question about the loss of trees in the
rainforest I'm well glad we didn't do
that but you know been a good question
everybody interested everybody's opinion
you know she had a brightest subject she
was open she's organized about the loss
of trees in the rain for us glad we
didn't do that a little afraid that hope
was GNA go but been a good question
everybody interested everybody has
opinion you know she had a brightest
subject she was open she's already about
the L of trees to the rainforest glad we
didn't do that a little
question everybody interested every
opinion you know she had a brightest
subject she was open
she's
yeah was a nice
crowd that's
great
23 that's great that's great that's
fa
I was just wondering that myself I was
just that
myself did he have it anyway are you
ready then Grant okay here we go
okay like to call the
W over and
out yeah okay all right microphone's on
for roll call I'd like to call the
Wednesday January 17 2024 for meeting of
the Bexley tree and public gardens
commission to order and I'm call the
role Mary mcmun here Susan quinten's
here Sheila strob here Dave Wakeman
absent Celeste Williams here Jim Wilson
here Linda znik here we have a quorum
and then our our staff and Consulting
staff we have Ellena Andrews here Brant
Archer here Ben Kessler is um out of
town Spencer Martin here Monette
Friedland
here and we welcome back Troy marham our
city council leison
everybody and our professor Markham
we're ready for your tutorials but you
but you will come because you know we
want to save the best for last we have
you at the end of our announcements and
small victories nice so welcome back so
Professor Markham you might just tell us
a little bit about how your role at Ohio
State has changed since you were with us
last time and what um your title is now
oh that's yeah you know what so I'm
still at Ohio State but I moved across
campus uh instead of being in the uh
biological sciences building near medic
campus I'm now right on the oval smack
on the oval in Derby Hall uh and I'm
with the political science department so
uh it's it's kind of like uh it's a
pretty far shift actually I suppose but
I still do mostly the same stuff which
is I do some some teaching I do uh but
my main uh area of Interest interest is
guiding the internship program there so
I send all the interns out the political
science students out to political
internships
everywhere not just the state house but
uh we have some in the city of Dublin we
have some working on political campaigns
we have some in Washington DC Etc all
that thing I call them my little spy
Network because I get to find out what's
going on behind the scenes everywhere uh
I also do a little bit of advising and
I'm uh in my new capacity there I am
also kind of developing
their uh sort of their Career Services
type things because what I'm finding is
uh sort of you know of course I'm a dad
you know with two uh adult children now
who found jobs so I find that students
and parents are kind of interested on
whether they're kids and whether they
can find jobs and so uh I've I've kind
of pushed outward uh from just being
academic and that and internships into
developing a little more uh Career
Services role and kind of guiding them
into that stage of their lives as well
and I have a brand new class in the fall
that we'll offer that will have students
developing uh career skills interviewing
skills resume skills networking skills
all that sort of thing so I am no longer
a science teacher I and well I'm a
political science teacher I guess so
there we go well do you miss Plant
Pathology I do I miss teaching Labs uh I
just I had a sad thought the other day
because I was like because this is
normally the time of year when we we
start up right and I would be starting
my labs and and that is probably the
thing that I miss the most is sort of
those intimate science uh lab uh classes
where I would have about 24 students and
we would run through you know some
laboratory exercises and and over the
course of 15 weeks that tends to be a
really you know kind of a fun Community
Building kind kind of uh thing or
whatever so I no longer have that but in
the place of that instead of 15 week uh
relationship building I have foure plus
relationship building with the students
that are political science students that
come in and I advise them and I help
them through their careers and things
like that and uh I run into them all
over the place and I can tell you that
uh uh just as I did there buta probably
maybe even a little more so now that I
am constantly coming into contact with
students uh who are of course becoming
adults who are just the most amazing
people and I was told my wife the other
day I said I ran into one of my students
I'm like and and she will be probably
Columbus City Council president someday
and she may be Mayor of Columbus someday
that mean just such impressive you know
uh people that you come in contact with
well the true commissioner would be
happy to have any of your interns at any
time yeah that'd be great yeah so
welcome welcome back back so um we do
have a quorum for today we don't will
not be appointing any alternates because
we have no alternates here and we have a
quorum so I'm looking for approval of
the minutes of December 18th 2023 or
corrections to the minutes of December
18th 20123 I have a correction okay okay
um under the uh Grant can you go to that
please under B announc oh yes
announcement small victories under the
um category of the uh Bexley Bloomers
your end of your report and it should be
Bexley bloomers and the Bexley community
garden end of your report and um the
numbers just got switched around so we
had 993 volunteers volunteer hours at uh
for the Bexley bloomers and we had 1197
volunteer hours for the Community
Gardens just like I said they just got
switched around
so all righty and is the pounds of
produce donated correct that is correct
all right right I have a a I don't want
to say an addition more of a
clarification under my statement about
when I was talking about right above
that not the very Villages but above
that when I spoke about my graduating I
did I did um emphasize the um how
important I felt that that we had
somebody that I'm sorry that when what
um alist Reynold was here representing
Ohio Department of Forestry and natural
resources I was mentioning about the how
important the education was and I
mentioned a lot of my background that I
had wasn't as important as planting it
right which is what they're doing but I
I wanted to explain that I don't
remember most of all that education I
had in college and I didn't want to have
you think that I was like as smart as
Troy where I could still be teaching
people those subjects no I can't so I
want to be I want want to correct my
nonh
humbleness all right so corrected but
not so moved okay okay are there any
other Corrections or
additions okay I moved to approve the
minutes as corrected is there a second
second is there any discussion a motion
has been made and seconded to approve
the minutes as corrected all those in
favor say I I all those oppose same sign
motion carries okay any additions to the
agenda
all right then let's go under announce
some small victories and comments so um
let's see if I can get all my figures
together as many of you understand the
tree commission has sort of a symbiotic
relationship with the Bexley Community
Foundation and um let's see this is the
wrong
agenda day
October yeah I don't know if they did
that
yeah
is H but anyway so the next the next
item was the end ofe totals for trees
for Bexley and
um and the Bexley and
Bloom okay she he has it he has it
oh for those of you listening we just
lost up today's agenda and uh kind of
had a retroactive moment to September
but here we are so I wanted to give you
end of your totals for the fundraising
for Bexley and Bloom and trees for
Bexley because that represents monies
that um are often given to the city
through the grant process so trees for
Bexley raised $
37,7
121 from 115 donors an increase of about
$1600 with
$328 per average gift which I think is
astounding um our goal was $440,000 so
um we have some thought thoughts about
maybe other institutions we could go to
for the rest of that but any Grant would
need to come through the city of Bexley
so we need to talk to the mayor and
Grant about that and Bexley and bloomed
raised
8,591 donors or dollars from 129 donors
with $144 as the average gift overall
the fundraising this year on what total
was up
$234 so I think that's out outstanding I
think if people weren't happy with what
they see they wouldn't give dollars so
in a way it's a you know kind of a a
little um pat on the back for what we do
now today we had the initial program and
this year's 2024 rooted Bexley
presentation um that Mary put together
and Elena and and Spencer welcomed
people to so uh Mary Ellena Spencer do
you have any comments you'd like to get
well I'll let you Elena go first since
you know I go
ahead so yeah it was it was actually it
was a fabulous presentation so Andrea
Brennan is um the arbet leader um arbet
is a um organization that is was
established I believe in 2011 with the
Morton Arboretum and its goal is to
connect arborita and other tree Focus
professionals and so um she described
herself as a Lorax for The Lorax that's
kind of what the arbet does in terms of
um providing resources
connections um grants I mean essentially
they're a repository for information and
all of their services are free so they
do um provide accreditation for arborita
the city of Bexley is listed on their
website um and she basically just kind
of walked through what arbet was and I I
found it to be amazingly informational I
mean I was actually I was really
pleasantly surprised like this is really
we need to like you know have a meeting
at the tree commission and kind of like
dive into all of this um she has she's
highly education she you know she's a
PhD in Forest biology and an undergrad
and a master's degree in public
Horticulture she's worked at the Purdue
Arboretum um Applewood which is a um a
private Garden residence I Believe In
Like Flint Michigan Longwood Gardens
which is um in Pennsylvania near
Delaware and the Morton Arboretum um and
and so she was you know she really she
kind of knows her stuff um I made
Spencer um he did a fantastic job give a
brief overview of um bexley's arborita
or arinum because I thought it was
important for the people there to kind
of just get a couple of things so I
don't know if you have anything to
add not much to add I agree with Elena
the website was really impressive and I
think everyone on tree Commission would
do well to check out their resources
tab thank you thank you for
participating in your what great
ambassadorship for tree Commission in
city of Bexley and the urban and
Forestry Department so and I second that
okay and um we had uh 51 in attendance
and a lot of them are uh people who are
involved with Heritage Gardens at the
governor's residence um hope Taft was
there and said a few words which was
very nice as well um we had 23 that were
live streaming and um I'll then once
that it's out there you'll be able to
watch it again or see it for the first
time on the library's um YouTube page so
I'll share that with the Master
Gardeners because I know there would be
a lot of interest in seeing it again but
the library is such a wonderful um place
for us to hold these programs they're
always so helpful and supportive so it
it was really a good
afternoon and um I wanted to just say
what a fabulous job Dr Brandon did
highlighting and touting bexley's aror
readed them I mean you could not pay for
the kind of publicity that she gave us
she showed pictures of our website she
talked about being the first Municipal
Arbor redum she talked about how she
uses the Bexley Arboretum application in
her tool chest that she sends out to
other
municipalities have I forgotten any
accolades no I mean so so I thought wow
this is great we need to have her every
week Mary yeah no and she talked in
complete sentences it's yeah truly
wonderful anyway thank you Mary oh sure
those things don't happen without a lot
of work my pleasure yeah so Spencer do
you have any updates for us on the mulch
flyer uh no updates I I talked with Jim
earlier this week he said he may have
some additional information that he
wanted included on that um pamphlet and
then earlier this afternoon I talked
with Emily perfect about maybe helping
uh design the visuals that what go along
with that well you do have updates
that's great yeah the update small steps
small steps okay um I did read in the
mayor's Bexley blast that there's some
indication 2200 East Main Street could
be on the on our agenda in Feb on
February 21st Ellen is there any um
information on that not at this time I I
I was surprised to read that too in the
blast I was like oh okay
so um if there's a way that we can
communicate when and if it might be on
that that would be great and uh you want
to talk about the Community Gardens and
where you are in application process we
um have opened up the registration to
the general public everybody that um you
know was there previously uh signed up
or said uh goodbye um I don't have
updates as to how many spaces that are
still available I didn't hear back from
Natalie so um but we have a lot of new
faces coming in this year so it should
be good that's great that's great and
now Professor Markham hearts are beating
quickly as you return oh uh no I'm going
to do that under our conversations with
C residents so just a minute just a
minute if you can give your tutorial oh
yeah I I always like doing these as
little sort of Pop Quiz kind of things
but I'll I do want to also nod to
Celeste there I G tell you like you know
uh when I'm at Ohio State I always feel
like probably 90% of the people that are
surrounding me know a lot more than I do
and I always feel like when I'm here in
the city dealing with people about 90%
of the people around me know a lot more
than I do about something so you know
you never stop learning and I think they
say Stone sharpens you know the blade or
whatever and so you know you all these
interactions are just a constant you
know education or whatever but I always
thought had fun bringing stuff to you
guys and so I'll try and uh continue
that I was going to share a text that I
got from a resident in November of this
year this is scary yeah right I know
usually we like to have a little Prelude
on
these so and and November November 19th
I think it says someone text a resident
texted me and they said on College
Avenue the trees on the west side of the
road have lost their leaves while the
East Side trees still have leaves is
there any significance to this and so
that's kind of an interesting question
right they're right there on College
Avenue trees on one side maybe losing
leaves at faster than the leaves on the
other
side they are not different kinds of
trees but that's a very good question uh
and so when I answered this I thought
well there are uh two things two
environmental conditions that cause
trees to decide to lose their leaves and
so my question to you is what are those
two environmental conditions and given
that could the trees on one side of
College Avenue be legitimately dropping
leaves
yeah oh well one thought that came to
mind immediately was the sun the sun
yeah I was going to say there's an
obvious one that I was going to try and
trick you with a little bit G especially
given today right the first one is
temperature and then obviously one side
of College Avenue shouldn't be that much
colder than the other side of College
Avenue but so if we follow up that sun
definitely is involved in that um how
does the sun trigger that and would one
side of the street be different from the
other side shade shade right so the one
of the things that can that triggers
when they drop their leaves is uh the
duration the light duration so as the
days get shorter there's a certain
triggering mechanism in there that
causes that so yeah the answer that came
up with is the same one that you guys
came up with is you know theoretically
the one side could be receiving less
daylight depending on how that you know
how that you know Ray the angle of those
rays are coming in if they're being
blocked more on one side than in the
other side as the the Sun goes through
there so I said it seems very very
possible that one side of college the
trees could be losing their leaves just
a little bit ahead of the other side
there so Professor Markin would that
mean that one side of the street would
have their the leaves come out earlier
Leaf earlier well that's a good question
I now I don't know if sunlight is
involved in that portion of it my guess
is that is much more uh temperature
dependent so I would say that the leaves
would probably come out at about the
same they should come out about the same
time we'll be watching we'll be watching
right text me text me when you see it
well do our Urban Foresters or arborus
have any questions V that question for
do for Professor
Markham Grant Spencer
Elena
no okay good job good job okay are there
are there any other announcements small
victories or
comments okay seeing none we're going to
go on to conversations with residents
and visitors and we have a visitor today
who um is uh not only I don't know if I
can say a visitor because she now works
within City Hall so she may be visiting
and she may be a resident and she may be
all those but I asked visiting for a
while for a while right so Megan do you
want to just introduce yourself and then
we'll go around and introduce
ourselves
Megan can you hit the green button just
so we yeah awesome I'm not a pro at this
yet in this um so my name is Megan Meyer
this is officially week three for me in
a newly created role of director of
administration and development the big
idea is that I help to take some of the
things that uh mayor Kessler's been
juggling as you all know his schedule is
absolutely insane and so I'm going to be
taking on lead for development projects
pertinent to you all obviously with
projects like 20 200 East Main I'd be
helping liaison from a staff perspective
with Developers for that project and
others coming up in the future um on a
number of other commissions L strategy I
know I see some other familiar faces
here as well other than that I'll also
be spearheading our Communications
program you were all probably previously
familiar with Sam some Sam's departure
we've been doing Communications by
committee so I'm going to kind of jump
in and Lead that group although we'll
still have everybody involved Spencer is
heavily involved in that as you all know
um that and then just kind of a jack of
all traits other special projects as
they come up and so I'm sure a couple of
them will come out of projects that you
guys are rooted into um I come to you
all by way of White Hall where I was at
for four years um I do not live in
Bexley but I like to say I'm Bexley
adjacent I'm over in Franklin Park so I
do enjoy a very quick commute um and I
live there with my son and husband and
small weener dog Ralphie um so anyway um
happy to answer any questions and if not
I'm sure I'll see you all on all the
other boards and commission misss that
you serve on as just take a quick minute
C starting with you and let's just go
around and see our names because there's
14,000 names in
B I'm Celeste
Williams I'm Linda
zepnick Sheila stra and you have a big
job and we're glad you're here yeah
thank you Mary mcmah Susan quintens Jim
Wilson so this side is tree commission
over here and then you probably met
Grant y Grant Archer Andrew good to see
you Spencer
Martin try Mark I'm good to see
you so thank you for coming Megan I'm
sure there'll be a time that you come
under official business you know that
will breing asking you for some help
with communication or vice versa all
right sounds good thank you for the
invitation okay thank you for showing up
okay um so Audra do you want to
reintroduce yourself or you don't need
to you could just be a visitor and Luke
you can reintroduce or introduce
yourself if you wish you're okay so I
will just mention that Adra young was
with us last time and she's uh pursuing
her degree in landscape design and just
came back to give us a second second
test or second chance maybe and Luke
this is your initial Voyage this is my
initial uh so after continu conversation
with manette I got an invitation to come
here today so thank you I've had the
opportunity of meeting some of you um my
name is Luke mle and I live in Bexley uh
D montros my wife and two children um I
currently work at the dollar burum and
have wiggled myself into a niche
position um it's a volunteer and
Outreach position but I get the
opportunity of working with each
department uh when I first started there
it was fully volunteer focused but I now
get to work in plant research
sustainable landscape design pollinator
research and honestly it's the best job
I've ever had so I want to come here
today to to offer my services in any way
I can I participate in what the great
work you're already doing um I'm a
master of none but I would get my best
effort and every opportunity that I can
get so so Luke the director of do
arborium some decade and a half ago was
instrumental in helping us with our
arborium application so it's kind of a
nice Synergy today to have um Dr Brennan
from arbet and Morton arbored do the
speech and then you come as a
representative from do is a great person
I work with him a lot on designing
Gardens for some local businesses around
the new Yark area um and I've I've spent
a lot of time at Morton when I lived in
the Chicago region and Chicago Botanical
Garden as well so when we move back to
Central Ohio beex has seemed like a
great fit for obvious reasons um and you
know the Dos AR burum I'm not officially
representing them today but I will bring
the best I can from them a lot of the do
arum staff actually live in the Columbus
area and some of them actually in the
Franklin Park area as well so um
anything that we can offer definitely
would like to do that do you have a card
sorry do you have a a card we just
changed numbers so I'm going to have a a
permanent card I'll bring it next week
okay thanks okay well welcome I just
also wanted to note um Lucas nice to
meet you um so we've done a lot of work
also with um Brent Pickering and um so
for those of you who remember we did the
field trip a couple of years ago out to
Dos when we were looking at the Japanese
garden and that was kind of an
inspiration for the Commonwealth pond so
um dos has been a great resource and
help to us as well so tell tell Brent we
said hi love to have you guys come back
out
R time when the weather's not 10 hey you
know what else is there to do so so Luke
the other um aspect the another tie is
that eleno was the designer for the
plantings surround the education center
is that not right so yes I did the
design for the xan learning complex and
also the summer Terrace Garden yeah so
so we have I spent a lot of time down
there right now with Peter L nice we
have we have a lot of ties That Bind so
welcome glad to have you okay so BR on
to you and staff
report yeah well no just number three I
mean you know
currently can you turn on your
microphone please yeah uh right now the
crews are working on stumps um and
smaller removals that we didn't have boy
brothers do for us uh with the new
um the new year uh we were able to hire
two new um ground maintenance employees
that will help us with uh hopefully
maintaining um Broad Street better and
uh and in the winter time they will be
doing young tree trimming so we can
hopefully get a some sort of program
going for that so are they arborous or
um no no they they're just they have the
opportunity to become an arborous we
never say no to anybody who wants to
further their education that way but uh
we'll divide the the three Arbor up that
we have and they'll they will will be an
arborist with them uh trimming trees and
stuff like that sorry of like a iners
tutorial that and you know they'll be
chipping the brush I mean the arborus
will be trimming the trees most of the
time okay can I ask a question how long
does it how long do you have to wait
until after a stump's been removed
before you can plant another tree it
depends on the stump depends on the
species depends on how big the stump is
big yeah usually you don't want to
replant plant back in there because when
you
stump out when you grind out a stump
you're only grinding out maybe six or
seven inches of that stump and there's
still probably you know 20 inches of
that wood still in there and that has to
Decay and there'll always be fungal
Roots come up over time which I'm sure
Jim has in his yard in the
corner um so yeah it really depends if
it's a maple tree I mean you it be a lot
sooner it depends on how dead and
decayed it is is
so thanks my answer is once it stops
sinking once it stops
sinking okay other questions for
Grant so how how close are you to having
eradicated the dead trees or the trees
that are on your removal list then uh
we're relatively close I think they're
in uh finishing up the the South End um
and then we'll move to the north end but
a handful not quite
yeah 20 right and is it too cold to do
that kind of work no oh okay it's that's
a little slower I mean yeah yeah I have
to tell you you removed two on my block
and the thing that they used to cut
those trees down was kind of scary yeah
was that void Brothers yeah yeah they've
got the equipment don't they oh my God
yeah it looks like a horror movie it you
know gorgo from the deep is coming so
and Spencer do you have anything you'd
like to add to Grant
comments no okay all right well okay
here we go then so as you as um you you
know we have um no report from the mayor
today because he's out of town and no
applications Monette did you have
anything for us I didn't have anything
on the agenda but you're welcome to jump
in
here maybe just a small update okay um
I've had set a goal to have majority of
my residential landscape Plan reviews
done by the new year I was close to my
goal I have about five projects left to
review and I still have to input some
stuff into the system we have quite a
few projects that need some sort of
followup or followup in the spring
because they weren't completely
installed or followup for other reasons
and over the next month or so month and
a half Ellen and I are going to meet to
review those as I finish up the last of
the landscape reviews and we hope to
have have some
more projects to review with maybe you
before the commission meeting in March
in March okay yeah all right I have a
question for manette please I know that
um our our foundation also gave money to
the to support the plan at um St Charles
and I was wondering what kind of
evaluation they have had since people
have complained about they being not
planted
correctly so I currently have focusing
on residential installations I've not
yet moved on to commercials so those
will be I imagine starting in Spring and
just like I did with the residentials um
we'll go in order of most important to
oldest and that may vary yeah may vary
year by year to that point um I don't
think that the uh grant that the
foundation gave to St Charles has been
exercised yet so I I don't know why yeah
but that's that's that's a condition so
can yeah can I jump in really quick on
just a small thing that the mayor might
have covered the mayor's report um I
just wanted to share with everyone that
next um Wednesday the 24th at 5:30 here
at City Hall we are having a public
Workshop to talk about um the
possibility and the potential options
for closing down the block of Colombia
between Colombia Commonwealth North and
Commonwealth South um everyone is
welcome to attend and so I just wanted
to let everyone know um we're going to
be hosting a workshop we're going to be
advertising it and just hopefully trying
to get some input from the community as
to
see what the appetite might be for
actually connecting the two sides of
Commonwealth Park so so our only people
with standing allowed to speak no okay
so it's everybody's allowed to speak
yes is this in the paper any place um um
I think I think it was in the blast and
it probably will be in the blast again
this Friday thank you oh and Grant is
saying it's on the City calendar website
as well okay okay so um so as we say we
didn't have the mayor's report um and no
application so we thought we'd just uh
go and talk about some of the the areas
that we've flirted with but haven't had
the chance to really really talk about
so um one is the Arbor Day month year
celebration and the first is a Bexley
Landmark tree Focus um Sheila has been
kind enough to Champion this area for
the last couple years so she's going to
give us a little
overview yes um so we are going to focus
on the year of the sycamore trees um
based on the love of sycamores that our
mayor has and I think it's a a worthy um
inventure so I would like to ask any of
you if you see one of your favorite
sycamore trees to let me know um we'll
be putting it out there for the public
to nominate um their favorite sycamore
trees there are many I think this is the
most um glorious time of the year to
admire a sycamore tree they're I think
most striking in the
winter um and so I'm excited about it
and um having one Focus tree specimen I
think makes it a little bit easier to
achieve um Grant do you have any
comments about this
Mission I think that's awesome there is
a lot of very beautiful sycamore trees
yeah in the city
all right so so Sheila I know before
there have been applications I think you
put together an application one year was
on City website or on the I don't think
it was on the Arboretum website how
could we go about having that available
I think Spencer did one for me last year
didn't you Spencer I believe no that
wasn't me was no wasn't you another guy
named Spencer okay I don't think I
didn't formulate any application and I
didn't put it anywhere I'm sorry I
couldn't hear you Spencer I didn't um
develop any application or publish
anything anywhere so maybe it was
someone else well what would you think
about developing an application I mean I
I think we have one that's could be a
baseline um probably a little bit easier
since it's a single Focus um and I could
I could certainly forward that to you
yeah that's fine you can send it to my
email and I'll review it okay maybe make
some edits okay I don't know Grant do
you have any other thoughts
about you know how we did it
before oh yeah there is a some kind of
application generic we can kind of
fine-tune it um I'll send it to you
Spencer yeah and um if you have any
questions you can let me know if anyone
has any enthusiasm to um give me your
energy on um touring the sycamores let
me know that as well I think there are
also Alys of sycamores throughout the
city are there not London ples London PL
okay so let's say on Sherwood I was
driving down there the other day and
they have some gigantic it seems to me
they're Sycamore I mean only by from
size but that's London planes they're
all London planes okay are we going to
make a distinction between London planes
and Sycamore so I think most people
probably can't tell the difference I
that's not that's up
to so so that's something I shall take
on the challenge yeah so Sheila that is
something to consider I mean I think a
lot of people do see a London Plane and
think oh that's Sycamore but it's not
and so you know I think the question
would be do we want to be do we want
to there's a big difference but not to
most people correct is it mainly size
collar size yeah pretty much are the
sycamores more gnarly not
necessarily great try so being that
Bexley is fortunate to live near a creek
you know Sycamore is like creeks and I
think we have a great opportunity to use
this both you know as an educational
tool and to maybe have a a small
description we're interested in
sycamores not London Plains because you
know this is the way sycamores look or
what were your thoughts Elena I mean I
think that as an arboretum it might it
might be interesting to make a
distinction and to use it as an
educational purpose and to allow people
to be like this you know they look
similar but just to bring up the details
in terms of like the color of the trunk
and the size of the leaf and and all of
that they don't a British accent right
and and the other small thing just to
mention so the the pedestrian bridge
that we are designing to go across Alum
Creek um we actually have cited it so we
can save two giant sycamores um and and
use that as like markers for the
community to be able to see on the on
the Livingston side or the excuse me the
Allen creep side so um yeah and
Professor Markham has to be fertile
territory for you what do you think of
doing sycamoris versus sycamoris and
London plains that sounds like more of a
political
question well that well that's also one
of your expertises now political
scientist right I guess the question is
are you fond of sick of
ORS okay all right there you go so and
do you want me to mention about the golf
tour yes of course so um last year we
did a a fun golf cart tour that was um
more attended than I ever imagined it
was a lot of enthusiasm and the group
suggested that I do it in the fall and
so I'm going to plan a golf cart tour in
October and um of course the the group
also thought I should have treats at the
end so we'll talk about that um but you
know I think the fall is a is a
wonderful time of the year here to um
look at our beautiful AR bitum and trees
and we'll focus also on some of the
choice syores yeah so I don't know how
many golf carts there were last year 14
15 16 I think 15 yeah it was like afraid
yeah it was it was really a visual
picture yeah a visual visual yeah and a
and a lot of of um members of our senior
center so it was it was it was a great
outing um I wanted to mentioned that the
one Earth one trillion tree celebration
will be at the South community garden on
April 20th
10:1 um Spencer and I talked and I was
saying last year I felt there's an
absence of uh of information and focus
on trees there was a lot on recycling
environment sustainability but nothing
on trees and asked him if he could find
some exhibitors that would showcase it
could be mulch or trees or how to plant
a tree and I think you accepted that
challenge didn't you yeah I accept but I
haven't reached out to any organizations
yet well I I think you know when um
Elizabeth gets back we can do that
together
so
[Laughter]
Luke right you have a lot of trees I was
just thinking do be interested in doing
something yeah maybe yeah I mean it'd be
a great time for do Zita to exhibit or
Le at least have you know maybe a
variety or show a variety of your trees
I
don't Saturday April 20th it's the it's
the week before Arbor Day and Earth Day
because we felt it would be easier to
get exhibitors and vendors than
um see see how smart we were yes yes so
okay our day author presentation on
Wednesday April 10th um the authors and
photographers of wise trees two National
Geographic photographers live in New
York City will be here to show their uh
images from their award-winning book
wise trees it's a A visual
representation of unique trees around
the world they visited all seven or 17
continents to get these trees and um a
couple of the unique trees that they
pictured one was the tree that survived
911 I think it was the cal cal pair that
they took huh naturally that they took
up to the Bronx to the botanical gardens
till it got strong and then they
replanted and another tree that they
show is the apple tree that Newton saw
when the Apple fell and he was able to
talk about gravity so those those are
two that come to mind but there you know
lots of other ones and the photography
is Fab abous and not only are they Nat
Geo photographers they also have
Galleries and their photos are in
museums isn't again the date April 10th
Wednesday April 10th 1:30 at the
library and they they're coming in
person it's not a zoom so they're
actually coming in person and I do you
want to talk about the Arbor Day tree
planting or tree giveaway and
then uh yeah so this year we're still
going to use yard Barbers to plant the
trees uh we decided we're going to stick
with one specific tree this year so
people um we're going to focus on tree
canopy um so we decided the northern
katapa would be a good species to plant
okay all right so yeah we met um with
Grant and BJ and uh they were telling us
the travails of last year that giving
people a choice of three different trees
is perhaps two tree choices to many and
we're still looking at how we can
simplify the process still get trees
planted viably we actually have yard
Barbers plant the trees in the tree
residence yards now and so the final
question Grant is answered what will be
the tree choice so tell us a little bit
about the characteristics of this tree
Grant um not too many people know about
the katapa it's a mediumsized
tree um it'll get 20 to 30 feet tall and
it'll have a spread of 15
uh feet or so um it does Bloom has a
very beautiful Bloom and a fragrance to
it it does have some seed pods which are
used for uh people use them to go
fishing and stuff but um it's a unique
tree and you don't you don't see it very
often so do we have any in Bexley we
have a few um we have two on the
commonwealths okay M that mimic the so
the soccer fields and then we have some
on the South End I can't think of uh
Grant no yeah South End cassingham by
the havenswood park kind of area so is
there a Southern katalpa and a northern
katalpa southern and a northern southern
is not uh I think it's on the invasive
species list honestly oh really because
it's weak
wooded um so but the northern is a
better selection for here in Ohio okay
and do they have any liabilities
I mean are they are they prone to
disease or they have minor insect issues
but nothing nothing nothing scary okay
are residents allowed to is it still
just in the front yards in the kind of
the right away or is it if they want it
in their backyard it can go it's
wherever they want it wherever they
want the not the
northern the northern is native to this
area and it has benefits to pollinators
and like moths and stuff so it's a good
tree
choice but I'm sorry Spencer I wasn't
listening I just said it's native to
this area the northern Catalpa and it's
great for pollinators such as Ms so it's
a good tree for more than just canopy
but habitat as well okay good and it's
available right grant okay um on Amazon
yeah you can get it on Amazon okay I
mean one of the um other aspects of the
decisionmaking was um Grant and BJ from
Yard Barber saying that if you buy in
quantity the price would be uh better
than trying to buy 10 of three different
trees
so think we planted nine or 10 last year
30 we planted 30 last year 10 of each 30
trees so the price goes up when we're
planting them know when yard Barbers is
planting them so when weren't planting
them and then just dropping them off
that's when we were doing a 100 trees
yeah so Audrey and Luke we found that
sometimes when we Dro trees off they
migrated to other areas of Columbus or
they were sold on eBay or they weren't
planted or they're planted in the wrong
spot so we're trying or they weren't
planted correctly so we're trying to you
know increase the tree canopy cover and
the viability of the trees through you
know as I said a more simplified process
so um anything on AR burum website that
you want to do between now and then
Spencer that I want to do from now and
then that you'd have for a goal between
now and then between now and Arbor Day I
don't know I would love to get
additional species on our tree list um
update kind of the tree glossery page um
I'm working on that but I haven't had
much time lately like Grant said we've
been kind of finishing up the removals
as of late but um I'm hoping yeah to
just continue making uh edits on that
and completing the website good well now
that we know it's going to get worldwide
recognition after today yes okay
anything else about the Arbor Day week
month
year okay we will go on to invasive
species ordinance and discussion so you
got a lot of information attached Mary
sent so Mary how would you like to go
about presenting this um wow wow yeah
that's right I'm gonna take this down
for Luke and audre to look at while I
think it should all be attached right
glance to the agenda
okay um so I took a look at the um
ordinances that we currently have in
place um we have ordinance 10268 which
is prohibited species and then we've got
the vegetation weed Control Ordinance
1492 um just for the sake of of ease
here and simplicity um
14921 I found um the city of Akin's
noxious weed um ordinance and I liked
how they formatted it because basically
instead of listing all these various
kinds of invasive species they basically
reference the Ohio Administrative Code
for noxious weeds so anytime that that
gets updated then the ordinance is
automatically updated because it's
referring back to that administrative
code and I I think for our sake it might
be a good approach to take um that way
we're not constantly having to worry
about whether or not you know there's
this new noxious weed and we better get
it on our list well I'm G to ask the
lawyer Mr Wilson would that be allowed
in a code that um you have a link to
another site or does it need to be
called out um I I think it's generally
permissible to incorporate other laws of
course you then lose control so if
something gets added to the list you
disagree with then you you've made it
unlawful even if you wouldn't want to do
so um I mean we could talk to the City
attorney to confirm that the other thing
that's makes it a little more difficult
is that unless there's the capability of
like creating a link in our official
code it requires more work for anyone
that wants to obey the law but we could
those aren't insurmountable barriers if
we're comfortable with them put on our
own website sort of
list yeah well they're yeah it's good
questions and good um good conversations
to have doesn't feel like right now
there's the right answer yeah they just
say that noxious swed shall have the
same meaning as in section 9015 3701 of
the Ohio Administrative Code as may be
amended and shall also mean poison ivy
and poison oak which I think is
interesting how they Point those out
separately like that
but and then
um they go on with their unmaintained
plants and that sort of thing
okay and in our code we actually call
out
trees and shrubs yes we
do and so um you're feeling was again to
align that with the Department of
Agriculture there is no such list with
the Department of Agriculture for trees
with the exception of um for example
alien an alien alanthus thank you
alanthus altisma tisma TSA a tree of
Heaven um I want to point out too in
case you weren't aware Grant um that the
the northern Catalpa is on that
list but based on what I read um
the reason that it's not recommended um
as a street tree is because supposedly
has weak wood and um Branch structure so
I mean that makes sense you wouldn't
want something like that on a street
but
yeah they're tight sorry they're well
taken care of so yeah what do they
planting these we're not planting these
right away we're front yards and
backyards that's why I was thinking it
might not be so much of an issue but it
is on our list so I don't know if that
means anything what are they planted on
Center
there I mean are they tight is it tight
it is it's probably 35 feet 40 feet
that'd be fun to see in the spring I
mean also they're also not planting well
yeah it would be it's neat I like
it okay do you want to go on Mary um so
let me
just um just going back to the tree and
shrub um just a couple of recommen
recommendations that I had was um
including the Latin names just for
clarification um several were listed
this way and some then aren't um we list
shrubs is not permitted to be planted in
public places so I wasn't sure of the
intent of that restriction um there is
an exception in that for the Beckley
parks department and so I mean I know we
plant shrubs in public places so you
know is it meant to mean we don't want
to plant invasive
shrubs
um like for example you know like right
outside of City Hall we planted shrubs
so does that fall under this
ordinance and
um and then also um just some
suggestions for adding um under the
subsection prohibitions I I had seen on
another ordinance somewhere else that
they had put no person no person shall
attach or place any rope wire sign
poster hand or other thing on a city
tree shrubber plant and no person shall
alter any City tree um I know there's
I've seen two in my area of town where
people have uh hammered signs into the
trees Street trees you know slow
children at Play Type signs which you
know I get but then again you know
that's not appropriate
obviously I think that's already in an
ordinance isn't that I think it
somewhere in
1206 of the ordinances
okay I'm a little behind I'm trying to
get up there figure out because I
thought shrubs was more like a category
and it listed specific shrubs but I
haven't okay I don't I don't know if I
looked at
126 um I could be Mis in the section too
okay and then again we have that
reference to a director which um kind of
sounds like Grant so maybe a new title
for
you and then um
I wondered if we could in include some
verbiage that states that you're not
allowed to plant Eng English ivy winter
creeper or any other kind of a Vine that
may be allowed to climb up a tree
because those can you know obviously do
some serious
damage so Mary and I talked a little bit
and Jim about what we do with the
information Mary's presenting today and
as we remember Jim is looking at
reviewing the ordinances that pertain to
tree commission so we we thought this
was kind of a good um floor a noxious
floor to start and to then maybe
transfer to Jim's committee to look and
so is are you still feeling that's a a
good direction Jim yeah I think it was
it would be useful to have folks input
but it would make sense and probably uh
Troy could tell us best but it seems
like Council would probably prefer if
we've got ordinance revisions we want to
make that we offer them all at once
rather than oh for
sure uh you know we we passed an
ordinance five years ago where we
Revisited this um so we want to dig that
out and see uh we added
several uh species to it and I remember
I think at the time we took milked off
of it milkweed had on it right bamboo is
a big one there's a whole section
devoted to Bamboo yeah yeah well we had
a yeah we we had a specific bamboo
ordinance at that time because we had a
specific bamboo problem correct yes we
did yes uh so uh we probably want to
maybe pull out that that ordinance and
look at what that discussion was uh you
know it seems uh to align it with the
Ohio uh does simplify it I don't think
there's any problem with that my guess
is if you compare them and maybe you did
then ours is more extensive than Ohio's
it's not no our less extensive yeah is
it yes
but the one Ohio's is um extremely
comprehensive because it also takes into
consideration what's growing out in
fields sure in the rural areas of the
state and a lot of that stuff so far
doesn't grow here hopefully um but
there's few it wouldn't be a problem to
have extra things that aren't a problem
for us they don't have milkweed on their
no it's been removed but it's my
understanding they update every five
years to declare something invasive
that's the information I have from the
website maybe Luke you you no different
it's yeah every five years they update
so I think the 23 was the was the
updated yeah because purple loose strife
is on there and we you know there's a
lot of people that have it in their
yards and I think we just you know
that's an educational thing but I'd like
to see that added as well is is this for
um for all of beex is this an ordinance
that covers even people's private
property in terms of like if you know I
know that the one thing with the bamboo
it was an issue with neor
and spreading under you know fences and
all of that but is is the intent that we
have this and then are able to use this
as a tool to go to people's personal
properties and be like you have to
remove this it would be because they're
the code officer would would use this to
to site okay okay so Jim any more
information you want us to review here
so um first of all with respect to
desecration of trees um that's I love
that word covered in 10
2609 oh okay um that
10268 has prohibited species of trees
and then if I'm remembering
correctly um noxious weeds are covered
under um I think under miscellaneous
building regulations
1492 yeah
I think we made desecration of trees of
felony one when we revised that well I
was just going to say so what happens if
you know someone has a beautiful tree in
their backyard and they have kids and
they want to do a tree house is a treeh
house building a treehouse on a private
tree considered a desecration of the
tree n26 only applies to public trees
okay so I I think that in term so are so
maybe I wasn't following so are we we're
talking about two different an ordinance
that's noxus weeds and an ordinance
that's like what can you do in public
right away basically corre okay I mean
like you lost your dog and you put up a
sign and you use a nail to you know
attach the sign to a tree right if you
go to other less enlightened uh
communities you'll see a lot of times
the public trees have a lot of flyers
and yes things on them and so our
feeling is maybe we do not enjoy having
that here in Bexley yes okay so 1492
would be um the first thing is no owner
or occupant having charge or control of
a premises in the city so that's our
opportunity then to you know address
noxious weeds in private
yards yeah I think unless I Mary that
you're aware of something that I'm
missing the reference to like shrubs and
Broad categories like that is in
14921
A2 and it's limited to plants that block
Vision um or um
um
exceed or is it's it's not very clearly
written but it has mostly to do with
where they're planted yeah rather than
prohibiting all shrubs um yeah under um
it was under
10268 .08 that I found the shrubs
reference um I think that's a I could be
wrong but I think that's a reference to
the fact that unless we allow it shrubs
can't be planted in the right of way it
just says shrubs yeah right but the
context is on um public streets or
public places which is essentially the
um Freon Freon okay could have misread
that so I think this is a good time then
to um you know keep the topics of this
conversation you know written down but
move it to Jim the ordinance review yeah
and I think that what Mary points out is
it could be a lot clearer if it's not
clear to us then re are gonna get
confused by itself so yeah okay as long
as Mary doesn't try to put Scottish
thistle back on the prohibited species
list I'm fine okay it was a joke used to
be on that okay thank you Mary and do
you have celest do you have I have a
question which is not going to be re uh
received very well if we put a list out
like this most people going are just
going to say well I don't recognize any
any any way that we can get photographs
oh yeah on this Ohio state has a great
read Library all right I know that takes
time but yeah words don't mean as much
as pictures in this case I think well
how about our Communications manager it
might might be a goodi okay thank you so
I want to go thank you Mary for the work
on this getting the ball moving you know
it's it's kind of makes your eyes glaze
over but you know it's no I know it's
just really great
stuff okay so I want to go back I
skipped Jim's topic to be included
discuss research Benchmark in the
development of a Bexley Municipal care
and planting program Jim I'm sorry I
don't know what I was thinking but do
you want to take the heard I knew it I
knew it um everyone I think knows from
previous meetings that you know one of
our objectives for the year is to
develop a a municipal care and planning
program and we sort of have assembled
nearly assembled a group to do that work
with um Celeste and Susan and I and then
some other citizens who are willing to
volunteer their time for it U but I
thought you know it would be useful
before we start into the process to hear
anything that that folks on the tree
commission think ought to be included in
such a plan so that we don't do all this
work and then come back to you and you
say well we would never have wanted such
a thing in here or why didn't you do
that and I realize it's a sort of a
morphous question but if there are
things that anyone believes ought to be
in such a plan I think it would be
helpful to hear that now and um at a
minimum if we don't put it in we'll tell
you why we didn't put it in the drafts
so Grant would would you like to start
with some topics again again we're this
is like a true brainstorming so if Grant
says something that celest doesn't like
it's okay we're just making a list we're
not you know we're not negotiating the
end of the universe so you go ahead
Grant okay okay does anybody I I have
some things I I wrote down I can start
sure okay so so remember
mber um I would be interested in um in
the maintenance section in a pruning
program and uh protection of uh newly
planted trees from Deer some of these
are specific I'd also be interested in
whether or not we will we would adopt
the Issa standards for planting so um
Spencer had sent me updated planting
standards and for instance they talk
about the depth of which tree should be
pled and the
flare which you know it's hard to
disagree with but they also in the same
document talk about the fact that you
need to remove the wires from the basket
and the burlap and the twine or you know
whatever string is around it and so the
question comes up you know if that's a
standard are we going to require that
not only a city but then in private you
know private uh uh project projects
where we're reviewing a landscap
application can you take just half of
the new standard that they suggested and
not the other half I mean they're
rhetorical questions but you know make a
good discussion um Grant had mentioned
uh some time ago about benchmarking I I
hope that that you did see if you
remember this that we talked a little
bit about um if you have 14,000 trees
how many staff do you need to tend those
trees am I right and remember this
correct yeah that came from planet goo
but yeah that one of my concerns right
but I mean it's a concern if if we plant
all the vacancies in the city do we have
the staff to take care of it or if we
don't have the staff how much staff do
we need and if we don't have the staff
and we don't have the interest in hiring
staff how much uh contract work would
have to be done to take care of the tree
is is that sort of what we were talking
about yes correct good um is there an
education component to you know what
we're
doing is is that part of a municipal
CARE program an education program um we
already kind of have done the mulch but
we have no um educational program for
that yet you know and Spencer's um
willingness I guess to Champion a flyer
my opinion would not be the end of the
education program and it the same thing
with anything we do whether it's you
know watering
mulching fencing you know how do those
education programs become
ongoing a little bit what Andrew was
talking about today well that was
sounded like it was part of being an
arboretum too right but you know you can
write it as a plan but not do it you
know that's that's like all good New
Year's resolutions right the first day
it's easy the second day it's hard so I
those are those are some things I just
sketched um Celeste you have some things
that you'd like to
add thank you my thoughts as well um I
know that there are variance about uh
you could cut out most of the net but
not all of it I think what I am not the
um not the uh person of authority in
this like Grant and Spencer would be but
some of that also depends on the size of
the tree and we here as the tree
commission don't suggest you plant
enormous trees well excuse me it's
mostly a state standard that's what the
Department of Natural Resources and
Forestry suggests that you plant a tree
that is Young which will grow safely and
quickly versus one that would struggle
because it's in a whole different
environment and its root systems well if
we segue with just that topic I think
one of the topics would be be the size
of the trees that are planted in a more
in a universal sense yeah so different
different information applies to
different
categories Linda um would this also
address certification of landscapers
that were coming to put plans together
is that I I you know again we're we're
not we're trying not to be judgmental
we're just adding everything and then if
something seems to be a little bit
outside the realm we can take it off
that's set in no I think you could say
maybe investigate whether or not
or and then I mean I really for me it's
it's the enforcement I mean we can
approve the plan and then they can
install it and then so well obviously go
out and check make sure it's been
installed correctly and then take uh
measures to rectify the situation and
that's I think that's probably for me
something that we haven't had it's been
lacking really okay okay so it and
that'd be part of the maintenance plan
okay okay the enforcement aspect okay
anything else
Sheila well I think um to piggy back on
what Linda had to say I think the
enforcement has improved and I'm
grateful that Monette is part of this
team um with Elena because it's a big
job and we've seen many projects that
haven't been um
planted the way we approved them um so I
think 2024 we'll see an improvement with
this and
um you know we we have only so many
people to do so many jobs and I do think
um the city should be commended on what
they can get done done and we we will
try to help with our eyes and um speak
when we can to give our um
suggestions okay thank you I'm
interpreting Sheila as saying we should
set realistic
goals well I always think realistic
goals are the only kind of goals that
are achievable and um in a perfect world
you know we could create this
environment that wouldn't be realistic
so yes realistic goals and um good
people and the work of
many Miss Mary um I'll I agree with
everything so far that's been said a lot
of great ideas um I was thinking I don't
know if this would fit in um but looking
at species that you know are more
Southern and whether we should start
thinking about you know what we want to
plant in the future with climate
change I think that's great you know
it's not just how we plant and how we
maintain it's what we plant yeah that's
what we plant and where we plant it and
it you know it is um obviously very
disappointing when you see trees that
have been planted and they haven't been
planted correctly and um you know that
they're not going to survive as long as
they should um and also I don't know
Grant are you familiar or have you heard
anything about um how a lot of the trees
nowadays that are grown won't survive
because of how they've been grown and
they're just not growing trees
correctly I have not heard anything
about that no okay you're hanging out
with the wrong people I well we're we're
bringing in some speakers in in March
who are people say that a huge problem
is the way that nurseries are growing um
trees whether it's in containers or you
know maybe when they sell trees to
cities it's kind of the least desirable
trees because it's such a large quantity
they can sneak in kind of not as great
of um you know individual
trees so I think that is a thing that's
happening and um it's hard to combat for
sure unless we had our own Nursery we
used to I know may I um say share my
thoughts as well as as Linda I piggyback
that because that was one of my greatest
concerns that it's not going to grow
well why bother if we don't really have
the standards for the planting itself
and I do think that our contractors that
come to the city will agree to do this
it may not always work out 100% but it
they know that they will know just like
they can't dump the oil down the dur
they do have they have they they have
they know that we have expectations and
I think that's smart to be able
to have that well known and asked of
them I'd also like to see um in my block
um I'm in the first block south of
Roosevelt um we lost uh at least four
possibly five big large trees in the
past few months um coule just two were
city um the other were on private but
it's it's like you know we we lost a lot
of habitat and I'd like to know canopy
in canopy if we can you know encourage
residents who cut down trees like that
if they will replace um I suppose do you
have to have a permit to cut down a tree
not your yard not in your own yard so
how do you think that would dovetail
with the municipal care and planting
plan though I mean we have to think
about the fact that you know we're not
doing private not or yet doing private
well I I don't know maybe if we were
required if we required residents to
have a permit before they cut it down
that way we would at least know that
they were cutting down a big tree and
not that we would stop them just it
would give us an opportunity maybe to
encourage them to put in something in
its
place um when um like a Davy trees or
whatever do they have to pull a permit
to cut a big tree D no okay no not here
in Bexley other cities do have that but
no one enforces it if we had a lot of in
other cities okay so it's a if we had a
lot of red tape maybe it would
discourage
them um anything else it's the sticker
shock of taking down one of those and
res are like I'm not gonna do that right
that's right um another
um something I was thinking about is uh
efficiency is there an efficient is
there um some multip of efficiency in
what we plant and how we plant it I
don't know the answer to that I'm just
holding it out um you know a time of
year kind of species
size
where uh and then I also thought that
maybe doing research on uh for instance
city of Columbus has come up with some
much stricter standards than they've had
before for planting and for um caliper
and cost of lost
caliper uh that we do some research and
looking at um the standards other cities
have and Ellen I think you've worked in
other districts Dublin New Albany
Westerville and are familiar with their
codes yeah I mean I think that you know
I think that would be helpful to
definitely look and see what other
cities are I mean there there are
certain um there are certain cities that
are known by both designers and
Landscape contractors that are just
really difficult to work in
um I don't think Bexley wants to be
really difficult to work in but I think
Bexley could certainly be a little bit
more I don't even want to say strict but
maybe more cognizant of tree replacement
so I don't think tree replacement most
people don't B at tree replacement um
particularly if there is a a dollar sign
that they can
potentially put money into a fund where
they might not necessarily be able to
plant trees on their site there are some
there are some um cities that their tree
replacement program is unrealistic
because they would say like it's every
caliper per caliper inch that has to be
replaced and if you have a
30in diameter tree that is coming down
and you have to then put in 15 2inch
trees 15 2inch trees in that same site
eventually when they grow you're going
to have to cut half of them if not the
majority of them out because of what
makes sense or not right so I think that
there needs to be something that is a
good balance and something that is
realistic in terms of going back to
realistic goals right so I
I've I've looked for an answer to this
question do the cities that have
stricter rules have better
outcomes I don't think so okay I don't
not not that I've seen okay not that
I've seen I think it's more of see more
than we do yeah not not that I've seen I
don't think that they necessarily have
better sites they don't necessarily have
better designs they don't necessarily
have better um you know when you're
driving around oh boy this is such a
better looking city than Bexley is it is
literally just uh I think it's perceived
as a headache from the homeowners the
the companies the businesses that are
having to work with them okay good okay
so do you have anything you'd like to
add yeah I think that um I mean I I I
think enforcement is a big one um I
think that one thing to maybe to
consider is when we do get a draft of
this is to actually have it
peer-reviewed by local landscape
contractors that we know and trust and
to have a sense from them to sort of say
like hey is this realistic or not right
and um because I think that you can
say any landscape contractor is going to
say yes I follow the you know kind of
the standards the planting standard
right I mean they're just they're just
going to say
that do they maybe not so you know
enforcement is a big thing but I think
that um if you you know for instance
just sat down with BJ and said like hey
this is what we're thinking is this
something that is realistic or not
getting their feedback might be helpful
and a different perspective than kind of
you know a city trying to enforce it
looking at realistically what the people
who are actually doing the work they
might have something and be like yeah
you know what no one does that or think
about this I mean it just it might be it
might be helpful good point and
communication I think yeah both in terms
of for the for the municipal as well as
you know I get asked a lot of times even
by private people they're like I'm
supposed to water my tree what does that
mean you know and and they they they
don't know it's like okay we'll put it
on a slow trickle well what is a slow
Trickle and how long is 20 20 minutes at
a slow trickle you know might be one
thing for one tree versus another and so
I think that and that might just be a
piece of our Arboretum as an educational
component for people to start to know
hey this is a repository of information
that you can find stuff or hell I mean
maybe arbet already has it and all we
need to do is have a link to that link
to it but you know I get asked a lot of
questions particularly about watering
that people don't necessarily know and
sometimes they're overwatering their
tree and they don't know it right
because they think oh it's a new
supposed to water it and they're
drowning it but they don't
know okay Spencer your
turn uh yeah there's a lot of good
points I think there is a lot missed
between the person who signs the
agreement the supervisor or the business
owner versus the guys who are going out
there and actually installing um so that
is a big barrier for
us um and yeah watering overwatering is
just as bad as underwatering and it
shows the same symptoms too um but
anyways yeah I feel strongly that we
should be diversifying plantings on
streets to promote um pest resilience
and regeneration for our
canopy um I get worried
about maybe grooving too strongly into
um single or even two trees recommended
per
Street um also I think we should have
like a more defined percentage of uh
kind of our planting goals each year for
example like x amount X percentage
should be native um X percentage should
be addressing that uh kind of the moving
climate that Ohio will be experiencing
x% to be sourced from local nurseries x%
to be non-sterile uh seed bearing trees
for habitat and so forth I think those
should be more strictly uh defined and
then yeah uh underline plant depth
that's you know there's so much research
going out about how important that is
for longevity and getting the most out
of our investment of these trees
so that's kind of what comes to mind but
I'm sure I'll have other opinions
develop with time well we're here every
third Wednesday so that's good it's not
a closed discussion so right
Monette from a 10,000 foot view in this
initial discuss everything that I've
thought of has been mentioned good yeah
I yeah probably more and Professor
Markham no okay all right and so I'm
going to swing back to Grant did we
cover most
everything the biggest issue is Staffing
and being able to actually police what
is happening because if I show up to a
site and they're planting you know two
or 300 plant material I'm going to see
the first five go in I'm not going to
stand there all day and watch the rest
of them right yeah you know and
there's a lot of certain things that you
know when you're
planting trees and they come from a
Southern state they're very Sandy root
balls and you can't remove all the wire
basket or you just have a mess it's just
it's not going to hold up well so I mean
there's just be careful with be careful
what you wish for right when when
there's certain things that sometimes
just have to happen I I have a question
for Grant in the transportation of the
tree and maybe Spencer you could speak
to this as well when you're transporting
them from the um from the nursery is
there something that really might affect
the tree as it it should be wrapped in
burlap if it's over so many miles or
degrees or yes uh before they even leave
the nursery we require a insect in
expect in and then inspection with
insects they have to be sprayed with uh
gypsy moth stuff and some other things
um typically I inspect them before they
even come out of the
nursery um and they have to be tarped
doesn't matter if they're going one mile
down the road or 50 miles down the road
they have to be tarped great thank you
for
that Mr Wilson do do you have enough
information now and or do you want to
add some more um no I have plenty of
information
and we will do our best to incorporate
as much of this into the work as
possible I made a list as speak good
great obviously interpreted through my
own understanding what you were saying
but um we'll try to build as much of
this in and if we don't put things in
we'll come back and explain why we chose
not I think it's was great
experience anything else okay we're
going to move along to photos of
plantings and front offenses Now isn't
that sort of a visual topic so Ellena
and Jim do you want to talk about this
and then give us all a camera uh yes so
we do not have photos of plantings in
front of fences to share with you today
but one of the things that we were
thinking about doing is with
fences new fences need to have plantings
in front of it by code they need to be
screened and there have been various
projects we've reviewed over the years
some successfully some not um not
reviewing but in terms of their
installation and their design and one
thing that Kathy has brought up and
asked me to do a couple of times that
I've said is is too difficult is like
can you just do a diagram that says this
is a fence and this is what it should
look like and I said you can't because
you don't know what the bed depth is in
front of that fence where whether or not
this is in a right of way or not just in
terms of from a design perspective are
there large shade trees what direction
is it facing how long is it how big is
it so there's not like there's an easy
thing that you can do like you might be
able to do with an architectural design
to say oh we want it to be English tutor
and so you have to have these five
elements there's not something with
landscape that is that easy to do so we
are thinking that it would be helpful
for us to come up with a written
Narrative of what our intent is we would
like to have the fence screened and have
a variety of plant material and layers
and this that and the thing and then
show a couple of examples of what we
think is good and potentially a couple
of examples of what we think is bad now
the examples that are because I think
sometimes for designers it's helpful to
kind of be like okay well they don't
like that sometimes seeing what's bad is
as good as seen is something that's good
we are not thinking that potentially we
would necessarily show anything bad from
the city of Beckley because people might
recognize it but when people are out and
about on your walks just EX exercising
walking your dog doing whatever if you
happen to see a fence that you like or
don't like if you could snap a picture
and send it to me and Jim if you want um
just so I can start I would like to kind
of have a repository of of information
that we can start kind of pulling
together and then it might be that we
need to go out into the you know
surrounding communities to find
something we might not be able to find
something that we don't like because we
might not want to offend anyone right
you can't necessarily put a black line
in front of it like someone's eyes right
you know so you can't recognize the
person everyone agree with that that's
not a concern I
[Laughter]
have so so that's that's kind of where
we're going in terms of something that
we would like to develop because um
oftentimes um it it is also there are
some fences that I am reviewing that it
doesn't even become come before the tree
commission but still you know they they
come in and they're just they're just
kind of bad and so it ends up like I'm
redlining a lot of things and changing a
lot of things and so if we're able to
have something that's like hey the tree
commission likes this both in terms of
things that we have to review or things
that are in the right of way it would be
a helpful document so we're just kind of
you know deputizing all of you to go out
and find pictures of what you
like that's what I was thinking that
Grant should do we should be deputized
as you know tree spotters or you know
what I mean go out and look at trees and
report back to
you what do you think of that Grant yeah
are there badges inv yeah yeah so one of
the things I knowing Ellen was going to
make this report I was thinking you know
you could look at your own yard do you
have a fence you know I have a fence I
could take a picture I could send it on
I do think yeah I was going to say so
you could start you know sort of in your
own territory proprietary a little bit
and see and then you know to your point
you're driving to the coffee shop take a
picture
so everybody willing to do that I phone
pictures adored right those are fine
okay yeah no nikons needed I'm so
disappointed that you're not going to
start at like a Grassroots Bexley Buzz
posting of
photos I mean just think how educational
that would right I try to stay away from
the bexy
wise I think that's a that yeah yes
enough about that so Professor Markham
you could give your first city council
leison report today all right well you
know uh we had a turnover um we uh I
just ended my two years as city council
president um Monique lamkey is the new
city council president uh my new
position is uh chair of the Safety
Committee so I pleased that I get to
work with Chief Lewis for the next two
years uh with that sort of my focus um
can you can you expand on that a little
bit when you talk about safety excuse me
what that in compes basically uh just
means I'm the main lay is on for the
police and fire those sorts of schools
to school safety or sure where I mean
you know wherever that where that may
intersect with us which is always sort
of an interesting you know area as well
uh I mentioned that I get the trifecta
of the Historical Society intriguing
commission and the library which is
which is kind of uh fun of course um we
did get uh said goodbye to Jen Robinson
and to Matt and we have two new members
Alex and Danny who came on board
um couple things we just had the meeting
last week we'll have another one next
Tuesday uh we have ordinances we had a
public public meeting on the ordinance
to prohibit uh cannabis operations in
the city uh that's said a third reading
Mee uh nobody came to speak for or
against that we just limit
establishments uh in Vexy it wouldn't
limit personal use or growth or anything
like that we wouldn't interfere with the
issue too but it would just be more of a
um uh restriction on on those in the
city uh Bexley Library agreement uh uh
Ben heckman's very busy over there at
the library you guys I'm sure uh know
that so we
passed an ordinance with an agreement
with the city and the library to allow
some of that work to be done including I
think there's a ramp coming in obviously
the park uh things like that uh first
reading a new zoning ordinance hit uh on
Tuesday for uh Livingston Avenue to
change the zoning uh of
uh
Francis Westward on Livingston Avenue um
we of course recently lost a court uh
judgment on that and we were part of
that judgment uh suggested that we
revise the Zoning for Livingston Avenue
and so this would uh re it wouldn't
actually change the zoning uh in terms
of what I believe that the city
considers but it would redefine it make
it a little more specific in terms of
what would be allowed
there uh pleased surprised to welcome uh
Megan and uh Carrie also we have a new
uh Finance director who will be taking
place at Beacher hail as he exits I
think in March so uh super excited to
see uh to bring on some very experienced
uh thoughtful people I think in the city
uh for the next few years questions
comments I'm here questions comments so
does the the failure of that thing on
Livingston mean that the um affordable
housing thing is not not allowed to
proceed I can't I haven't been following
it are you talking about the court case
that the city so the court case that the
city uh was for the affordable housing
that would take place uh Community
Builders on uh the funeral home site um
what I missed your question no I mean
does that mean it it can't go forward
that yes the cour court case was decided
against the city yep but is that that is
just for the Livingston site was there
has there been any discussion then on
what happens at 420 Cassidy no
okay but those are aligned I mean one
can't go in the other can't is that
correct I am not sure if that's true so
so Troy I I have never had the chance to
go to I guess the organizational meeting
of city council do they set goals or do
your committee set goals or is there
General flavor for the year so you know
uh we do set goals in terms of the
chairs do right we each have our own
sort of you know the things that I think
we're interested in doing and then
obviously we are receptive to the
community and everything like that and
and so they come out through that and
then obviously through the mayor we
don't uh we we we have what's called I
think a committee of the whole right now
so we don't have specific standing
committees like I don't have a Safety
Committee with like two other people and
it's only to allow uh a little more
flexibility in working however well we
tend to uh involve other council members
I mean I think if you're you know that's
the best way to do it is to involve
other council members depending on their
strengths and experiences when you're
you know coming up with legislation or
you have things that you're considering
that sort of thing there are no public
meetings of committees or or anything
like that generally those go through the
chairs and they have some discretion as
to who they work with if they want to
work with
anybody okay well that's that's helpful
that's good inside and Insider
information so thank you yeah not too
inside yeah not too inside experience
public yeah it's it's all on YouTube
right exactly yeah so um any other
questions can you Kudos on Catalina yeah
right
that's the hot new exciting thing right
I mean when we hopefully we'll have some
more uh you know some more stuff coming
in here in the next well so I know Mary
was telling me this yesterday and she
said she had eaten one and that their
pancake ball is the the yeah the menu
dour right yeah you know along those
lines I guess I should mention I'm sure
that mayor's talked about and we and
Megan talked about the land use strategy
uh committee that's been working and so
we have uh we had a workshop here I know
Susan was here for that and so um we are
kind of strategizing over the different
parts of Bexley and you know you talked
about North Cassidy we're talking about
Livingston we're talking about um you
know where the Boston Market is that
that's the working group that I'm in is
East uh Main Street we have a West Main
Street we have a Cassidy those are all
meeting uh in the next week or so as
well um you're certainly welcome and we
invite all you know attendance and input
into that that's going to be going on
all year long to develop sort of like a
vision and strategies for all those
different parts of Beckley so yeah that
area is the one that I'm in the working
group and I know like a lot of the input
that we got in the public uh Workshop
was you know some you know bring in some
vibrant businesses let's you know that's
Main Street of course is something I
think we're all get you know excited
about and when we get a new thing like
calina is in it definitely like
demonstrates that right over the whole
Community goes wow this is great we have
a fun place to go and maybe get
something to eat or drink or whatever
yep well just you know since it's the
anchor the East Anchor the the East
Gateway be nice to have energy down
there yes yep yeah so well give me that
input because actually I meet we're
meeting on um Friday morning our our
working group over on that on the East
part of Main Street yep that's good put
that next restaurant Mexican restaurant
comes up over and over again and as a
matter of fact I've starting to get a
kind of a reputation I think and the
Landy strategy group because I keep
bringing up the Mexican restaurant we
hope you need some trees yeah it's not
kind of a reputation
TR and we do get some representation
from Jim Wilson on trees that that is
brought up every so often in the land
you good
good residential what working group are
you in residential with which seem to
have the most opportunity for trees yep
yeah that's good anything else I had
just one small update for everyone uh
just in case people are are wondering um
we did go out for public bid for the
outdoor reading room with the
library and we had one bid received that
was over 20% than what was the
advertised price so um we are in the
process right now of uh setting up
meetings with that contractor the
contractor was Miles mlen who actually
submitted a bid um and trying to meet
with them and seeing what the breakdown
was get a little bit more information
potentially value engineer the project
and then get a potentially revised cost
estimate um the cost estimate that we
originally had um was done prior to the
final end of the construction drawings
and so there were some details that
actually made the cost go up further
than than what we had anticipated um and
so that project is not you're not going
to see it anytime soon so I know we had
said that we were going to try to have
it I mean it's going to happen this year
it's just not going to happen in the
next couple of months so what the goal
is is to revise the estimate make any
changes that we need to do see how we
move forward go out to bid sometime in
the spring for a construction late
summer early fall so so we can still try
to get into the 100th year on that so
just giving just a small update on that
um Jim do you have anything to add I was
just going to suggest that otherwise the
money might be spent on defibrillators
for the LI board after we saw the
estimates yes well so we got so much
Library power that yeah the landscape
designer a member of the board and the
city council leison I would say the
library is well represented today and
and what what is nice is that um I I
have reached out to Miles M and they are
willing to come in and speak with us
which is great so um so hopefully we'll
be able to get some really good kind of
Intel and feedback on that and then um
so I just wanted to give everyone an
update on that yeah that's GNA yeah it's
going to be exciting project um next
meeting Wednesday February 21st one week
after Valentine's Day just saying it's
the easy way to remember at four o'clock
thank you for coming Troy welcome back
good to have you good to have your input
from city council and we are
adjourned yeah well amazing what a lack
of landscape applications will
do ST
power
yeah okay
was well they're all confusing and then
and then they kind of contradict each
other so