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Home My WebLink About2014-11-12 - Agendas CITY OF a e evl jq AGENDA Y ARKANS Urban Forestry Advisory Board November 12, 2014 4:00 p.m. Woolsey Wet Prairie /West Side Wastewater Treatment Facility 115 S. Broyles Ave Members: Amy Jones; Sarah King; Kathy Launder; Malcolm LeVois; Damon Lipinski; Sue Madison, Vice Chair; Glenda Patterson; Don Steinkraus, Chair City Staff: Ken Eastin, Urban Forester; Derek Linn, Urban Forester; Alison Jumper, Park Planning Superintendent 1. Call to Order Don Steinkraus, Chair 2. Approval of Minutes Don Steinkraus, Chair 3. Native or Invasive Plant Presentation Amy Jones 4. Tour of Woolsey Wet Prairie 5. Other Business or Announcements 6. Adjourn Mailing Address: 113 W. Mountain Street www.fayetteville-ar.gov Fayetteville,AR 72701 CITY OF a e evl jq MINUTES Y ARKANS Urban Forestry Advisory Board October 08, 2014 4:OOPM City Administration Building 1 113 W. Mountain I Room 111 Members: Amy Jones; Sarah King; Kathy Launder; Malcolm LeVois; Sue Madison, Vice Chair; Don Steinkraus, Chair City Staff: Ken Eastin, Urban Forester; Derek Linn, Urban Forester 1. Call to Order: 4:02pm I Don Steinkraus, Chair 2. In Attendance: Amy Jones, Sarah King, Kathy Launder, Malcolm LeVois, Damon Lipinski Sue Madison, Glenda Patterson, Don Steinkraus Absent: Sue Madison Staff: Ken Eastin, Derek Linn Guests: Sam Palmer, Sarah King, Chuck Maxwell 3. Approval of Minutes: Steinkraus said that the minutes need to be corrected to say that that horse chestnuts are poisonous to humans and not to be eaten. He said he does like to eat other chestnuts though. He also requested to add Sue Madison's name to the invasive tool report agenda item. Launder moved to approve the minutes with the noted corrections. Patterson seconded it. The motion passed with a 7-0-0 voice vote. 4. Native or Invasive Plant Presentation —Sue Madison / Derek Linn Carolina Buckthorn Rhamnus (Frangula) caroliniana Linn shared the following details about Carolina Buckthorn, which were prepared by Sue Madison: - Carolina buckthorn is a small deciduous tree or shrub native from New York to Florida and west to Nebraska and Texas. - Unlike many native plants the leaves are a bright, shiny grass-green. - It grows in full sun to part shade and is tolerant of rocky soils and mild drought. - One volunteered in her yard several years ago and I removed the lower branches to shape it as a small tree. The scars from cutting the lower branches have enlarged rather than disappeared. (Some of the literature says it is trainable as a standard.) - Alternate leaves with pinnate venation. Leaf veins run parallel out from the midrib almost to the margin where they curve along the leaf margin similar to a dogwood leaf. - Propagates easily from seed or cuttings (cuttings according to literature, I can verify it readily self-seeds) - Buckthorn has small inconspicuous cream-colored flowers in May. Mailing Address: 113 W. Mountain Street www.fayetteville-ar.gov Fayetteville,AR 72701 Flowers produce shiny red, edible berries that eventually darken to near black. Berries are very attractive to birds. Carolina buckthorn makes a fine small specimen tree in a native plant garden or in a mixed shrub border. It would also be a good choice in a commercial setting; attractive fall color, colorful fruit, produces no litter, attracts birds and pollinators, does not sucker and typically grows to only 10 or 15 feet, rarely 30. Also suitable for containers. Despite its common name, it has NO THORNS. Steinkraus has Carolina buckthorns on his property, and agreed they are nice plants. He said he does eat the berries. He added they are easily grown from seed. Steinkraus said there are some non-native buckthorns also, and that it might be good to hear a presentation on those as well. Jones said she would do next month's presentation. 5. Celebration of Trees – Derek Linn Linn said this will be the City's 15th annual tree giveaway—an opportunity where the City purchases 1 and 3 gallon size trees and shrubs. He said it's an outreach effort giving residents a hands on opportunity to help plant and grow the urban forest. Linn said it's been a goal to provide a variety of plant sizes for different landscape situations. He read this year's list of trees and shrubs available: 1) Bur Oak 2) White Oak 3) Water Tupelo 4) Red Buckeye 5) Native Persimmon 6) Native Fringe Tree 7) Rusty Blackhaw Viburnum 8) Native Azalea Steinkraus reminded the board and volunteers to arrive at 6am for setup. Linn described the general process of unloading and organization of the plants. He said education topics the board had mentioned covering included 'Right Tree, Right Place' as well as information on local invasive plants. Launder noted the importance of the species characteristics sheets that go out with each plant. Steinkraus asked if donations could be collected for the new proposed invasive plant checkout program through Fayetteville Public Library. - Sam Palmer, FPL Facilities, said the library is supportive of the program and would setup the checkout system. He said they could accept any donations directly into an account for the tools. Eastin said the tools have not been budgeted, but could be considered in future budgets. 2 Palmer said they do not have it budgeted either. He said if necessary, the library could purchase with the understanding of reimbursement. He said they would promote the tool checkout program on the website and through potential programming. Steinkraus said Februrary/ March is good time of year to do the removals, and that 3 tools would probably suffice the needs. Steinkraus said the PullerBear company would weld a name into the tool for no extra charge. Linn mentioned the variety of media used to advertise Celebration of Trees: KUAF/NPR, City of Fayetteville official website, Northwest Arkansas Times, Press Release, Facebook. Eastin suggested KXUA. Steinkraus suggested Ozarks at Large. 6. Woolsey Wet Prairie Steinkraus suggested the board postpone the watching of the video until after other agenda items were covered, and to come back if time allowed. 7. Other Business or Announcements Palmer, FPL Facilities said he is understanding that purchase of the tools would be delayed until budgeted next year. Eastin said staff could check to see if there are any available funds, or if they would need to be budgeted for 2015. Palmer said he would check as well, and that FPL might be willing to split the cost of the tools with city budget. He said it is possible that donors might help support the cause as well. Palmer said they currently check out watt/electricity meters, as well as iPads/laptops, fishing poles, and some other items. He said the old library location had a pretty strong tool checkout program, but he believes it fizzled out during the move/transition. Palmer said they are currently looking at proposals with PackRat to allow for canoe / kayak checkout. Chuck Maxwell said he is on Parks Board and has an active interest in invasive plant removal. Maxwell noted that Paradise Valley Athletic Club recently planted a lot of Privit on-site. He recognized the importance of education but also wondered if Council could pass an ordinance addressing invasive plants. 3 Steinkraus said bringing nursery representatives to future UFAB meetings could be useful. He said the banning of plants is also a state problem, and that some states are banning plants. Jones said it has to start somewhere, and that Fayetteville might be a good place to consider an invasive plant ordinance. Linn said there are examples of federal down to municipal governments placing regulations on invasive plants to help keep them under control. Steinkraus suggested using the State of the Forest report in the future to stress importance of invasives to the City Council. He encouraged Maxwell and the Board to consider ways to approach Council with suggestions. Maxwell said he has thought about using goats to help manage invasive plants. Steinkraus, Eastin, and others highlighted the various educational programs that staff and the Board have organized. New Member Introductions: Damon Lipinski said he is a Pediatric Neuropsychologist working in Lowell. He recently served on a board in Memphis called Wolf River Conservancy. He said he holds a bachelor's degree in forestry. Glenda Patterson, Pulmonary Physician, said she works at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Fayetteville. She is also a Master Gardener and Master Composter. Amy Jones, Malcolm LeVois, Derek Linn, Kathy Launder, Ken Eastin, and Don Steinkraus all gave their background and interests as well. Sarah King, Guest, said she recently left the board after moving outside the City limits, but she works for Specialized Real Estate here in Fayetteville, who specialize in multi-family properties. Her background is in Landscape Architecture. Sam Palmer, Guest, said he is director of facilities and sustainability at the Fayetteville Public Library. Chuck Maxwell, Guest, said he is a member of Parks & Recreation Advisory Board and is a Perfusionist in Northwest Arkansas. Linn suggested the Board check out the Woolsey Wet Prairie video, which is available online on the City's YouTube website. He asked if the board would be interested in visiting the prairie at the next meeting. The board confirmed they would be interested in visiting the prairie. Linn said orientation for new members would occur in January 2015. He said materials have already been emailed out for review at their convenience. Steinkraus asked about adding items to the agenda. 4 Eastin said several other boards run their own agenda, so he encourages more input from the board regarding agenda items. He confirmed that 2 weeks in advance of the meeting would be ample time to add items to an upcoming meeting agenda. 8. Adjournment Time: 4:58pm 9. Submitted by: Derek Linn 5