was also discussed, although it was agreed that this was a task for city staff, in
conjunction with their work on the Urban Forest Management Plan. There was general
discussion of the value of Tree City USA designation. Although costs versus benefits are hard to
quantify, there was general agreement that Tree City USA is a very worthwhile designation.
The Mayor's Climate Protection Committee requested a meeting with members of the Tree
Board. Doug Petersen and Vivian Olson agreed to participate.
The meeting adjourned at approximately 8 pm.