HomeMy WebLinkAboutTree Board Minutes 08.01.2024Laurel Tree Board Meeting
Minutes
8-1-24
Council Conference room
Attendance: Matt Wheeler, Tom Canape, LuAnne Engh, Bridget Coleman, Michelle Mize
1. Public Input
2. General Items.
a. June minutes
b. Members — Paul and Walt are off the board and Phyllis is unable to attend anymore so we
are left with 4 member, 2 Council Members (Michelle and Tom) and 2 community members
(LuAnne and Bridget) . Dan Fevold and Bill Hansen are interested in considering
membership. Aaron Christensen remains an advisor for Arbor Day events. Since we can't
keep a full board of 7 filled, and therefore we rarely have a quorum (2/3rds) to vote, it was
decided to ask the City Council if the Tree Board could drop to 5 members. We can have any
number of interested parties attend our meetings and help with events. It was mentioned
to ask Steve from RiverRidge to consider being a board member.
c. Matt shared the letters from the 4th graders (Kanta's class) from Arbor Day. They
mentioned the Weather (NOAA) guys, Invasive Species (Anthony Summartano) and
Yellowstone Weeds as their favorite speakers. They appreciated the lunch and being at Kids
Kingdom. Mrs. Kanta's class does a remarkable job on their letters every year.
d. DNRC — report- Michelle organized the tree inventory with the DNRC June 25th. Sheri
Stretler, Hannah Payne, one other Helena DNRC person and Lydia Heser arrived and did a
class for the few volunteers that showed up. The whole process was very involved and took
5 days and only 2 wards and the city parks were completed. The remaining 2 wards could
be finished with a local group next Spring. According to the DNRC the Tree Board is
supposed to supervise a Tree Inventory every 3 years. The last time ours was done was 10
years ago. We would need laptops and 8 people/day to do the work. Each tree that isn't in
the data base already needs to be measured, identified and assessed for tree health and
age. Michelle was overwhelmed with the whole process and the lack of connection to the
DNRC prior to the survey. It appears Laurel was given the program years ago.
e. Trees on public/private boulevards —The DNRC says it is in our city ordinances that the city
is responsible for the care of boulevard trees. Matt has maintained that the city ISN'T
responsible and that trees that the state has planted in projects on Main street and 8th
street belong to the homeowner and they should water and care for them. Matt is
concerned and wants the city attorney to review that and possibly rewrite the ordinance.
f. Arbor Day — We are considering moving to October 8th with back up date the 15th. We'd go
to Thomson and make the event simple, as we did during Covid. Our theme and shirts
would be the same as in May. This would qe a way to move to the Fall without missing a
class. There are only 116 kids this Fall in 4th grade with 5 classes. Possibly the kids would
bring their lunches and we would provide dessert. LuAnne will check on the availability of
the vendors before weconfirm the date. As far as planting trees, we still have $200
available inthe foundation account.
g. Replacement trees — The Library tree has been replaced bvSylvan Nursery
h. Tree maintenance — Matt said the large cottonwoods that were removed this Spring took
almost $1U,OOOsoour budget for other tree maintenance islimited. Five Elm trees onEast
Maryland have been removed. That tree line inembedded inasphalt.
i Arbor Day Accounts —City$1UO— Foundation -$2O14—
Old Business
City ordinance — Michelle Braukmann (city Attorney) will continue to review the city ordinance regarding
liability to the city on trees on boulevards.
l. Grants for the future
Meeting Adjourned at 5:20
Next Meeting: September 5th 4:30 Council Conference Room (unless otherwise advised)