testing. Testing. 1975. Uh this meeting was your mic. Uh adequately noticed. Please rise for a [Music] pledge. United States of America and to the stands
nationy and justice for all. George, will you call the will you call the uh role me? Okay, George, you're not used to this character. Okay, I'll need your pen though. Um,
Chairman Shatz here. Councilman Meyer here. Me? I'm here. Commissioner York excused. Commissioner Sik here. Commissioner Preminger here. Commissioner Perez here.
Commissioner Sealand here. Commissioner Rona Goldstein, if I got that right. Mr. McCloskkey is also here. No, he's not. And and Mr. Maner is not here. Did you get that? Carol was excused, right? Okay. you have before you the
uh minutes of the April meeting. Did I mention your name? No, you're here. Yeah, I already wrote it down. I already figured that. I thought you were giving me a buy on that. I'm going to do this. I will entertain a a motion to approve
the minutes as uh provided. So approved. Who said that? Jim. Jim, you did. Yes. City manager. Who says make a motion? That's fine with me. Jim makes a motion. Okay. Do I have a second? I can second that. Barbara.
Barbara second. All those in favor? I. Any abstensions? Well, Mr. Chairman, I was not in you. You weren't here last meeting, so you abstain on this. One of Als, do I need to take notes on Before we get
into the rest of the agenda, I'd like to call up our uh city attorney to talk about Could we could we ask for the city manager to give a quick report about the sidewalk program? He has to go to another meeting afterwards. Okay, come on.
Thank you. Okay, thank you. Yeah, I have the county commissioners meeting at 3, so I got to scoot up there for their meeting. Um, I just wanted to give you an update on the sidewalk project. Uh, we're moving through that. Um, and just based on timing, we're anticipating uh finalizing
the design over the next month or two and have the project ready to go out to bid uh for September October start so that we can have most of that project work done before the winter break where they can't do any concrete work. And we've been keeping a list. Connie's been
sending me over requests of, you know, projects and sidewalks that are impacted by street trees. And we'll be adding those on as we, you know, I'll kind of keep a running list and right up to that project gets out to bid, we'll add those sidewalks as we get closer. Manager
Dietrich, uh, will it be part of the specs how we'd like the sidewalks to arch around the trees and how they will not the roots? Yeah, we'll detail that in that spec. So, anytime we're around the street tree to to curve around and and bow around those uh the trees to give them a little more
space, not to kind of hug the tree and and crowd them. Yes. I didn't get all that. Did you have you let you haven't let a contract off yet? No, we're going to let the contract in this in the fall. So, not going to be any work done till the fall. I'm not going to start doing
sidewalk work in the city uh at this point. It's too hard to to do work on people's properties. You know, I can't get there's too many cars parked in the street. I can't get to the sidewalks here and and there's just too many
people around to to do work uh in there. So, the work will be done in the fall. Well, the only thing is if we consider is the time we lost where two or three contractors the way we had it under 5050 program had been working all winter and
they could have most of the sidewalks that were applied for done by now. Well, unfortunately, but due to budgetary constraints, the city's got to look at the most prudent financial way to to do this work. and doing this as a larger
project within the city was the most cost advantageous for the city. So that's why we had to do it that way. The city's going to pay I mean if the homeowner wants to do the sidewalks themselves, they can do a 100 program
where they pay 100% of it and they can replace it. If they want to choose to um cost share the project with the city, then then we're doing it as part of a procurement project that that is financially gonna pay for the whole thing. No. So, we're going to go 50/50.
Yep. Okay. All right. Yep. We want the opportunity to talk to the contractor uh to warn them about roots not cut. Yeah, I just talked to Yep. Shane just mentioned that. Okay. All right. Okay. Okay. Sounds
good. Before you're dismissed, I have two questions for you. The Franklin Street project, do you have any idea when they're going to be putting those trees in? So, the um the foundry when they the material supplier didn't send enough of the tree grates. So, we don't
want to have plant the trees until we have the tree grates. So, he's just waiting for delivery of the final tree grates. And then once we he has all the tree grates, then he'll plant the trees. Okay. And as far as the parking lot out here, is that project completed now or is we still have to plant a tree? Right.
But the the the the paving work is done. Yes. So the one tree I know the one tree was cut down cuz the stump is still there. The other tree was supposed to be relocated, but that was not done then. Well, it was a large tree. We could It was a large tree. We couldn't relocate the tree. We have to put in a new tree
because if you go out and look at the markout outs out there, there's actually a gas line that runs through that island location and makes a turn. So, we couldn't dig a hole large enough to replant that tree. Okay. Because of the
gas gas line locations. Okay. Yeah, I thought that was going to be moved, but that's it that wasn't that was the intention was to move it. Yes. I just wasn't sure if I but physically we we couldn't relocate it into that hole because of of that. Okay, that's all I
have for you. Anyway, anybody else have any questions? Thank you. No problem. And just to be a so the uh the nature trails will probably be open towards the he's going to be done probably work this month but we're probably going to wait
until the opening closer to July 4th as we tie it into the Lafayette Street Park phase one project. So uh probably by the end of June um the nature trails project uh back in through the marsh will be opened up uh for that. All right. I'd
like you I'd like you to consider any movement if it does come about of the space tree out here. It not going to be this year. It would be put It would be put in the park itself. Yes. Not way off in right field. Of course not. Of
course. Okay. Yep. And the s tree will assume will take responsibility for a maintenance of the trees in the park in the Lafayette Street Park. Mhm. All right. Okay. Yes. All right. Thanks everybody. Thank you. All right. Thank
you. Good afternoon everybody. Chris Gillan Schwarz. I'm the city solicitor. Good to see everybody. Um, I was asked to come by uh the commission today just to talk about a small committee discussion that
I had with some members of the shade tree commission about potentially updating the shade tree ordinance to update the procedures in there and just to talk with you all about what those amendments might look like. and I
prepared a draft sort of redlinined copy of what could potentially be presented to city council and circulated that to the the subgroup. But I can go over some of the highlights of what that might entail.
And I'll say at the outset, this is geared towards maybe providing you all with a little bit of a streamlined process to come through the applications that you may receive if if volume goes up. This would give you sort of a
similar to what the HPC does. They have these small committee reviews and that helps if you looked at an HPC uh agenda, there is a list of approved in review applications and those are sort of the minor applications that come before HPC,
you know, roofing and want to replace a window here, replace siding there. That's the kind of stuff that can be approved pretty quickly to keep things moving efficiently. but something bigger that gets sent to the whole board and then you have a hearing and and that
whole process. So it's not a complete applesto apples comparison to what the sha tree commission does but there may be an opportunity to streamline some of your pro procedures and provide some efficiency and emergency removal uh where you might find those circumstances
are present. So we already have uh dangerous condition removal in the current code without any any amendment allows the uh code enforcement officer, deputy code enforcement officer, any member of shade tree commission to go out there and if they determine and see
a dangerous condition out there, you can authorize immediate removal. Um there's a postevent application requirement in the code now and one of the things we discussed is maybe that is more cumbersome than necessary under the
circumstances if you have a emergency dangerous condition. Maybe you want a a a commissioner, a ward member, whatever to to be able to go out there, make the observation, and then you can review and assess and if
it's okay and it's a deemed to be a dangerous or emerging condition, it could be potentially an email to the board secretary to confirm that that review happened and at least there's some record of it. So, you know, on X8, I went out, I look at it, I saw a power
line clearly blew up this tree or a truck crashed into whatever, you know, it's just some observation and confirmation that um that condition was present. And then it also we could update this to provide so you wouldn't have to do a application after the fact.
You would just determine whether an emergent condition is present or not. And if any member or person going out there has any adou any doubt or doesn't think that or may seem see conditions that that looks like it's self-created
or it's not really an emergent or dangerous condition, you just send it to the full board. So, it's not it's not necessarily a no at that stage, but no to emergent removal, but you can they could still make an application in the normal course, come before the whole board and say, "Hey, I really got to take this tree out." And present
whatever those reasons are at that time. So that would give sort of a a confirm a uh sort of a quicker emerent condition removal. Um and then eliminate the after the-act
application requirement for those cases. The second thing major change um worth noting here is uh applicants will be required to submit a photo of a tree in connection with an application. I'm sure that
happens here or there. Some people do, some people don't. But for you all and the different areas of town that you have to look over, it makes a whole lot of sense that you would just take a picture of the tree and submit it with the application to give everybody a sense of okay, flip to page four. Here's
the picture of the tree. Every application would have that so you know what you're dealing with. Um so uh the other thing is uh one of the things to do in advance of a meeting is each
uh this is a suggestion. And again, these these are all things that you all can talk about and decide whether you want to recommend, but I just want to suggest a framework for an an amendment. But to facilitate the efficient processing of the various removal applications you may get, each ward
commissioner could provide a recommendation for the applications that come in. So W three gets an application to remove a giant maple tree and you know that ward commissioner can review that and provide the recommendation either approving or denying that or
maybe no recommendation in which case it just goes to the whole board. But that might allow you to comb through the applications that you get through. And then you can have you can have potentially a consent agenda of, you know, applications that are
either approved or denied on a consent agenda and then leaving open uh the ability for any board member that has any questions about any of those applications to pull them for discussion by the full board. But if you all are on the same page about nine out of ten of
them, then they can all be on the consent agenda. And nine out of 10 could be I don't think that tree should come out or, you know, I think it's appropriate that the tree comes out. It's just whatever you whatever the recommendation is and then ultimately leaving that vote to the full board when
it comes here and you can have all these consent applications on one packet and then you have a regular agenda with maybe items that are in maybe in dispute or there's some doubt about or some somebody has legitimate questions about and then you can just freely discuss
that as board members. Um but one thing about the recommendation and consent application or consent approval would be that it's important that if it is a recommendation that there be some basis for that. So if you're a ward member
that is a commissioner that is recommending removal or denial it it should be noted you know why state your reasons and again so that we have a record of why this decision was made and that goes back to the emergency removal you know even an email to the board
secretary in that case in the emergent removal just so we have some basis for you know why emerent removal is warranted or why I'm recommending removal or non removal in this case. So just highlighting the importance at each
step of stating your reasons because ultimately as a board you are making these decisions and it could be as you know potentially reviewed by the city manager and he's going to need a reason for what was uh what the decision-m was. That's also that's also important
because if the homeowner disagrees with our decision, the next step is the city manager. Uh and if with a paper trail of our approvals or and the reasons why is necessary to provide that to the city manager to help him make a decision on
the on the appeal. All right. And then the last thing is uh the decision-making timeline under the building permit requirements you it's 45 calendar days from when the applicant submits a complete application. Currently in the
shade tree ordinance we have a decision uh reviewed approved or denied and a decision issued within five business days of the shade tree commission meeting where the applicant application was reviewed. I suggest making just giving yourselves
a firm timeline for when these come in and issuing a decision. So, and this is from this would be from when a complete application is submitted, not peace meal. I dropped off the application this day. I brought in the check the following week. Like they need to
applicants like any other board need to submit a complete packet to the board secretary and then you're deemed complete. 45 days from that point is when a decision should be issued. And that should give you all time to review and and get it scheduled for a monthly meeting. So that that just sort of
buttons up some of the and clarifies uh some of the things that were uh included in the that ordinance that everybody worked on and and came up with a you know a revised shade tree ordinance. And this in this whole vote by the commission on tree removal uh whether
it's a city tree obviously or a private property tree uh that could this could be considered have to be in the ordinance. So we would have to submit to city council to change our ordinance as described. However, uh once we get into
more normal circumstances, uh we can uh we can ask to resend that part of the ordinance uh after a certain period of time if things seem to be working out okay and give it back to the commissioners their responsibility on private property
trees in in the future. I mean this is a temp I won't say temporary this will be part of this will be the whole vote of the of the uh uh of the commission on any tree removal I consider to be should be only temporary for a certain period
of time so right the the way that the ordinance is currently this is without the amendments if you look at the code today online and the one that was drafted that's that's the way it's framed now which is that all shade tree
applications, big or small, if it's a tree, the board's going to make a collective decision on those applications. And hearing that concern from some of the board members, um, you know, one of the things that you can do is try and get ahead of the volume that
you may experience as a as a commission and try and kind of funnel some. you may get, you know, 20 applications a month and three of them might be difficult and the rest of them might be really straightforward. And this this would provide an additional, it's not like
rewriting the whole thing. It's just adding some procedural steps to to help trim some of the application herd. Can I add something on page six at the top? Uh in in event the applicant wishes
to remove a tree or trees as described, applicants shall then be required to plant two trees for each tree removed in East Cape May. That's the area east of Madison Avenue. That area, the lot
sizes, the floor area ratio has been increased on the on lot sizes. There's and a lot of times there's no place to put two trees for everyone removed. I'd like that to be I'd like that unless anybody's objection change that to be
replaced three for three not two trees. One of the things to that point is and that we we made sure to include in in this is in the current ordinance is later in that paragraph. It recognizes that quote there may be circumstances in
which these general guidelines for replacement are unworkable due to unique conditions affecting land. The shade tree commission may determine the appropriate replacement obligation balancing the purposes of tree protection with the general guidelines for replacement contained herein. So in
other words that two two for one is a guideline in here then in the absence of specific you know application you can rely on that but if you look at a particular property in a particular part of town that needs a different outcome
right that discretion is for the board to make as a unit. So on that that's that's precisely why you probably want a lot of these to come to the board and review them because you can do that kind of problem solving at the table. Absolutely. That makes sense. And you have the flexibility to do that as a
board. Um the tree bank um that would be an application if the people can't plant four trees on their property for one reason or another. uh
would we we've have a tree bank in and I think right now it's that people can apply to put an application fee in for tree bank of $200 a tree. I don't not exactly sure where that number came from. I know you can't buy a tree for
200 bucks, but I want I don't just don't want to have a homeowner has to pay four or $500 uh for a tree replacement. If we get enough of these $200 things in, we can Well, I don't know. I I think that's something I don't exactly agree with
that because I there there's no way that you can we not only have to purchase the tree, we have to plant the tree. And the minimal purchase recently is about $200 to $250 per tree just to purchase. Planting it costs approximately another
200 to 250. So, it's going to have to be a larger amount than that. But I don't know if there's anything that we we don't have that specifically in the ordinance at this point. I think far as money amounts the I think on the last goound I I I'm pretty sure we we that
idea was floated but because of it not being fully flushed out what we would do with the money at that point. It was kind of left for later discussion and in its place I think we landed on at least my own recollection was that
replacement. Yeah. And allowing the board the flexibility in a particular you know relying on these general guidelines but we did right. I think that would have to come up at a subcommittee meeting and see if we could formulate a tree bank. We don't have a
so-called tree bank at this point. But if if if a proposal for that and there's some concept that's workable to the board and you want to present to council, we can certainly revisit that in the future. It doesn't have to be tackled today, but it can be something that you all talk about in the future. Okay. Takes down a train. They say you
have to replace it. So where are we with this? I just want to bring up something. Does everybody understand the consent agenda? What that means? So if you look at your agenda here, see one, two, three. After the roll call and or after the approval minutes, you'll see a list
of all the trees that were either approved or denied for that month. And next to that list to have whether the recommendations and approval or denial by the commissioner. So that gives an opportunity for every one of you to check and balance each other. You can
say, well, you know, you know, whoever I think 10 trees is a little excessive. Can I look at this application? Could we talk about it? So when we get to the consent agenda, somebody will say, "Does anybody want an application removed from the consent agenda?" Agenda. Once that's
removed, we'll vote on the rest of them together in one big package. And when only the things we want to discuss separately, we'll discuss and then vote separately. So we're not here going over every single application. And this way it's it's a full body uh vote and it's
for the records. And I think I if I can continue some of the things that we discussed was uh adding some language to the application so it's clearer for the applicants and and it's it's easier for Connie to to explain these things. And
some of the things were uh to add a photograph to the application. It discusses the $75 application fee. Then it discusses a 75 permit fee if you're approved. Um, and it talks about the tree
replacement in here. So, a lot of the information that people need without having to look up the code is right here on this application also on the 45day. Shane, and the 45day. And here's the other thing, folks. It says in this application that you have one year to
plant the replacement trees. That kind of falls on the commissioner to kind of remember that, you know. So, uh, you know, I guess if we give them a couple months, we can give them a reminder in the mail or something. But, uh, that's some that's another little extra duty that you have to kind of remember or
keep in the back of your head if that's okay. I think Councelor Gillan Schwarz and Connie Anderson did a great job on this in a short period of time. Thank you.
I wanted to say a couple of things because you just mentioned that each person has their district that they are have to go and take a look at the tree. So in the last couple of weeks, everybody has been doing that and making
a write up and sending it to Connie so that they're giving their opinion. And now we're talking about the re the whole commission to be able to make approve of what that district commissioner wants to do or or writes about. And then how are
we going to determine in other words are we going to have a special every meeting we are going to go through all the things that the commission the commissioner has written about that particular tree and whether the other commissioners agree or disagree only if it's taken off the
consent agenda. Fine. only if it's taken off the consent agenda. So, in city council, we have all the resolutions, okay? And we'll package them all all into one vote, unless somebody wants to remove something because they have a question about it. Okay? Uh that's exactly how we're going to relate this.
It's going to be one big package. If there's anything that sticks out, okay, we want to talk about, that's the only time we'll pull it out of because it sounded a little complicated, you know, for what's going on right now with each person making a decision in their district and then everybody else having to um approve or disapprove or whatever
is going to be. You'll be making a recommendation to the commission. And this is how it's pretty we trying to make this uniform with other boards and commissions and city council uh agendas. give you like a couple examples in
practice of how this should work out under this draft. So, let's take the emergency example first. Um, we have a hurricane or a tropical storm and there's clearly a uprooted tree laying in somebody's yard
after a storm we all know happened with roots in the air ripped up. Any commissioner should be able to go out to that property, observe those commission, observe those conditions, observe the obvious fact that a storm just happened and that, you know, okay, this tree fell
and it's an emergency condition, get it out of the yard. Understood. Um, in that case, that's a, you know, the applicant has to reach out to the city. they um and then the commissioner could go out and observe that and and a brief report
to the secretary indicating on X date I went out observed it we obviously had a storm I observed roots and even a picture would be great too in that case but maybe the applicant would provide it in that but that what that in that case if that email confirmation that
observation is made there they wouldn't have to do an after the fact application it would that would be you know that's just a unique condition, but those should be the exception to the rule. We shouldn't get in the habit of emergency conditions. So, we you should and because that would be approval without
the full board. So, you want to make sure that those conditions are obvious and not subject to dispute. Then the second scenario is somebody's just bought a property and they want to put a pool in and there's a huge tree in
the backyard in the middle of that where that pool would be and you know the commissioner goes out observes that there's no storm, there's no emergency condition, there's no turned over truck in the back of the yard, there's just a tree where they want to build a pool. That's the kind of run-of-the-mill
application that really should come before this full board and and they need the applicant always has the burden to present to you. The commission shall be this is 482-6. You have the grant or denial of permit and the standards. The
commission satisfied that the removal is required for effective utilization of the lands in question and no alternative to removal is available. The the commission satisfied that the removal shall not impair the growth and development of the remaining trees in the lands where the proposed trees are
located as well as on adjacent lands. The commission satisfied that adequate precautions shall be taken with the respect to the removal of the tree or trees. So so that trees will not be damaged by removal and roots and so on and so forth. So you have these standards and so but that type of
application could come in to the board with a recommendation of one commissioner with that for that ward and you could say hey look I went out there and I looked at it and I think it meets the standards for XYZ reasons and then that could end up on the consent agenda
but it could be pulled by any other member because at that point they should have a photo of that tree and they may say hey what why does that need to be taken out or don't you have other areas of the yard that you can And these are all questions that should be answered by the board collectively and you make a
record on it. But if it doesn't uh at least if it's on the consent agenda, it isn't removed, it's because two things happened. All of the board got a copy of the application and and the potential recommendation stating the reasons for
removal or denial and a picture of the tree. So you all have a chance to like flip through and see, okay, yeah, that I see that I see that next one. can you have that information so that there is a record of you considering you know the application. It just allows you kind of skim not skim but
um it the ones that may not be in dispute for the whole board you can have a consent agenda and and work through your agenda in an orderly manner. You don't have to do it this way, but this is one option of kind of um making it more efficient, but also the brakes on
that are any any one member can pull something off and say we got to talk about this as a group. Thank you. So if if there are any other questions from the board, I'm happy to answer them. Now the procedurally the next step
would be for Councilman Meyer and I to present if if the board is in favor of this uh amendment. Councilman Meyer and I could make a presentation to all of council that you know the shade tree commission is in support of these amendments and that would go through the
ordinance process. Do we have any other comments or any other board member or should we ask the city attorney and uh Councilman Meyer to uh go ahead and submit this change? I make a motion that it be submitted. Does that I think it
has to come. Does that include the tree bank discussion or should we hold on? I think the tree bank discussion is going to have to come to a subcommittee so that we can get everything in order before we That's fine. Do you know what I mean? Because there's not we don't really have language about that yet. requirement for the for a homeowner to give us money for a tree bank right now
till we come up with an adequate fund. Was there a second? It's two It's a two I'll second it. It's a two It's a two for one takedown. Okay. And if he can't if he can't get him on the property for one reason or another, then it's up to
the board to make a decision to let him do one for one or even or even plant a street tree someplace. Right. But that's be that would be our decision at the time. All right. So, are we in favor? Do you want to make a vote? I made a motion
that I have a second on sending this to city. George Warner seconded. George George one and George two. Yeah. Before you before you take a vote on that, I just if if I may, I just want to make sure that the board secretary doesn't have any questions about this. Is there
Okay. Okay. All those in favor of submitting this proposed changes to our ordinance signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? Any abstensions? You go. Okay. Well, Councilman Meyer and
I will run with this. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. It wasn't too painful, right? Thank you. Thank you, solicitor. All right, we have some guests in the audience. Um, you sir. Yes. Come on up.
Wait a minute. Is this Oh, you are. Okay. Carl, wait. Oh, this is the guy. Yes. Mr. Kio is supposed to be here for an appeal on the decision. Okay. I don't know. But press that red. Press that button till it goes green. There you go. Okay. Thanks. Um, so I've
been a uh homeowner for 27 years in Kate May, but this is my first interaction with the uh Shade Tree Commission. We'll try not to we'll try not to scare you or maybe Well, 30 minutes in. I'm a little worried, but I think I'll be okay. I'm sorry. We had to put this Normally we
normally we would take that the uh the guests right away, but we had it was interesting. No worries. City manager and expensive lawyer here. So, ex I totally understand. Um I I'm retired so I've got some wiggle room. What can we
do for you? Um so uh again in 27 years there's been this um um overgrown growth in the corner of my property. What's the property address? It's uh 1309 Maryland Avenue.
Okay. Um, and uh, you know, we've never really paid any attention to it, but we're looking to replace our shed with a larger shed. It's in the way, so we we've been looking into removing it. And um, I So, I submitted the application
and I came to realize when the um, uh, I guess the volunteer, the member of the commission that came out, I don't see him. Oh, there you are. I don't recognize you without your Hawaiian shirt on. It was a Sunday
here. Here it is. Um, so, uh, and you know, we came to realize after looking at it that the these trees are actually on what appears to be my neighbor's property. It's hard. It was hard to see where the stump where the uh the tree
emerges because it's so overgrown with ivy with with ivy and whatnot. Um, and also something that I um uh that we didn't talk about, but you know the I did speak to the homeowner on the other side on the other side and
you know I realized that and and he said to me look he's got a fence and a shed. this as far as he's concerned is there's no I think he recognizes that they're on his property, but he has no um desire to
keep them. He he in fact has agreed with me and my next door neighbor on Maryland that we would all chip in for the removal because this ivy is now um taking over and destroying some of the landscaping trees in my neighbor's
property and it was also creating damage to the um the owner the owner's shed because the ivy was is so intrusive. Well, ivy ivy is is a uh certainly a cheaper cheaper weight than removal of a
healthy tree. Uh to take ivy, you know, cut it at the ground level and up three feet. It's going to look like heck for two years until that ivy dies on the tree. But uh you know that'll I'm trying to I So it the primary objective here is
to clear what we all believe is nuisance dead trees that are overrun by ivy. Who's did you did you file this application? I did and you know he mentioned to me that I because at the time I thought
they were on my property because they're they're so close to the line. Um, but you know, you helped me say, "Ah, you know what? It's it it looks like those they they they emerge from the ground just on the other side of my property
line." And I so I spoke to Jason, the owner, and the, you know, to my rear. And he said, "Hey, I'll you know, if let me know what I need to do." He's not there very often, and I am. So, I said I'd come into the meeting. We'd see, you know, what's the best way to approach
this. So, whose tree is this? Apparently, it's his tree. He doesn't know from that. He's been there for five or six years. I've been there for 27 years. These and there are six of these trees. Apparently, I went back and I looked again. There are six trees. Hard
to measure the the the width of the um the diameter. Uh the diameter. Thank you. Um uh because first they're hard to get to a because there's so much over and they're wrapped up in in vines is if
I may looked at everything right off the bat I I do concur um with Mr. I do make a recommendation that Jason Frono at 1308 Idaho submit an
application just so we can uh you know we go to the proper property owner and and then go from there. I will tell you that the ivy has taken over
any life of the um vegetation inside. It's a It's got to be 18 in coarse of English ivy. I don't I These trees are serving as basically tent poles for a
canopy of ivy. Um they're gone. It's he doesn't care. The trees are not viable. And the trees are what species? Are they arborite or are they deciduous? They're they're arborites, I believe. Okay. Yeah, it's it's hard to tell
because if that I'm telling you the only growth you see is the ivy. There's got to be course of English ivy like this and it's just hard to get. Is is the is the homeowner willing to put an application in? Yes. Yeah. He look this all happened
in the last few days, right? So, uh so when I updated him after we talked on Sunday, I said, "Look, there's a meeting on Tuesday. I'll go to the meeting. uh we'll get a better handle on this thing. And he said, "Great, just let me know and we'll do whatever we need to do." He
needs to get Are you so an application from the home? And it's there's six trees on this application. Um yes. Well, it wasn't then, but now I realized, you know, I went back and counted. So, there are six of these what I'll call large dead stumps.
So, one, your neighbor has to put in the application. Two, if you're going to put the six trees, you got to put any reason why for six trees. And three, is your neighbor willing to plant two trees per 12 trees in replacement? So, I don't
understand why I and again now I'm speaking for for Jason, right? It's it's it's his call. Um, but we're here to these trees are the these trees are adding no shade or other redeeming value to it's unfortunate that
the ivy hasn't been taken care of years and years ago, decades. Okay, that's unfortunate that was the case. The purpose of us all being here together is to save trees. We and promote trees. We're shade tree uh city for the last 40
years. it uh brings the beauty to Kate May and it and it and you know and I'm sure there's a lot of people that would just like to get rid of all their trees and that's the only reason that we exist here is to save the trees. So that's that's a that's a serious conversation you have to have with your your uh neighbor, right? And
if you if you don't want to uh plant those trees, commit the commission as a board as as a group can decide how many trees that you're willing to take down one and how many trees that you should replace them with. And if you don't want to replace those trees with that amount, you're going to
have to pay a certain fee to our tree bank. Ah, the tree bank. I heard that discussion. I think that's I think that's a very good summation. So, so we get to start the tree bank that doesn't exist yet. Is that I think let's start with the homeowner making an
application. I'm sorry. Yes. I I I'm being like snarky. I apologize. Um uh that's fine. Right now, those trees are damaging other very viable trees that are, you know, now, you know, being
strangled as well. And this is the neighbor at 1311 Maryland. Um, this is my next door neighbor, not my backyard neighbor. So, we're all have an interest in getting this pest. I mean, to me, these are not viable trees. They're dead trees and they've been dead for a long
time. But again, I guess that is that when Jason submits his application, does that mean this we go through a more I'll say um structured and directed conversation around that that application? That's correct. Yes. Yeah. Yes. And I would I would think at this
point since we're talking that number of trees, I think we're going to not that I disagree with your assessment, Jim, but I think that's going to have to be another situation where most commission members go out and take a look at that. And we'd like to see some photos, too, for our Yeah, I do have some. I know you took some photos. I have some You're
involved. Again, I I it appears there are six of these trees, right? That are all, you know, kind of buried in the ivy. But again, when I went in, it was hard to tell because I see other shorter stumps coming up, but I think they're
just old branches and but I can't I can't again it's very hard to decipher. Um Jim, yes. Yeah, Jim. So that's what I think. I think I would agree. It was hard hard to sort out. We're talking about
some kind of evergreen. Yeah, I was um I believe it was an arborit streets that were initially planned to have a privacy barrier there or uh it predates the uh presence of all of the uh property owners that are
there. It's just been there now. What it appears to be is yeah, it appears that there's a row of let's call it arborvitees that are at the back of Jason's property. Um, but I don't even think he believed that they were his
because, you know, they're so close to the line and I guess he didn't understand. He has since then put up a shed and a fence with a 10-ft setback. So, these trees are 10 feet away or five five foot setback. These trees are five
feet away from any of his um visibility. You know what I mean? because it's all kind of out of his living space and it's now in mine basically. Uh but it still doesn't
change the fact that they appear to be on his property and therefore, you know, in order for you guys to take action, you're going to need a I'll say a proper application. And I I think the commission wouldn't charge we wave the application fee, wouldn't we? Well, it's
$175 application fee. Well, he put he already paid for six. He already paid the application fee. Once his neighbor puts in the application, we'll wave that fee. Correct. 7. If if if we give approval to take all six trees down,
it's No, this is we're he's talking about the the trees that that we're speaking about are not on Mr. Fisk's property. They're on a different person's property, but they're at the back of his. They're a basically a border. So, the other person needs to
file an application for removal. But since Mr. Fisk already paid $75 for this application, that other person shouldn't have to pay. That's correct. Right. Yeah. Submit an applica, you know, and I'll I'll cover his application. Good. Yeah.
But by the way, just one other thing because you were asking about was this originally a screen. Apparently it was. But again, over the years, what's happened is again, he's built stuff in the back of his property, so he doesn't need a screen. The backyard neighbors,
the other backyard neighbors have a fence and they have like 30 foot tall trees that they planted in the last like eight or 10 years. That's their privacy screen. We're putting a shed in. That's our, you know what I mean? The So these trees in and of themselves have no
value. But I understand that even though they're dead and even though they're a um potentially a nuisance, um you know, I again I I thought that part of your um the the Shade Tree Commission's charter,
if you will, or mission is to protect, you know, existing existing healthy, you know, to make sure that trees are healthy. these are not healthy and it's affecting the health of other trees that are healthy or that would be that will be as if we can get rid of these things.
So, you know, that's I I I thought it would be in the interest of improving the overall health as opposed to getting hung up on swapping six dead old trees for 12, you know, where do we put all these trees? Well, I think the other
side of the argument is that it's the homeowner's responsibility to maintain their trees before it gets to that point. You know, that's that's and if anybody's out there's listening, get rid of that ivy as soon as you can. Just like Jay said, from the bottom three feet up all the way around. It look will look terrible for a couple years, but it
won't choke out your tree. Oh, yeah. And you know, and and the same one the same side on this argument is that if people go out there and poison their trees, you know, they're they're also not only maintaining them, they're killing their trees or not maintaining them, they're killing the trees. So, we don't want to
Yeah. It's it's the responsibility of the homeowners to make sure that these trees are healthy so we don't get to this point. Well, again, unfortunately, we we'll have to make a decision. Jason's been there for 5 years. This these were long gone before that, and I don't even think he knew it, but you know, ignorance might not be uh you
know, a defense, but Right. Well, thank you very much for your time and thank you all for your time. I appreciate We as a commission will have to take a look at that. Thank you. Good. All right. As soon as he comes in, we'll work on as fast as you want us to. What are we doing now? Today, we have Mr. Kho and
Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Kho is a guest here. What? Mr. Kho is in the audience as a guest. Would you like to come forward? Oh, that's the one. Thank you for your patience. Yeah. Is he the one that doesn't? And if you would just turn on your
microphone. Thank you. Oh, there we go. Okay. All right. Um, uh, my name is John Kho. My address is 1256 Missouri and I had put in an application to take down a tree that's um it's been we I've been
working with the tree barber to try to save it, but it it it hadn't been doing well. So, this year he took a look at it and he said it needed to come down. It was unsaved. So, I'm just here today uh asking for the removal fee to be waved since I really don't have a choice. I'
I'd rather keep the tree, but uh you know the tree wobbles pretty good uh in the wind. So, what kind of trees? I Google says it's a black plum. I'm not a tree. It's a purple leaf plum. I saw I didn't see the tree itself. I just saw photos. Yeah,
that's Carol u Carol York's district. Yeah. And her recommendation was, I believe, to remove but replant somewhere. So, the recommendation that you were given was to remove and then replant another tree. And you're you're
not in favor of planting another tree. Is that part of the I I don't, but my wife does. So, it looks like we'll plant another tree. So, yeah. Uh we we have planted a couple trees years ago. Does that count? Well, technically no.
Technically, no. Okay. I I just thought I'd ask. Yeah. So, um but but sir, you don't you asked. I think I think I heard you correctly. You asked for a waiver of the the removal fee. Removal fee. I did. Yeah. George, turn your mic on. Yeah.
Um hardship of No, I just think that that I have to remove it. You know, I think it's going to fall down and potentially hit the neighbor's house. And so, because I don't have a choice, you know, if I had a choice, I'd keep it. Um, you know, I've been working with
tree barber. I inherited the tree. He's pruned it a few times to keep it alive and keep it going. Um, and I've done a couple recommendations. He said like, you know, he he gave me these spikes that you put in the ground to try to help it, which didn't help the tree, but
it helped the U next to it. The U went nuts next to it. But, um, so because I can't save it, you know, I don't think I should have to pay the removal fee. Fair enough. I don't know. I'm not sure that we have that
jurisdiction to to wave that fee. Would we under our ordinance? I don't think we do. It's in the code. You'd have to have a really really good uh decision. Otherwise, you'll be creating a precedence. It's an ordinance. I mean, would we take
a vote on this just to reaffirm our I guess we're gonna have to put it to a vote because I don't know how we would skirt around that. I mean, the only time we waved the fee is if the tree is actually dead. I mean, then we've we've waved the the fee sometimes in the past, but um I don't even know that we or if
it's knocked over or something like that, but something like that. So far, that tree is still alive from the assessment that I read. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know how it is. I mean, you know, I I submitted a picture showing the base of it is half rotted. Um I think the state says of its
imminent So, well, I think the other option is if he gets a professional, if he pays for a professional to say it's dead, then we could move it. But either way, he's paying a fee for he can pay more for a professional say that it's dead than the $75. That's the problem. That would probably be at least 150.
Yeah. Well, should we should we vote on this request? Yeah, I think we should. If somebody wants to make a motion on this request. So how would the So how would usually when you give a whether you if you think the body is going to vote in a negative the either way the
vote should be made in the positive. So in as an example I make a motion to wave the fee and then everybody can either vote yes or no. Right. Mhm. So would that be the uh the language you would recommend council? That's what I would recommend. Who wants to make that
proposal? Any make that motion? Okay. Retain a motion. We need I just George just made the motion that we wave the fee. We have to vote in favor or against. Is there a second? One $175 fee. Yes.
All those in favor. We need a second. Who would like to second George's proposal? Do you have a question? No. Yes. I need you to reframe that. We are taking the vote on whether or not on allowing the waiver of the $75 fee. I
think we should do it individually. Not the application fee. Yes. Not the application fee. Just Right. Just the removal fee. So then so then a yes vote would signify give a waiver. A no vote would be no waiver. Right. Well, we're
given approval then to remove this tree, right? We're not there yet. We're not even at that point yet. This is this is about the fee. approved the approved to be removed. She's approved it. It's the actual fee
for the permit actual permit. So the tree the Carol York assessed the tree, right? She gave approval for its removal. Okay. Now we're what we're voting on is this waiver of the $75 additional fee. He Mr. Sho put in a $75
application. Oh yeah. But now you know the additional $75 fee to remove the tree. He's asking for a waiver. So George made a motion. Commissioner Warner, would you restate your motion? Second motion.
Wait a minute. Made a motion to George made a motion. I don't know who. Nobody seconded it yet. No, nobody second it. Yeah, I didn't. Does anybody have a second the motion? I can make a second on the Barbara. All right. A no vote means no waiver fee. A yes vote means a
waiver of the fee. So everybody should probably go down the line. All right. Yes. Would you please? All right. All those in favor of No, we're doing it by roll call. Yes or no? What do you say? Wave the fee or no?
Yeah, wave the fee. Vice chairman tour. No. Commissioner sick. No. Commissioner Preer. Yes. Commissioner Warner. No.
Commissioner Perez. No. Commissioner Seand. No. And Commissioner Goldste. No. to two. So I got four to three. Six to two. Six
to two. So the the fee have to be paid. Okay. Thank you. Now George gentlemen I don't know. My dear, are you here for No. You here for my mom.
Oh do today. Uh folks, uh he already left the room, but I think we should have discussed a little bit about what kind of tree we wanted him to replace it with. And by the way, the code says two trees. I know. Well, the thing of it is we have that
tree list now. Correct. That's right. Cool. Thank you, Connie. Um I think it was that was a great idea. Voted on that either. I don't quite get why we just voted on that. Isn't that part of our That's part of our
ordinance. The ordinances then to give special we can't give special consideration. I totally agree with you. Um but I mean we did what we could through that process. Taxpayer had a question, right? And it's a public meeting. Made a
request and we answered the taxpayers's request and then exactly and and and to continue our language in the code. We and our subcommittee took discussed waving the uh permit fee, the second fee for dead
trees. No, but we discussed that that's not mentioned in our code. You have to pay for it whether it's dead or not. Okay. Because you know what? Somebody could have tried to kill that tree or something to maintain. We for a tree determined by the commissioner and or all of us to be
determined to be deed dead. You shouldn't have to pay another $75 to remove a dead tree. But that's not what it says in the code. No, I the code says you have to pay the fee. Shame. Shane, I recently had a tree in my yard. I paid the application fee. It
was determined dead and then I paid another $75 so that we could remove it. That's the way our code that's the way the code's written. That's law. We should we shouldn't give waiverss. That's my opinion. I'm just a liazison. I'm not a
voting member. If you how do how do you stop it once you start just didn't want to exactly just like Jim said we don't want to create precedences. No, that and you know and it and it gives a a window for us to be um uh to
violate the reason why we're here. We don't want to give special favors to people and and notwithstanding the fact that we've spent the first 45 minutes of this meeting talking about approving new fees and reaffirming those fees. Right.
Okay, let's go. Let's move. It makes our It makes our mission more viable, too. Let's move on. Credibility to what we're doing. my first note. Yeah, that was fun. So, let's import. Yeah, we going to go vote on the um street removal
request. Okay. That uh Mr. Atur motioned. Um uh and Commissioner S seconded. We just never took a vote. Now, can I vote on it even though I wasn't here? Probably not. Well, it's it's a basic
commission thing. It's okay. We have we have quum anyway. Yeah. All right. At the at a previous meeting, I had made a motion that where street trees are involved. I don't know if I still need to go through with this motion because we now have this all this language in place, but my motion was
that if it's a street tree involved, all commissioners must look at the tree and give an opinion and it has to come to a vote. I made that motion and Commissioner 6 seconded the motion. We did not take a vote on that motion. So,
I'd like to be able to take that vote now. Okay. There's a motion on the table uh that street trees have to be approved by the entire commission uh at the next meeting. Majority a majority majority of the commission. Not 100% but a majority.
That's that's we have seven regular members and two alternate members. But, you know, we'll so we need four votes. We we would need four votes uh on any commission meeting to remove the trees whether we have seven people here or
nine people here. Okay. Um so we need to vote on that. Yes. Vote. All those in favor of Can you can you repeat part of that? We're talking about next meeting commissioners voting on street removal
from here on. It has to be a majority. Is that correct? after a street tree to to if there's a dispute there's a dispute and has to look at the tree but even in the case of a street tree even before it would go to a dispute if a street tree application comes in or recommendation comes before there's any
vote for yes or no the entire commission should weigh in on that agreed yeah that's that's the motion that makes sense and commissioner 6 seconded the motion so we need to do a vote there's a motion on the table and seconded
All those in favor? I opposed. Any abstensions? Okay. From here on out, any street tree has to get a majority approval by the state tree commissioner. Okay. And that's a good
one. If that if the the application goes through gets passed by city council any removals of trees on private property we've got to get a approval by the right and this is removals right removals okay
if it's if a tree is deni if a request for removal is denied that's it that stands by the commissioner uh if it's approved then it has to come before the whole board. We have one on the table
from last meeting at 717 Washington Street, just down the street here. That's in your district. And I agree. I looked at that. Well, it's a two trunk, one trunk tree with a Y uh in the middle, and it's still a healthy tree. I
agree with Carol uh sick that the tree should be trimmed. Uh but the tree should remain. It's an older tree. It's been cherry tree. It's been there a long time. Oh, that's a it's a holly. I think there's a street tree right in front of the house. And if you look at the house,
the left part of that could be trimmed also to make more visibility for the porch there or whatever. But I think that tree should live out its life. I don't think it should. Well, if you want to submit an application, if you want that street tree trimmed, submit an
application to county to have man trim the street tree. But we're talking about we're talking about the what is it? A holly tree. Mhm. Yes. On their three and they are just to the left of the steps. Anybody have any comments?
Okay. There's a motion on the table that's uh that's a uh seconded to pres to deny removal of that tree uh and make a suggestion that it be trimmed. All those in favor? I I Any opposed?
Any abstension? I'll abstain on this one. You abstain? Yep. Okay. Why? Because the when I looked at the tree from my perspective, it's rotted where that V is, where that double trunk that there's a lot of rot and decay. And I
just thought if the homeowner, he said he was willing to plant another more viable tree. But if people are in favor of preserving that, we suggest seller weight can be taken off that branch by trimming both sides of that tree. Okay,
that's fine with just a procedural matter here. Um, should we can we have a a blanket motion here or does each of these trees have to have a individual motion and second
all of these on the list? I think we're going to have see I have is it it I mean can we do we can do this as a consent we can do this as a consent agenda. We can vote on it all together if you like. I'd like to remove the 1313 Kate May Avenue then. Okay.
Good. Okay. So, so we're removing 1313 Kate May Avenue from the consent agenda. That will be voted on separately. I don't and I'd like to remove the 205 Howard Street. Okay. 205 Howard. I was going to speak on that myself. The 20
Oh, sorry. Not yet. Um, keep going guys. If if this is okay to vote on together as a group, someone has to make a motion and then somebody has to second it and then we'll vote on it all together at once. So to to make it clear, there have been two applications
removed from the the removal request 205 Howard 1313 Kate May and 717. We're not removing that. You want to remove 717 as well? No, we're not removing. We already voted on that. Oh, that's right. But, you know, let me
just because there's certain things that I think need explanation on on some of these requests. Sure. And so, I don't know. I kind of think we should just vote on each one. I mean, I think we should just not do a blanket thing at this point. What are we talking about
right now? All these all these trees removal and appeals and things like that on the second page of today's I I have it. It was just that you were doing one thing at 717 Washington Street and then all of a sudden well because follow
through. Are we are we going to go down the list? Well, I think we should because the next one is the one that you were the I that's my I know and I first uh denied it because you were the one who said it was an old old very very old
tree and it looked healthy and everything. So I did not approve its removal. Right now it's my understanding that it has been um appealed. Is that correct that by either the neighbor or something like that? I didn't get a full report on that. I don't have I don't
have any appeal. I don't know anything about an appeal. So should we go down the list? Sure. So this is going to be the procedure. The chairman's going to read the application. 717 Washington Street. Appeal of removal denied. sick and then
you need a motion and we then you need a second. After the second, you can have a discussion about that. Once that discussion is closed, you go to the vote. Okay. Okay, that's fine. Good. So, so let's go down the list then and just get through this. 205 Howard Street.
Okay. Did we do it? We already had that. Yeah, we did that. So it was it was a everybody approved it. You're not going to deliberation for that but you are for the rest. That is correct. And George 84 abstained.
Okay. 205 Howard Street. Barbara just described that tree. I looked at the tree. It is an old cottonwood. Ron Maner had spoken up about that tree at the last meeting. He said it had been pruned numerous times over the years. But it is
a very large tree. Um, it's not it's it's leafing out when I looked at it. So, I don't think it's an urgent, you know, I I understand cottonwood trees sometimes the branches get softer and uh they can break, but any tree branches
can break in a storm. I had suggested because of the size of the tree that the all members of the commission or as many as we can get so that we can vote on it before approving that removal and Barbara already denied it.
So I would like to have that tree. Um did everybody work on that? I mean did I looked at how many of you I saw it's big trim but yeah but could it be trimmed? I don't know. I don't I would Well, let's we have to vote on whether we're going to approve this removal or not. I don't
know exactly. Yeah, I don't know exactly how many members looked at the tree, but a number of us have. So, we need a motion if we're going to approve that removal or not. Okay. So, so the so the motion will be yeses
approve the removal. No, deny the removal. Keep it easy. Okay. And we have to do it in a positive thing. So, I'll make a motion that we approve the removal of this tree. Okay, I'll second it. Okay. Uh, okay. You heard the who
seconded? I did. George. George. I made the first one. Okay. So, call for a vote. I call a vote on 205 Howard Street. All those in favor. And to make it clear, a yes vote, remove it. Remove it.
Remove it. No vote. Deny it. Okay. But it's still be. Okay, we're on it. And now it's if the discussion is over, it's time to have it's time to have a vote. Yeah. All right. Have we already made the motion? I made a motion to remove the tree. George
seconded there. There'll be a because it's still a living tree, right? Mhm. So, it'll be a $75 Well, we have to vote on it. Are we going to have said it would still be a $75 fee, right? Are we now voting on denying I mean of If we vote the removal
of If we vote yes, it means removing the tree. If we vote no, it means we're preserving the tree. Sorry. If we vote yes, it means we're removing the tree. If we vote no, it means we're denying it the removal. And that and that will be
the way all these motions be structured. Okay. On the should. Yeah, this is just taking longer. It's the first time we're doing it at this method. So, okay. So we need to vote on this. All those in favor of removal of the tree signify by saying I.
All those who uh do not want to remove this race signify by saying no. No. No. All right. Now remove. No. Here we go. Here we go. 359 Congress Street. This is my district
I looked at. Um, it's a construction. There are currently two large trees on the property. They're identified improperly on the application. Uh, one is a large popppler and the other one is a spruce. They're in the footprint of the approved footprint of the planting. The
popppler has been pruned uh pretty severely over the years. But regardless, they will need I'm going to give the I have to give the approval because it's in the footprint, but they need to replace two trees and they the trees should become should come
from recommendations from the board because we're not going to allow a large two large trees to be taken down and have two crepe myrtles planted in their thing. We need to use our list of large trees that we recommend that they place
on there. Okay. Okay. We'll make that as part of the vote. Yes. Which which this is 359 Congress. Do I make that? I'll make a motion. Make motion. I make a motion
that 359 Congress the removal be re the removal of the two trees be approved with the condition that two large specimen trees from our approved list are planted on that property after construction is finished.
I make that motion. Anybody second that motion? I'll second. Seconded by Carol. All those I'll call I'll call for a motion on it. I call for a vote on it. Uh I is the removal of the trees and a two for one basis and no means the tree
stays. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. I. I. Uh denied signify saying no. Okay. Any abstensions? Okay. We're on a roll. 11:02 Lafayette
Street. Joel, that's your district. Yeah. So, I actually um obs earlier this week about the address and we observed that this address actually
um previously asked to be uh previous they asked for previous trees to be removed like four or five times. four or five other trees to be removed. And it's like a it's a continuous pattern. And uh we actually made an assessment that we're probably going to
deny um the tree for being removed again because we don't feel comfortable with them just taking advantage of the the trees being removed constantly. [Music] Um uh besides that, that's all the information we got. Okay. with that
tree. This is uh this property contains I believe six trees. It's the 1102 Lafayette Street location and uh they had arbor that's the one you're looking at now Jay. The the trees on the left side of the house if you're facing the front of
the house are large locust trees and um the locust trees in town have been stressed because of the drought conditions over the last couple of years. But at this point, I I don't see any reason to have more trees taken down at that property. There's two street
trees that are still left there. And I Carol uh York had had written something that she looked at it and um she had thought there was a dead tree in the rear, but that's not even on their property. No, it's the neighbor's property. It's the neighbor's property, and it's it's not dead. It's just
covered with vines again. So, I guess it's time to make a motion. Do you do you want to make a motion to include the removal of vines so it doesn't kill the tree? But it's not on It's not on this person's property. Okay. The tree with the vines is on the neighbor's property. Okay. I'm sorry.
No, but I'd like to make that motion. Anyway, um so for 1102 Lafayette Street, I'll put forth a motion that we allow the removal of all requested trees at that property. How many trees? You second it. Well, we have
to vote in a positive way. So, we just discussed this. We said that they don't look to be in any, you know, urgent need of of removal. So, a yes vote is So, a yes vote means to remove them. A no vote means to deny the approval. Do you have a second, George?
No. I'll second. I second. I second. All those. So, I have a motion and a second. All those in favor of removing the trees, signify by saying I. Those who sign who want to retain the trees as
as retain the trees as they're signify by saying no. No. No. All right. Okay. Oh yeah. 1309 Maryland. We just discussed this. Yes. And I think we're going to have to wait for Jason. So
that's tabled. Yes, that's tabled. Right. 223 Perry Street is my district. It's a large black pine at the rear of the property. You can see it from the parking lot of Collars. It is Is that the one we we visited? Yeah. It's a really large tree.
It's a And it was a beautiful canopy. They do have um they they seem like they have taken care of it over the years. At this point, it's very brown, but we have had such severe drought conditions. I think that's impacting its health and due to the size of the tree
and it does appear to have some new growth. I think it should be denied. And I I did ask that other commission members look at this tree too because of it. George, I had an opportunity to see that as well. And um I concur with your um your assessment. Thank you. Do I?
Okay. All right. So, I'll make a motion that the um the tree at 223 Perry Street after this discussion we just had be removed. If we vote yes, it means we're removing the tree. We vote no, it means we're denying the removal. So, I'll make
a motion. Anybody want to second it? I'll second it. Carol sick is you took look at the tree is dead. No, it's it's a large very large pine. It's brown now, but I think that might have to do with the drought. I would recommend the homeowner get someone to treat it. It,
you know, it may need to be treated, but it does appear to have some new growth coming out, but we have to vote on this. So, I make a motion that we approve the removal and Carol 6 seconded. So, we have to call for vote. Okay. All those Okay. All those that's to rem to remove
the tree, right? Mhm. All those in favor of removing the tree at 223 Perry Street signify by saying I. All those not in favor of removing the tree signify by saying no. No. No.
Okay. 729 Colombia. That's my district. Um, I wrote a um letter to Connie and sent it that I looked at the tree and the the application actually never even said anything about the the tree being
unhealthy or in trouble or anything. The woman that was the applicant was complaining about the fact that raccoons had moved into the property and were taking residence underneath the uh tree and therefore she wants to remove
the tree and I don't have to go much further than that. It's a it's a very healthy tree. It's a large maple tree. It's beautiful tree for years. Yes, exactly. Oh, leave it that. All right. So I make a motion to remove
that tree at 729 Columbia. A yes vote means removal. Nay means denial. Second the motion. All those in favor of removal of the tree at 729 Avenue because of raccoon
infestation. Signify by saying I. Don't laugh. All those who no on removing the tree signify by saying no. No. Okay, that's a that's a new one. No, that we haven't had we've had all sorts of
reasons to remove a tree. You know, pine cones and gutters. Add that one to the list and pine needles. Pine pine needles and in screens and all that stuff, but not because it's a raccoon highway. You know, I wrote back a little note for the
fact that if we had allowed this to happen, Kate May would be gone because I have I can't tell you how many critters I have in my backyard a block away from that property. I I love when the possums come in. This next group of these this next group are all street trees. Okay.
Okay. So, um let's take it down. 1201 Ohio is a street tree removal. Um, that was Carol York responded to. I mean, that was her district, I should say. You know what Carol? Um, yeah, here it is. Here's what
she said. Deny removal request. Not the prettiest tree due to severe trimming. Ron Maner advises monitoring the treere's condition. Property has been under construction for at least a year and tree by the driveway on their property was removed. But she's denying
this one. And I took a look at this property, too. the um it's the property up in the village green where they took half the twin down and built a new thing. So, it's been under construction. It really does not even look all that stressed in my opinion. So, I mean, it
may have had to be pruned for wires or construction reasons, but it's certainly not in danger of anything like that. It just doesn't look good for them. So, I make a motion to remove the street tree at 1201 Ohio Avenue. Who would like to second that
motion? I second it. Tracy. Tracy. Okay. Tracy. Tracy. Jay, you want to call for a vote on that 1210? All right. As I understand this is a street tree, right? Yes. Yes. Um, all those in favor of removing a street tree
because of the reasons presented signify by saying I. Those who deny the street tree signify by saying no. No. No. So, we're going to make a suggestion that maner monitor and trim if but it doesn't even
need that much trimming. Be trimmed anymore. No, I don't think it needs to be trimmed. Just leaf out. Recover. Recover. Yeah. Okay. 808 Columbia Avenue. That's also my addiction. I did comment uh in the letter from the application for the fact that the tree
it was worse. It's a hard call and I did ask everybody to go and take a look. so that we all agree on it. The tree actually is in pretty bad shape. There's only two limbs coming out. One on one side, one on the other side, and nothing
in the middle. It's a maple. Here it is. I don't know if you want to see. It's a Lwell property. That one I would Oh, Jay, do you have pictures of this tree? No. I I But it was been It's been trimmed. This is Elwell's. I think this is this
is a tree on Elwell's property, right? Bob Elwell. Bob Elwell. Yeah, this is the tree that's been that's been trimmed a couple of times. It was trimmed again recently. It had a severe pruning done to it and I don't know who did it because Yeah, but it's leafing out now. It is leafing out. So, um, at this point
it's just starting to This is a more current picture and it looks better. Looks a heck of a lot better. So, it's a lot better. Okay, we'll just can't see. We'll just we'll send it down. We won't make we won't look at anything. Also stated that picture the
one probably. It's probably before spring. You know the limbs falling. The new picture looks better. That's kind of Oh, you want to? Yeah. Right. Phones. All right. I'll make a motion that we remove the tree at 808 Columbia Avenue.
Yeah, it does. I'm not taking Yeah, I changed my mind. I have a motion. Do I have a second? Yeah, George. Second that. I can second that. Second for Barbara. Oh, whatever. Okay. Oh, thanks. Thank you.
Jay, we need to call. All those in favor of removing the tree uh on Columbia Avenue, 80 Columbia Avenue, signify by saying I. I. No. It's coming. Those who wish to remove the tree sign
retain the tree signify by saying no. No. No. Any abstensions? It's coming. All right. Nicely. Yeah. 1312 Columbia Avenue. Um I got a text message from Frank McCausski about this
tree. It's a Bradford pair that broke in a storm. I saw that. 1312 Maryland. I did. I must have said Columbia. I think there's a picture. Maryland. Um 1312 Maryland Avenue. I took a look at it. Removal. There's less than half of the tree remaining. Yeah. And it is a
Bradford pair. They're known for breakage. Um I don't I don't know, you know, how long it can survive in the condition that it's in. And um I honestly Bradford pairs so many communities are doing away with them
anyway. And that one is severely damaged. So I um in my opinion, I I'd rather have that removed and plant something else in that in that tree. This is one on Maryland Avenue, right? And would you Carol sick would you be able to read commissioner York's uh sure
position? She says deny removal remaining part of the tree bloomed and looks healthy. Would agree to removal if remaining tree is unstable but that did not look to be the case. That's what okay I don't know how many
commission members have looked at this tree. I looked at it. I looked at it. There's not much left. I'll make a motion to remove the tree at 1312 Maryland Avenue. Do I have a second? Who wants to second that? Oh, George, do I ask a question, George?
Yeah. Uh, does your motion include replacing it or should we put that down somewhere else like write it down so we remember where we want to replace? Should be when we get tree. It's a street tree so we have the jurisdiction to replace there. So, we should Yeah. Do we want to
remember this? How do we remember that? That's going to be a empty space for us. Okay, let's um let me rephrase the motion. I make a motion that we remove the street tree at 1312 Maryland Avenue with a replacement tree to be planted this year to be
determined and seconded. Second. Okay, we have a motion on the table and seconded. uh those who wish to remove the damaged street tree uh uh Bradford pair on uh three 1312 right 1312
Maryland Avenue signify by saying I I I any retain signify by saying no no no so let's count those votes tell Connie who the nos are tell Connie who the nos
are she could put in raise your hands is for I what's what's to remove it remove it to remove it okay those who wish to retain the tree signify you have Carol Barbara
Jim Joelle so what do we got what do we do draw everybody look at it I don't know if everyone looked at this tree recommendations I really I think it's a split well we have a we have votes. Carol York
said to deny it. She looked at her personally. She's not here though. Well, yeah, but she still that's not everybody small. Do you think it's unstable? I don't think it's going to last. I really don't. And it's a it's
that water is going to go right inside. And it's all right. I'll I'll go where if it's small enough, if we get it down now and put a new one in, we have a new tree. Let's Let's hold a second here. We had Okay. And this could be an easy one because we had an alternate
vote and that alternate vote actually should be put in. There should be only seven votes. Should only be seven votes. Okay, then I'll have the alternate. I'll step back. Who's Who's alternate one? Who's alternate two? I don't know.
So, where are we on? Where are we on this? Better do it again. Wait just a second. Connie. So Jim is the first and then Tracy I think is the second. So we can have seven votes. We cannot have more than seven votes. So
Tracy unfortunately not vote on this. Okay. Don't step out. Okay. Okay. So we have to redo the vote. The vote. Same motion sits on the table and we need to do a new vote for the removal of this tree at 1312 Maryland. And with the who
who who can't vote the new commissioner one. How about Jim? He can because we he How about Yeah, he can vote because um a regular member Carol York is out. Okay. Okay. All those in favor of removal of the tree. Those who can't vote signify
by saying raising your hands. Yes. It was out. So all those for saving the tree signify by raising your hands. So it's going to Jim you can vote. So it's four to three to be removed.
Okay. With the replacement. Okay. With a replacement. Yeah. That was 129 Maryland. That was 13 120 Maryland. I don't know if anybody got a chance to look at 129 Maryland. The three is dead. I did. But
I'm I'm the alternate, so I can't. It's tiny, too. Speak. Okay, I can speak. The tree at 1209 Maryland is completely dead. And it's a small tree. It hasn't been there very long. Um, the drop. So, we can probably get
another tree in there if we do a planting, which is what I'd like to see done. How did you get I believe it's a maple. Oh, this. Oh, cool. Okay. I was like kind of I thought All right. I'll make a motion to remove the dead tree at 1209 Maryland.
And I actually think this is small enough. And this is what we're going to have to discuss, too. Some of these trees are rather small that that are dead. What is our status with public works? The representative isn't here. Can we still submit a list of what we
think they can do for tree removals or Councilman? Um, I can't interfere with day-to-day business of uh, city employees. So, you can make the vote on yourself and then uh, Connie can can Oh, I have I have
several. So, I'll have Connie send them a letter. Send him a letter. Send an email. Okay. So, I make a motion that we remove the dead street tree at 129 Maryland and replace another tree. Second.
All those in favor of removing the dead tree at 1209 Maryland signify by saying I I. Any opposed? All right. 1313 Kate May Avenue. That was that was we
uh observed the tree and I spoke to the um the homeowner. Uh very nice guy. Um he said like in this ending message if removal is denied requesting that all dead branches be removed. I think if you
take away those dead branches the energy will return back to the tree. It's slow leafing. Fine then but it's a it's but it's a it I think it's going to it's your recommendation to retain the tree. Please. Okay. Let's move it. Okay. So we have to vote on its removal. I'll make a
motion to remove the tree at 1313 Kate May Avenue. I'll second it. May I ask a question? Yes. Um, will will we be contacting public works to remove this tree or to trim this tree? The 129 is that part of9? Whose district is that? Excuse me. I'm sorry. I'm ahead of the game. To be honest with you, I thought
it was mine. I have the easterly part of Hey May Avenue. This was the westerly part. But it was my it was my pleasure to serve. It's it's a it's a freebie. So, are we are we talking about 1313 or 129? Call for a vote. We're voting at at 13. We already voted at 129. Okay. So,
yeah. 1313 Kate May Avenue. And so, part of the motion is to have it trimmed as well. That was my question. So, a yes vote. Yes. Remove remove and no a yes vote would be to remove the tree. A no vote would preserve the tree. Preserve
and refer it for trimming. Preserve and trim. It is. Yes, it is throughout the entire of its canopy. Yes. Okay. I make a motion to remove that tree at 13 1313 Kate May Avenue. All those in favor?
Wait a minute. We need a second. Second. Do I have a second? Yep. Second. Who second it? Joel. Doesn't matter. Joel. Uh, all those in favor signify by saying I. For removal. For removal. All those
uh not for removal of it free uh see how it significantly leaves out this year signify by saying I. No by saying no no. All right.
Okay. Now we've had the city manager report. Councilman Meyer can give us a council report. Council report. I guess uh first we're going to talk about the tree of heaven. Um, if I can, if I can interject, if anyone hasn't seen this,
um, handout that uh, Councilman Meyer put together. There's a whole pile of them. George, you want to pass that around? Sure. There's a whole pile of them in in the lobby area here. And Shane, that's a great job. Really is. It was a good job, Shane. Thank you,
George. Um, so we we put these, as you know, in the uh, water bills. We have not received any contact or any contact from anybody that may have a tree of heaven in their yard. Um, we're just letting people know. Please call the Shade Tree Commission office. Let us
let us know. We want to be able to help pay for it with you. We got a $20,000 grant. But to go on the same tangent, uh, the mayor did send me a photograph of a tree tree of heaven in the dunes across the street from the block between Perry and Jackson. Okay. Wa. So, I'm
going to go looking for that after after this. Oh. Um. Wow. I have a question about that, though. I don't know. Do we have jurisdiction over that because that is Well, it's an invasive species and it's I think it's acknowledged by the state that if you don't know, the state
dictates what we can and can't do with that piece of property. Um, the state's given us $20,000 to get rid of it. They got gave us $20,000. So, whether we need a a permit for it, I don't think we do. Um the it's a good question. City had removed some trees by the beach tag
office already and I don't think they had to go through that process. Okay. And uh I don't think that will come out of our grant money because I think the public works will be the ones to do that. So that's all I have in Tree of Heaven. I was going to talk about the sidewalk
program, but I figured the manager had better uh wrangle on that. Landmark trees. Landmark trees for landmark trees. At the subcommittee meeting, we discussed uh a a reason to
establish a listing of landmark trees. So, landmark trees are not only they're usually large trees. In the past, we had but they could be a good example of an exotic tree, right? But they also could be a unique species, a
species that's not normally seen in Cape May and is is a significant tree uh and stands out as a landmark. Uh case in point is a weeping cherry tree on uh Vermont. Mount Vernon. Thank you. Mount Vernon Avenue. A beautiful tree. My
favorite tree. Yeah. And it's not, you know, it's not 100 years old, but it is an older tree established and its unique branching structure makes that a candidate to be a landmark tree. So, what we've what we discussed at the
meeting um was to identify these trees, how to go about identifying them would be some of them can be seen from the from the streets. We suggested then that we if we think we see a landmark tree or
what might qualify, a letter would be sent to the homeowner asking for permission to access the property. But we would I think we should probably establish bless you like a little bless like a little letter saying what we consider landmark trees to go out to the
homeowner criteria criteria of these landmark trees. You want me to take a shot at? Sure. If you would that would be great. And then we with that it would give an extra layer of protection to these trees. Not only would it they the tree would normally have to come before the board but when it's a landmark tree
it we should take extra steps um for its preservation because of its uniqueness. We had a list of these trees at one time. Um but that many of those trees are now gone. The large beach trees that were on Washington Street, two of them are gone. We don't have any beach trees
on public uh property anymore or even private physical estate to copper beach. Yeah, there was another one at the Webster house taken down after much trimming and whatnot at the corner of Washington Street and Madison Avenue. That was another Copper Beach Street. It
was only twothird the size of the one on Washington Street. But that had to that kept trimming that till it was a totem pole. Uh and finally had to take it down. And then a two years later we lost the one on Washington Street. But that was a significant significant tree. So
that's it was in the middle of a lot, a buildable lot. So the lot was less valuable. They no way they could have put a house in there and preserved that tree. Uh and the guy that was championing the tree uh husband and wife
team who owned several properties right there, he unfortunately died. And then the wife came here and we gave her approval for $25 to take the tree down uh and to put a house up. So So what so so let's but by the
next meeting make an effort to go in your district and look at any large trees 80 18 in or more in diameter or an unusual species. I I would make a suggestion just take a photograph of it,
email it to the shade tree commission and put in the subject landmark tree so we can get a list started and I think we we can get them printed out and we can all take a look at it and uh then we move on from there. If you want anything from city council to create a an ordinance to help us protect those
trees, we could do that too. Okay. Cuz I have my tree in mind, my favorite tree in town. You have one? I have one. Uh I come across the Waw Wa and you cross the street and you make make a left right there. There's like a really cool Japanese tree with these arms that just
stretch out like 23 feet. That's cool. It must be one last topic for today, the memorial tree program. We are going to have a memorial tree program. are um uh the city would like us to um kick off our memorial tree program in conjunction
with the um prominade park bench program. Um Shane, I've been told that would be on or about September. Is that that's correct here? That's correct. Uh we're going to start removing. We do want to have in conjunction with the new
uh uh bench program. Uh we haven't come up with the price yet. So that's basically the one thing we're waiting for on the park bench on on the on the trees. We need to come up trees. It was suggested 1750. Is that right? So either way, they're not going to which is a
cost for the park bench, right? We're not drafting and Yeah. We're not introducing this ordinance until later till after summer. So that's why we have to wait. Go ahead. No, this is an extra thing. Yeah, it's only one minute. Um, this is about Arbor Day and we did
nothing basically. So, I contacted a woman at the um, Kate May County Library and Courthouse and she's going to order two books from us donated by us. She'll make a book plate and give them to the Kate May City Library and Kate May the
Kate May City Library. City Library. But it has to go through courthouse to get cataloged and right whatever. Uh, the trees are be thankful for trees and if I were a tree. Oh. So when they're in the library, I'll let you know. And if you ever want to look at them, it's fine. It'll be elementary school books. But I
thought it looked good. We did something. So we did. Yeah. We attempted to do more. It just I know George can tell you school did not school wasn't receptive. Wasn't great. It was a conflict of calendars and whatnot in the
public library too. Um unfortunate. We mentioned about going over to read to the students at the public library and that was not received either for suggestions on what event or what event we can create or what event we can uh
participate in for arbor day. uh reading a a book or two to uh first, second, third grade is is not a likely event when before the school used to do a large dog and pony show uh and uh tie it
to recycling or Earth Day and it was very worthwhile because the whole K through six school was there uh and that was very very worthwhile for the CH3 commission to partner in that. I remember done that for the past two years since the new uh principal got in
there. Uh princip principles and district manager got in there. So any event we can partner with uh you know let us know. Westgate May seems to have a successful thing on giving away trees.
Trees. So that's something that's that's something that we can look into also for next year. You know, where did they get these trees? And if we could get a a show going on either I think we away a tree, didn't we? We all planted it. They
never grew one year. We planted one at the school, but then they didn't. We gave away small pine saplings, white pine or I forget what type of little saplings were long ago. And I can guarantee you that 80% of those trees
never made it home. Uh and uh the 20% that made it home, 1% probably got planted and 0% made it to maturity because it got run over by a lawn. And there will there'll also be opportunities
to plant a tree at the Lafayette Street Park because it is, you know, right next door to the school could have a multi multi-purpose use. Yeah. I have one more thing for the good of the order if I may. It has to do with the uh the memorial trees at Harborview Park. We
got a grant to redo that park from from the county and as part of the plan they're going to save and catalog all the uh memorial trees memorial trees. Oh, that's good. So, Harborview Park or K. Did she take that? Harborview Park. You're going to plant memorial. You have
everything. We're going to redo the park. The trees, the memorial trees that are there are going to be cataloged and saved. This Shane made up going back. There's two or three plaques at Harborview Park at the present time. They're pretty well overgrown, but
they're they're still there, but they're there. Just just one other thing, housekeeping on the memorial tree program. If you get any calls, email me and give me the I'm making a list of the names of people who are inquiring about them. So, if uh you get a call about it
or um somebody stops you on the street, uh you all have my email address from the list that Connie gave us there earlier. Um a a call about tree removal. A call about tree removal or the memorial tree. Oh, okay. If they wanted to I have one thing I want to talk about
quickly. Um we have at one time probably about 15 years ago when we were planting trees, we planted three American ash trees. Now, the Emerald Ashbor has taken down one of them already that was on Windsor Avenue in the 300 block several
years ago. There's another large one right now at 1209 Washington Street um which is severely affected. And the then there's one on Lafayette Street that's perfectly healthy. So, I I kind of think that we should think about removing that
tree so that so as to prevent the spread of that emerald ashbor. But I have a whole list of of uh addresses here with street trees and all, but not to lengthen this meeting any further. I'll email this list to Connie uh for us for the next meeting to for the commission
to go out and take a look at some of these trees. And if we do see small trees that are completely dead, I think maybe we should have a way of marking them so we know, like for example, at the one address on on Washington Street, there's three trees in a row. We want to
make sure the commission is reviewing the proper tree. So either tying a little the construction ribbon tape or pink tape or you know whatever on it so that we know what tree to look at. I think that each district commissioner should do
that. That's my suggestion. That's a good idea. So well I want to thank you all uh for putting up with this lengthy meeting. Hopefully since we got the whole inventory whatnot of approvals and denials here, the next time we won't
have as many to to deal with. Uh but I want to thank you for your patience and for your endurance and whatnot. I'll entertain a motion uh to uh adjourn. I second. Have a second. Sure. Sure.
home. So many years and finally the tree got down. Mhm. But when they came down, I wanted two more trees put in there on
Was this on Washington Street? No, she doesn't live in New York. New Jersey. Okay. She just just Oh, you're not here. Okay. To put two more new trees in. So, how are you taking out all these trees and putting in new trees?
Well, you have to grind the stump and sometimes you have to wait a couple years before you can do it. But eventually, you can plant there again because K knows how to do it. Knows how to do it. Okay, I can talk.
I have a motion on the table to adjurnn. I have a second. Second. Second. Second by Barbara. Who made Who made the motion? I Thank you. Thank you very much. We are journed.