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Home My WebLink About2015-04-08 - Agendas CITY OF a e evl jq AGENDA Y ARKANS Urban Forestry Advisory Board April 8, 2015 4:00 p.m. City Administration Building 1 113 W. Mountain I Room 111 Members: Kathy Launder; Malcolm LeVois; Damon Lipinski; Glenda Patterson; Hank Thomas Sue Madison, Vice Chair; 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 Damon Lipinski 4. Proposed Invasive Plant Ordinance Effort Peter Nierengarten, Fayetteville Director of Sustainability and Resilience 5. UFAB Sustainable Landscape Competition Ken Eastin, Derek Linn 6. Other Business or Announcements 7. Adjourn Mailing Address: 113 W. Mountain Street www.fayetteville-ar.gov Fayetteville,AR 72701 CITY OF a e evl Iq MINUTES Y ARKANS Urban Forestry Advisory Board February 11, 2015 4:OOPM Room 111 / City Administration Building 1 113 W. Mountain Members: Kathy Launder; Malcolm LeVois; Damon Lipinski; Glenda Patterson; Hank Thomas; Sue Madison, Vice Chair; Don Steinkraus, Chair City Staff: Ken Eastin, Urban Forester; Derek Linn, Urban Forester 1. Call to Order: 4:04pm I Don Steinkraus, Chair In Attendance: Kathy Launder, Malcolm LeVois, Sue Madison, Don Steinkraus, Hank Thomas, Glenda Patterson Absent: Damon Lipinski Staff: Ken Eastin, Derek Linn 2. Approval of Minutes: Madison moved to approve the minutes. Launder seconded it. The motion passed with a 5-0-0 voice vote (One member came in after the approval of minutes). 3. Discussion on Plant Presentation Scope & Outreach Don recommended keeping the presentations more focused on woody plants, rather than herbaceous. Others felt that the overall urban forest is made up of a wider variety than just the woody component. Hank mentioned that he also felt pests and disease could be an important subject to consider. A discussion occurred regarding subject matter of the plant presentations. Final determination was to continue to look at the complete forest including woody plants, herbaceous, pests, maladies, etc; however the overriding focus should be on the "Urban Forest". The discussion also covered the possibility of making the actual plant video presentation available on the City's website for public access; however, there was some concern regarding format of the presentation. If the presentation signal goes through the blue VGA connector provided in the room, it is received and recorded as a high-quality image and can easily be stripped off the overall recording and converted to a stand-alone presentation. However, if the presentation is only given verbally, or another computer/projector combination is used, or the system is connected using the HDMI connecter, then it is not automatically received as a high quality video image. The best results will be by standardizing how the slideshow is connected to the system. Sue Madison made a motion to continue this discussion once it was determined how the public would be able to access these presentations on a computer. Don Steinkraus seconded. The motion passed with a 6-0-0 voice vote. Mailing Address: 113 W. Mountain Street www.fayetteville-ar.gov Fayetteville,AR 72701 4. Native or Invasive Plant Presentation — Glenda Patterson — Black Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia) (The Wild American Beauty) Native to US and Canada. Historically connected to 'Sweet William', blooms at the same time as Sweet William. One of most widely photographed wild flowers. Preakness Horse Race is the "Run for the Black-eyed Susan", which is also state flower of Maryland, home of the Preakness. Found in all 50 states. Don Steinkraus volunteered to present the topic presentation at the March meeting. 5. Discussion on Annual Presentation to City Council This presentation is scheduled for March 10, which is the day before the next scheduled UFAB meeting. Discussion centered on who would attend the meeting, who would give the presentation and general logistics for making the presentation. It was determined that a written report would be provided to the Council and a verbal presentation would be made in a brief period. Specific topics such as a potential Invasive Species Policy Ordinance were discussed as possible subjects to include in presentation. Don also speculated about inviting Mayor and Council members to be available for a field trip to see problems associated with invasive species within Fayetteville. Sue also brought up a previous motion that had been made for a representative of the UFAB to meet with the City Attorney in order to explore initiating an invasive species ordinance. Sue said that she would make this contact. 6. Other Business or Announcements Sue had previously discussed with the City Attorney's office the possibility of not requiring minutes to be recorded for the UFAB meetings. With the video recordings available as record, the City Attorney did not feel that a written record was necessary; so it would strictly be up to the Board. After a period of discussion, it was suggested that the subject would be re-visited at the next meeting. Sue made an announcement regarding an upcoming presentation at the NW Technical Institute on, "The Living Landscape" and sponsored by the local Flower and Garden Society. Sue then presented an article from the AR Democrat Gazette written by Janet Carson, State Horticulturist, that listed Lonicera fragrantissima as the "plant of the month". This is a species that has been targeted locally as a major invasive plant, similar to bush honeysuckle. This plant is listed in the Atlas of Arkansas Plants as nonnative and invasive. Sue suggested that a correction should be printed in the newspaper. Sue also gave information on a presentation scheduled at her church to be presented by Flint Richter regarding home solar energy systems. Ken mentioned that the Sustainable Landscape Competition would be organized in the next couple of meetings to accept applications during April and May. 7. Meeting Adjourned: 5:14pm Submitted by: Ken Eastin 2 CITY OF a e evl Iq MINUTES Y ARKANS Urban Forestry Advisory Board March 11, 2015 4:OOPM Room 111 / City Administration Building 1 113 W. Mountain Members: Kathy Launder; Malcolm LeVois; Damon Lipinski; Glenda Patterson; Hank Thomas; Sue Madison, Vice Chair; Don Steinkraus, Chair City Staff: Ken Eastin, Urban Forester; Derek Linn, Urban Forester 1. Call to Order: 4:01 pm I Don Steinkraus, Chair 2. In Attendance: Kathy Launder, Malcolm LeVois, Sue Madison, Don Steinkraus, Damon Lipinski, Hank Thomas 3. Absent: Staff: Ken Eastin, Derek Linn Guests: None 4. Approval of Minutes: In response to previous discussion about the need or requirement to continue recording meeting minutes, Eastin said staff have decided that it is useful to maintain notes. He said that previous minutes were just recently used as a quick reference both in preparing the UFAB Annual Report to Council and in identifying recent discussion regarding the UFAB's discussion of invasive plants and need for action by the City. Eastin said the minutes were not complete and would be available for approval at the next meeting. Madison encouraged staff to keep the minutes brief to save time. 5. Native or Invasive Plant Presentation — Don Steinkraus Steinkraus discussed Wafer Ash or Hop Tree (Ptelea trifoliata). Lipinski said he would do the presentation for the April meeting. 6. UFAB Annual Presentation Debrief Steinkraus thanked Madison for giving the presentation. He thanked staff as well. Launder said March is a good month to give the presentation to Council. She remembers the previous year's presentation being much busier. Steinkraus asked about SB 637. Mailing Address: 113 W. Mountain Street www.fayetteville-ar.gov Fayetteville,AR 72701 Madison discussed updates she has heard regarding Senate Bill 637. Eastin said the City wrote a letter in opposition to the bill. However, he encouraged individuals to communicate as well. He has heard that the current legislature is more apt to listen to citizen comments than those from municipalities. Steinkraus said he would try to write the sponsor or other representatives regarding concerns with the bill. Eastin passed out paper copies of the presentation outline for reference. 7. UFAB Sustainable Landscape Competition — Ken Eastin Eastin said it is time to start identifying judges for the competition. He noted Lisa Netherland and Gloria Linn mentioned that Meredith Hendricks offered to serve as a judge during the 2015 competition. Eastin noted that Professor Carl Smith may be a great judge again as well. Linn noted that Professor Smith encouraged an unbuilt category to recognize sustainable design, either as students or professionals. Steinkraus agreed it is a good idea. He said recognition to these designers may help encourage them to push sustainable design. Thomas said it would be important to set up some parameters for the unbuilt category, such as that designs must be based on sites in Fayetteville. Madison asked if this would add too much work to the judges. Steinkraus said the more we can increase the consciousness of the applicants Linn said he envisioned a different set of judges for the unbuilt category. Thomas said the unbuilt category portion of the competition could be announced via ASLA networks. Eastin said word needs to be spread soon to organize and anticipate participants for the competition. Thomas said he would look for examples at the office regarding typical landscape competition guidelines. Eastin noted the following potential judges to contact: Jeremy Williams, Guy Headland, Meredith Hendricks, Carl Smith, Mary Bess Mulhollan, Lisa Netherland. He said probably 3 more judges need to be identified, given the 3 categories. 2 Steinkraus noted a plant biologist he could contact. Thomas said he could contact Becky at Illinois River Watershed Partnership to see if she would be interested. Eastin asked the board to look over the rubric and comment on any recommended changes or updates. Steinkraus asked if another name should be used rather than 'unbuilt'. Board members agreed. Eastin suggested maybe could use 'design' category. 8. Other Business or Announcements Madison said per the discussion from last meeting regarding the focus of native or invasive plant presentation, she does think that trees, shrubs, and other woody plants should be the types primarily discussed, rather than herbaceous plants. Steinkraus noted Cody George at Crystal Bridges. He said they have done great work removing invasives and planting natives. He said that George is into the Th generation idea, which is the understanding that everything we do now should be done with the idea of how the action will affect people 7 generations from now. Steinkraus said either George or the gardener at Compton Gardens could be a great guest speaker for UFAB sometime. Madison gave an update on invasive plant ordinance discussions. She said per the previous motion, she met with the City Attorney's office. She has looked at examples of invasive plant ordinance in other cities. She said Austin Texas, Eugene Oregon have good examples. She said the ordinance should require landscape plans reviewed by staff to not allow use of invasive plants. Thomas said that from the designer perspective, he believes that when landscape ordinances are clear upfront about what they are requiring, this is always preferred. He said what is less desirable is when things are vague. Steinkraus said the language regarding requirements on landscape plans could be that natives are encouraged but invasives are prohibited. Thomas recommended creating a list that is manageable and accomplishes the intent but not overly overwhelming or lengthy. Eastin reminded the board that the Environmental Action Committee (EAC) is also interested in these efforts. He said he heard from Sustainability Director Peter Nierengarten recently and that he recommended staff work together on an approach and perhaps get the 2 boards together. Steinkraus supported the idea to get EAC and UFAB together at some point. LeVois added that perhaps Joe Woolbright might make a good judge. Steinkraus added Joe Neal would be a great resource as well. He said he could contact both. 3 9. Adjournment Time: 5:05pm 10. Submitted by: Derek Linn 4