okay
we are
uh
so the definition
is
up in bold no person she'll Place mulch
or soil above ground level Within
the drip zone of any tree shrub or
Evergreen so I didn't I had a drip Zone
because it was I think we had an earlier
definition that said
it was I don't think drip Zone and I
think it just said above the ground
level of any tree is that right here
yes but I didn't know that it was
against a tree specifically I think
um well I mean Grant or Ellen might be
better equipped to discuss mulch
volcanoes than I am but my understanding
was the principal harm caused by mulch
volcanoes is actually having a contact
with the base of the trunk of the tree
and the fact that it holds water in
there which caused the tree to think
that it's underground at that point
rather than above ground and therefore
causes bad things to happen like rot or
disease or growth that you don't want
oh yeah that would be correct I mean
typically you don't want mulch touching
um the trunk of the tree
um
and usually we keep but two to three
inches around the base of the tree uh
when it comes to the mulching
no more than two inches of mulch on top
of the root Zone
okay so I think maybe what we do is
expound on that it's felt I just have
seen Grant tell me that other things are
bad to do for example what he just said
so I think we should we should expand
that definition to say
what you just said yeah and I I think
I'm supposed to go to City Council next
week to provide background and I'll make
sure that everything I say Grant agrees
with
um yeah so can can we Workshop this
since we have a lot of good information
out there on it yeah yeah so we will
need an amendment to that correct yeah
yeah okay which I think we talked about
last night
so above ground level
it did say above ground level against do
you have that old I have the old one
here somewhere the trunk of the tree
within two inches from the trunk of the
tree
no more than two inches do you know no
more than two inches deep
with with
uh okay
um above
the root sound
or within the root Zone
Welsh or soil background
I'm not sure if that's
of any tree should you say around the
perimeter
well the root Zone yeah I think the root
Zone defines that I think it every tree
or shrub is going to be different so
no more than two inches deep above the
grade
how do we Define above the root Zone
above ground level around the root Zone
is how do people how do contractors know
what the root zone is they don't
that's why that's why I put drips on it
because I feel like you can Define that
more easily no because you're planting a
tree the root zone is going to be this
the canopies will be off in here and
they're just going to mulch
extending out to the drip line I don't
think
maybe you could say extending no further
than the drip line
well I don't know because if you're like
on
um Maryland the guy put in a very long
lady bed right so everything the smaller
Schnucks
so
it just has to be away from the roof
yeah the idea is keeping the mulch store
away from the park straight away from
the trunk of a tree or the wood the
Woody Park
that great so the root Zone that you
could see right above the visible
otherwise visible ears
well there are visible root zones
depending on the tree yeah
Define that thin layer and not and not
compacted around dreams
is it not is it not okay to just say
that you don't want them to add any more
than two inches under the drip
line because then
anything
yeah you
sure
it's so good your roots
right it depends if you're mulching a
newly established tree
already you know it's been there
yeah
yeah and it's not mounting the wedgings
so what if you do there's good
conversation going on over here Ellen
had a good suggestion I feel like we're
overthinking well you got to overthink
it because you got to make it so easy to
communicate they're like there can't be
okay
well Ellen just simplified it all okay
go for it Ellen
just to put it before you put
Walsh ring around the tree I mean
because you're talking about treason
pretty much the planet and if you for
the most part everything when we're
dealing with it all the time I mean most
of those you know tree rings are like
three things
well can't we just say what we want
radius whatever the radius is three feet
this way this way from the tree whatever
can only be so fit two inches or less
above the ground
can we just say what we want here's what
you can do you can mulch up to within
two inches of the trunk
and no further out than two feet from
the trunk
well but I don't know if we can limit
the size of a
because there's some trees that are
planted in a park that have lawn going
right up to it right and there and so
then then we don't want to say that
people have to go out if you have trees
in your backyard and provide a mulch
ring around your tree
if you got the mulch ring it can only
currently says go out
three feet from the outside trunk of the
tree
yeah the Ellen Bowden amendment is up
here on the screen I could just say the
military
I don't know what you should say but he
said some trees are small but if you
planted them you know they know you're
not gonna have a big group okay
I think that sounds perfect no you just
want to
gradually he wanted it's supposed to be
decorative you want to finish it off and
you don't want to warm it up well I
think that's what this says so with this
change it's just saying that within
three feet of the outside of that trunk
you don't go more than two inches yeah
yeah above great you don't have to go
three feet out yeah right saying if
you're mulchering is that far you know
yeah right then if you want to go past
that Grant says you can go crazy
yeah go two feet of mulch so should you
say something at the beginning of if a
motoring exists comment no person shall
Place mulch or soil I mean do you need
to
I mean because if someone's reading this
are they going to say oh crap I need to
have to do it I have to go put mulch
rings in no because this is actually
this is under defacing trees yeah you
shouldn't do that I don't think it's
saying you should do that okay
and there's another option here right so
like because we have because we are
ostensibly doing this in the context of
what just happened to that um in the
context of
licensed contractors that are being
educated on this you could also create a
mulch standard so like we've done that
around Commonwealth where when we mulch
around our trees and other places it's
like a square it's done to this
particular standard that's another
option that could occur where you're
saying you know if you wish to mulch
around a city tree here's how you do it
it's not just no volcano it's also like
you know I don't know if that makes
sense or not but that's something you
can explore well
um
yeah I don't I mean at least from my
perspective we don't want to limit the
prohibition to contractors it's not
limited to that yeah so this seems to me
to be clear enough if we I just want to
point out to everyone the other piece of
this that I think I added since we last
talked about it which I think is very
advisable as a registration requirement
for certain landscape contractors
um which would give us at a minimum the
opportunity to educate
um those contractors about the city's
requirements and the kind of problems
that Grant sees on a regular basis with
their work so uh
which Grace we've done that in the past
you have been the difference here is
their help to an account now and
registration could in theory get revoked
if the
contractor repeatedly violates the
executive so are we good with the mall
Jordans
subject of course to the right of city
council do anything it wants to it yeah
but this is a proposed amendment and
we'll save it as such
foreign
how soon can this get passed
two more meetings no more readings yeah
September um
second Tuesday in September
and the reality is that the important
thing is for it to be in place next
spring yes I think probably relatively
few people are monitoring this time of
year so what are we going to do with
people who have already been doing it
for years and you know how will we
enforce
well I think one step of enforcement is
to
um is going to be
to educate contractors to this
requirement now that we will have a list
of those that are doing that kind of
work I think Susan has in mind
um saw um some brochures or other ways
of publicizing this through the city
website and more directly
um and you know I think we have sort of
the ongoing issue of sort of enforcement
along the right-of-way but as we address
that with this in place I think how
whatever road to enforcement we take
they would the we would the city would
be able to
probably issue a warning first and then
if it sort of continued you raise a
really good point and I'd like to treat
this different this is different than
what somebody does on their own property
because it's city property so I'd I
would propose that we have that we
codify it that it's an initial warning
to a property owner
and then a fee after that a fine but the
city's the one actually removing it and
making it right
um and then
if it's a
contractor that's registered they are
already aware I would say would be an
automatic fine to the contractor if it's
found that they violated that
so we can create a penalty provision
That's Unique for this
that'll require further Amendment
because right now it falls under the
penalty Provisions that I think apply to
all uh section
1026 of the ordinances so what we we
could explain yeah and so we could
explore I'm I'm just winging right now
but it would be we could carve out this
one provision as having its own unique
handling because it's a really easy cure
um
and I'd be happy to work with you on
doing that because I think the right
place to put that is in like 10
26.99
because otherwise you're gonna okay
without any provisions spread out sorry
yeah
so um I'm working with an eagle scout
right now and he's putting together a
flyer to educate the community on how to
take care of a tree and part of the
flower is going to include a reference
to volcano mulching his goal is to
distribute this flyer to every single
resident in Bexley in order to achieve
his Eagle Scout status so once I've
asked him to make sure to give me the
flyer first before we you know pursue it
so that the tree commission can look it
over and and offer any suggestions so I
hope to have that at the next tree
commission meeting so so I know that
Susan had I think with some of the funds
that the trick Mission has he kind of
earmarked for a brochure and not to in
any way say that the eagle scout can't
do that but let's make sure that we Loop
Susan in if you want to email her and
let her know because I know that she's
aware oh perfect okay good excellent but
I wasn't aware of the funding which that
could come in handy assuming we could
use it to print his flyer is that
something that I mean I have no idea
what I think that's something we can do
or if it's if the eagle Scout's doing it
if that's a conflict of interest mayor
if the if the if the equal Scout is
preparing a flyer yeah to send out for
the mulch volcanoes don't do it right
can the city pay for that or does it
have to be something that the eagle
scout would have to the city can fund
material costs okay typically the Scout
is part of their task though is to to
find that funding so we wait for the
Eagles God to come to us he was going to
do a GoFundMe page
yeah why are we not going to tell him
how to do it when Susan's back
because my goal is for us statically and
early I have a question if uh we're
gonna have our installation inspector
check go around and check where
volcanoes might be I mean occurring and
then go to code enforcement and have I
mean where do we go after that
so I think first that and we'll talk
about this in a few minutes our first
job for our our installation inspector
should be to get us caught up on the
inspection of the installations I think
to the extent um that uh we get through
that then we can have conversations with
monetta about the priorities of the tree
commission and and I think within the
city we can clarify where Monet sees an
installation or other issue what the
city procedure is for addressing that
well and I think that when we're talking
about all this we have to stress that
the reason we're doing this is because
the city is an arboretum and we want I
mean to be on the positive side you know
we want to save and we have our trees be
as healthy as possible don't stress the
penalty part I mean it has to be there I
understand but the most important thing
is that people get on board with us
about how important the trees are and
this is about the easiest thing you can
ever do saves less money you buy less
Mulch and everything else so
um but just to coach it in the positive
but not you know
the first time
uh mayor should we move on with other
items gladly
um today we had our front yard uh study
group meeting which is continued we've
had several of them over the summer I
believe
um we spoke specifically about corner
lot regulations as it pertains to
um fencing and more active uses on
properties that don't have access to a
yard that's not in the corner we agreed
in principle I'm going to make some like
generic statements General correct me if
I'm wrong or Mary who's there
um uh and or lorian really Lots everyone
was there really um we agreed to the
idea of uh sort of a no
no fence zone of eight feet between the
sidewalk
and the property
um on a corner lot the defense wouldn't
exceed 42 inches in height that the
material would be
um black metal like a wrought iron or
aluminum it's like an open fence
material and that it'd be landscaped we
talked about
allowing that to exist under a sort of
special permit provision where there
would have to be certain criteria and
conditions that would lead to the
allowance of that fence as opposed to
what it is today which is the variance
so today in order to have a corner lot
fence you need a variance it shows
hardship and it doesn't Define exactly
all the exactly what that would look
like so it'd be a more prescriptive
form-based code but that would also give
some better property rights or stronger
property rights to individuals on Corner
Lots
we spoke about
um front yard uh normal front yard so
non-corner lots
the allowance of uh potentially the
allowance of garden beds in the in front
yards currently those are defined as a
structure that's prohibited
for the most part there's some caveats
to that but let's think of it that way
where we would allow them under certain
conditions
um that you know they'd be maintained
that there'd be an annual application
that they'd be certain material types
that they'd be placed closer to the
residence not close to the streets so
some ways to kind of legalize uh front
garden beds
um that is there's a lot of devil in
those details that we still need to work
out
um
we spoke about
something that I wanted to specifically
bring back to you guys for feedback
which was the idea another thing that
has been brought up as part of our front
yard study group is a desire by some
residents
right now we allow the planting in the
tree lawn of
uh like basically flowers
non-non uh
things without bark flowers not to
exceed 18 inches in height that can be
planted around three feet within the
root Zone actually where we actually
don't want to plant things if I'm
correct
so that was a new that was in response
to the fact that there was a lot of
planting taken place in the tree lawn
it wasn't previously prohibited but it
was sort of
unsightly in times
um and so we did prohibit that
inadvertently sounds like we didn't
actually write good code since we're
allowing people to dig around the root
zone so we should probably fix that
um but one of the questions was you know
is there a legal route for residents to
plant for example a well
uh maintained pollinator space in that
tree lawn
well hold on is just wait for it
so what we talked about slippery slope
people is uh maybe we do a pilot program
where we allow a limited number of those
installations to go in and I the context
here is like literally until last year
that was perfectly legal there was
nothing illegal about that
um last year two years ago
so we in response to some messy and
unsightly applications of this we just
said no to everything and I think that
there is a desire in the community to
explore are there ways to make that
um I'm not going to say like German
Village where there's really some very
excellent application of use within the
tree line but are there more are there
other ways to
plant responsibly and and aesthetically
an aesthetically pleasing
environmentally friendly man in Tree
Lawn we know that turf grass is not the
best thing for the environment there are
other applications and I personally do
want to see us find ways to explore that
in a way that's aesthetically
appropriate for the community so
the idea of a pilot program with a
limited number of these that would be um
overseen by
um
I would I would ask that the group that
wants to do this which is the love your
alley people talk about you know maybe
they self-administer this pilot program
under the conditions the tree commission
agrees to and that we review it and see
how it works
so that's the thought we had
you add to that the one thing that I
heard that might be important to some
folks is that would the pilot could only
occur where a treat could not be placed
correct yep it could not what be planted
not be planted and that is exactly what
was asked for there are instances where
residents have asked for trees to be
planted and they can't plant trees there
for maybe there's a utility conflict
maybe there's an old root ball that
makes that not possible
so could we use those areas provide for
better water uptake in the tree lawn and
provide for a productive
pollinator landscape so pollinator
friendly landscape so um that was
discussed and it was discussed that we
would bring it back for the tree
commission to discuss while you're
talking about that another idea that has
been brought around is for blocks to
come before the tree commission with a
proposal for like a block landscape plan
for meat blocks that have medians where
they could kind of adopt their median
with the tree commission approved
landscape plan not dissimilar to sort of
what's happened with the Bloomers
um at Jeffrey Mansion where they've
adopted certain areas and
um so touche so if that's of Interest
discuss amongst yourselves that's just
to be clear these are not proposals yet
before the tree commission Susan will
get to
share that meeting
um right but I think there is a desire
to discuss the pros and cons and
reactions yeah I think this would be a
good time for reactions that could be
carried back well that's working group
the biggest con is obviously going to be
the maintenance of these types of spaces
as we know and but I think there is
definitely
um you know if you get the right
plantings in I think it really could
look nice so just my two cents and then
you'll have like
battling a couple of houses just off
Cassidy for years that one person sees
what they plant and then all of a sudden
you go down the street and they're all
putting planter boxes in not knowing
that there's need to
maybe this is a program they need to you
know just do it because somebody else is
doing it I think signage was discussed
yeah yeah and I think that's a really
good point and I think that's actually
what we're struggling with right now is
there because there's an outright
prohibition and there's not like a legal
route to do this
it's you know code enforcement can argue
with people up to a degree and then
they're sending them to court and it's a
criminal penalty and it's difficult to
have a criminal penalty on some you know
on somebody's
uh uh you know herb garden where they're
sharing it with their neighbors in the
tree line I really like we're taking
them to court for this so having a legal
route for that actually really helps us
in those instances where we can go to
that property owner and say
you can do this but it needs to be under
the confines of this program and it
needs to be conforming with that
therefore we don't have things like
tomato cages or
outdoor rugs in the tree lawn for
example I'm just picking random examples
that I made up in my head that I've
never seen before in the community
um so
being facetious uh can you make them
sign a contract yeah so you can have a
maintenance agreement I mean you would
say that in order to do this it's a
permit here's what I agree to do if I
don't do it I don't have the permit it
really does potentially clean up the
issue
yeah
Grant the bloomers the the I I would
actually make that part of our pilot
program where if the group if if we have
a responsible group of residents that's
really interested in this and they're
willing to administer it that they're in
charge of cleanup if it doesn't meet the
criteria try that out I don't know if
it'll work or not it's it is not
dissimilar to the idea of the community
garden or the Bloomers sort of words it
resident-led organization using space
within the city's property
and there is responsibility there other
comments or questions
um and you talked about
um items that can't go in the corner is
that
not just fences that include plant
material
I mean that for the you know site
there's a site triangle yeah so plant
material within the side triangle can't
exceed I think it's 24 inches in height
um and and that would also of course
prohibit fencing yeah within the side
triangle this so this would be outside
of the side triangle
and um
I think the concept would still be that
there would be landscape
to help screen any fencing that's
occurring after that eight feet so the
screening would be between the sidewalk
and the and the within that eight foot
Zone
there's a couple when I drive the alleys
there's a lot of alleys that have plant
material right you know and I've
literally had kids biking in front of me
that you know you can't see because
they're not in the street they're on the
sidewalk would that plant material also
be an alleys you need to have a side
sight line so our current code doesn't
prove it it prohibits plant material
blocking a sight line
today and
we battle that a lot yeah and we're you
know people will trim it back and then
it'll grow again I'll turn it back so
it's a constant that's a constant Code
Enforcement issue
our current code does not prohibit
Hedges along the sidewalk for example on
front yards
um or Corner lots for that matter unless
it's a side triangle issue and we're not
anticipating changing that there was a
lot of discussion about that which is to
say that you know that's a natural
material it's part of that green space
um it is a good alternative to somebody
in a corner lot who wants to have
privacy and we don't want to take that
away but with that yeah comes a lot of
Maintenance you know it you do need to
trim it so it's not blocking the
sidewalk we are constantly asking people
to trim away from the sidewalk
same issue okay yeah it's the same alley
is a side triangle issue
um we
uh we are we are constantly writing
letters to those Property Owners asking
to trim back we probably don't because
there's so much mature vegetation that
is within the 25 feet
we're a little more tolerant at the
alleys that it not be that full triangle
just that it be pushed back so that it's
more visible but if you see that
happening certainly call it in
qualitative and code enforcement which
is Dave heard like a in that process as
we know is a slow and imperfect process
very slow
by nature of the process any other
comments or in fact
I guess my one my one comment happened
in 92
with America Laura encouraging people to
do it
and it didn't go well
yeah tell me about that
maintenance
people are enthusiastically planning and
then
lose interest they're on vacations
nobody's fluttering it
and
you know I'm just thinking of lots of
cities you know traveling and visiting
cities
medians and right away are usually
agreeing with the trees and
the gardens are in
property space
yeah after that we you know we everybody
kind of spent a lot of time encouraged
people to look at cities and how people
handled it that was the conclusion so we
ended up spending time going back and
cleaning up they're also I mean to be
fair there are also a lot of cities
where
that space is used in a really beautiful
and fantastic way it's possible pretty
much under the cities no I mean like you
walk again I'm going to point to German
Village because it's the one I'm most
familiar with but like you walk
and you see amazing uses of that space
within German Village now you also see
the odd one that's not amazing and so I
think that's the idea of a pilot program
is to say can we find a way to kind of
have some oversight of the space it's
not just free it's not just like open
invitation to everybody but it's within
under these parameters that is has a
little bit more of an intent
an administrative oversight so that's
the thought and I also want to respect
it like
we have residents who very earnestly and
sincerely would like to maintain that
space in a way that is more responsible
and it is more responsible I mean we
know that grass is beautiful and we had
this conversation many people love that
look but it is not it is not the best
thing for our natural landscape in terms
of the treatment of the environment so
if if we have somebody who earnestly
sincerely wants to manage that in a way
that's more responsible environmentally
and can be aesthetically appropriate can
we provide a legal route for that is the
question
those things also be something that they
could maintain at a park or at you know
a specific site around the city and not
necessarily in front of the house so if
you had pollinators at you know
Havenwood you have pollinators over
Jeffrey had pollinators in different
parts Commonwealth so that would be
allow people to gather together to you
know to accomplish that and not have it
you know scattered Mary what would Doug
Ptolemy say about that
I think you would think that's a good
idea too
you'd say yes and yeah
I just have a quick comment I've spent a
lot of time in Clintonville recently and
they have bump outs and
um I don't know if the city's
maintaining them but some of them are
beautiful I mean
some are relation to storm water
retention and
I was very impressed so the ones that
you're seeing that are beautiful
are maintained by a resident group okay
that the group that's approached us
wants to model after
there are some instances that's
Columbus's project blueprint and there's
kind of two issues those are rain
Gardens but there's also some landscape
installation too and there's some that
are both and so there are some of those
rain Gardens storm swales within the
tree lawn that aren't being maintained
and so the some people have seen that
too but that's a different thing what
you're seeing where you see and you're
like whoa this is like very intentional
I mean it's so impressive it's an
analogous situation to what we're
talking about
could we perhaps have a design standard
like you know I don't want to put more
work on you but you know come up with a
design and this is the approved design
I like why are them ask them to create a
design yeah you can do whatever you want
within the confines of the code that
empowers you to do that yeah and I think
I mean and I think that not to squelch
people's um creativity but to even sort
of say hey here's a list of recommended
plants that you could start with right
because I mean I think a lot of times
people they're just going to a you know
Oakland and picking something out
because they think it's pretty and they
don't understand that it needs shade or
it needs simple sun or you know when are
you doing it so if people can kind of
understand if we even had you know lists
that were like full sun plants you know
part shade what is what is your
condition so people you know at least
have something that they're going
through so they're not doing something
where they you know are putting in you
know
something that is in deep shade and you
know they've got hostas because they
think hostas are great and they're just
getting burnt to a crisp and getting
eaten by deer Well we'd also in that
regard want to come up with a list of
what we don't want in there too I think
we probably should bring this
discussion which will continue in future
meetings to conclusion I I just put off
for my own observation is that if we go
down this road we need a mechanism to
um deal with the situations that don't
live up to the promises that were made
and it can't be that we're going to go
to code enforcement and they're going to
get around to it because that'll be
several seasons down the road I think I
think there has to be sort of you have
to have a clear plan for how
expectations are going to be evaluated
as to whether they've actually delivered
on this and I don't think that can be
the group that thinks this is a great
idea
um and I think that there has to be a
very quick process at the expense of the
residents that have engaged in this that
remediates a failure to live up to the
promises let me just um because I I do
think I think overall we need to do a
better job of Education educating Bexley
that just like our Parks the
right-of-way are common spaces not
resident spaces and cause people to
value that common space rather than
complain that it's not their space
that's my speech mayor do you have other
things you want to report on
uh just asked would you maybe it's a
question for Susan but maybe we have
some of the advocates for this come to a
tree commission meeting to discuss it
I'm we always welcome guests okay
Susan in that regard
um we have uh I don't know Grant do you
have an update I wanted to talk a little
bit about tree plotter but that might be
under yours that's Senator grants yeah
under grants okay
um
you might not know Grant but if you go
to Bexley arboretum.org there is now a
good pop-ups that help people to look at
so
um what's that I'm afraid
[Laughter]
yeah uh land use strategy commission we
had a meeting in July um we're gonna
we're scheduling some workshops around
topics that
um have been of interest for deeper
Dives including link gusts capitals
development plans the schools facility
needs
um
and some others that I don't have at the
top of my head but I think trees are
also a part of that some levels as long
as I'm there
um
and then the Drexel uh project is that a
grant update is that a you update and
put that Grant okay good great
it is that's all that I have right now
for y'all unless there's another any
other uh tree line or right-of-way
related questions I'm happy to answer
are we doing it approval of our
landscape plan for the Trinity
Apartments is that
no that's just uh just a quick report on
um a meeting that I'm supposed to have
on Friday oh okay we're yeah do you want
me to do that we're doing that I'm not
gonna do it I mean I was just gonna do
it under right it's probably it doesn't
belong in our own business but under new
business new business once again the
agenda has failed you it's good thank
you all for entertaining my update
welcome back thank you thank you glad to
be back
um back to you Alana I don't know if you
have anything to report on the meetings
that you've been having with Kathy and
Karen
um
no not really
um we are uh in contact regularly with
one another in terms of sharing projects
saying hey this is coming up where's
this where is that going this
um this summer has been difficult just
with people
um traveling and
um family issues and things like that so
um our last meeting we weren't able to
have but that's something that we're
still trying to just at least keep in
touch with and so um if questions are
coming up uh we understand what's going
on
um the list of approved projects that is
what I handed out to everyone and so
this is the most kind of updated project
list and this is why we have Monet who
is fantastic
um I've known Monet almost since I've
moved back to Ohio
um she hired me and um and so I worked
with her and she and I have been kind of
orbiting each other in terms of she's a
fantastic designer she knows all of her
plants
um she you know works really well with
people and so in terms of kind of
helping do some of the tree commission
stuff that has been hard for me to get
to she has generously agreed to help out
and review and her first kind of task
that we're asking her to help us with is
all of the plans that we have approved
to go through have they been installed
she can read a set of plans she can
understand if the intention is there or
not
um and then Mark that up and then we can
make sure that you know things are
installed correctly the list that you
have
um this is broken into the first two
pages are residential and the second two
pages are commercial and so if you're
looking for a particular project this is
um where you would find it and you can
see that it has the commercial project
name the date in which we reviewed the
tree commission the construction status
whether or not there has been a final
installation review and in the
commercial area there's a site
maintenance review that is the purpose
of that
is that we would like to once we get
caught up
either annually or bi-annually go by all
of the sites and walk through and say
like hey are they doing okay or not once
a residence project has been done we're
really the city is really just it's
we're not going to go back and every
year and make sure that it's okay unless
there's something that is absolutely I
think glaring that we can go back and
that would probably most likely be
associated with a new build
um the other thing is the Viewpoint
application number that is something
that um we took the time to put some of
the old projects that happened like CVS
um into it I don't even think it has one
yet I'd have to check
um so we can track it online most of the
things we're trying to get most things
digitized so we don't have paper but a
lot of the older projects we have
um still you know hard copies that are
kind of floating around somewhere that
the depths of City Hall
um in terms of starting this one of the
first things that you know we need to do
is kind of drive by all of these
addresses and see if because of the one
thing you can see you can see in terms
of like when things have been approved
pretty much at the end of it looks like
2020 2021 kind of covid
um
it just sort of stopped and um and so
going through and say like okay has the
work been completed check that off and
then you know understand find the plan
go and look at the plan and I think what
um yeah we were saying in some of our
past conversations is that we almost
start at the bottom of the list and go
up because the ones that have
potentially happened three or four years
ago if they've been installed again if
it's something really egregious City
might have a hard time going back and be
like hey you missed this
um again unless it's not clear at all
um but then we also wanted to hear from
you all today in terms of are there ones
that you're like hey Monette can we can
we really start here and you know I
don't know maybe CBS is the first one
that so
um that that's my overview on that and
then Jim I don't know if you wanted to
yeah I think I mean I think it'd be
helpful as Monet starts to give her some
sense of where our priorities are
um and normally the chair goes last but
um uh I I in Candor I'm unsure whether
the resident um the near my residents
that we approved last fall I believe
think that they've complied with the
plan
um my personal observation raises
serious questions about that I think
that's the 481 North Drexel uh one uh
and so uh apropos of what Elena was
saying I have real concern if we don't
notify the resident if they think
they've complied
um relatively soon that they haven't
complied that they're that they may have
some argument while it's been there for
six months and no one said it wasn't
what you asked for I I and so my
inclination would be the ones that on
the second page of the residence ones
should be a good place to start also in
part because
um if we can get to them in the the next
month if that's reasonable that gives
them time to remediate things while that
things can still be planted this fall to
correct deficiencies
um
would it be helpful
um for me to add the
homeowners names to this list I I tend
to go by either the address and the
application number I have just I've kind
of taken the I guess the person you know
I'm trying to just keep it like this is
the property but is it helpful for
people for you all if we add that in in
terms of the near Meyer residents from
more people refer to it that way versus
not or does it not I don't matter I
don't need to know their names okay I'm
out because I don't know them anyway so
okay yeah most of the time I don't know
their names there's just one that jumps
down okay yeah just wanted to ask
um
so does that sound like the right place
to start I I think um
on the commercial side I know it's it
was approved a long time ago but CVS
does continue to come back I I don't
know if Kathy sent you the original
plans Elena but did you not pull them
out I don't I didn't see them but I
don't know I mean it's probably more
important that Monette sees them
um but I just I know that
um Sheila's had concerns about their
maintenance of the plan
um Susan's had concerns I'm pretty sure
everyone in the room that's been there
has had concerns I wrote to corporate
and told them they should be ashamed of
themselves trying to go that route you
know the shame route but they said they
were checking into it I mean I think
that I mean I I don't want Monet to have
to jump right into the fire but in terms
of one that actually I think tests
um our ability to sort of enforce this
in our commercial Zone CVS is a good one
um you know for for different reasons
than the residential ones are good ones
um and so that would be where I would
encourage you perhaps on the commercial
side to start I think the one thing I
guess that maybe you have Clarity
Minette on this is
if you if you were hypothetically to
find that it's not been maintained as
presented
um what's your next step
um is it to then go to Dave and report
this as a violation and I think we need
clarity as to the enforcement process so
your energies aren't wasted so I'll jump
in on to put internet on the spot but
yes so I would say that with CVS for
instance if so Grant just said that he
has the plans in his office so we can
get Monet you know those plans we can
review them and if things are are
missing
um we can do any number of things I mean
we can kind of just make a list we can
bubble it I mean I think it might change
kind of project by project in terms of
what makes it appropriate but with
something like CVS I think we need to
have you know clearly like you know if
we have to scan the plan and be like
this is what we have this is approved we
give that to these are the areas that
are not in compliance then we have to
give that to Dave Dave then can write a
letter or we can even write a letter
that says we notice that these plants
are out of compliance in these areas you
have so much time to you know address
them Dave then can send it to his
contact at CVS right we are not as you
know tree commission you know staff
Consultants authorized to you know kind
of do anything but we can certainly help
but that email comes from Dave as code
enforcement in terms of you know kind of
moving forward from that and then from
there I think it you know he can find
them and do whatever needs to happen but
for for Dave he has enough on his plate
and he also probably doesn't necessarily
understand the plant material other than
it looks bad right Monette would be able
to go in and say it is missing liriope
in this bed you know this bed has
nothing and it's supposed to have you
know boxwoods or or whatever and if we
can have a list that is clear so that
they understand what they need to do
then hopefully their maintenance people
can take care of it
and this might be more of a question for
the mayor I don't know but if we get
then to that step is is it possible for
then us to be informed that Dave has
sent them a letter or taken the next
step
um just because I feel like
at least for myself as a member of the
commission sometimes I feel like we do a
lot of work reviewing plans and then
they don't get installed as desired or
they don't maintain as desired and it is
frustrating as a member of the
commission not to know that things are
being done to yeah enforce our work like
a Wall of Shame sort of like every month
report
I I don't know that shame helps but
guilt does yeah we can do that uh you
know
and try to be consistent and accurate I
mean there may be instances like I know
for example we recently issued a letter
to cats tires that you might not even
know about about the landscape violation
so like that we just need to make sure
that the right CBS cats tires okay yeah
yeah I mean I don't want to create
unnecessary network but it's nice to
know that steps are being taken we
recently issued a violation notice to
cats tires about landscape missing
material missing where it's yeah it's a
it's fairly obvious in that instance as
is with CBS of course
um but I can't tell you how many friends
I've had including myself have gone in
and talked to the manager to ask them to
do something they're just outside we've
done it every year
we've sent people in we you know we've
had
at CV or you're talking about CVS Barb
just records clear um it's just about
bad on the inside oh the yeah so I think
part of the CVS problem that I've heard
is that the local manager said well
that's not something within my authority
um
and it's the building does CVS own it or
is there or do they it's owned by
yeah it's owned by CBS
I believe if not they have a very
long-term lease on it I mean they
control the real estate
right and their corporate is in charge
of Maintenance and I by the way I had a
conversation with another city
um
locally it was CBS I felt like looked
like they're better condition they're
like well we're constantly doing the
exact same thing there so
it seems to be a regional issue
can we also put I don't know where um uh
Pizza Plus would be on a list for
projects on there just not the
commercial not every commercial is on
here but yes we can certainly that
should be like number two it's just yeah
just have plans for them they would
predate my time and I don't think
they've changed their landscape even
though they had lands
I think we needed to clarify for a
minute what whether she has Authority
where there's not an approved
Landscaping plan if we can do that to
make sure you have clarity as to what to
do I think there's probably plenty of
things for you to do I want to clarify
that
yeah great
um should we I just have a quick
question Grant did the city clean up the
tree wells in front of CVS or did they
do that
they do that okay because they recently
have cleaned those up okay yeah
uh the bank yeah we don't the only tree
Wells we maintain is out here in front
of uh okay uh Drexel and um
Main Street in front of giant eagle and
stuff yeah okay okay
um
well I want to thank you for the list
and yeah thank you for joining this
effort
um if you hear any frustration it won't
be with you it'll be with history but
we're really anxious to work with you so
yes thank you
um Grant
okay uh earlier today I emailed out the
tree plotter login and password
information
um
let's hope it loads here we go
so this is once you
um
what you're seeing right now also you
can see from the targeting website
you don't forget to win right there
correct so you would go over here to the
login and then your login ID is tree
commission and your password is trees123
dollar sign
s
um
so the basically this is for your uh
layer and we'll turn off all the trees
here and so as you're walking the street
with your smart device your phone or
tablet or whatever it is
um
see if we can zoom in here
the
what's easier
I'm missing
so while Grant's looking for that but if
I can just give a bit of context because
it may be in a while since we remember
this we have loaded the information that
was in GIS into tree plotter and that's
what will appear publicly we will have
the ability then and what tree plotter
calls a lay another layer to identify
where there are spots where trees can be
planted which will help us formulate our
three-year plan for infilling the trees
and so
um
we won't be able to mess with the trees
that the in the layer called existing
trees or trees because that we don't
want the city's data on that but what we
hope we will be able to do is then use
tree plotter to as we did I think five
years ago before covid walk the city and
identify spots where trees could be
planted and then that will find its way
into tree Potter and allow us to see how
many spots there are maintain those
spots work with Grant in his Department
to infill those spots
um
so I'm sorry to interrupt Grant but I
just want to bring people back to that
context
okay
so you can either leave the trees on
which are all different colored dots
um I don't know if that's easier but as
you're walking
the street and you see a location we'll
pick here
and you can either write the address
down and go home and do it on your
laptop or you can do it on your device
you're carrying so you'll go up to the
add button here
yeah
anyway
um so then it'll give you the ability to
add a DOT and then we're going to click
on tree we're going to do if you're
standing in front of the house you'll do
by GPS if you're doing it at home you'll
do by map
you'll add the DOT
and then
under common name since we don't really
exactly know
we're just picking a location for a tree
we'll go down to new location here
on the toggle down or hit that and then
we'll close this
so this map
will show
um
the only areas where you have added
locations
or trees that you feel should be planted
there and then as I take this map I can
go through and pick the designated
species
for that tree that street and be able to
decide if we're
that's capable of doing that or not
does that make sense
yep so as you go down here and you
toggle on new locations
that will be all the dots you see on
this map or new locations that
you're placed
and as I work through this I can get
water taps and other maps that we have
in our arcgis system downloaded onto
this layer
which may not be everything that keeps a
tree from being planted we don't have
the same lights and gas Taps and
downspouts and everything but it'll give
you an idea of
what's underground in that location
get away for the
like
extend the crown to show up can you like
Auto that up to you
um I don't think so I think that if I'm
understanding your the what's behind
your question mayor if we've picked the
right Street trees for that street
and Grant will assign this with by the
street tree that's there we should it
should work unless there's something
unusual in that particular site that
sort of saying that actually I was sorry
I was thinking more specifically we have
a um
small cell tower guideline the
um
protects uh the the use of the
right-of-way based upon the tree canopy
maturity uh-huh and so it's one way that
we can like if if the species
like leads to Eastern
horn hop horn beam gets X you know gets
so large at maturity then we can kind of
show visually to a telecom
where they might be able to put
something be helpful it'll be an
interesting uh
piece of information that's what I was
asking I thought I saw that in one of
the older we do have that in our arcgis
system energy is okay I thought I saw it
on a tree plotter
I think that maybe some folks have
downloaded that information from their
GIS in but oh added it as a layer yeah
but you would have it only at a certain
point in time right because or if
they're mature I guess the crowns
stops
um so yeah once so on my side of things
there is a toggle down where it does
Crown size but I don't know that it's
going to make the dot bigger it'll just
provide you information if you clicked
on that dot
okay
design file that you could put that
layer on and it just shows no it doesn't
I'm not Photoshop but like yeah so I
mean JS does that okay yeah I think I
mean I My Hope Is that we first sort of
use the tree plotter in this way and
identify where we can plant more and
then is is
we hope that it shows its value we can
add data to it either through grants
from perhaps the Community Foundation or
someone else that cares about our city
um but I think the first step is to try
to see how successful we are in using it
to identify in spill spots I mean my own
perspective apropos of a conversation
earlier today I saw on Grand views
um site that they actually show the
right-of-way lines you can open up a
layer that shows where the right-of-way
which if a resident wanted to do
something would be really nice that they
could look at where the right-of-way is
on their own house now they could
probably call Kathy and get that
information but still for both
homeowners and contractors having the
right-of-way could be potentially useful
information
foreign
let us know and at a glacial speed we
will see if we can add it
um because we do have a growing internal
knowledge of how to use GIS and it'll be
interesting to see what we could do yeah
it's converting GIS into a file that
this will accept because I'm having
trouble with I think it okay all right
let's talk about that
so Jim is there is there another plan to
deputize the groups that were formed a
couple years ago to go back out and
re-walk the same areas that they walked
before but use this
um
it's my hope that we can recreate what
we did a few years back using tree
plotter I'd
um
I think that I don't want to volunteer
people for what they did five years ago
but hopefully
um in our next meeting we can
um
actually divide up the city and do that
and uh you know with a few uh maybe uh
recruit a few extra helpers to do that
but and then once we have that we work
done then it will be in the system and
um you know uh we'll I think it'll be
useful to have sort of the parameters
too last time I think Grant you gave us
some parameters like if if there's a
water line or if there's a gas line or a
drainage tile we can't do it within X
number of feet of that so I think we can
either dig that out or Grant can give us
some guidance as to how to do this so
we're not identifying spots that are a
waste of his Department's time to go out
and discover that there's a drain tile
there and it doesn't make any sense to
plant a tree there
um does is is it
does it make sense to move forward in a
logical fashion where people have zones
and people aren't necessarily repeating
work versus because I'm thinking like oh
I'm taking my dog for a walk three times
a day and if I see a tree I'm like ding
ding ding ding I mean is that would that
be more of a pain for this entire
process if people are doing kind of like
onesie choosies oh I went for a walk I
saw this spot it looks like a great tree
I'm going to drop a dot in there versus
okay I'm just gonna you know keep that
to myself and then let you know when you
know if the tree commission members or
whoever we decide to go forward I mean I
think or is it potentially going to be a
combination of both so
um
what I would suggest is that to ensure
that we've covered the whole city we
divide it up like we did last time I
think we could also encourage folks who
are regular walkers on their routes to
you know after we've sort of loaded in
the systematic review to look around and
say hey was a spot missed
um or did you notice a problem with this
spot like you know as most people know I
walk up Brentwood and back Bexley Park
Monday Wednesday Friday 7 A.M so
um you know right but I I I I think we
do want to make sure we haven't missed
areas so I think we want to
systematically divide it up so yeah and
I can also like and
I I won't delete the dot that is placed
but I can always put in the comments
that
you know it's too close to this or
there's a gas line there or there's a
lot you know right I think that will
always be there and you click on it and
say oh that's why it's not finished or
maybe there's even a way to you can
change the colors yeah
well there's a lot of rooms here and uh
and I you know I don't know whether
we're I mean I think one of the benefits
of doing this is also if we do if it you
know if we if the city does decide to
proceed with this Pilot We will have
identified all the areas where trees
could be so no one suggests a pilot
where we could be planting a tree
um so thanks
well thank you grant I know that there's
been a lot of work to get to this point
and a lot of work on top of the regular
work so I appreciate it
um
um I think you you have a few other
things to report and at a minimum I
think you deserve credit for what the uh
the Broad Street medians look like uh
yeah so Broad Street is very frustrating
once we get it put back together it gets
taken back apart pretty quickly
um
so yeah it's it's just I'm not staff to
be out there every day picking up and
cleaning up
um so I have pick and choose battles uh
so yeah it was getting pretty gnarly we
uh mulched to the islands that the ivy
just wasn't taking off in and um in
hopes that this spring or this fall
we'll replant those
uh we're definitely replanting the trees
all along there um the problem is the
irrigation doesn't work because it keeps
getting hit and that's not a quick fix
that's you have to dig up
the valves and replace the valves and
you know those are 500 a piece the boxes
the black boxes are two thousand dollars
a piece and those come from California
so
it gets expensive to the point where my
budget doesn't
uh cover it um but you know that's
something we need to look to in the
future and decide how we're going to
move forward with that
um Drexel Circle or Drexel Avenue the
islands are going in
um we are putting in
the cherry trees between 53 to 63 of
them I got that out the bid
um hope to get numbers back here
um in the next few weeks and have
the islands should be done late October
and we could easily plant November early
December into those areas do you want to
touch base on that we found the trolley
line below
yeah so three islands so far we found
Old Trolley uh tracks
so it was um
um about a foot under the ground and so
you had the railroad ties
and then nine inches of concrete so
that's taken us back a few days to get
that all removed
um and we hopefully it won't keep going
south but we'll see but and I just I
want to thank grant for calling
attention to that and then pushing
the engineers to not just say oh okay
well we'll just have a foot of dirt and
so you know really went out there I was
like that's not healthy for the trees
and so we actually you know got the
mayor involved and said we need to bust
up this concrete because the medians are
already so constrained in terms of
having only four feet of clear on the
inside or five feet
um that we didn't want to you know
nothing's gonna grow in a foot of soil
so
um we took the additional time money and
effort to actually break that up so that
the trees have somewhat of a fighting
chance so are those the ones south of
Powell that or where the Street's closed
is yeah that's where it's closed right
now yeah so right now it's those three
islands
um after the CSG one yes right the two
here at Drexel didn't have it and the
one there abroad didn't have it either
so ideally we're hoping
that's it it's moved down fair and we
only got one or two more Islands to
worry about but um we'll know next week
or so when they start digging those up
uh it'd be neat to get photos they had
already pour into them before we could
get to it so it'd be neat to have some
photos to show everybody
um well take down this so right now
we're at roughly about 108 removals
um we have about 16 stumps still out
there
um most of our removals are smaller 18
to 8 inch trees we do have a lot a few
larger oak trees I mean they're they're
struggling
um on the streets so that'll be
something done this winter
um
planting wise we have about 60
Replacements from a room removal list of
last year and then we'll be putting
trees down Drexel and Broad Street so
that is
uh that uh storm damage has just really
been horrible this year it's really held
us back from doing our normal
maintenance on work orders and stop
signs and just pruning and good tree
maintenance so um we're really behind on
that so but it's just been a really bad
year for storm and wind damage
to the folks well yeah in the spring the
aphids and infestation of insects right
now you're probably seeing
um especially on the beach trees the
leaves are kind of deformed and funky
looking
um you're seeing a lot of scorch with on
the Buckeyes some of the Oaks are
showing it
um which we typically see right now as
well
um
so yeah it's been it's been a heck of a
year for plant material
thank you for all your work Grant
um
I think that takes us to Old business I
think the three-year plan to infill the
lawn is this is really one of our goals
with what we're doing with tree plotter
so hopefully over the next coming months
we can identify that and uh and um
one thing we should probably work with
Grant is not to identify places to plant
trees where you're already planting to
plant trees but I'll work with you on
that
um an explanation of the meeting with uh
um
regarding the tree commission's Powers
with the property next door I this is
perhaps a problem or an issue that I
caused but when I look at our ordinances
you recall we have an ordinance
requiring a a landscape plan for New
builds
um and I don't didn't read that
ordinance as exempting new Builds on
Main Street
um so I have a meeting to clarify that
with the mayor and with Elena Karen and
Kathy and maybe others are coming I
don't know um Jason sudey who is our
kind of our building zoning
uh staff consultant uh just because I I
think that this fall I don't know what
exactly the timeline is we may be
getting requests and I think with a
project of that magnitude it's really
important that we understand our powers
going in understand
um what we can and can't do so hopefully
we'll have some clarity around that so
you saw you're saying you think we don't
have
I think we do have power I know you're
shocked that that's my view
um I think it's but I think it's
important that we clarify what our role
is versus others in this process so that
we don't do a lot of work that isn't our
work to do or that others don't preclude
us from doing work that's our work to
Dooms and yeah so
good thank you
thank you I think you've gotten reports
on the other issues on um under old
business there is the important item of
electing the chair and vice chair for
the coming year and having shared this
if you want another nominee for vice
chair you're welcome to do that but
um Susan and I are proposing ourselves
as the nominees who's in this chair to
continue and myself as Vice chair
um we appreciate that
we if there's a motion in that regard or
emotion with other nominees I would
entertain that at this point
for next year second without a doubt
yeah yes all right
just as a reminder just to speak to make
sure your mic is on just in terms of
when you're talking into it it's again I
was listening to the the June meetings
and it's really hard if the mics aren't
on to pick up what people are saying so
just as a reminder
so for the record just so people know it
was bar motion to approve it was Barb's
and then seconded okay perfect thank you
and I I will try to if we have any more
motions I'll try to recite that
um if there are there any other nominees
hearing nine are you ready to vote
all those in favor of the Slate
presented say I I
posed
the Slate carries I'll break the news to
Susan
um
yeah no
um so I think with our remaining time
um we have we have a report from our
city council person and I'd like to
spend as much time as we can
um turning it over to Ellen
um who's looking for recommendations for
the trees for Bexley campaigns Focus for
the coming year yeah
we will get to you councilwoman
just to give us some context and okay
um
so moving forward
um
last year the Bexley Community
Foundation which sends out the letters
um
change the calendar a little bit they
send out a year-end solicitation and
which has made total sense we don't want
the two letters going out very close
together so the calendar for the shoes
for Bexley campaign changed a little bit
so we've moved it up with the letters to
be sent out the end of September so as
you back everything up what we need to
do is discuss and and today and make a
strong recommendation that will be
presented at the September 18th
vaccine beautification
um
or Bexley beautification uh meeting for
approval of the Monies to be sent to
that final vote will be made at the tree
Commission
Step at the September 20th meeting and
then hopefully by the 30th of September
the letters will be going out the
foundation is already working on
um the the envelopes and the second page
with the donors of from 2022. so we have
that all in place so we're hoping that
once you know all the approval is in
place we'll quickly get the letter
together assemble that and get it out in
the mail okay so
um one of the projects that was
recommended to us was doing trees
uh for the meetings through excellent
and that was voted down so we have to
look at some other projects and two
projects that have been suggested for
the infilling of the trees in the city
and the other one was and then I
um and Grant will have to answer this
question with the construction trees
were damaged on Drexel Avenue and the
right-of-way
I
definition of damage
the fact that we're beautifying
structural
um and then you know trees in the
between the curb and sidewalk are are
beaten up everywhere throughout the city
we're going to do our best to uh
of the health of those trees
so I mean to answer your question about
when I if I had a number of trees that
would be replaced it'll take a few years
be long term okay so
um and that's what I was wondering about
especially if you're going to
aggressively go in and amend the soil
and you know trim the root system and
that sort of thing some of those results
will not be known for a couple years so
uh then the project that's on the plate
is committing to uh the infilling of
City trees we could do it a year at a
time or look at it now and do it you
know say we're going to commit over the
next two to three years with the trees
for vaccine money is going to
to that particular project unless at
this time somebody else has another
project to recommend and I have a
you know so we're open to discussion now
well I guess I will say that I think the
infilling of the trees is a project that
we've talked a lot about as a commission
and I think it's
um valuable I think that the reality is
um since
um the foundation group didn't want to
for good reasons
um pay for the trees in the Drexel
medians a significant chunk of Grants
budget is going to be paying for the
trees to the medians and so would be
good to focus the The Campaign on
filling the Gap and what the city's
budget might otherwise be doing so I I
don't want to preempt discussion our big
commitment is to Street trees
um so one thought that I have is
um the Columbia Plaza so we've been
working with mksk to really look at the
adding of a new median that connects
East Commonwealth east and west and so
we have we have to remove the trees that
are there now and then we're coming back
in with new Street trees along the
sidewalk and then new trees along the
center median there yeah um and we're in
the process right now of finishing those
construction drawings but that might be
something to consider I mean it would be
you know it's all right-of-way Street
trees it's kind of along the you know
year of the parks type thing so I don't
know if that is too focused of a project
I mean I can get you what the the tree
count would be
um I don't know if you know kind of
donating any money towards that would be
or is that too focused in North Bexley
um and you know no I mean we certainly
and we try to uh balance that that if
it's a you know focused on our North
Bexley project you know then we need
we're more inclined in subsequent years
to look at Central and South we kind of
bounced around trying to impact the
different parts of the city I'm thinking
when we started out all those years ago
our very first project was uh Main
Street to complete what had been done
maybe 30 years prior to that to really
complete that project and actually our
very second project was Rex at Drexel so
um anyway so that's kind of how we went
and we were following Street projects so
that when the city walked away from
something it was the sewers were in the
sidewalks were in and the trees were in
people could look at it it was a
completed project but over the years
we've done you know different things it
really you know trying to react to
what's really the current situation
within the city so one thing about using
infilling the trees is you do affect
everybody right you know because
everybody's got Street you know trees
that need to be filled in on on their
street
um I would be for that is there any way
that any of those trees on Colombia will
could be moved or anything or they've
been there too long they've been there
too long and I think that the cost to
actually get the size tree spay that you
would need to actually move it and then
there's no guarantee that they would
actually take
um it would just be it's you know it was
decided it was better to just remove
them and then we can go back in with
younger healthier trees that will grow
up and
move forward when are you expecting to
do that uh I think that
tomorrow
um the trees are gonna we're not telling
anyone
um it'll be like perfect for you
um
just a massacre the um we are looking
for some of the Civil work to start this
fall and so it will probably be a
springtime you know kind of you know
install and planting and so right now we
are in the process of
coordinating what the civil engineering
is going because there are certain that
project is going to be funded by
multiple different things and so there
is you know State money and you know
different Tiff money and then money that
we're looking for from the city to
potentially look in so
the landscape is usually something that
is not that we can look at any kind of
state funding for and so that would
definitely be a great you know kind of
contribution to that project
um but I would say that the hope is to
break ground in terms of doing some of
the you know the Demolition and the
street work
um this fall this winter and then you
know like the Commonwealth Follies those
are going in that project has been
awarded so that's where the new restroom
is going in and the pump house and all
of that and so we've been working with
access construction has been awarded
that bid and we're working with trying
to get that started as well
okay again you see that happening late
fall uh this the for access the the
building yeah he's trying to get in
there and get started as soon as
possible we're trying to finalize grades
right now okay but the the landscape
component most likely wouldn't happen
until next spring probably at the
earliest I mean we've got a lot of civil
stuff because we're putting a new sewer
line in a new water main and
um
in that area
yeah so it'd be spraying if not fall so
I don't know is that too far out for the
no I mean you know it certainly could be
considered for sure do you want me to
email you just the plan numbers and so
you can see the numbers okay because
again was you know taking I would say
then both of these ideas
to the back certification and see how
uh what they would be willing more
interested in funding and supporting
okay and then I'll bring it back in
September
for the final say by the tree Commission
that if you what you need yeah
absolutely and I think it makes it more
interesting discussion having a couple
different ideas so the landscape median
at um
Commonwealth and then the infill of the
trees
okay great thank you thank you um I have
a question Ellen did that plan get
approved I think we had a lot of
concerns about some of the material
being not very deer proof that they they
were talking about the the plan was
approved with the condition for us to
look at I think the only thing that
people were concerned about were the
daylilies yeah and people didn't like
the day lilies so we need to find a new
perennial for that yeah we do not have
time to talk about daylilies
councilwoman Bible you do okay well
council is going to enact the year of
the hydrangea I
hope so anyway
um last night
um was a really busy night for for city
council because we hadn't been together
since
um Late July we celebrated
the chief's First full year and his spot
and how blessed we believe that we are
to have him we had um I think we had
like eight first readings
um we talked about everything from the
fabulous programming we have for seniors
and our new
um possibility of a human resource
person in the city which I think is
exciting
um I have a lot of
um ordinances coming up that kind of
focus on
um less is more
less noise we're going to have a noise
ordinance that's going to be presented
next week we less mulch is more we
presented that last night and
um that was not a lot of questions
people seem to very yeah yeah great
um my less pollution in the air is
not being received as greatly as I had
hoped it would be
um I am proposing a idolat home not in
your car ordinance I became very
frustrated
um
and I regularly do when I see cars
um
idling in the parking lot at Starbucks
with Not a Human Being in it now not
only is that a horrible idea because
people are trying
to steal cars on a regular basis there
were over 400 cars in central Ohio stole
just in the month of January now
we know that a lot of them are
two different kinds of cars
um because it's convenient well I can't
imagine anything more convenient than a
car running I mean so I'm just thinking
so
um but not only is that illegal because
you cannot do that in the state of Ohio
but it's um really bad for our
environment what's worse is if not worse
but having
um people in the car while it's idling
is is is awful uh for the environment as
well and if you notice where it happens
it happens most of the time close to
schools and our little people are at
even less of an advantage because or
more of a disadvantage because it the
emissions concentrate low their bodies
are low and their lungs breathe faster
than ours do so so it's a people problem
but it's also a planet problem
um and I thought of all of you
when I was thinking about this ordinance
when I was researching this ordinance I
can't even begin to tell you how bad it
is for your card to do that how your car
does heat up faster when it's moving
um and um how it it does not take more
energy to start and stop your car any
more than it would for you to let your
car run for
um 10 seconds so and and you burn up
just as much fuel you I mean and so it's
costly I mean there's so many negatives
but if each one of us in this room
let our cars idle for 10 minutes
we would be using up
two of our mature trees in the Arboretum
so if you do your math and half of
Bexley
does that for 10.
10 minutes every year
that's a lot of trees in our Arboretum
in fact I found one quote that said that
it with all
the idling that happens in New York City
they would have to plant
all of Manhattan with trees to make up
for it so
22.7 square miles I've really been
trying to research this stuff and it
just makes me it really just makes me
sick to my stomach I mean it makes me
really sad that a simple just turning
your car off and let me tell you as a
person who wrote The Help to write the
law about using your cell phone
I mean I can't begin to tell you how
many times
you know I can't come this phone I can't
text him I can't do this this is this is
a law and I'm hoping that even by saying
sharing this with all of you you'll
think about oh my gosh how many times
have you sat in your because I have a
gazillion times I'll turn the car on and
I'll think oh I don't want to text and
drive so I'm gonna sit here and do this
and then I realized I've been idling my
car the entire time that I've been
checking my emails checking my texts so
I'm not sure that my counsel is going to
approve this because there's a lot of
but what ifs
um
involved in it but if nothing else I'm
going to be on a crusade to do what
my mother sent me to Ohio State for and
that is to teach so I am going to keep
wearing my teacher's hat and I'm going
to keep telling people that you need to
you know turn the key in idle free so
um
that's the gist of my report tonight so
if there's any questions you have about
what council's doing I'd I'd be more
than tickled to share it we are doing
such great work
um and
my peeps on Council are very very very
environmental you know they're very
concerned about our trees they just have
a lot of what ifs with this one when it
comes to
um can we enforce it
I think that's a challenge that we are
used to it is but it is a challenge it's
a big challenge so anyway thank you um
you're welcome we do think that you
should give Brant Grant as many
employees as you possibly I would love
to give he knows that I love the service
department
delivering a brand new blanket to Sweet
Jordan for her baby so I love love love
our our
service people there so particularly
like the arborists we do love our
arborists yes we love our artwork we
want them to multiply
Brad thank you for all your work
with that uh do we have a motion to
adjourn
move that we adjourn second I will
second it all in favor
all in favor
all right I got to bang the Gaff looks
quiet soon
yeah well not a susan-like job but
I know I was unduly optimistic here
today