we can also do some larger scale kind of
Assessments of plantations and breing
programs associated with you can also do
some larger scale kind of Assessments of
Plantation
okay sorry
guys we're not getting audio from the
speakers so M it keep keep going so and
then following that you know we've got
some of the other approaches we use are
morphological assessments and so we'll
do saffr staining and look at Water
transmission through the St and then
we'll also Al kind of look at
metabolomics to identify candidate gen
associated with tolerance or resistance
and so the bottom figures are relevant
for all intensive purposes but they're
volcano plots and material or dots on
the left or the right represent down
regulated or up regulated genes
associated with getting an ulated byal
disease and so if you pan over to the
far right figure um kind of that those
overlapping circles we're actually
interested in that very small kind
crosssection of trees that are in not
highlighted right there that it grants
on and so we're really looking for just
a handful of genes and we found six to
eight genes right now that are canate
genes that are that are correlated with
with resistance and so now that we have
these markers we can actually just go
across the landscape and look for these
gen markers which is really nice um and
so we're going to continue to kind of
build these programs out look for more G
markers but funny you should suggest
GMOs because with GMO technology we can
actually just activate genes um sadly
from a for service point we're not
allowed to use GMO
material so we don't use approach even
though technologically it would be much
cheaper than
appr but the GM approach has often
nature and actually had to back off that
a little
bit
gotr which is kind of problem but
something and so so what we have here um
highlighted is just three different
programs where we're we're creating um
more or less seed Orchards with regly
appropriate material um for both cold
tolerant um locations so these can these
coold tolerant locations in northern
Minnesota need to be able to withstand
like4 temperatur that's not something
that we get here and so the material
that goes up there
needs population as well as a lower
Midwest population so we're in the
process too of doing some Regional
genetics work um that extends into the
South and collecting Southern spe or
Southern selections um but sadly
American elm has this Ploy issue where
it's a diploid a tetraploid and a and a
triploid in some conditions so the
Jefferson alum for instance is a a loid
and the different ployes they don't
cross so it's like a it's a mutational
kind of duplication of the number of
chromosomes we have and so or the plant
has humans would die if that occurs it
doesn't really happen but plants are
able to kind of compartmentalize that
move forward so it's pretty cool so the
species you're looking at in northern
Wisconsin and Connecticut are that's not
Elm no they're all Elms they're Elms
yeah and they're tetrol Elms and so but
we couldn't like cross them with a
Southern Elm they wouldn't take they're
in comptible and so yeah so we've got
material in this Northern cold hearty
location from you know roughly 32
accessions that you know are pretty
pretty wide as far as their their um
their hardiness zones that they're
associated with and here's one of the
examples of where we're pulling this
material so these are black ash stands
up in northern Minnesota so they still
have you know their black ash stands up
there um it hasn't yet hit there but
there are a billion of them and if once
we lose those those are the headwaters
of the Mississippi right and so that's
going to change the hydro ology of the
whole Mississippi um into perpetuity if
we don't have other material to put into
those systems um so we're we're in the
process of planting those out um we're
going to do that up in Wisconsin as well
as in
Michigan um we can skip to the next one
for brevity
sake and so moving on to like the cool
stuff um oh yeah so we're doing
basically we're just now doing a lot of
restoration to figure out how to best
use it and to kind of revamp our our
utilization techniques and so we've got
some riparian restoration work on the
fingerlakes where we have these cattle
inundated um you know riparian forests
and so I don't know if folks know but
like the forest service and other
federal agencies kind of subsidize
cattle grazing in New York um on Federal
Land to do do this and and um so we're
been we've been asked to come in and and
restore these systems um because
obviously there's a lot of FAL coliform
and some other issues that are
associated with having you know a bunch
of cattle near riparian systems um next
up so in these systems we're using
American elm bur red oer dogwood silver
maple speckled balder and those could be
species that we might be interested in
some capacity in using you know in some
of the natural systems in Bexley or or
across Backle um you can see here too
that we've caged these things with like
a hog wire fence um so it's really good
to keep deer off them they're reasonably
cheap to to construct and install um and
they reduce deer herbivory pretty pretty
extensively next up um so here's an
example of some of our trees you know
four to five years later I think that's
an alder on the left um but the the
panel in the middle there has my
colleague Nancy with you know a 12 foot
tree and so here's just it's just a you
reiteration that American elm grows
really quickly and then some Wildlife
that we found you know on the Elms and
Within These plantings you know so if
you plant it you know things will come
and so next up we've got some riparian
flood plane restaurant ation on EAB
impacted systems in Ohio so we've got
this work at Sheron Woods up in Clinton
um Conservation Area and then oak
openings and and so here we kind of did
some light assessments over the trees
that we planted not surprisingly you
know canopy openness is really
correlated with with survival of the
understory material um but you can see
you know that panel to the right you've
got an Elum growing in you know
functionally a swamp right so that just
is a good reiteration of how how durable
those species are um but you can see
that you know we get much better
survival in the in the sites that are
have canopy openness and so you know
this is just a reiteration of if you're
planting in a natural system you know it
really only makes sense to plant if if
there's enough light penetrating to the
the subcanopy
so here's some work we're doing in
riparian Forest here in central Ohio so
we've got five sites here in central
Ohio we've got this four block
configuration that we've rolled out with
two two blocks that are cleared two
blocks that aren't cleared um and then
two blocks that are planted and so so
we're planting on 2 meter spacings from
pretty dense plantings um and we're
planting Elm Baro Papa musclewood
coralberry and Nanny Berry and basically
there we're just looking at strategies
for for um guiding riparian restoration
activities and so you know I mentioned
uh to to the folks here that we can make
that data available for for any kind of
Jeffrey Mansion restoration purposes
because we're doing that at Wolf park
right down the street um so it's pretty
nice and associated with that yeah the
clearing is um actually don't have a
slide on that but the clearing is really
essential again if you don't clear
survivals like 5% um and if clear the
story circumstance yeah um because those
are I mean all of these systems are
super dense um so Charlie I assume that
the the colors and those little dots
those represent different species yep
exact so is it are you are you purposely
kind of mixing them all together in
terms of how it might be more natural
versus kind of like this is this Zone
this is this zone is there an intention
behind that or is it just kind of like
yeah so that's for a statistical design
and so it's a completely randomized
block design so basically like if you
put all species in like you could have a
gradient across the plot in general and
if you had a wet side and a dry side you
wouldn't want to attribute mortality in
the Wet Side you know differentially and
so just by randomly placing them gives
you the protection when you run the
analyses to make sure that you know
something that's larger grows quicker or
dies quicker is because you know of the
treatment effect as opposed to position
effect I was assured there'd be no
statistical
analysis we don't have any statistics in
it just figur all right so so here's
some of the work we're doing testing
these some of these um durable genotypes
across the urban environment as well um
so here in Columbus we've got 15
locations we also have 15 locations in
Philadelphia um as well as Newark and
Delaware and so we have our three um
very good performers that we planted in
2019 and we've been tracking them
subsequently and so we've got them
planted across an urbanization gradient
as well and so not surprisingly
urbanization plays a role in you know
tree survival and and productivity and
so um we're continuing to kind of map
that out but um you know results are
good I think survival is like 95% so um
it's pretty pretty good for for you know
these Survivor Elm genotypes next
up so yeah kind of just putting this
into practice um you know rule Survivor
Elms are a really good source of genetic
diversity and we can consider saving
these large American Elms as reservat
trees um during Timber sales or other
activities um we also have a a large
Survivor Elm database that I could share
with folks if you're aware of large
Survivor HMS and you want to you know
push off the coordinates to us we can
get them in the system we can't
guarantee that we'll we'll actually
sample them but it's good to know where
they're at um if we have time and or
resource availability to to pursue those
um and then obviously you know these
Survivor Realms they host genetic
diversity right and so genetic diversity
is really um what's going to get us
through all of this and so maintaining
enough diversity um you know in species
as well as within species is really
important so Elms are a really good
component in these diverse forests um we
certainly wouldn't advocate for Pure
stands um but you know I think it's a
really useful tool for for some
management
activities so yeah last up you know
thank our funders um so all of this work
generally speaking is funded by a
nonprofit group The Man Foundation who
we're really fortunate that they
approached us to advance these efforts
um we also work with army Corp Engineers
nature
conservancy etc etc and I think I got
one more slide on there that kind of
highlights you know some of the the
importance at least of the removal you
know so we got what 80% or 75% um
survival in the removal sites um but if
we don't remove we got about 20%
survival so you can see the the Columbus
metrop Park folks there on on the uh the
Tuttle Path North of Campus you can see
how thick that honeysuckle is I mean
it's an impenetrable wall of Honeysuckle
and so um it's just really good example
of you know why it's essential to get in
there and manipulate these systems
otherwise we will have no diversity in
the under story and they will be really
you know kind of
um it'll be problematic when the next
pester pathogen comes through so I think
that's all I've got so I'm happy to
answer some questions or chat about how
we could use Elms across your systems if
you guys are interested
so go
ahead well Charlie you're a real asset
to to all of us I mean your information
is far above most of our heads I think
and we're so lucky that you came to
speak about all this it's so important
true so Charlie would you be confident
enough in the I guess stability and
viability of Elms to plant them as
Street trees or would you plant them in
a more discreet environment where if
they failed that wouldn't be so
noticeable I would still keep them in
kind of a natural esque type system um
but but I think a handful of our
selections are just as tolerable or
tolerant as Princeton so I know we have
probably Princeton and you know Main
Street in Heritage I think what else
Grant those are the two that come to
mind
I know I know we'll come back to that
Valley Forge has terrible form so I
would never plant Valley Forge but it is
it is tolerant and so um we there is
sadly a new invasive species that hits
American Elms um Elm zigzag soft law can
have like six Generations in a year as a
defoliator um so it's a problem we just
found it last year um in in Delaware but
the state had wasn't able to find it
anywhere else but it's undoubtedly here
so anything that has six Generations a
year is then you talked about Oak Wilt
as well yep yeah yeah so Oak wlt is is
here um I guess they found it at Hoover
last year and so I don't I don't know if
it's gotten into you know beex
significantly or not but no and you know
every oak tree we cut down we send in a
a sample to get tested and we've yet to
have it right yeah so I mean every
there's probably five new invasiv that
come in every year that could impact you
know five
million five new ones
I mean yeah there's we're just gonna
abolish the commission but I mean it's
super it's definitely important to just
keep your eye on that diversification
component because we're never going to
be able to stop them right in in
mitigation techniques are marginal at
best and so it's really just good to
continually plan for these future
unknowns and and make sure that you know
not none of the the urban canopy is you
know kind of two top heavy towards one
species but Grant expert you knows this
stuff so Charlie with the with the
species I know we were focused on Elm
but you when you were doing like those
test stands with all the different
species is it better to kind of why
those species so we were trying to
recreate structural complexity in the
forest that vertical kind of complexity
and and the rationale there was to to
get material in that would kind of take
that space and kind of keep the
honeysuckle out and so part of our goal
was to put in later successional species
mids successional species you know under
story species and and some herbaceous
material and so um yeah we chose like
musclewood and poaw as like our mid mid
canopy species um and then what a VI
burum and a coral bar and some other
stuff in the okay now I was just
thinking for Jeffrey yeah I mean in
terms of I mean I know that we're we're
trying to I mean Jeffrey Manion is is
working on their you know kind of their
plan and everything but whether or not
in terms of looking at species to
potentially plant if those would be ones
that would be potentially yeah I mean
they're certainly native and they're
they're Wildlife friendly and you know
they're durable so yeah that work but we
could I mean certainly we could get you
guys lists of you know climate adapted
species if you're looking for more
Southern species that would be resilient
to Future climate change or stuff like
that and I mentioned too to Susan that
you know if you guys are ever interested
in grant opportunities you know a lot of
them come by my desk on a daily basis um
and they could be rolled out for
anything from large tree preserv a kind
of Youth engagement you know um
virtually
anything yeah umy Charlie is are there
many more diseased Elms out there or
have they been pretty much wiped out oh
yeah they're still out there so what
happens with your uh the the trees that
you find are resistant or do they get
affected sometimes they do um
sometimes it's tough because the
mechanisms by which like Dutch Al
disease can get to a tree could be like
underground too and if if you have root
grafting there's some thought that that
could overwhelm the defense top you know
kind of capabilities of a tree um as
opposed to like the
Overland yeah we I mean we definitely
see a lot of small Elms still in the
landscape that die and because it it can
reproduce like you know when it's 10
years old it can set seed you know it it
can turn you can get new populations
before Dutch elm disease could take them
all out which is really nice so we'll
like never not have Elms they just won't
be the best Elms so other questions for
Charlie audre or Luke do you have any
questions yeah okay anything Andra good
okay okay a well I was gonna say Charlie
did have a drooling when he's talking
about access to funds for almost
anything yeah almost anything it seems
It's amazing I guess to think how much
money's out there which I guess is good
yeah I mean now I think we're going to
have you know a decade of pretty good
funds in natural resource Arena so I
think it's something to take advantage
while we can yeah well thank you very
thank you very much Charlie really
appreciate
it so I'm I was gonna just say one of
Charlie Sidelines was he um is H what
should I say originator of a board game
it's an amazing game okay and I I don't
I don't know the game but I do know that
after it was promoted on TV sold
20,000 copies or sets of the of the
board game so my big fear is he'll move
away from the forest service and just be
a gamer so
yeah yeah that's true that's true that's
true Charlie thanks so much for coming
you you may move along if you'd like you
can stay if you if you want and
otherwise we in touch okay all right
thank you thank you okay mayor we
understand you need to leave at 5 so
Grant Archer Supreme gentleman that he
is said that we could mix things up a
little bit and you can go next and then
Grant will go yeah Grant will go after
you um thank you uh so a couple things
to update on um let's start with
Commonwealth that's fun uh Grant if you
wouldn't mind opening in the agenda
folder there
is
a uh common yeah go down to the next one
that one just double click on that see
if it
opens
please looks like it's downloading there
we go that's not the right one so Mary
and Ellen both said that whatever
problem they were having with YouTube
has been fixed yeah we were having some
issues with the audio okay those should
be fixed y they said that is they can be
on um weirdly that's not
what here want
me
yeah so um we uh had a
uh a uh as you know we're talking about
unifying the park both sides of the park
um I think we discussed that at a
previous tree commission meeting and so
we had a workshop in January where we
discussed this with residents um really
quite well attended I think Susan and
Sheila's there Sheila were there right
um you guys are so many things that I
that I sometimes confuse them so well
done attendance award good job we look
alike I know um
and we we discussed uh sort of the
historic origins of the concept of unied
Commonwealth and and in the background
if you just keep going Grant maybe the
slides are sort of all over the place
just keep going just keep going because
you guys know the history so we laid the
history talked about the
projects we've done to date keep going
what we're going to
do
um and then where we had been with this
design this is sort of the watercolor
version of uh what we were hoping to
achieve keep going that's the less
waterc colory version of what we're
hoping to achieve and then right pause
here if you could this is the original
plat for Commonwealth
Park um which sort of alludes to this uh
unified park um as you know the east
side of Drexel did not develop the way
it it it suggests here as well as you
know Boston between Boston and
Commonwealth Avenue North is different
than what's suggested here but this was
of the original plating um and so there
is a
historic reference point for this idea
of a United Commonwealth Park um and to
remind you the reason we're talking
about this is not only because of course
more green space is uh something we
should always talk about but also as
we've delved into the mechanics of the
plan that we had proposed um and maybe
Grant I'm going to have you actually
skip back to the
uh the uh Street right here um the the
project was becoming pretty compromised
um as we worried about the plaza and
kids crossing in this very calmed Street
you know we were adding stop signs and
um extra barricades and all sorts of
things to make sure that it was clear
that it was a crosswalk not not just a
place to cross without thinking about it
both for motorists and for pedestrians
and while it would certainly improve the
unification
compared to what it is today um we we
kind of had engineered it to the point
where drivers really wouldn't want to
ever drive on that street by Design
maybe they'd park there but they
wouldn't want to drive on it and it was
just very clear to us it was a really
expensive and unnecessary approach if
what we were trying to do is get people
not to drive on Park why don't we just
close the park they can't drive in the
park and uh grass cost grass and trees
and plants cost a lot less than brick
brick and granite um and you know all
the things that go into this project so
I incorrectly stated that it was getting
to be around two million um the actual
Hardscape infrastructure piece was like
1.4 million um and uh we're getting
estimates on the cost for the closure
but it's we know that it's covered by a
grant that we already have from opwc and
we know that it's much less than what's
being proposed here
um so it was led by the the plan itself
seeming compromised the costs being
higher than we had projected both both I
think in tandem this goes back to the
2018 Commonwealth Park master plan it
was kind of an early concept of like
what would happen if you unified the
park and I think a criticism of this
drawing is it looks like there's still a
road that went through it that just kind
of got covered over with Turf so we
weren't that was an earlier concept and
so we started to study like what happens
if we combine the park and look at
multiple uh recommendations and Grant
actually the next slide Zooms in they
sort of do that automat y now we're
that's fine you're doing
great there you go uh so we showed a
couple Concepts we didn't focus on any
of them as like this is what we're
proposing we're just showing what could
happen this one met with um a lot of
disapproval because it was suggestive of
um you know a large loud concert V even
though that wasn't really the intent but
still that's kind of how it read so
let's keep
going
um we studied sort of like what if
there's a
uh
sorry what if there's a uh you know sort
of more of a formal sort of fountain in
the center more of a walking space unite
in the two athletic fields and then if
you keep
going uh we were looking at more of a
an LA uh between the two sides maybe
there's a a Pergola structure of some
sort or that reads a little bit more
like a structure so we're just showing
ideas the intent of the the workshop was
not to approve or critique any of the
ideas in particular more just showing
like what are some things that could be
possible if the park was
United um what we didn't show and
probably should have shown is just like
what happens if you plant some trees and
and have you know an ARB burum walk
between the two spaces which um based on
the lot of the feedback we received
sounds like it it kind of received the
best feedback in concept but we didn't
have a drawing to show that um
so we
are uh I'm just really enjoying Grant's
uh scrolling we can pause right there
Grant that's a great view right there um
so where we are today we had that
Workshop to to gain to gain feedback on
the idea um also I love this about the
drawing by the way you can see they've
been updated with the pond itself that
exists now um I think it shows really
nicely in the
plan um so we have uh taken the council
resolution that would be supportive of
the concept of of of connecting both
sides looking for feedback the rec board
has voted to approve the concept um
asking tree commission also to weigh in
on this um it is you know it's a weird
it's a weird tweener Commonwealth Park
and our code is is the domain of the of
the W board as you know but the streets
and and rideways are the domain the
plantings within those areas or the
domain of the tree commission so
actually what we're asking you to do I
guess structur I didn't think about it
this way until just now is give up
control of the ride ofo because it would
no longer be rideo it become Park U but
I say that mostly in just because as you
know we've we've asked the tree
commission to win on all all of these
projects at common Park and I don't
expect that to to change
um my personal feeling is that um this
is a really natural uh return to the
original idea for Commonwealth that um
it will create a safer park for all of
the users of the park it will be a
better park for it
um that in the words of Larry hman if 10
years from now we were to have this
connected Park and propose dividing it
with the street there would be torches
and pitchforks showing up at the door of
City Hall and we would be crazy for
thinking of such a thing um and I I am
wholeheartedly agree with that concept I
think that um as we' sought feedback
from residents there was a lot of
concern brought up at the meeting
um unlike most all public meetings I've
been in there were people that left with
their minds changed which I found like
kind of remarkable had further follow-up
conversations with residents who have
been concerned about it and I think
have um overall for a change occurring I
feel like this has garnered a decent
amount of acceptance um from the people
that I know that live on the park
there's AC there's approval of the idea
um there's some concern from Drex on
Columbia residents or Drex and Parkview
residents about increases in traffic our
traffic studies show that that would be
fairly minimal there's not a ton of
traffic in Columbia to begin with we
were able to provide that data
so that's Commonwealth and I'm happy to
answer any questions about
it so I I thought Jim and I kind of did
email about how we might go about
addressing this I'm I'm kind of thinking
of what the action is what the word is
approval recommendation endorsement
whatever yeah endorsement um endorsing
the concept of unifying the part right
okay and you're not endorsing any of
these
ideas you know you that will come out
that will come in the future right right
soing the concept of removing asphalt
and putting in at the moment putting in
soft surface so we thought maybe instead
of just having opinions which of course
we love and we love sharing but we might
just talk about facts what happens if it
is uh United and what happens if it
stays the same so I thought maybe we'll
just start out with what happens if the
park is United what are the the either
the benefits or just a statement so does
anybody have comments they'd like to
bring
forth I like the idea of being united um
I mean just I don't know since we're not
approving this particular plan is um it
looked like there's walkways Pathways
and I also assume there's still a a
restroom there is that I think that's
happening as we speak isn't it yeah so
that that remains um and it works quite
well with the United Park is it's not
like it all of a sudden doesn't work I
mean we we thought about that before
going forward with the contract um so it
still serves that that purpose it's
still kind of a Gateway feature to the
park but it wouldn't have a Road between
the two Gateway sides okay so some some
pluses I thought of it's more historical
I mean it's more closely aligned with
you know the original plating I also
think it becomes um what should I say
more city of Columbus is I mean it it
repeats the standard if you think of
Schiller Park is there a road through
Schiller Park no if you think of good
Dale there's not a road through good
Dale um the little Hawthorne Park that's
up that's no it's not one so um however
those were platted they were platted
without a road through them and I think
that when you drive down there you never
say gee I wish there was a road through
these I just think they're
beautiful um of course I'm you could be
excited about more green spaces May says
more planting more trees more more
chances for improving the arbor read
maybe maybe Elms I was going to ask
Grant a question if it was unified if
we'd be able to save any of the beach
trees that were planted
there yeah yes depending on the plan
that gets approved but yeah ideally we
we would be able to keep those well I
remember that we had talked you'd
brought to our attention before that
some of them were a little more at risk
because of girdling roots and mulch
volcanoes but that they were
they were looking healthy correct so we
went through and um um did some root
pruning on those with the air knife
right sper did that so yeah good and and
this drawing shows them
preserved so that was one of the
concepts that we wanted to build into
the drawing and of course if um the
asphalt comes out we'll be able to
replenish our inventory of historical
bricks because you might remember for
those of us that have a passion for
historical bricks in this community um I
don't know if there's bricks underneath
the asphalt or if it's just the curban
gutter Grant you
know no bricks no bricks just on the
cbon gutter okay well that's plenty
though isn't it it's a lot yeah so
anybody any other
pluses that you can see
or I think just usability of the park in
terms of experientially being able to
just run across is just without having
to worry about Crossing or not it was
you know we brought up a lot of um
safety concerns and some people push
back saying well there you know there
have been no accidents yet and you know
and all of that but that doesn't mean
that it couldn't happen particularly if
we are now creating an environment where
people are coming to gather and and to
cross um and so I think that that was
something that the city just needs to
think about Jim well if I heard the
mayor correctly this means $1.4 million
more for
trees your math is directionally
appropriate but not exactly correct but
yeah it it certainly frees up
it a we didn't have adequate budget for
1.4 uh B it does free up um Hardscape
funding we we had money for medians for
example we wouldn't have medians so
there's funding that does get released
and I know you were halfway J I would
add to the positives storm water um is
one it's you know not a huge section of
street but it's meaningful right no I
more seriously I do think it and this is
Echoes sort of what you said Susan but I
think it creates more opportunity for
interesting design in that section of
the park we're pretty limited and
constrained as to the design as long as
the street was going to go through um
the one question I'd asked the mayor is
um is there any opportunity to bury the
electric lines between North and South
Commonwealth on the east
side yes in fact that's happening so you
probably might not have noticed but
there are little like conduits kind of
popping up on both sides I know but I
the way that that's fabulous that's
fabulous Ellen Bowen did you hear that
Ellen's been after us to bury anything
at any time for 20 years so that's great
thank you I think that's going to be
huge more space yep nothing to plan
around that's enormous I have a comment
on and I certainly like this drawing uh
I'm hoping that if we do something like
this is because we are going to be uh
multiplying the uses of the park
otherwise we're just going to still be
using it for um soccer which evidently
is what they're still planning to be
able to do um but I like the increased
area I know that it's going to also uh
help uh help us with our our bedom and
making sure that we have um sturdy trees
the one piece that I am not agreeing
upon is that uh yes is is a historical
it's just going back to historical
planning but those historical plannings
became insignificant because there are a
lot of reasons why they were changed so
I don't feel it's important necessarily
to go back to those because evidently
they didn't feel it was important enough
to begin with to keep them and we've
evolved I would say celest that um I
don't think this mayor has any trouble
finding events for spaces first spaces
for events yes both yes they're both so
I would say that when um uh the mayor
and Ellena and Grant were reviewing the
space and that one design came up and
the word Amphitheater was used and that
really caused concern because I think
people felt that it was going to be the
you know the next Rolling Stones concert
and so
um we weren't able to to transition past
that word to what to what what else you
could do that might have a crowd but
wouldn't be you know 20,000 people well
and I think just to piggyback on that um
the we shared with them in the
presentation what the original goals
were of the master plan planning process
and one of them was to keep it more of a
a passive park with the use of the
soccer fields but not to increase any
like huge activity right so the the
intent is not like all of a sudden we're
going to have you know a a wedding venue
in in the center of the park and so
um I don't know it sounds right well so
I mean so I I think though that it's
it's it is important because it really
was we we talked a tremendous amount
about what were the goals and the values
of the park and kind of keeping this one
a little bit more passive where a lot of
the activities then would happen in
either Schneider or Jeffrey or even
Havenwood is something that we need to
kind of always continuously go back I
mean there was a year-long planning
effort with a lot of input from the
community and all of that moving forward
so when if this moves forward as we're
looking at the design efforts of however
it is potentially unified I think you
know the designer needs to kind of keep
that in mind in terms of you know kind
of what the what the goals and the use
are of the park I mean I don't think
that like you know the rec department is
thinking clear cut the trees and let's
add a third soccer field right I mean
it's going to be you know
I hope that's erased from the video
right piggyback off of that like you
know so we've built out this Western end
as an arborium feature the poano gardens
that's going to continue to evolve the
Eastern end is slated for that at some
point in time and the center I think
wants to be that as well as you as
designers like to say and you now all of
a sudden we have these two feel Open
Spaces that are in the center of this
whole and complete all-encompassing
Arbor feature and I think Commonwealth
has the potential with this specifically
not this drawing specifically this
concept to really just knock it out of
the park in terms of like this is the
focal point of the Bexley Arboretum this
is where we go to learn and think about
what is the arum the rest of it is part
of obviously the rest of the cities in
arum but this is the this is the kind of
gold standard collection where we put a
lot of our efforts which is the more
passive use of it yeah well I remember
that when people when the Elena first
started chairing this committee people
were concerned about um losing Green
Space and these small walkways in and
Larry Helman said you know it's a great
space but everybody's walking around it
no one walks inside it and I remember
Grant I think the first tree walk that
we did there people would say gee I
never even walked here before I mean I
know it's there I love it so I mean to
your your point I think the the way that
it's designed will encourage people to
stray a little from the sidewalks on
North and South Commonwealth hope so and
I think with a undulating path with
trees and different ideas and textures
it can be really Charming for young
children as well I'm sure there are a
lot of things that I agree added to that
if there's no other comments any other
comments from anybody okay I'd like to
move ahead with the motion then Jim
would you like a motion I would like a
motion Vice
chair if it's appropriate I move that
the Bexley 3 and public garden commit
Endor um the plan to remove section of
Columbia that runs through Commonwealth
Park um with the desire to participate
fully in discussion of the design
thereafter okay is there a second second
and is there any conversation any
discussion any
negatives my only negative additional
thought is that when they did the
traffic study uh for the new develop
velopment that's on Main Street I don't
and the traffic is going to it will
increase down Park View so this will add
more traffic on Park View it's it's a
it's a yeah it's a it's a it's a valid
thought yeah I'm just putting it out
there a motion been made and seconded
that we endorse the um unification of
East and West Commonwealth and that uh
future designs be brought back for
robust discussion is that correct all
those in favor say I I all those post
same sign motion carries okay excellent
excellent work thank you um real quick
and Troy you have anything to add to
this land use strategy commission has
been meeting um Jim Wilson is doing a
fine job as the tree commission rep
fantastic job every moment he has a
chance he infuses trees into the
conversation so he's steering the
residential working group which is
really just the tree working group it
turns out just kidding I'm sorry I'm
Jess good work Jim so trees are front
and center and we just actually we just
walked uh the western or the Eastern
portion of East M I'm really struggling
with East and West today it's it really
is it is um and uh took note of areas
where trees could be planted I'm sure
you'll be and and in areas where I sent
you some texts areas where uh some
conditions have been put in place that
like were guaranteed to destroy before
before you leave I I want to do a shout
out to lukee because he has been helpful
in um finding exhibitors and education
people to come to our bir and Arbor Day
Festival on April 20th from Daws arbored
and the first time we've had Daws
present so thank you thank you
Luke um so that's coming along um our
we're in the process of developing some
draft recommendations and then there
will be public Workshop in this like
late spring early summer and a
commission based Workshop as well so
look out for more information on that to
come I will say that's a fairly
optimistic timeline it might get pushed
a little bit I think for the May when
you say commission is that um each
commission Bap and tree commission and
ARB all have we were thinking a big like
a you know worldwide half day sort of
retreat sort of thing yeah similar for
those of you who are around 14 years ago
we did back in 2010 um it was pretty
helpful so I think that would be and
it's been a while since we've gotten
those groups together um other I went
yesterday to the Franklin Park
conservatories master plan sort of
unveiling they call it their
Northstar um I think they've done a
couple different public sort of
workshops around that I don't if you
guys have followed that they want to put
a street through the middle of the park
just kidding that's not on their Master
plane um
but they do have some pretty um first
off really interesting like figures in
terms of you guys probably already know
all this I didn't know a lot of this but
their visitor um their visitor numbers
have really ballooned their budget has
like expanded radically in the past
eight years Children's Garden has fed a
lot of that um and they have plans to um
sort of change where their entrance is
to be further to the west of the uh Palm
House some other big kind of big picture
plans to really you know further the
actually literally have a larger
footprint for the conservatory and and
bring in more guests and kind of raise
the bar more so it was interesting um I
don't know if it's on the website or not
I'm sure it is but I might be able to
answer questions about it well we could
move along from that to you were going
to give some updates on Cassidy North
Cassidy North railroad tracks yeah I can
do that before I I have one thought
about Franklin prior Conservatory which
was just that you know I know we've
partnered with in the past and I don't
really know the history very well but as
I sat there it's just like you know how
much as we build out our Botanical
Garden concept at Commonwealth having a
partnership with the conservatory would
seem to certainly make some sense so
well the former executive director was
on the tree commission so there you go
yeah deep history deep history North
Cassidy um I don't have any specific new
information since we spoke other than to
say the city of Columbus project is you
know moving forward um and I don't I
don't know the exact date of
construction yet if it's later this year
or next year but it's coming up
soon um and you guys we've talked about
it in the past so right right brief done
it was 2022 when we first started Larry
was worried he wouldn't be alive so now
if we can just keep moving forward it'd
be good but I do I still owe you more
precise Windows of time for
that um so anything else mayor I am here
at your disposal for any questions okay
well we are mindful of your time so any
questions for the mayor keep up the good
work yeah you too Sheila yeah thank you
I would say about the public meeting at
Columbia that it was the most civil
meeting that I've been to when you know
many people have lived in that area for
many years and have a real passion
for the way it looks yeah and people
came with questions but there are no
fist fights no having to call the police
and considera of answers so I thought
that was I agree and really interesting
follow-up dialogue so it's been I think
it's quite productive I also think you
know the idea of more green space isn't
the most controversial thing we've ever
proposed but nonetheless change is
difficult and you know that that came
out a little bit too I I do think it' be
helpful to give you guys just more
context to a zoning ordinance that's
before Council I don't know Troy if you
want to handle that or I want me to
synopsize well just that the there is a
zoning ordinance before Council to reone
Livingston from commercial service to
mixed use commercial Jim I think is
quite familiar with it um and can
provide some more information but the
biggest thing it actually accomplishes
is having a better streetscape standard
um and providing a safer sidewalk and
treeon space for Livingston so it
codifies those standards um which are
not currently codified so right now
Livingston you know there's maybe a two
foot we can't even call it a treelon you
know a little bit between the curb and
the sidewalk sidewalk itself is a
minimal width and then we get right to
property new development standards for
Livingston would have a minimum of 18
feet from the curb to the front of a
building and in that space we were you
know anticipating a six foot treeon um
and a 10 10 foot sidewalk I think so a a
really wide sidewalk that can
accommodate you know not just pedest
pans but you know maybe there's Cafe
uses or whatever and it's hard to really
picture Livingston being like that but
that's because it currently doesn't have
the right template to support
pedestrians and the type of Commerce
that could you know come with a better
streetcape so that mixed it is mixed use
commercial being proposed that's what we
have on Main Street but with a specific
Livingston Avenue overlay and the
difference is the Livingston Avenue
overlay is codifying those
recommendations of the joint Livingston
Avenue
plan which is asking for a wider
sidewalk and buffer than we have on Main
Street because of the vehicular nature
of Livingstone Avenue um also I mean it
has like it's
supporting multi-story development um it
doesn't have as much of a height
allowance as Main Street but it does
encourage multistory it encourages
parking behind
buildings um use uses allowed are really
similar to what is currently allowed on
Livingston um most of what well is
allowed on Livingston we kind of looked
at this in Council most all of those
uses are currently conditional uses from
all the auto service the car wash the
Tim
Hortons the funeral home uh those are
all conditional uses they would remain
conditional uses under this new code
proposal um and the allowed uses that
are allowed today are not that
dissimilar for mixed use commercial so
it has a lot more to do with the form of
the code than the uses uh with the
proposed change so um you know not
reading the beex buzz you know I'm
pretty innocent so no so what is the
what is there a controversy about that
and if there is what is it the
controversy isn't really about the
zoning this is my interpretation the
controversy is about the fact that the
affordable housing proposed for
Livingston and Francis was denied based
upon our conditional use language this
this zoning code also attempts to repair
that conditional use language which
doesn't just apply to this District it
applies across the city so the defect
that the court found additional use
language applies in many other
situations throughout the entire city it
has to be fixed like there's no way
around it either that or we just
continue to not you know have the
ability to really administer conditional
uses which is like a really important
zoning tool to be able to have criteria
on certain types of uses so um or as I'm
not GNA take the I'm gonna take the
words out of Jim's mouth it it returns
it to the original tent right of the of
the code from 2017 Jim I I was I'm on I
was the tree Commission representative
to that um zoning code revision group
and it never occurred to us that the
language that we proposed that
ultimately made it into the code would
not permit a purely Residential Building
to be in any of the zoning areas that
were covered by that language it's we
thought it absolutely would so I was as
surprised as anyone when I read the
court and the court of appeals say no it
doesn't but it will not help you to read
the Beckle bz
on you but you know what you should do
is you should look at these drawings and
the the visuals of what Livingston
Avenue you know could look like and I
want to emphasize that since we're here
that I mean the role that Landscaping
plays into like all of this and even
this land use and just where we were for
an hour before this on Main Street with
King gold Andrew Rosenthal like this
vision of of
of creating very walkable very you know
just living you know Urban spaces I
think that's what comes to me when I see
those drawings that's what hits me when
I think about uh this zoning change that
we have in place there is um some of the
some of the comments that we hear I I
just want to be frank some of the
comments that we hear I understand
because they're saying oh I don't think
this I don't think we can change this
you you're crazy to think that we can
you know change Livingston Avenue or
really can change that but you know
that's not why we're here right that's
not why you know I mean I'm here for
change for making things better and I
know when I'm here with you guys I I
just see the passion and the effort that
goes into this and when I walk Main
Street with the mayor and King gold and
people like that we all envision these
these environments these familyfriendly
environments these pedestrian
environments kids and you know local
businesses things like that and so I
just want to since we're here say
Landscaping comes up over and over again
had been eight different discussions of
landscaping while we were just there on
Main Street about like how can we make
this look better how can we bring trees
into this and public spaces and things
like that so yeah sorry that I am my
shouting and stuff like that
sorry you're a passionate person with a
passionate group so I think you're good
Trey I I guess I would ask mayor would
you um feel that there would be
Livingston Avenue guidelines like Main
Street guidelines or they' be one and
the same so our our main our commercial
design guidelines
practice set to commence later this year
um is designed to have as I Envision it
we're gonna have Main Street design
guidelines updated but also we're going
to have a Livingston design guidelines
and Cassidy Livingston design guidelines
actually are already written they're in
the joint Livingston Avenue plan so we
would be adopting those we might be like
also owning them to make sure there's
unification I would think I wouldn't put
an also on I'm sure we're going to hone
them to make sure there's some
unification uh but they are largely
envisioned already in the joint Liv man
plan we don't have anything for Cassidy
so North Cassidy is zoned mixed use
commercial but it doesn't have an
overlay the way Main Street Livingston
does and so I also think what would come
out of that is both North Cassidy design
guidelines as well as a Zone and overlay
that would get applied to help
incorporate this that'd be helpful I
have a question I mean one of the
reading some of the buzz but then
getting an email from the south Beckley
Association or something and it was just
um you have to come to this meeting
you're going to lose your rights
to uh I can't remember all the things
they were alluding to um you know don't
let them tell you what you can't what
they can do what they want to do with
Bexley is that the same thing that
you're referring to I didn't read any of
that in the minutes for the meeting so
is that this they they seem to have been
able CH to start on this think you I
just I didn't know if that was if this
is what they're referring to but the way
they worded it was you I think I think
that I I think that I think there was a
lot of misinformation yeah I mean just
blatant misinformation in that
communication that went out uh I did
take just the smallest Peak at the
Bexley buzz when that did come out and
there was some you know some feedback
some push back on on that misinformation
and that Viewpoint I think you know I
mean this is one of the things that I
have that's reinforced to me year after
year after year being part of city
government is is the uh the power of
inertia you know this resistance to you
know to change and sort of the the
barriers and the stories that will come
up to to kind of you know resist a a lot
of things like that um I mean I'll let
you speak to some of the specific maybe
misinformation there was something about
being constitutionally you know not
being able to be challenged in the
courts which I mean I wish we had that
power you know that's laws that couldn't
be challenged in courts or violate the
constitution because then I've got a lot
of ideas but I know that that's not not
true yeah the lawyer in the room doesn't
like that idea at all yeah I brushed I
breezed through it and it was uh it was
so full of of out misrepresentation both
um maybe out of ignorance but I think
also intentional so it was difficult to
read and it's the sort of thing that you
know we try to provide accurate
information but because we're proposing
something reviewed as a bias Source we
do our best and that's all we can do
right so just just be glad you didn't
have to be in the room where it happened
right you
so yeah was like you know can I follow
that up with something which is like
what I try the gospel I try and spread
everywhere you know when I go to my
dentist here when I go to Johnson's ice
cream or whatever and I say like when
you see something like that and you it
gives you a feeling or you have a
question about it like please call us or
email us and ask the questions because I
feel like you know your city council
members are immersed in all sections of
the city and hopefully you're seeing our
faces everywhere and hopefully we're
very EX accessible to you you can give
us an email very quickly we'll call you
Etc like that and I feel like that's an
underutilized resource in the city where
people see something on social media or
they hear something from their neighbor
and I just feel like please call us you
know or email us and just ask us you
know what am I'm seeing this please tell
me you know what's going on and I I I
love that part of my job and I want to
do that more often than I'm given a
chance to thank you in addition to that
uh I would say that that if something
has kind of reached the point where
there are mass emails being sent out and
a lot of activity on social media we
will almost always attempt to make sure
that there is a factual resource
presented on our website on the blast
that is easily accessible to people to
reach to see whether maybe there's an
FAQ there is a web page dedicated to
this process that you can look up on our
website uh we keep people arised on our
blast so there's usually a place you can
turn to for information
that is designed to be factual we try to
keep opinion out of it and just say here
are the facts of what's going on and I'm
sorry one more thing so you know
following that the meeting that we had
last week Tuesday night we had you know
a public session there it went 90 plus
minutes two hours it was close to that
or whatever everybody anybody got a
chance to come up and speak five full
minutes every uninterrupted I could ask
any questions that they wanted um you
know and and all of those questions were
answered all that information was given
this is like the other thing that kind
of you know chaps my hide or whatever is
when I keep hearing things like they're
trying to shove this in you know quietly
you know there's no transparency it's
you know these secrecy kind of things
and and I I just think no I mean there's
this there it all is you know we're
right there you know where to find us
you know and we've never not given
people
an opportunity to express anything that
they want ask any questions it's it's
very the whole thing is just as
transparent as can be I think and and
and we want to we want it to be that way
I want those people that are angry and
upset to come here and talk to us you
know I want that I want everybody to to
be able to tell us what they think you
know is there any way then I mean the
buzz is different obviously in the blast
if there's somebody who sees all that
stuff on the the buz just say please go
to the Bexley blast to get information
you know probably not the audience we
that's a you know that's an aute point I
think we try to do that I have learned
kind of the hard way about going on to
the Bexley buzz and Facebook and saying
I'm G to now give you some real
information and and it it's amazing how
quickly that goes downhill and yeah but
what we do find is when we put the
information out there will be people
that are they s there's some self SE are
people that say hey there's here's a
resource here's where you can find it
whether or not people listen to them you
know it's different it's a community
dialogue and I think our philosophy is
like we're gonna always put out
information for people to to consume it
if they want to and if they they don't
if they just want to vent and they want
to share false half truths or whatever
then there's a place for them to do that
and freedom of speech and God bless
America and and the mayor to is credit
every time that we have these things
there's always a section on the city
website you can go to that has like all
of the information it's all there you
know very easy to find and and and read
and and take in well you know that that
phrase that's become sort of trite but
it's really meaningful thank you for
your service just it's not you know and
sleepless nights so thank you I sleep
just your passion so now we're GNA be
passionate about Grant archers report
yeah and I need I'm so sorry to leave I
just want to point out one last thing
our service crew put that beautiful sign
right there the Drex and Broad sign that
you can see in our lobby um it's it's
that's a historic uh street sign that
we've been kind of keeping up on a shelf
here at City Hall and they mounted it to
one of our you know sort of a it's not
exactly the same Hardware that we use
but I thought that pretty cool very nice
and we have one that's I think a main in
Drexel that's
green are those getting raffled off
during some EV no oh my gosh those are
gonna that's blasphemy that is blasphemy
yeah wait till Larry Helman hears that
great job Kyle and Company excellent
welding
skills so thinking of signs I was
thinking of the dral sign that's to go
in the medians on the north and south
end and it occurred to me how we labored
over the design I don't know if anybody
remembers but we had to take like five
votes to get some
unanimity it's a pretty small space so
granted and I have been looking at that
in my o Grant now for like he's been
bugging me for quite some time about it
we walked out and looked at that and I
think what we're going to do is we're
going to slightly modify that and we're
actually going to put it behind the wall
rather than inside of that Ray Stone and
it's going to be then back behind that
so it can go the full width of that
Medium rather than like the 12 inches
that we have of free space yeah
drael yes remember was it gonna be
squares going to be this yeah yeah and
then we're moving the taxis out of the
raised planter bed and putting that
behind the sign and that entire bed will
have annuals in it good good work yeah
we great notice that right well I kept
thinking I wonder how they're going to
do this okay Grant it's your turn thank
you for your patience and for your
willingness to be turned upside down
here uh so yeah we'll do the uh 783
College okay you have the email in front
of you you want you want to read that to
people because not everybody I don't
think everybody got it or would you like
I think I'll just it out oh does
everybody have it I see I see sorry yeah
um basic basically the you know this the
resident saying the city tree is causing
damage to his uh sub line which he had
to have replaced and fixed um this
happens throughout the city quite a bit
uh the city stance is you know it's
residence issue not the city's issue and
the tree will not be cut them so I'm
bringing it forth to you to make a
judgment call on your own okay so Grant
I'm sure you've been to this um address
and what uh kind of health condition is
the tree in uh the it's a maple tree
it's in good condition uh I I personally
don't see any reason why to remove it
okay okay um and uh so let's have a
discussion so anybody will have
questions for Grant about not removing
it or not having it the Residence um
issue Grant did you see any other signs
of like uh the routs pushing up on the
sidewalk up the sidewalk or anything oh
yes there's sidewalk issues there as
well my understanding from Dave Co and I
think from you too you've said that the
uh red Maples are planted a little high
on college is that right and that's
what's contributing to the pushing up
the sidewalks or am I wrong about that
no I I just think it's the maple tree
and that's typical I don't know that
they were planted High okay okay my my
experience with the city engineer and
who I respect is he has a somewhat
different view of trees than we do
correct correct he's a numbers Sky okay
any other questions for
Grant yes this yeah we've dealt with
this with other residents and it's been
the same as you know the tree stays and
and it's kind of hard to tell if it was
just the city tree because there are
other trees in the area so you know it's
hard to say if that's that's the actual
tree causing issue yeah I mean I do
think trees do get into sewer lines I
mean that's just you know if they drop
their leaves they drop their acorns
that's just one of the you know side
aspects of an urban Forest so yes and
it's proactive to get your sewer lines
cleaned out every few years if you have
trees I mean it just prevents issues
that's much less than
$7500 you know for $200 or $300 call
Wheel and plumbing commercial here okay
all right I agree with Sheila and we
have old trees in our lawn and it is
something that you have to be diligent
about and it's it's a smart thing to put
on your to-do list okay so so could how
is the tree you think I mean it's been
there it's one of the original tree
plantings on College Avenue so 20
years so it's just coming into its own
kind of yeah
yeah okay I'll take a
motion
I move that we decline the resident's
request to remove the tree okay is there
a second second is there any
discussion motion made and seconded that
we decline the resident's request to
remove uh red maple at 783 College
Avenue all those in favor say I I all
those oppos same sign motion carries so
Ellena GNA say do I need to write well I
think that's a grant or Ellena
conversation okay yeah okay because it's
not necessarily it's not a fin a fact
right it's just an official what would
you say
lawyer I mean no I don't think we we
didn't have an application we just had a
Citizens sort of request so I don't
think it's it's not under any of the
sections that I know of where we do
findings and facts okay thank you thanks
grant for bringing it forward and
probably having several discussions on
site yes yes um so what we're doing
right now in the tree department is
we're stump
grinding uh and still doing removals uh
we roughly we probably have 30 to 40
stumps that are still out there to be
ground um and then the removals
probably 15 or 12 removals stilled up to
do um we did contract out the larger
removals with Boyd brothers and then we
hand handled the smaller ones in house
so one would have to think it was really
helpful to contract out the big ones yes
yes
and if you haven't seen those machines
it's just like it's just like a kids
picture book yeah I mean 20 minutes
later it's gone yeah it's amazing how
fast it can
work um we did get uh in the budget this
year uh two new employees two new uh
ground maintenance employees which will
be helping with uh maintaining the the
city installations uh during the summer
and spring months and then in the winter
time we will be doing young tree pruning
with those two employees so hopefully we
can great uh get some kind of program
going with our younger
trees
um about it no you were going to talk
about the tree plantings the city's tree
plantings for 2024 uh 2024 um and I'm
hoping to do a a spring planting this
year since we didn't do a fall planting
last year uh we have a lot of residents
that were were concerned about why we
didn't plant trees so we figured if we
could select some of the trees that do
better in a a spring planting and hopes
that we'll educate the resident to help
us water those um so we will do I don't
I don't have a number off the top of my
head right now but then we'll also do a
fall planting with the other other
plantings we also have Grant dollars
from Bexley beautification Foundation to
plant trees as well so it'll be a a good
year for tree
planting GL it will that it will um it
great go ahead well I have a question
what are those trees that you think are
going to be good for planting in the
spring uh so usually Oaks black um um
trees that are are that they don't dig
in the
fall um
so off the top of my head some of the
heart yeah okay Oaks black them
and Elms possibly so you know we don't
always know the you know the conver
ations that Grant has with residents but
at our pre meeting we were talking about
the fact that a couple residents in
South Beckley had suggested to me that
when the city plants the tree that they
also give or put on the tree maintenance
instructions for watering so Grant
said yes we have a a door hanger that we
put on doors that uh educate the
residents on watering how much the water
when the water and things and what's the
feedback from the res on
that um most of them don't the water is
too expensive here in Bexley so they
don't feel that they should have the
water the city
tree I mean it's just it's just
something when you love trees that you
would never imagined so I just think
think it's a good reality check for what
we do so questions for
Grant oh yes we have maple syrup tapping
on Saturday at Jeffrey Mansion and then
next Saturday will be the wood shop shop
uh we'll boil down whatever sap we
have couple busy weekends are you um
planning planks so we'll have the
Sawmill out there um I I'm not sure if
yellow wood they're the axe people and
the knife sharpening people that are
usually there and then uh we'll have
three or four log splitters out there to
split the wood that's in Jeff Manion in
the pool park oh yeah next year I want
to be one of those log splitters so
I got to figure out how to register
early yeah got a year to practice yeah I
got practice navigating the wreck and
park site so any questions for Grant yes
did you say you're gonna have a planer
down there too no it's just a sawmill uh
okay so we'll we'll slice up a couple
logs just to show people that how we
repurpose the wood other than chipping
it okay how long of a trunk is that that
you um so we can do up to 20 feet in one
cut I mean if you keep the
you could do longer if you play with the
the tracks but I ideally we're set up
for about 20 feet we should go down SL
it's pretty fun well I visit there quite
a bit okay okay oh but oh um but I don't
see any trees down there and you said
you're going to f some more trees does
this mean that the ones you're going to
do cut like in that fashion are going to
be filed in the near future then uh well
they currently should be St I'm farry I
know they're stacking it in the pool
parking lot so oh all the other ones are
about this long yeah the ones ready for
splitting stack of wood was already cut
but the wood that they're collecting I
mean they should have picked up wood
Friday and should be down at the pool
parking lot they wouldn't have cut it at
that time but okay I'm not quite sure
I'd have to ask all right the guys i' go
through that parking lot leaning for
well they might be taking it to yard
Barbers too I'm not quite sure because
we please they might be
Tak oh okay yeah Source another source
okay well Grant thank you for for the
great updates um feels like you're
working through the work
orders so that has to be a great feeling
of accomplishment yeah from 100 to 12 to
15 that's you know that's a big
congratulatory move so thank you so
should we go to the GMOs or the OMGs or
what do you
think oh I was G to if you're running
low on time we can save that I think
we're good we wanted I want to make sure
that we address Grant's question and he
gave us update and we have you and then
we have 2200 East M and then some uh a
couple other things to review so let's
do GMOs oh okay what was my question I
forget oh you you had some good
questions as I said I should have
Googled probably got it here yeah see
I'm not even prepared I didn't copy
myself oh do you need me to send it to
you read it I've got it
okay maybe oh no I don't because I sent
it from my work
email okay well that I'll have to look
here sorry yeah well my nothing's been
good on my computer system today so
oh you know what Troy well I look for
this why don't we have Elena and Monette
work on the 2200
uh East
M so um in our last um boy this was
December meeting December November
November 2200 East Main okay there was a
requirement in the findings of fact
thank you Jim for pointing it out um I
was looking for a number and not it
spelled out but I was taught that you're
supposed to any number under 10 you're
supposed to actually spell out and not
actually use the numerical numbers so
correct I was looking for numerical
numbers but we had asked them to come
back in basically march to um review the
landscape design for the cic parking lot
so for this building and then 2200 East
Main as part of um allowing the curb cut
to access off of Main Street we wanted
to have a better idea of what that Plaza
was going to look like so they are um I
reached out to Edge and Ryan Pearson um
replied back saying that um they are
still having further discussions with
the cic they've had a couple of
preliminary meetings with them but um
they were in January they presented to
the ARB and they've received support
from the board to be able to move
forward with the design and so they were
kind of waiting until the January time
frame to see if the ARB was going to
support the overall idea of the project
and so um they've also been looking at
storm water management grading and
utility routing so there have been some
other things that have put this design
of the plaza a little bit on the back
burner they are reques then that we
extend the um the requirement for them
to come back for us to review it in
additional three months and so that they
could come back in May and so um that's
basically what they have asked us to do
so I think we need to make a motion to
see if that is acceptable so I can amend
the findings of that so go ahead I I
would move that we grant them an
extension till our May meeting to um uh
present the plans related to what I
refer to as the city hall parking lot um
uh which we made a condition of the our
action on the curb cut in November okay
is there second second okay is there any
discussion is there any any negative
aspect not extending what does the
extension do anything as far as allowing
them to go ahead with work prior to that
but they have to still get an approval
from us before they no I mean I think
this is still in such Rel L early phases
of design that this is not necessarily
upholding any kind of construction
impact but in part of our later uh
finding of fact we basically have said
that the final review or any changes has
to happen before construction starts so
they're trying to we've got kind of two
simultaneous findings of fact that are
kind of running associated with this so
um we're still within the time frame
where I'm comfortable enough that we can
review it before crowd is broken and I
I'm the one that put that time frame in
the motion and at the time it was in
November and you know per my unrealistic
expectation was that things would be
much further along by now um so I think
that extending it is not at all
inconsistent with our intent at the time
and and we were better off with a good
plan rather than a rush plan
so okay so is there are there any other
questions I try I'm looking for this
that's all right I think I can remember
okay okay so any other questions for
Elena or for Jim
no okay a motion has been made and
seconded that we approve the extension
of the what should I say drawings and
submissions from from um Edge and
Continental uh to from March to
may all those in favor say I I all those
oppose same sign okay motion carries
okay thank you Ellen and now I think we
go to Monette our installer
reviewer we should have a a fancier
title than
that I'll sleep on it okay okay so in
front of you I I have put a stapled
two-page list of the residential project
review list and as I'm gotten into these
I found it helpful to color code them so
you will see three different colors
actually Four
one Lack of
Color um red yellow and green the copy
didn't show the green as well but
essentially green means it's been
installed and it's approved so um yellow
means it's not quite complete for some
reason and it needs to be Revisited red
means it is not currently installed to
how it was approved and we are awaiting
some sort of
final for lack of a resolution in some
way right with the applicant um I found
also found it helpful to begin moving
the final approved to what you see on
the second page into a second I created
a new tab in Excel to an approved
project list so they will this project
review list won't be quite as daunting
as it's been in the past which it'll be
it's nice to see this list shorten on
page one um you'll see here that there
are five projects that don't have any
color to them and those are ones that
are still under
review um the and the ones in the yellow
again like I said will have to be
Revisited um by next month the goal is
to have this page one ready to review at
commission and we can talk about what
needs to be done if anything needs to be
done with any of the
projects so so you're feeling like you
have some order yes last okay okay yes
very much so I'm looking forward to to
getting this this first page onto one
page and then moving on to from
residential to
commercial so so would you have any
general takeaways
from you know reviewing these kind of
early in your career with us um you know
they're well done not done lots of
variables that we don't see or is it
just too random to come up with the my
biggest General takeaway is it might be
nice when in when the application
process when they get approved in the
application process if we ask them for a
projected completion date so that at
least we have some sort of a calendar
date to know to go check on the project
project well I think Jim am I not right
that if it was approved that it has to
be installed within a year isn't that
what we said right but I I
that's absolutely correct but I do think
often projects might be installed
earlier so just asking them when they
anticipate having that done could let us
confirm or or or find a problem earlier
if we don't inspect it for a year and
they've planted something that could
easily have been switched out within a
few months we've solved a problem for
everyone um can I ask a question sure of
course I may have a conflict of interest
but the um Bexley Public Library this is
not the uh pocket park project this is
the Boy Scout um uh project
from um that wasn't there an eagle scout
yes yeah probably 15 years ago we were
still meeting over there and Celeste
worked with him so is that that's what's
under construction at the
library uh which top the very top
one oh good lord
I'm gonna have to go back what was his
name Cen that was his last nameen
Cen yeah or Ford
Cowen yeah Ford Cowen
yeah the one on the Alley that with the
arbor VY and it was to be something what
what is the boy got M I'm I'm stroking
out here um well and I'm deeply
concerned as the chair of the building
and ground committee for the library
what's going on well I'll go back to
Viewpoint and pull that up because that
technically should actually and that's
that's my bad we should move that to the
commercial it shouldn't be on the
residential um but I'll go back and look
and see what it was and why it wasn't
installed per plan and I will do
everything possible to make sure the
library is not on the list of oh you
know what you know what this
is this is the lopy in the parking lot
that is what it is so this is okay I
will confirm it but I am pretty sure
that this was when the um the the new
fencing went around the parking lot with
the new boxwood and the ly there was
minimal lopy that was installed in the
medians correct and um I had called that
out and had spoken with Ben
Heckman in the six years since the lopy
has started to spread
somewhat so it might be something that
we just need to go back and look at but
I'm pretty sure that this is the the
parking lot construction and not even
necessarily and and the trees that were
in the corner where we kind of created
that a little bit more of that
pedestrian Corner nothing was associated
with the side of that building where
there the kind of the scraggly kind of
arbs that are sitting there right now um
this was and and I'm pretty sure that
they were missing a bunch of L yeah okay
I just don't want Library group with CVS
no no oh Jim notoriety right not that
kind not that kind thank you elen
Monette thank Youk one one note you will
see there are a couple green there are a
few green um applications on the first
page those will stay on that page until
we've made sure that they are updated in
Viewpoint then they'll move over to the
second page
okay I'm so glad does everyone remember
What viewpoint is when we say that it
used to be Dropbox that's that's where
we used to look for everything so
Viewpoint right now um it is it's a
system of um tracking
applications everywhere from
construction to fence permit to assign
permit to you know then the tree and
Public Garden applications Upper
Arlington has a very if not the exact
same platform that we have right um and
so what we have been trying to do is
when we when I have the numbers in there
that are important for us to assign it
when a new application comes in it's
automatically assigned a number and then
that's a way that we're able to track it
and then everything is associated so all
the attachments that you see that are
emailed out are all actually on view
Viewpoint and are searchable by the
general public as well as the applicants
and so we are trying to always make an
effort that when we're reviewing these
if we reach out to the people via email
we're also sending them a a message
within Viewpoint so that we have a
record of it in case someone's email
gets hacked it goes away the person
leaves it is a basically a central
repository of all of the digital
information and all the applications
that go throughout the city and that
goes through Bap ARB as well as the tree
commission so if put in someone's
address for instance you know the 2730
East Broad Street right you would see
all of the information of what has
happened with you know ARB building
permits sewer permits inspections stop
work orders all of that is within that
it has various levels obviously of what
is viewable by the public versus what's
viewable by staff and administrators but
when we're talking about Viewpoint
that's one of the things that we're
trying to do in this so that there is a
record that someone can come back and
search be like this project was approved
then any notes that Monette makes by
hand she scans them puts them in there
so that again it's all there and it's
not filed somewhere in a random
building so yeah so to your your word
transparent transparent pretty
transparent okay now I don't know are
GMOs transparent they're they are not so
uh as a matter of fact um you know I am
not only interested in science but I
think I have peculiar interest in
Sciences applies to like real life and
so if you are ever stuck at a party with
me uh you may find Science kind of pops
up into some of these things some of the
things that I hear constantly from
people they will say like you know when
they're talking about food they will say
I avoid all GMOs no genetically modified
organisms and I say oh that's
interesting and then I will say what are
you avoiding then like what GMOs are out
there and so that's the question I POs
to Susan what are there are really only
three props out there that are
genetically modified at this
point and what are those corn corn corn
is the number one genetically modified
crop and if you think you're avoiding
GMOs you are not because corn is in
everything and at this point Almost 100%
corn out there is genetically modified
what else is genetically modified I know
it breaks my heart that you know corn is
and Fritos and
Cheetos but it's in everything uh not
it's not in my diet Coke but it is in
the regular Coke and it is in soy beans
soybeans is number two very good oh very
good bet you can't guess what the number
three crop is though okay okay and it's
and it's all it's it's again ubiquitous
it is not
marijuana Wish You Wish uh no but you
know what sugar is emerging as a
genetically modified crop because beets
are now
increasingly uh were introduced as a
genetically modified crop but but no not
not no but I'll give you a hint you're
not eating it but it's all around us
right now brass grass no wheat it's
literally all around us in here it is
it's cotton cotton is also is number
three but we're not eating that you're
not eating cotton well I hope and then
the follow question was how when we say
genetically modified how are we
modifying crops what what are we doing
there are really only two ways that we
modifi crops genetically despite uh all
the weird kind of crazy things you hear
out there and and real application
there's only two ways that we do it
whatever make them pesticide resistant
pesticide resistant is number one
Roundup Ready Roundup Ready crops uh if
you look at I have a chart that I wish
I'd been able to send you could put it
up there we'll show the percentage of uh
corn cotton and um soybean it starts at
0% in 1990 and they all go to 100% uh
you know around 2020 or whatever Roundup
Ready uh number one way uh and certainly
as a side note Monsanto is now uh you
know they say hi to your friends on the
way up and you'll see them on the way
down is now rapidly going bankrupt
because uh Roundup has been shown to be
carcinogenic and now they are being bled
dry by by lawsuits incidentally the
reason Roundup became so popular not
only is it super effective is it doesn't
persist in the soil whereas uh you know
you may be familiar with DDT which stays
around forever Roundup uh disappears
within you know I think weeks or
something like that it breaks down very
rapidly one of the selling points when
Roundup came out was the salespeople
would go around and they would say this
is so harmless and just to prove it they
would pour it into a glass and they
would drink it in front of you
right probably I don't know what where
those lot of the salespeople are now
but yeah maybe so there's another way
the second reason what's the second
reason what's the second way that they
are modified say that no you go
ahead not to make them good now volume
not for volume not I mean not volume but
number to increase not directly but you
know Roundup Ready certainly would be a
part of that and then what's the other
thing that we worry about with crops
insects insects and so Mo uh the other
the the second way that they're modified
is called uh BT BT crops basilis
andensis is a bacterium that produces an
enzyme that breaks down and kills
caterpillars uh in their gut and so
we've created genes and plants that will
create that very same chemical so when
we put it in the plant caterpillars eat
it caterpillars uh die or
whatever um I said what are you know
when GMOs came out there's all these
like they call them Franken foods and
they had all these crazy you know ways
that that they would make these uh
things and I taught the class on GMOs
for years and years and years and I was
always disappointed that there really
wasn't anything beyond uh Roundup Ready
and and BT crops that were coming out
and there still aren't but there are
some new ones and I have to go to the
Internet because these that come out all
the time they have potatoes now that uh
recently approved that do not um they
don't Brown you know when you cut them
and stuff like that oh they have uh
papaya papaya actually was one of the
first
GMO uh crops that got a lot of funding
because there was a mosaic virus that
was destroying papaya in Hawaii they
created one that was able to uh resist
that squash the same thing squash and
zucchini there's a virus that destroys
them and uh apples there's one there's a
new type of apple uh along with similar
to the potato when you cut the Apple it
doesn't brown brown it stays nice and
about lemon juice that works and what's
that lemon juice works or you could do
that yeah if you want to avoid GMOs but
there is only really one way to know
that you're not eating genetically
modified crops and what is
that you could grow yourself yeah but we
don't know if the seeds have been
modified fly to Europe uh that's true
Europe resist uh genetically modified
crops how are we doing comparison to
them I mean how are they managing not to
do that you know that's a really that's
a really good discussion question um
because certainly the United States has
embraced uh Roundup Ready BT crops
whereas Europe and other areas have not
and uh depending on which side you're
making your money I think shows where
you're on that on in that argument but
are genetically modified foods are they
are they labeled can you find labels on
them no no but you can find some that's
say non-GMO you can you can find some
that are that are uh that say no
GMOs but uh the um Monsanto and these uh
they've successfully uh defeated every
mandatory labeling uh referendum that's
come up and I think Washington the state
of Washington maybe Oregon uh passed one
and then it was defe or tried to put one
up it was defeated uh that sort of thing
you still can avoid them now and if you
look for uh foods that are labeled
organic organic almost by a fluke when
they created the standards for organic
foods uh they decided to put in they
can't be grown from uh GMO seed and they
can't be so uh anything organic is not
genetically modified either well a good
endorsement of the Bexley Natural Market
yeah and yeah I don't think you'll find
anything GMO in the beex Natural Market
no no you won't no well thank you I was
going to ask you if you are sought after
at cocktail parties for this discussion
and maybe the opposite
thanks Troy it's great to have you back
so so Jim let's go to the planting and
maintenance uh plan topics that you and
Celeste and Luke and I brainstormed to
see how much is on the plate to look at
so do you want to talk about some of
those sure so just to give context to
remember I think it was our last meeting
we had a brainstorming session and you
all gave a bunch of input as to what
might be included in a tree planting and
maintenance plan and so um Luke who you
if you didn't know Matt earlier celest
via phone and Susan and I met in a
somewhat noisy Beckley coffee shop um
and we took the brainstorming ideas and
then tried to turn those into an outline
for the plan uh with the idea that then
the next step would be we would divvy up
the areas of the plan and and start
doing any research
that we needed to do or drafting so um
we've tried to sort of organize it in a
in a logical way sort of uh if you
actually if you could scroll back up to
the top sort of starting with targets
for tree replacement then moving to
species selection um and the issue of
climate change around that which we
heard a little bit earlier today uh tree
planning standards uh then moving on to
the pruning that um we now have so many
people to do um and then uh sort of
resource assessment um since the mayor's
not here but uh a city councilman is one
of the goals in that is candidly to look
at what other communities are doing and
see whether Bexley is devoting the same
level of resources to what we expect um
uh or whether we're expecting Too Much
from the resources that we are devoting
um um and then
uh and Su this is just one that Susan
added down at the sort of bottom of that
section opportunities for added
resources um we heard earlier today uh
how valuable the Community Foundation u
tree fund has been but are we doing
everything we can to generate all the
resources um that we can um when Susan
and I had coffee with Charlie um he
mentioned and he alluded to it today
that there are there's a lot of grant
money out there so so are we doing
everything we can to explore what we
might do to you know plant even more
trees or take better care of the trees
we have one fun thing I think that we
need to kind of put into that mix as
well as in terms of discussion is um
unions right and in in terms of what
what is what we're what we're allowed to
do what we're not allowed to do and that
would be something that you know we
would have to work with the city about
in terms of I know that some things have
come up in the past of like why can't we
do this right and put money at it well
we can't because you know a lot of the
the majority of the workers are in a
union of some kind okay and so we might
be prevented so I think that in terms of
the resources just so we have that in
there just so we have a full
understanding that's good good point
there's nothing Mark fishell likes
better than a call from
me Grant I do have a question for you um
do most Community are most communities
urban forestry department unionized or
is it 5050 20 I couldn't tell you I'm
assuming so since but I'm not sure okay
well the one thing I mean um Grant and I
have talked and I think we all
understand that getting money might be
the easy part managing the people that
work on trees that you get the money for
is the hard part because there's only
one Grant and Charlie did mention that
many of the grants now will pay for a
manager of the of the
grant so it's not just trees that be
someone to pay for it that doesn't
negate the oversight that someone still
has to give but
is well could it could it could be well
could be yeah but but again you know I
mean it's part of what we talked about
before the benchmarking benchmarking if
you have 14,000 trees do you need 14,000
arborus or do you need you know at least
one for every thousand trees
so so um that's where we are we would
welcome your feedback um although only
for one more minute tonight uh
yeah um but I is this posted to our
meeting it's posted it's posted yes it's
posted yeah you can pull it up from the
city's website or if that's challenging
email me um and I'll be happy to send it
we'd love your input our next meeting is
in early March um March 14th 15 14 yeah
so we're plugging away and um I think
it's a good working group and at any
point if you have thoughts for us um or
resources for us let us know thank you
Jim it I mean it's fun you have you know
five conversational people so u a couple
cups of coffee uh I wanted to just
mention have Sheila mention a little bit
more specifically about the landmark
tree program for this year because we've
had kind of been bifurcated and now they
we're unified again yeah so we are
featuring the American more
specifically um on the website as of
this week we have the application that
one can nominate for our American
Sycamore specifically there is if not
that this group needs any details but
there are specific details categorizing
the American Sycamore so that there's no
question um in the
nomination if we don't get any
nominations I'm happy to go I have a few
of my own favorite syamore trees um and
you may be able to provide a nomination
we have a lot of
beautiful 100 plus year old sycamores
that are so stely I think it's the most
wonderful winter tree to
admire so um if you're in a book club or
an association or a city council member
you could email the nomination form to
your college colleagues yes put it on
the Bexley Buzz maybe no no no no no
they may be buzzed down that way so um
Monette did you have something you want
to add yes I'll be nominating one we
have a very old one in our backyard oh
good for you good for you yeah I there's
one in St Charles that I like and I
think Elena you said there's a great one
down by in Schneider near where the foot
bridge is going to go and I think
there's one at Jeffrey near the creek
yes I just want to give a super quick
update on the just so you guys all know
where the pedestrian bridge is where we
originally wanted to have it which was
right at almost where Asar dead end
Schneider
park there was something called
a clom study which stands for something
something water something something and
it's done by FEMA the bridge in the
foundations actually impacts too much of
the flood zone and so we have to move
that bridge further south which is going
to be probably more approximating the
location where the skate park is
currently being planned to be installed
so um we are not allowed by the
government to put the bridge where we
wanted to and so we're currently right
now looking at kind of a redesign of
that but just I wanted to let you guys
know in case since you're out in the
community and talking that the
pedestrian bridge is coming but we're
having to kind of redesign its location
and its footprint okay Troy do you have
a favorite American
Sycamore like personally like when yeah
well I mean because we're all dominating
personally it's not a commission
decision could be I don't I wish I I
wish I did I want you I challenge you to
pick one out yeah I'm gonna I'm gonna
keep my eye out over the next it may be
more interesting conversation than chos
at a cocka party you have a favorite
American Sycamore yeah it's definitely
more aspirational right that's that's
right so um and then uh Elizabeth
elman's working very hard on exhibitors
for the uh Earth and Arbor celebration
and I grant I mentioned to Spencer I'm
happy to help him find exhibitors for
the trees and things so just let me know
if good
good great I mean Elman Arbor I say
Jones mulch or soil I mean if people
could see the different kinds of mulch
or different kinds of soil it might be
enlightening okay any anything else I
mean there are other things but we can
hold them uh Troy unless you had
something you want to mention about city
council I think you and mayor pretty
well explained the hot topics for the
time being okay well good enough then so
anything else from you Jim nope Celeste
Linda Jayla then for the good of the
order um let's have a brownie and go
home okay
thanks so
adjourn now I didn't make the
brownies