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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES Tree Board 2013-07-18RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Town of Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado, July 18, 2013 Minutes of a Regular meeting of the Tree Board of the Town of Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado. Meeting held in the Engineering Conference Room Suite 100 of Town Hall in said Town of Estes Park on the 18th day of July, 2013. Board Members Present: Rex Poggenpohl, Apryle Craig, Celine Lebeau, Dewain Lockwood and Chris Reed Also Attending: Director of Public Works Scott Zurn, Municipal Service Worker — Park Division Brian Berg, Utilities Department Secretary Susie Parker Absent: Barbara Williams, Scott Roederer Chair Poggenpohl called the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m. MINUTES APPROVAL Chair Poggenpohl reviewed the June meeting minutes and they were approved with no one opposing. INTRODUCTION OF NEW BOARD MEMBERS Chair Poggenpohl introducing the two new Board members, Dewain Lockwood and Chris Reed. Dewain Lockwood is a resident of both Nebraska and Estes Park. In the past he worked for the Town of Estes Park Water Department for four years. He received a degree from University of Arizona in agronomy (field crop production) and has spent most of his life farming land in Nebraska. For the last fourteen years he has owned and operated Lockwood Grain Cleaning to make seed for planting. In his experience he has planted over 20,000 trees creating wind breaks on the farm. Chris Reed is also a resident of Estes Park who owns and operates Reed Logging & Tree Service. He has a business and commercial recreation degree from the University of Illinois. Chris also spent several years with the Town of Estes Park as Streets Foreman in the past. Through his business he is associated with Colorado State Forest Products, and also with Timber West. He is currently studying and taking classes to become certified arborist through ISA, the International Society of Arborists. REVIEW OF OPEN MEETING LAW AND VOLUNTEER MANUAL FOR NEW MEMBERS Chair Poggenpohl explained for the benefit of the new Board members that the Tree Board is an official Town committee and is subject to the laws for any municipal group regarding communication requirements such as formal notices of meetings and publishing the agenda prior to a meeting. There are restrictions regarding communication between Board members: one-on-one discussions are allowed, but if there are three or more Board members present then it must be advertised first. Board members cannot publish meeting notices themselves. The meeting notices must be processed through the Public Works Department Secretary for publication. He went on to explain the need for the new members to become familiar with the guidelines set forth in the Volunteer Manual. He requested that a reminder be given to Jen Imber, Public Works Secretary, to provide copies of the Volunteer Manual (only applicable sections) to the two new members. TREE TALK PLANS AND APPROVAL OF HONORARIUM COSTS FOR SUMMER TREE TALKS Chair Poggenpohl expressed concern with the naming of these programs, tree talks, ecology talks, etc. Some are tree talks and some are not; also, it's too easy to confuse ecology talks with the Ecology Walk Project. A better name should be determined to describe this year's educational program(s). This year we should have two or three excursions, such as the following: RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Tree Board — July 18, 2013 — Page 2 a) The first one can be a walk led by Scott Roederer in RMNP on tree identification for a full morning possibly in Endo Valley. There would not be any participation fee for the public to attend; however, this excursion would require group transportation of a limited number of guests (10-20) depending on the vehicle used. Who would pick up the transportation cost? Guests would be required to make reservations through Department Secretary lmber. Board Member Craig will talk to the Park regarding details. b) For the second event, Merle Moore is willing to lead a walking excursion on either 8/20/13 or 8/21/13 through the Town while talking about plants. Starting at the Visitors Center, a bus will take the participants to the west end of Town to Mrs. Walsh's Garden. The tour will then walk east through Town for two to three hours, ending back up at the Visitors Center where everyone's cars are parked. We would pick up the cost of transporting the guests from the Visitors Center to the Garden. Again, there would not be any participation fee for the public to attend; however, this excursion would require group transportation of a limited number of guests (10-15) depending on the vehicle used. Guests would be required to make reservations through Department Secretary Imber. c) The third excursion could be with David Leatherman, an entomologist, giving an evening talk in the Town Board Room on trees and the ecology in Estes Valley. Because of the location, this could be a much larger group. Chair Poggenpohl will look at potential dates for Mr. Leatherman and the Board Room. Discussion continued regarding possibly adding other events this year or next. For example, would we want to do an excursion down to Fort Collins to the CSU Gardens and the Spring Creek Garden plus a third xeriscape installation? This would be a small group for a full day. We would need to consider if there would be a charge for the public. Reservations would be required. Transportation and other details would need to be worked out before publicizing the event. Also we should look at creating similar program(s) for school kids for this next school year. Board Member Lebeau will talk to the school briefly about this before the August meeting. Also Board Member Craig will talk to Kathy Brown (RMNP) before the August meeting regarding potential Park volunteers with ecology knowledge to work with kids. Another possibility, Merle Moore has offered to lead an excursion to Denver Botanical Gardens and one other tree and plant installation in Littleton. However, Chair Poggenpohl has discovered that the Senior Center and the Museum are or have already led similar excursions. Merle Moore and Scott Roederer will receive honorarium costs of $150 each; Dave Leatherman will receive an honorarium of $350. ECOLOGY WALK PLANS Chair Poggenpohl pointed out that the Ecology Walk is different from the educational talks discussed above. This project is a native plant arboretum starting at the Visitor Center and ending at the bird sanctuary with interpretive stations set up along the way. The Town is working in conjunction with Estes Valley Parks & Recreation District and the Bureau of Reclamation on this project. The following points were discussed: a) It was suggested that a kiosk be set up near the Visitors Center to address questions and give out information. b) It is anticipated that an RFP (request for proposal) will go out regarding a developing a master plan for the project which is anticipated will cost approximately $20,000.00. c) It is requested that Director Zurn recommend who in Town should work with Chair Poggenpohl on creating a map for the project. d) Also Chair Poggenpohl suggests that an advisory board be set up as a reviewing body for work on the planning and development of this plan. The advisory board should probably consist of representatives from the Town, Estes Valley Parks & Recreation, Bureau of Reclamation and two members of the Tree Board. RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Tree Board — July 18, 2013 — Page 3 e) A short list of goals to work on for this project is as follows: i. Solicit a consultant to assist in creating a detailed plan; ii. Look into additional funding through grants, etc.; iii. Hire a designer to develop a broad -brush conceptual design for the master plan and a contractor to do the work. f) There is a Estes Valley Parks & Recreation District Board meeting in August when Chair Poggenpohl will give a 15-minute presentation and discussion on the Ecology Walk Project. He will advise Board Members Craig and Lebeau of the date, time and place so they may attend. SEPTEMBER MEETING PLANS In Tight of the upcoming excursions and talks, the Board Members agreed to have an August meeting to be held on Monday, August 12th at 8:00 a.m. The proposed agenda will be as follows: a) Discussion of process for election of officers; elections will be conducted at the September meeting; b) Receive a report on the America In Bloom Program; c) Solicitation of new members; d) Confirmation of honorarium costs for summer tree talks/excursions; e) Update on status of three summer tree talks/excursions: i. Scott Roederer in Endo Valley (RMNP) on trees; ii. Merle Moore's walking tour of plants in downtown; iii. David Leatherman in Town Board Room on trees and the ecology in Estes Valley. f) Status update of other potential programs such as school programs and a possible excursion to Ft. Collins to CSU, Spring Creek Garden and other xeriscape installation. g) Status update of Ecology Walk Project. SELECTION OF POSSIBLE NEW MEMBERS Chair Poggenpohl recommended that the Board should try to replace Board Member Scott Roederer this fall. He will be leaving Town again about mid -September. Chair Poggenpohl's term is up at the end of August and in September the Board must elect a new president. Therefore, we should pursue advertising for new members through Director Zurn and Public Information Officer Rusch as soon as possible. RESPONSIBILITY FOR REMOVAL OF DEAD/DYING TREES ON TOWN PROPERTY It is the responsibility of Municipal Service Worker Berg to remove dead or dying trees on Town property. Reasons for removal include trees becoming hazards, beetle -kill trees and eye sores. Sometimes trees are not removed due to their location and/or surrounding habitat, allowing their demise to be part of the natural ecology. Requests for such removal usually come through the Public Works Department Secretary and are passed on to Mr. Berg. However, this contact process and information needs to be more visible and accessible to the public. It was suggested that the Tree Board website can be better utilized for information such as this, as well as posting the tree ordinances of both the Town and the County; the ISA brochures could be linked; events, programs and excursions set up by the Tree Board, etc. The question was posed (and an answer still needs to be determined) if the Tree Board should become involved with the website content or should that be the function of the Public Works Department and Municipal Service Worker Berg. MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS Municipal Service Worker Berg brought the ISA brochures and display stands to show the finished product. Since ISA has given permission for the brochures to be placed on the Tree RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Tree Board — July 18, 2013 — Page 4 Board website, it was suggested that Municipal Service Worker Berg should work with the Public Works Department Secretary on adding this information to the website. Director Zurn gave an update on the pine beetle and said it's been relatively quiet lately. It seems to be minimal at this stage inside Town limits. However, it is still very active outside of Town. Unfortunately, the Ips beetle is on the increase and the ash borer is coming in the future. There being no further business, Chair Poggenpohl adjourned the meeting at 6:10 p.m. Susan Parker, Recording Secretary