Corpus
Ellen we are live so you could send me a
thumbs up if you can hear me
we're not starting for three more
minutes yet
it doesn't
okay
right right but can she send me a text
well yes she knows that she's typing
right now she's a smart cookie
even if she's eating a lot of grapefruit
in Florida
so we'll see
so I hope you all saw the wooden coffee
table that Grant Archer made out in the
entryway
yeah
yeah okay yes yes yes yes
well
would you have been asked to work on it
if you didn't love trees and had
woodworking skills
probably not okay
was that the hurricane
so how old is that tree Grant did you
cut count the Rings
[Music]
huh it's so massive I would have guessed
80 you know something yeah 50
50 yeah
yeah right
thank you
yeah
I know
I thought
on the floor
hey so we're ready to rock and roll you
hello we are ready to call our April
meeting of the Bexley tree and public
gardens commission to order and call the
roll
Mary McMahon this is present all the
above Susan quintense here Sheila Straub
here Dave Wakeman not yet Celeste
Williams here Jim Wilson here Linda
subnick here we have a quorum uh Barb
Giller here alternate welcome back Barb
thank you I thank you I think there's a
song that says you're back where you
belong so welcome home the day we came
back it's slated but that's right it's
all right it's over now it's over the
Molly O'Donnell ex-officio
and staff Elena Andrews here Grant
Archer
and the mayor will be joining us shortly
uh lorian fiebel's unable to attend
today do you can you give us any updates
on Jordan cavalero
okay did she name it Forrester or yes
right
so I was just going to mention that her
um her baby gift that we all gave her
was a growth chart and it has a beach
three on it that's the growth chart so I
thought it was apropos and when she
wrote she said her group her room is
both
a forest and has a great tone so we like
that we like that oh yes I'm going to be
sending around this roster to you this
is an updated roster from the one that I
sent yesterday so could you check your
um address and your email and your cell
phone number make sure it's correct it's
in about 0.4 print so you might need a
magnifying glass
and Alan we're glad to have you and we
know you can't we can't verbally
participate but we know you're there
watching so we're glad to have you
online
approval of the minutes of March 15 2023
as sent any additions Corrections
revisions enhancements
hey I'll take a motion for approval as
sent then
meeting of March 15th
2023 is our second seconds okay emotions
made and seconded that we approved the
minutes of March 15 2023 as sent
electronically yesterday all those in
favor say aye aye sign motion carries do
we have any additions to the agenda
no no okay anybody else no auditions
okay then let us go on to some of our
announcements and small victories um
Mary do you want to give us a little bit
of an update on your invasive species
study group uh well it's very much in
the early phase at this point
um I'm at this I was looking at a couple
other communities invasive species
um ordinances that I could find it's
kind of a challenge but I stumbled
across
um a YouTube video that was done up in
Dublin that I thought was really
interesting um apparently there's a
national invasive species week which we
missed it was in February but planned
for next year but they did a great
little video on their City Dublin uh
Facebook page and talked about you know
why you need to be aware of what you're
planting and and that sort of thing so I
thought that might be something that we
could do next year but like I said I'm
still in the very early planning stages
working with a couple of folks hopefully
to identify and provide additional
information for the community to
recognize and understand why you need to
be aware of what you're planting
so I know that Mary and I've been
walking over at Jeffrey lot and we're
curious whether anybody has heard
whether liriope has become slightly
invasive Eleanor Grant
no I know that there's some areas in the
country that have but I haven't heard
anything about the Ohio Valley region
having an issue with it okay Grant
anything different from you
yeah I haven't heard anything about it
either well either okay okay
it looks like at Jeffrey that it spread
so that was you know spread
magnificently so that's kind of why
we're asking yeah I mean I think that
there's a difference between spreading
and having the right plant in the right
spot and doing very well versus like it
like really taking over and killing out
of their species so that I haven't heard
that but it is on certain websites when
you look it up I think like the Missouri
Botanical Gardens when you look it up it
it has the caution this may be invasive
in your area check and I've checked and
so far in Ohio there's not been anything
reported that I've that I have seen yet
okay I have it in my yard I've never
seen it
expand from what part of a sandwich
maybe we're just lucky well we're not I
was told it was Laura IP that is growing
as you go down the walkway into the
woods on the south side of the house
there's to the right you see a bunch of
like liriope type grass growing in there
or plant I should say so um it's taking
over whatever it is and I want an idea
correctly before I say you know what I
mean but if anybody is good at iding
players
I would want to wait until August and
see if that little purple Blossom is
yeah
well we're excited that you're putting a
study group together and that will have
some report it's something we've
probably should have had on the agenda
in early years so we're glad we're
getting to it now excuse me I have a
question for Mary did they say anything
about any plant or Eradicator or how to
eradicate it versus trying not to plant
it
uh well I think it depends on the plant
um a lot of them are you know they're
like a weed you know you can either use
chemicals or you can do it by hand and
probably the way to do it most
effectively might be to do it by hand
some might argue otherwise but
um again I think it just depends like
you know with this honeysuckle that
we're trying to remove if we can dig it
out and get the roots it's perfect yeah
so that's and I I apologize I should
have prefaced it by saying honeysuckle
oh okay because it's so yeah rampant
here so thank you we're going to attempt
to dig out a lot of it especially the
smaller plants there's these devices
that they've created to do this they're
called poppers and
um they're kind of big so hopefully we
have some strong guys helping us on
Saturday do this but the others that
have gotten a little more a bit in the
ground a lot longer they have a little
thicker trunk or stem so those will try
to use an herbicide on
because that's really the only way to
get rid of them based on your experience
the bigger ones down the stumps
that's the plan
but there's so much of it I mean that's
all you see along the roads when you're
driving this time of the year it's
either the calorie pair or the
honeysuckle that's In Bloom
unfortunately
but it's education too so thank you yes
okay so we're going to go on to Arbor
Day week month celebrations and start
with our um old growth forest Network
and I'll just read the comments back
from Paige belotta and then Eleanor
there's some photos on there from some
of the activities recently she talks
about the fact that she thinks we're
doing a great job identifying authors to
pursue and that maybe next year we
should try for an in-person author
instead of someone on Zoom or YouTube
and that uh mayor Kessler and city
council president Troy Markham are
winning team at interviewing Arbor Day
authors and Mary McMahon is a master at
getting her gardening people out to
events so kudos to all
um they also had a tree trivia night
last night and the person who won got
Joan was awarded Joan moluf's book on uh
but Nature's temples so the story of old
growth for us so so those are happening
and now Elena can you get some of the
pictures on Saturday Celeste initiated
some of her
well let's we'll do this yesterday we
had a tree planting in the woods that
Jeffrey thanks to Mary for identifying
the trees the mayor came and we had the
Jeffrey Mansion kids plant the trees
the Halls were dug the trees were in
they just took handfuls of dirt and went
from one Hill to the tree and back and
forth
and Mary do you want to say what the
trees were
um so we put in an umbrella Magnolia and
a couple of service berries and a red
bed which what's that read by the pants
Forest PNC red bud and
um the native service berries with the
white flowers and
um a buckeye too that we tucked in there
so we put quite a few plants in there
right and the kids were as you can
imagine adorable adorable and then I
think there here's the ferry Village
installation do you want to talk about
what that is Celeste that's sort of our
banquet room we're a fairy Sprites and
and and gnomes can all join at their own
size table and uh that was brought in
took five guys to move that piece and
um
so it's I wanted to mail have a banquet
room and some signage is not there yet
but it's going to be a sign that says
something about welcoming everybody to
the table
um and that particular tree was very
attracted to me attractive to me because
it has also empty I don't Grant you
could tell me what they are it's where
the arm used or where the branch used to
be but it's all hollowed out and it has
that scarring around it and it's
protected it's really interesting little
kids can reach their hands in or just so
they can play on both sides at the same
time what is that opening called
and then this larger piece here that is
a part of a maple when I saw that in
Grant's backyard at Jeffrey Park I I
thought that I've been looking for a
tree that size for children to be able
to get inside of it and to feel what it
was like to become a tree and so that's
a that little sign says
um uh come inside and be as I comma a
tree and it's meant for little children
to climb inside it's been hollowed out
and there are just like the other pieces
there are um IP there's iPay going out
on on many of the sides so it can't be
tipped over
and it was a it was a fun day yeah and
we uh Community Foundation underwrote
some fairy wings for the kids and uh
parents and Grandparents were there
and my advice would be that no one over
five should try to get inside that house
just saying okay
yeah
so for the for our friends in the
audience uh Celeste has created this
fairy Village out of dead and decaying
and diseased Street trees or trees from
someplace else and now we have more than
a garden down there we almost have a
complex a shopping mall
yeah a subdivision yeah and Grant has
been very very helpful thank you grant
too appreciate it all of it okay
um anything else under announcements or
small victories
let's go on to requests from residents
uh Mr Hurley uh has
um his schedule filled up so he will not
be with us today to talk about his
request for trees on um or having us
re-look at some trees in the
right-of-way
so this is the information I sent you
yesterday
and so we can pass on that but um Mr
Wilson Vice chair is here as a resident
to mention
um his efforts today to cure one of our
um diseases in Bexley so Mr Wilson
I'm not sure it's a citizen's comment as
much as a citizen's confession but in
walking this morning I saw on Bexley
Park two of our newly planted City trees
with massive mulch volcanoes so I went
home I created my own multi volcano
brochure and stuck it in their doors so
I may be a vigilante but uh
at least I received the chair's approval
yes I was going to say well I've often
thought we should be deputized so maybe
this is just the first step but you have
Grant's biggest fear
well he could be the sheriff they could
just deputize us so Jim's headline is
buried alive so I like to let you take
her from there yeah Street trees
newly planted Street trees that someone
had just
um piled probably six inches of mulch up
I wanted to clear it off the stem but my
wife told me I wasn't allowed to do that
but really tomorrow I might might go
walking without her
so
we take our tree seriously here so yes
yes why not right so other than that do
we have any other residents comments
um if not we will uh skip the mayor's
report he is hustling back from a
meeting he's chairing in Westerville and
go on to our landscape application
review of 420 North Cassidy Jim and
Ellen if you're ready to present that I
will read the read the rules binders and
the rules so reminded everyone that our
meetings are videotaped
um and they're available on
bexley.org within a few days
again as commission members we do not
comment or discuss findings of other
commissions nor do we comment on
subjects under review by other City
commissions
as a commission we won't be a party to
any negative or disparaging comments
about City staff elected officials
appointed officials
or city Consultants or other commission
members
and comments presented today should be
germane to the subject at hand so please
stay on topic and then a reminder us to
our process and since I think our
applicants have been through it once I'm
going to do the short version if that's
okay I I bet they remember this uh we
will we'll hear a presentation from our
staff consultant first on the
application and then the applicants
presentation if we have any opponents uh
I should have said the applicant will
have up to 10 minutes to present any
opponents present can speak for up to
three minutes
then we would have a presentation if
there are any supporters of the
applicant again for three minutes and
then the applicant can conclude if there
aren't comments in between uh we might
give you two more minutes but uh and
then the board will ask questions and
deliberate but we will hold our
questions until we've fully heard from
staff and from the applicant so
bear with me
yeah so you know Ellen is giving a staff
report also working the computer also
you know juggling or staff reports so
it's like you know chewing well I swear
to God right you know the tree
commission might be the reason why I
finally do breakdown and get a laptop so
it can be a heat Max
not to say that publicly but I do I'm
used to PCS and so this is you know
it's like you know writing with my left
hand alrighty so
um this is for uh the tree commission
project tpgc 23-1 uh the new build at
420 North Cassidy Avenue they had come
uh to us I think
um in the February meeting of this year
um to have an informal review and they
are now back for
um kind of a final approval of the plan
the landscape plan just as a little bit
of background this has been approved by
ARB as well as zoning and what they're
looking to do now is have
um the approval by the tree commission
and so and then there's probably going
to be somewhat of a pause while we kind
of figure out they can figure out some
certain things that are going on with
the sites um that they're working with
but um this was a good stopping point
for us to be able to sort of say let's
look at the landscape and then we can
kind of put an end to it and then kind
of move forward so the comments that I
have here there were a number of
different comments and
um the applicants were really great
about about having a list of what
everyone had said and made sure that all
of those items were addressed and so I
included this in the staff comments and
so I'll just briefly kind of go through
them they did include a tree removal
calculation and replacement and so what
they're removing um they're replacing
much more than what was on the site so
that's fantastic the sidewalk is being
is going to remain at this time as the
same existing widths of the sidewalks to
the north and this is to the South just
for consistency so that decision was
made
bump outs for seating in the site
Furnishings are not shown at this point
the intent is to wait to see who the
final occupant will be in the commercial
space and then work with them and work
with the city to kind of determine what
is appropriate for seating and all of
that as moving forward so they haven't
forgotten about it it's just been kind
of a can has been kicked down the road
just a little bit until they know who's
actually going to be using that space
and what's appropriate for them
um the benches and trash cans that would
be used would follow our city standards
of either the black metal park bench or
the cheap one and then the black trash
cans that you see around the city the
tree lawn um it was determined that it
would remain intact without lead paths
going from the street to the sidewalk
the spacing of the city trees and then
where the parking spaces would actually
be doesn't really line up to have a
logical space where you would walk
through and there are lots of conditions
all throughout Bexley that people walk
through the lawn so we were saying that
we would rather preserve the health of
the root system in that tree lawn of the
trees rather than dig it up and have a
bunch of lead walks moving through there
um the designers did look at Bexley
arboretum's tree list and all of the
appropriate plantings for the site
already actually exist in Bexley it's
it's hard it's getting hard to find a
plant that works on a commercial site
that the city doesn't already have so
but they did go through that so just
wanted to let everyone know that they
did look at that gym's going to be sad
but columnaris weekends were not present
in the final plan
um it was confirmed however that they do
bear less fruit although they can bear
some fruit so it's not completely
fruitless day lilies have been removed
from the plan there are four Skyline
honey locusts that we'll see that are
planted along Columbus Avenue the street
tree for Columbus Avenue is a sugar
maple however right at that intersection
it's a little bit of mix Mash of kind of
everything and
um
Grant and I were talking and saying that
the honey locusts have had some
difficulty in Bexley so I think that
that might be a point of discussion that
we have in terms of
um you know that as a street tree
uh the bed South
um of the dumpster location has been
extended as we asked and screening plans
have been provided and just to let
everyone know that the dumpster is
actually going to be enclosed with
enclosed with a brick wall so it's
actually going to be nice even if it's
you know doesn't have trees around it
but it will have Evergreen screening it
and the exterior access doors have been
shown on the plan so people can
understand where the sidewalks were
there was a question of why are there so
many sidewalks and a lot of it had to do
with the location of necessary
mechanical rooms entrances into the
buildings and so some of it is just by
nature of the architecture that it was
impossible that you'd have to I mean
it's just not able to you know kind of
just have one sidewalk goes into one
door it didn't work out that way
um and so that's that's that let me see
if I can't bring up
this
those are the renderings
foreign
just the site photos just to remind
everyone what the site looks like
I know we saw a lot of these before I am
I'm concerned that
if anyone needs me to stop I can but
this is just to remind everyone what the
site looks like and then let me try to
go back
so let's talk about wanting just a
little bit those are the renderings I
don't think that is
oh crap
all right we might need to
all right I need to go get
I need help
yeah yeah so we'll see so I I think that
what
I don't know why it's not let's see if
it it'll load so we have I don't see the
full
um
the full plan I don't know what I did
with the Dropbox
yeah
plans I didn't see it
right I didn't see it in the Dropbox so
we're at the very bottom did you see
them in there okay
yep I'm gonna buy a laptop I apologize
guys I'm so sorry
but we won't count the time downloading
the drawings against your 10 minutes
that was some sort of Technology right I
know I know
what I don't understand is like where
where the overall drawbacks went to
he said um
yeah
I thought the old format worked fine
yes
just try to move it in again through
your email
um
it's on there it's it's
okay
well I can't suggest anything
I can serve sodas
[Music]
I hope this is the only place this has
happened to you
okay
so so Ellen we're having a little
trouble pulling up the site plans
for 420 North Cassidy so that's why
we're kind of deteriorated into side
conversations here
I'm glad I'm not one mm-hmm
um
okay
I think we're ready okay so all right
we'll we'll call ourselves back to order
in the court as they say so miss Andrews
yes Mr Wilson please go ahead so
um in terms of I am not going to
um walk through the plan too much
um I will let the applicants do that um
but just just a couple of things just to
kind of um call out here's the actual
kind of site oops just just uh Molly and
Barbara we've reconvened
Molly and Barb we've reconvene okay
um so looking at the site plan you can
see the the five foot sidewalk now that
kind of connects to the one to the South
you can see where the actual doors are
on on all of this where the proposed
parking is this has a lot of kind of
information on it but um just so you can
kind of see that and then I am actually
going to um ask if I don't know who
wants to come up and kind of talk about
the the trees in the site plan and
Landscape do you want to do that Todd
okay okay so I'm gonna
have them come up is that how we do it
now they can come up and talk about it
okay come on come on down you're the
next contestant
Nicole Knight the community Builder 736
Oak Street Columbus Ohio yes I I swear
everything I'm about to say is the truth
I have been to a lot of excellent
meetings we don't do so we don't swear
here
[Laughter]
one say thank you to Elena for all the
work that you've done with our team to
help just guide the discussions um you
know we took notes we Todd
um took a lot of really great notes I
will not take credit for it and we
really appreciated the feedback that you
gave when we came previously and so we
hope that that's reflected in what
you're going to see and what he's going
to present I just want to provide a
little bit of clarification when she
talked about the timing so um the site
currently has the senior center on it um
we know that previous uses way way back
in the day but for this site and for the
one adjacent to it caused some
environmental concerns and so there is a
fair amount of soil remediation and
cleanup that we need to do as part of
the end project and so
um these approvals are what we need to
have in hand in order to start going
through that process and working with
contractors but the timing for that is
one that we are being mindful of just
because of the current Senior Center use
and so we'll be working with City and
staff on the appropriate time for not
only for when that's going to happen but
also just making sure that there is a
lot of communication and discussions and
Community meetings that are going to
come so
this is the final step when we think
about what's going to come on the site
but there's going to be a lot more
discussions held in forums
at some point down the road
um around just like what the disruption
is going to look like when the time
comes so just wanted to provide that
clarification so you know that a
building is not going to be coming out
of the ground Tomorrow there's a lot
more work that we need to do
collaboratively with the city and with
with everybody here so
thanks Nicole
and good afternoon again I'm Todd Foley
with pod design great to be here again
so
um the plan that's up here right now
represents uh the proposed site design
with uh the Trees of the big X's through
them are the ones that we know are going
to be impacted by our development
um the two along the Columbus Avenue
Frontage
um are really the ones that we
identified
um that are not great trees right now
there's various issues with them and
um are probably going to be we don't
like take trees down but will be
beneficial because of what it's going to
allow us to plant back in the three
along Cassidy
um our little smaller shade trees kind
of canopy trees on the current site
that's there
um the construction and the building the
requirement of it being up on the
right-of-way things like that are kind
of forcing us into a scenario where we
have to impact those but I think and I
hope you'll see through the plan that we
have that we're going to be improving a
much broader impact along that Frontage
with additional trees
um the one that's down by the dumpster
areas another kind of combination it's
byproduct of where the dumpster needs to
go but it's also not a a healthy tree
either so we have a little bit of a
mixed bag with all that
um so overall while we're on this sheet
we're
um we're going to be planting 16 uh 16
deciduous trees and then we have five
ornamental trees I'll highlight those
when we get onto the proposed plan
um so you know we're excited about being
able to you know impact the site from
that perspective
um with the design that we have so
um so from a um landscape perspective
you know it was really really really
great to be here last time and have some
of the discussions that we had
um at a conceptual level and you know so
we went back and in conjunction with
that feedback along with additional
feedback from our civil engineers and
some of the
um kind of architectural utility kind of
Consultants we've we've been able to
progress some of our design efforts and
kind of marry all those things together
so the plan that we have before you here
is reflective of kind of where we're at
today with what we know about the
building and and where utilities are
coming in and
um some of the other things that Elena
highlighted that we talked about last
time the sidewalk out along Cassidy
being going from what we had shown
previously which was an eight foot down
you know to the
um to the section that matches the North
and the South a byproduct of that
reduction you'll see now is there's a
little bit of a lawn strip that's now on
that other side of the sidewalk which we
think is that it will have a nice kind
of companion feel to what's in the tree
lawn still providing us a significant
amount of foundation space up against
the front of the building
um if we kind of focus on that part of
the building first the frontage we are
looking to add an additional Street tree
in the tree aisle or the the tree lawn
that's right about where the access to
the site is right now will look to match
the elm trees that are out there
currently and you know we'll be able to
kind of continue that street canopy that
kind of next layer that's up against the
building
um on the Northwestern Corner in the
southwestern Corner we're looking at
Princeton Century ginkgo's
um we like the idea of the fall color
the kind of uniqueness of the the leaf
shape it's also a really great treat to
allow some visibility of the building
but also it can you know we can get some
some Mass out of the tree over time and
hopefully kind of
um you know build that presence on the
corners and then in between those kind
of Corners as we start to approach the
main entry of the building looking at
using Sweet Bay Magnolias in the plant
beds and then
um that kind of helps bring the scale
down a little bit to the front door when
we show the elevations you'll see those
are kind of storefront windows so it's
also going to allow a filtered kind of
condition for the people inside the
building but also their visibility out
of the building so we think it's a good
species to kind of um
you know blend that area
um the uh the shrub palette the kind of
understory layer
um we we have
um hydrangeas
um Oakley hydrangeas kind of on the
corners uh in larger masses
um kind of around those ginkgo trees and
then were providing uh kind of a base
layer of liriope so that we have this
kind of layered effect all those
um uh different shrubs and and plants
kind of interact at different peak times
of the year so we're we're trying to
ensure that there's just a good balance
of of green and texture and form in
those areas and then as again as we move
towards the middle the main entry there
we're going to transition to
um
uh some uh more Evergreen type species
looking at a taxes hedge along the
building and then when you get around
the front entry door providing kind of a
massing of uh dwarf fountain grass there
which
um you know we think will be just kind
of a soft transition to the the front
entry
um along uh Columbus as was mentioned we
have honey locusts there I to the the
comet that I want to make you know we're
we're absolutely open to if there's a
different consideration that needs to be
made to that species through there our
part of our thinking is you know honey
locusts can have a little bit more
transparency it's more of a filtered
view knowing that's a commercial user
not sure what that ends up being but we
also want to
um we also want to be you know cognizant
of the fact that this is kind of an
entry to Columbus Street and if that's a
common theme through there with the
sugar maple we could certainly uh
entertain that species change as well I
think the critical thing is that we're
able to put four Street trees out there
now I think that's the most
um you know exciting part there and
we'll create kind of a really nice
uniform entry
um utilizing from a shrub palette
perspective we're bringing back those
oak Leafs again
um kind of on the the corners of the
buildings and then just kind of a
simplistic Evergreen hedge with the the
taxes there to kind of fill in that
landscape uh bed up against the building
you'll see the addition on the back part
of that
um northeast corner of a patio space
that would relate to that commercial
user we have the screening requirements
of the parking there that we're
providing
um with more taxes and then
um we've got a
kind of an underlying
um or ground level treatment of some
variety as well so we're we're not
necessarily looking to just be able to
see mulch around the plants and the
shrubs and stuff we think there's not a
neat kind of layering effect that can
happen so where it's appropriate with
the shrubs species where we kind of like
to blend those uses
um around the back side of that patio
area again a massing of the uh the dwarf
fountain grass will just allow a little
bit of a filtered kind of privacy of
that patio but we don't want to
necessarily do something that's
has a an intense kind of enclosure to it
we think that
um you know that softness of the masking
of the grass and then create a little
bit of a separation with that cluster of
six Oak Leaf hydrangeas again
um
uh yeah right through there thank you
um that will help
provide a little bit of separation from
the users of
um uh you know of the residential
component and then and have the uh the
commercial users
um have their patio have a little
privacy as well
um we've adjusted some of the tree
locations on the back side of this of
the property that we had previously
shown
um if we jump kind of all the way down
to the southeast Corner that's where the
electric is going to be coming into the
building
and because of storm water
requirements and the dumpster locations
and all those things kind of trying to
compete for space in that area the
electric is going to be serviced above
ground to the building so we have to be
um kind of mindful of what's how we get
up to the building with that so we had
to kind of shift some shade trees a
little bit so
um now we've kind of got a more intense
cluster there as we get closer to what
is the main entry to the project on the
back side of the building which I think
will be nice provide a nice kind of
shade canopy through there
and then you can see the uh the Hedgerow
south of the dumpster area there that
once some of the images you saw there's
a little bit of everything kind of
happening down there that all gets
cleaned out and will be a nice neat
landscape bed with
um those are going to be more those are
going to be the Hicks use so it's going
to be a little bit taller provide a
little bit of a green buffer up against
the dumpster area so so that's kind of
how we've you know envisioned looking at
the site it might help
um and then we've here's the palette uh
plants that we've kind of updated as
well so we think the form of
um some of the canopies
um is is a neat kind of contrast you
know the building has that we didn't
bring the
the elevations of the building last time
because they had just gotten approved
very quickly uh prior to that and our
elevations represent what the result of
that ARB process was so
um but we think that the balance of the
textures of the plant materials we have
um with the elevations will be a nice
mix so
um we are showing bike racks on the east
side of the building for the residents
of the project as well as was mentioned
consideration for those type of things
benches and bike racks and trash will be
coordinated with the commercial user as
that comes on board but we we certainly
Envision those happening as well
out front so
um so I can I can run through the
um that's just a rendered version of it
um we can jump to the elevations here
um so this is the front view if you're
looking East off of Cassidy so you can
see the building has you know a little
bit more of a stately traditional kind
of look with with the brick on the
building and on the storefront glass
behind it and so
um we think that
the tree placements and and that kind of
um starting at the corners of the
building and kind of bringing it back
down to a little bit more of a human
scale when we get to the front entrance
will be a nice
um kind of balance go ahead I also I
want to just point out something because
uh Todd touched on it but really want to
commend pod on thinking about this is a
lot of the feedback when we were going
through the design process with
Architectural Review Board was thinking
about The Pedestrian experience and
recognizing that this building is going
to be a taller building than what is
surrounding it from a commercial use
perspective and so when we did the
detailing on the building we really were
conscious of making sure that the scale
felt more pedestrian along that front
facade and so when he was talking about
the Magnolias and some of these
plantings that really kind of bring that
feeling back down I just want to kind of
point that out and really commend him
for thinking and critically about the
feedback that we've received from other
commissions and other board members that
that serve on the community and trying
to balance all of the different feedback
and experiences that everybody thinks
about from their own lens
and and to that point I think we also
have to kind of keep in mind the the
physical space we have between the
building and the street and making sure
we're we're being responsible for with
what what we're proposing in there that
we're creating a sustainable type of
planting treatment here that
um can you know be allowed to be
successful for a long period moving
forward so this is now a Northbound
section uh along Cassidy and you can see
the street trees and then more of a
reduced kind of pedestrian uh landscape
bed that has
um the that's probably representative of
kind of the scale of the Sweet Bay that
we would picture over time
um the tree lawn as it is today this is
the north elevation so now we're on
Columbus looking South at the building
and so you can see on the bottom right
there's that kind of
um overhead kind of uh canopy to area
rival area front door
um and then you know wanting to again
carry plantings along that North
elevation uh providing a little bit of
that tiered kind of tree approach with
the street trees out along Columbus and
then plant things up against the
building
a section now looking East uh Down
Columbus Avenue
this is the the rear elevation so we've
been able to
the adjustment of the tree locations
from what we showed you previously we've
actually been able to kind of balance
and it actually creates a little bit
more of a formality from a street view
which is I think kind of a nice feature
um you know we don't want to necessarily
turn our back to the kind of the
southeast corner of the building but the
reality is that's the main focus is that
entryway there and so I think
um kind of creating a little bit more
tree canopy density through that area
will make that a nice space over time
and then
um this is the southern elevation
looking North so you can kind of see the
bottom right the dumpster location the
Evergreen screening and then
um the placement of trees on the the
bottom left you want to jump in or
the um I think one difference that you
are seeing on this elevation from what
we previously shown and it's been part
of just
um some of the ongoing just
considerations for what this new design
of the building presents itself that
long
um tall blank facade that you see there
that's a stairwell correct yeah yeah so
um some of the functionality of that
architecturally kind of has given us an
opportunity where
um this facade is potentially something
where we might be kind of consider some
sort of art or something on the building
and we know that that
um is kind of a wide open thought so
we're trying to think about the
placement of our plantings and things
like that so that we can be flexible and
adaptable as discussions like that
moving forward so
um so that's part of why you see that
change in the building as well so
so that's really the the highlights that
we have definitely are anxious for your
feedback and questions so I'll stop
talking I like to Rambo so um
I think you're at your 10 minutes um
um we'll see if there's any uh folks
that want to speak job in opposition to
The Proposal
not seen anyone any supporters of The
Proposal
unless you unless you want to say
anything more why don't we return it to
questions
when we begin with questions from the
commission then we can have discussion
so um I was on that one slide where you
show the street trees and then behind it
the um the Sweet Bay Magnolia
so
um those trees will face to the West
right so
um how will the sweet base get sunlight
as the other trees grow
I knew I was going to do that turn it
off and I won't turn back on so you know
I think that there's
um from our perspective being on the
site I think there's enough of a balance
of the placement of the trees that are
out there right now
um that will allow for that to to
establish themselves I mean I think we
sweeping are kind of adaptable to a
variety of conditions
um they certainly do prefer you know the
sunlight type of applications so
um but you know
we feel pretty comfortable about the
adjacency of the building and the
location of the existing Street trees
with their canopy
um so that's kind of why we went with
that and I think it's it's also trying
to think about
from the building looking out so we're
trying to also be considered of the type
of species and the characteristics of
those trees which is how we kind of
arrived at that type of species so but
if the Sweet Bay is a tree that requires
full sun is that going to be
is that going to work I I mean
definitely it's going to be in the shade
right industry all the time I I think um
but I and I think what you're offering
is you know important to consider I
think
um you know we're we're comfortable
we've we've used that species in a
variety of applications and
um and I I think it's something that
would be you know successful through
there I think we're looking at
um
yes we have two on either side of
the entryway and then the two uh
ginkgo's on the North corner and two on
the south so you know I think for us
um it also will
um
I think be a successful kind of plant in
the sense of how it's um it's how it's
going to grow in that space over time
and and allow us to kind of maintain
that good visibility of the front door
as well so and just a quick look online
um and it's just the first website I had
the Morton Arboretum is saying that the
Sweet Bay Magnolia it can't full sun
apart son so it might be able to take
it might be able to take that condition
and actually the heat of the building
might actually help it and create a
little micro climate to you know make it
a little bit more successful
Grant do you have any thoughts on the
Sweet Bay
uh no I
am good with it
yeah other questions Mary
um so
um you might have got the impression I'm
not a fan of Lauria p and um I'm not I
think it's overused so I was just
wondering if you might consider using um
like a Carrick so a sedge instead
there's actually a carrick's grassay GI
g-r-i-s-v-a that is very similar to
liriope but it's native and it um you
know
it's uh good for the good for the planet
yeah no I mean and and that kind of
Echoes the comment I had about the
street trees in the beginning I
definitely think what we're interested
with the plant we have there is the
characteristics of it that it can be
almost a Green carpet rather than a
mulch carpet that we see I mean most
it's great we know it we need it but we
don't have to celebrate it as well like
we like to kind of hide it sometimes so
I think the characteristic if we can end
up with something that is similar to
like a carricks we could definitely you
know consider something like that so
similar to the variety you mean yeah
yeah yes okay great thank you
other questions
I would just like to make a comment
about the um Honey Locust trees which
are I'm lovely and graceful but they are
a mess I mean they have you know
millions of those little tiny leaves
that get in every
you know every place that maybe you
don't want them that's just a thought
Madam chair
um well I'm excited for you that Sugar
Maples are the street tree there because
that's the number one choice for
everybody for a street tree so I I would
lean towards that since they're already
there and and my notes from our previous
conversation show that the beds are
going to be irrigated so I think that's
a really big help in
um ensuring that the sugar Maples will
have some success and we've talked about
the fact that our climate's getting a
little warm for sugar Maples so having
having irrigation system I think would
ensure
their viability and less Grant defers
and has a you know counter comment uh no
um are you irrigating the right away or
just depends on the intention was not to
put it in the right way yeah I didn't
think so um
residentially you are I don't know about
commercials yeah mayor would you know if
you're allowed to put Irrigation in the
right of way
s
no they didn't irrigate in the right way
that is outrageous bring them back
for irrigation meetings but
better for the breeze
well on that subject I don't want to
move to the discussion but what I have
read about sugar Maples is it's not a
problem of just climate change it's the
problem is that climate change is
creating
erratic behavior in the spring which is
causing the sugar Maples to start to Bud
and then the buds to freeze and that's
the problem that we're going to
experience with sugar maple so uh you
know I don't I'm not I'm a lawyer so I
just I stayed at a holiday and expressed
last night so I have arborist opinions I
would just I I have grave concern about
the city planning sugar maples at all I
think when we come back in 10 years we
may be very sorry that we've put planted
so many sugar Maples in the city
situation of the elm because there's a
there's around the building there's a
consistency that's going from the
Cassidy to the Columbus and around to
the back side so what if it was just a
continuation of the Elms that are
already on Cassidy that we're adding to
so that way it's just a uniform
landscape feel along the property itself
I'd go for that I don't know what other
people think Molly I think yes I think
that would be nice I think it's such a
small property too like when you
actually think about right little
property that having the same trees
might feel more cohesive than having two
different picks of trees and they've
done well there haven't they Grant they
have I was going to suggest that as well
but yeah the ones that are out there are
in great shape in the right way sorry
just that's a great comment we actually
talked about that earlier and I didn't
mention it so thank you you're welcome
more questions and and and more
compliments first of all is going to
thank you
okay on the Oakland are they dwarf so we
actually are looking at um using both
varieties uh based upon kind of the
space that we have and
um because Oakleys you talk about the
windows open up to eight ten feet tall
yeah and the ones that we
sorry I'm trying to look at my
the uh in front of the windows
predominantly will be
um the taxes hedge so we'll be able to
keep that a little bit lower when we get
to the corners where the the store
fronts start to transition
um that's where we're looking at
um the the switching to the hydrangeas
and then the um
question
yeah sorry
um those
that's what I was looking for I had it
mixed up and and those along the front
will be the munchkin variety the smaller
variety the dwarf variety okay yeah
sorry
got my symbols mixed up here on the plan
Susan oh so I was just gonna go back and
thank you for um making the dumpster uh
what should we say kind of Broadway
bound with uh with the brick enclosure I
think that'll be lovely maybe it'll be
the start of a standard
so that'd be great
um I also wanted to mention in our
pre-agenda planning meeting we talked
about uh the interaction that that
interface between you and the yoga
studio and Miss Andrews is going to
share the plan with them and meet with
them it really as we talk doesn't fall
in your bailing Wick but hopefully
they'll
um have a chance to look at it and then
respond and perhaps upgrading their
landscape which is great
respond to the new standard the new new
standard right and look how pretty this
is yeah
yeah
and I did go look at the lighting and
there's one alley street light I guess I
should say alley light and I again we
were a little bit flummoxed last time
about who reviews the lighting so I just
want to make sure that again we bring
that to the table for someone to review
with you whether it's not to interject
your train of thought no that's another
thing that I know my train of thought is
left the station
um if you maybe just go up to the
rendered site plan so we have on the
back side of the building you can see
those like white squares yeah there's
one there and one by the commercial
patio so we're looking at
um some light bollards uh that we could
bring in in those two locations to kind
of help and then also
um uh it doesn't show up on here but
right where the word parking is it shows
up on the black and white plan but
um that landscape bed right there
um using a kind of a pedestrian scale
pole light so we've actually gone ahead
and looked at providing some additional
light on site at a scale that's
appropriate for the building we don't
want to we have neighbors to the East
and certainly we don't want to overlight
the building but I think it was a great
comment and you know
um we'll really help kind of create a
nice uh feel back there so
any other questions
you talked about pink it was like
do they need all to be granted but
they're still a
making sure that you don't get the
female version on to the yeah I don't I
don't think you can sell the female
version of the ginkgo but
um there are stories that they're
converting themselves to the female out
on the street well so
um there's no guarantee
well so maybe the other concern about
the Magnolias just in the spacing you're
gonna look at that
as you staking things out you might be
able to find a light coming through for
those
um is there any guarantee on plant
material I don't know
what is the cities I think it will work
with usually the Landscaping standard
for the industry is that there's a year
warranty on all trees and shrubs and no
warranty on perennials and grasses
that's usually what it is so um a year
after the installation date but but our
standard is that you replace if a plant
fails unless you get staff permission to
replace so as a as a note that whatever
the approved plan is the plan needs to
be held in perpetuity and kept up to the
standard otherwise you'll be in code
violation so
so even if it's so in the first year you
can blame the landscape contractor and
in the second year it's the building
manager to replace the plans
appreciate the design I really like in
it I love the flagpole
thank you
any other questions or comments
are we ready for a motion I had just one
one small comment and you'll find this
on the findings of fact but just in
general the expectation is a a year
after your um
occupancy it's we're expected to have
the landscape installed so you know just
in terms of you know so it's not we've
had some issues in the past of things
lagging behind after the building has
kind of completed the landscape doesn't
go in so um just to kind of note that
you know we know that the landscape you
have you know 12 calendar months because
depending on when plants are available
to get it in but just you know there is
a time frame as to when the landscape
needs to be installed our funding won't
close out unless everything is done
awesome so yes we want to get the
landscape in
okay sorry so Mr Vice chair before we
vote I would like to in state
um Mrs Gaylor as a voting member because
Mr Wakeman is not here so if she could
assume that role I I note her status has
changed her status has changed thank you
So based on the discussion what I've
heard is that that we would move to
approve the landscape plan as presented
with the uh exception that the honey
locusts on the North side would be
replaced by Elms and that the liriope
would be replaced by planting acceptable
to staff
foreign
just a point of clarification
um
liriope likes full sun to full shade
Carex prefers part shade to full shade
is if we if we look at the plant palette
is there and I know we're getting into
the weeds a little bit here but in terms
of a consistency of that all of the
grasses should be the same there might
be some areas where grasses the carrots
might not do well but will rip you would
and vice versa or is it more that just
to try to find
you know work with them and see if
there's something that's there but if it
if it doesn't work liriope is acceptable
how about the possible replacement of
Little River Valley with
um a native plan message
so does everyone understand the motion
that someone want to make the motion
I'll make a motion that we approve the
plan as presented with a couple changes
one is that the sugar maple and honey
Locus on the North side be replaced by a
lace bark Elm with the variety that
Grant knows and that little ripei be
replaced with the probable or with the
possible uh different plant that would
be acceptable to both staff and pod
design
and uh let's see
that's everything I had in there I I
think we'll just leave it and that I I
was also going to say in that the
Furnishings the patio Furnishings be
approved by staff
you've heard the motion is there second
second
any further discussion
all those in favor say aye aye aye host
you have a plan approved thank you thank
you for your hard work on this yeah I
complement both of your teams for
putting together really a tremendous
plan for this site and this building
I'm I'm always surprised and amazed that
the not for profits or the institutions
come up come with more thorough plans
sometimes than our for-profit and this
is certainly an example of an
outstanding plan it's going to be
transformational for that area we thank
you
that too and we should also thank Elena
for being available to walk through the
requirements and the changes and uh and
make this into a project that we're all
going to be excited about
yay
already
so um mayor we are not up to date on
your schedule so we have two choices as
we look at the agenda we've got you two
roads or we've got the splash pad uh no
we actually have uh we have another
project to actually review and vote on
right I'm fine I'm still I'm still
working on a recorder
graphical
I mean
I'm ready all right okay I'm ready
so this is a city project yes it's a
city project
um so
um we don't follow or do we follow our
normal procedures I think we do follow
our normal perspectives Helena gets the
whole 10 minutes this time oh yeah sorry
but we'll be timing this one more
carefully yes
I'll go through it quickly
time pulling the documents up does count
on your time
why is Ben why is it not opening from
drop logs
so here's here's my
Dropbox
so Elle and I'm not sure if you heard
that but we are moving on to another
review of a city installation and we're
having a hard time finding it in Dropbox
but we see
some activity on the screen here so hang
on
that's one of them okay so we uh
so mayor there's no name for 420 North
Cassidy as far as I've been able to say
to tell it's just called 420 North
Cassidy so far
I think they have a name for the two
projects together that was very generic
so I don't know okay back to the
apartments or something I was thinking
of something a little bit more elegant
snazzy yeah so are you there okay I'm
halfway there I might have to get Ben to
bench fit again here in a second so
um for Schneider Park so this is kind of
the ongoing this is one of the year of
the parks projects
um and this is um kind of an ongoing
continuation from the dog park and all
of that but as we are approaching Snyder
Park this is the Astro entrance
um and you can see that um you know
here's the old you know kind of folder
that was there with the sign we are
looking to provide new signage here that
goes in with the overall kind of sign
package that we're working within the
city as well as
um fix and replace kind of the stone
walls that are falling apart here in
this location
another view of that beautiful area
um there used to be for those of you who
remember a lot of um kind of shrubs and
trees actually on both sides of kind of
some of these Pathways they have since
been cleaned out and cut out and so the
intentions that we would go in remove
the you know kind of the roots and
everything that are in there regrade
this hill slightly just so it's a little
bit you know not quite so bumpy but then
actually provide some trees a little bit
of screening and some areas to sit along
this pathway
um as we redid the asphalt pathway
um we did remove old benches in some
different places an old chess table and
the residents of that area really would
love to have them back and so we want to
kind of replace some of those
um for those of you who have not been
down there Grant did an amazing refresh
of the Gazebo that's down here it has
been repainted it has been power washed
it has been cleaned up it looks brand
new
um took off some of the 1970s you know
kind of filigree and all the kind of the
fanciness that is out there so um that
gazebo is staying
and then there's an area part of this is
a Birch Walk that we will get into the
plan but there are a couple of existing
river birses that you see here the
Gazebo is kind of behind us you can see
kind of the debris that we're kind of
cleaning that up back in through there
as well as having a view this is
standing at the Gazebo looking out and
you have a nice view of Allen Creek
and this is standing there's a beautiful
Sycamore that's kind of right behind me
um and then kind of looking at the
Gazebo and you'll see on the plan why
I'm kind of showing these these areas
just dancing picture
looking back just so you kind of some of
you have not been down there random Rock
and then we're back again
so let me see if I can't find
anemia readers
here we go haha
so what we're looking at here with the
plan is
um there will be a um that Boulder that
was here actually would like to relocate
it to this lower area down through here
um this retaining wall that is done it
was done with just dry stack flagstone
that was just I think just kind of
jumpstone that was around and they're
like oh let's just put it here so
actually trying to you know
keep in mind the the much more natural
kind of native feel of this area and not
it's not as formal as like a
commonwealth or even a Havenwood and so
the thought is to actually use some
larger kind of Ohio Boulders and have a
bolder retaining wall back along this
back side as well as kind of ring the
outside of this area here right and so
and then actually then reincorporate the
boulder that had Schneider Park so that
you know we're basically kind of reusing
it as you know kind of an entry point to
coming in through here
then there's a new sign type that we've
been working with that this would be um
basically you know a lower linear sign
with the stone that we see you know kind
of throughout Bexley with the Schneider
Park Astro entrance and then that would
be located right as you come in
um almost where the boulder is existing
the three large Spruce that are behind
there would stay currently right now
there's some um kind of taxes that would
need to come out we would put a row of
just upright Emerald Green Arborvitae
they stay Tighter and smaller and then
actually this little sidewalk pathway
this is actually a small concrete
pathway that we're actually having a dog
wash and watering station there so for
the people for the dog park down below
when they come back up they can come up
through here other either up the hill or
along this path and then it basically
has a hose that you can hook up you can
spray your dog off there's a little
thing where you can get some water they
can drink some water and we wanted to
have it there because the water line is
pretty close into the street region so
not to dig up too much of the the park
and just kind of have it right there by
the entrance before you know so if you
could hose your dog off and then get
into your car or continue on your Merry
way
um there is a row of Viburnum
um along this side and I would like to
actually you know there's a dead one
um there's a big blank space in through
here and actually refill that viburnum
that's in there just to kind of maintain
that hedge and just kind of maintain the
nice right now if you walk through it
smells beautiful so we're basically kind
of maintaining that hedge as we come in
um and then so this kind of dot that you
see here that's the existing hedge
that's the existing hedge so we would do
some infill here there's a dead one here
we would infill one there and this is an
existing
um Japanese maple
a blood good Maple and the thought is
that we would add a second and a third
one here to start just having kind of a
rhythm of kind of drawing you into the
garden and then this is where the old
steps used to be and now we're looking
at having a much more kind of
naturalized kind of slabstone steps that
go down that Hillside that would have
more of an appearance of like this that
if you want rather than going down all
the way through here this is the
steepest part of the Hill have a couple
of breaks a couple of stones and so it
feels more like it's an uncovered kind
of land formation rather than something
that is quite so structured so there
would be steps that would come up down
along and through here
and then as we move down this pathway
you can see these are actually benches
so there's one two and three benches
along and through here and each bench on
either side the back of it has a um a
Serbian Spruce epicia amorica so there's
a little Serbian Spruce here and here
when you go to the park now there are
very few other than these large you know
spruces that are here they're really
very few Evergreens and so I wanted to
introduce a couple of Evergreens and so
we have the three Evergreens and
actually Four in through here and then
on either side in a more kind of regular
rhythm going all the way down in through
here those are the
um dewic gold a golden European beach
and so it's a much more kind of a
thinner more columnar Beach
and I wanted to have the rhythm of kind
of trees coming down along there but
also didn't want to screen off the view
Too Much from the apartments here to
kind of be like you can't look at our
park right but still be able to have a
little bit of order in a place that
actually people you know kind of feel
comfortable kind of sitting behind so
there's the row of the trees coming down
along and through here
as we get to this lower area there is
and I think I've got a zoom in through
here but this is a variety the the
intent is in the center there that it
would be a native perennial garden
um I have been talking with Mary about
some of it and you can see some of the
the material that we were talking about
where goat's beards butterfly weed wild
geranium gay feather Cardinal flower bee
balm black-eyed Susan and solidago and
the thought is and then in and amongst
that we would also have a couple of
groupings of ilex glabra which is a
green gem inkberry so rather than a
boxwood doing an ink fairy and so we can
at least have some Evergreen in through
there and let me let just I'm going to
jump ahead to here so these guys you
can't really quite see but these would
be Evergreen these would be Evergreen
and then coming in through here all of
these are coming In Bloom at different
times right so there's going to be some
in early spring then mid-summer and then
late fall and so we have a variety of
different you know kind of colors and
moving in through there
we might need to tweak that somewhat
based on the the sun requirements there
I think some of the plants that that I
initially chosen when I was talking with
Mary they might have they might want
more shade than or more Sun than is
there but the intent is that there would
be just a nice kind of ever a perennial
um Native Garden there then along this
back side there are a couple of trees
that we would you know there's an
existing tree that we would like to keep
we're repeating the Evergreen here on
the sky this is a um this is a viburnum
a double file viburnum going in through
there then along the back is a
heptocodium this is a seven sunflower
tree which is this guy and he actually
has a really beautiful exfoliating bark
and it actually blooms in late August so
it's actually interesting where a lot of
the flower Industries are in early
spring this will have white blossoms in
August then the white blossoms fall out
and the sepals that are remaining behind
are a deep maroon pink color so it
actually looks like it has a second
Bloom of full pink flowers so we have
um the seven sunflower here then we have
a row of the
um tatarian dogwoods this is the
variegated dogwoods that have a white
and a green leaf and then red stems um
in the winter so there can be a little
bit of winter interest there so not not
too not too much going on there but a
little bit more you know kind of
formalized point than just you know kind
of the random junk that has been left
over
as we look then back over to this way
this is what we are calling the Birch
Walk
so these are um this little tree here
and this little tree here those are um
the existing River Birch that I were
talking about then the the Genesis of
the Birch Walk is there's a Robert Frost
poem called Birches and
um this is the stanza this is a um this
is a beautiful poem it is a somewhat sad
poem but it is very beautiful in the end
okay
one way worse than being a swinger of
purchased so the the intent is that this
would be this poem would be um printed
on the these large flagstone pieces of
stone here and these pieces of stone are
anywhere from like two to three feet
wide and like two to three feet tall so
big pieces of stone so the bigger the
stanza the bigger of stone that we we
need to pick right and so we would
actually need to you know custom go and
pick out this particular Stone we have
talked to Stone Center and this is
realistic like it can be done it wasn't
just like oh let's do this and then we
approve it and then like oh crap we have
to come back and say we're just kidding
so the thought is with this is that
here's the Gazebo and here is the end of
the stairs as the stairs are kind of
coming down and you can see also we're
also introducing a couple of other
benches just along this pathway for
people but the thought is we would plant
two New River Birch on either side here
and here and these little guys and if I
could zoom in and it was a better thing
you can see it's actually drawn in each
of these Stones all of those that stanza
is actually drawn on each of these
Stones
um it might not look exactly like this
but the thought is that it would have a
you would start here with an
introduction this is the Robert Frost
poem and then each stanza would begin
and we would come across in through here
and then snake around and then end
looking here with a view out in between
these existing virtues with some benches
and then looking out over the lake
um and so that is the thought with that
and these would all be the white Spire
um Birches and so these would have the
white
um trunks on that and so it would just
be a Grove when you're when you're
coming in through there
and I think
I think that is I think that's it unless
Ben you have anything to add
careful about your skepticism about the
Birch Walk It is a long-standing dream
of mine so I will try to de-personalize
any sort of comments
no I'm excited to
see this refresh there's some white
birch downtown on the Scioto Riverfront
I think they're still growing fine right
because they can maybe yeah
so any questions right within my 10
minutes you are way past your channel no
I probably am
um questions you know go ahead everybody
else is first you go ahead thank you
I think it looks enchanting inviting
um
excellently done thank you very much
thank you
Molly
I have a couple couple questions
um maybe more of a comment
um dick and I did plant the Seventh Son
in our yard lasted two years and we tore
it out it's really a weedy tree it puts
out a lot of suckers it's more like a
honeysuckle so I know that or if we
wanted something to bloom but it was
just it was just crazy so I don't know I
talked to I've really
because it's a second thought but you
can try it yeah I have I have had one in
my yard now for about seven years okay
and it does have suckers
um and it kind of shoots up and so it
does require some maintenance just to
kind of keep it under control
um and but you know the thing is is that
I think that the the more informal I
think if they became more shrub-like
rather than tree formed there I'd be
almost okay with that because the intent
is to try to create more of a screening
and a protected Zone in that curve
um and then you can see there's a little
chest table here and a little chest
table here so the intent is like that
feels more like a protected Garden Nook
in a room
um but I mean Grand do you think that
that would be too much of a maintenance
issue tree for the city or we just tell
Spencer to take care of it yeah I'll
find somebody to take care of it
but I I mean that you that is a totally
valid point there's a totally valid
point and then secondly on on like the
limestone steps that go down what
happens in between is it just lawn yes
in between those spaces would just be
the lawn sort of like this and it's used
a lot it turns you know you'll probably
just keep an eye on it and see if the
lawn can maintain it so yeah okay and
number three
um the Japanese red Maples I I love
Japanese red Maples I'm not sure of
three in a row just because would you
consider like a set of three instead of
those two in like a triangle of some
kind of I I just don't like the straight
row I know there's a there must be a
reason but well one was I wanted to
flank the entry to here right right and
so maybe this should be a different tree
maybe that's a different tree so it's
not quite so yeah okay no I I like that
say that all the time
I'm always that all of your comments
okay Susan
um yes I have a few comments I do we
need to have this
um a trademark review on The Birches
the no no no it's a public domain yeah
it's public domain now reject okay good
yeah one thing that we do need to check
is the stanza in order to make them fit
so this is right the stanzas thank you
sir uh the poem is actually structured
it's been a second since you looked at a
structures one big long version right
right so in order to make it work it
stands it out and so I think we want to
um we have a working version of that but
I think we'd like to
talk to some poets and authors and make
sure they agree with our interpretation
maybe you want to talk to the library
board Library board's good Library
board's good especially the chair of
grounds and maintenance right yeah
um okay so uh the one the one uh the
Serbian what are they Spruce did you say
yeah right so
I've often been curious about benches
facing west without shade
um only because
in the summertime you're looking West
it's the heat of the day it's four
o'clock and you're thinking oh gee maybe
shade tree would be nice
so I just I I like the idea of creating
this little cocoon in this room but I'm
thinking maybe a shade tree you could go
behind or maybe
the benches could be
um you know less than the heat of the
day well we have benches down lower as
well and so I guess the one I guess one
question to the group is you know does
it make sense to have different
conditions like does every bench need to
be shaded or is it okay the one thought
with this was to have views towards the
water right of course and to have things
that weren't too big to block the view
from the apartment so it's like I didn't
want the apartment to think that we were
like
trying to be like you can't look in our
backyard this is our park right
um
but I mean I think I don't know I'd be
curious to see what other I mean I think
that's a completely it's a super valid
point and you know maybe what it is is
that you know again I have and so I have
one two three four and five just so
there's a rhythm
um but it could be that you know like
this one or something is an actual
is a shade tree or actually I think
there's too many too many trees around
through here it might need to be you
know this one is an actual Shady Tree
so you guys are the designers but I'm
always curious about how it's only one
bench and they're all that you know that
it's also parallel rather than having
maybe two benches that face each other
somewhere I mean I don't know that it
should be that way but it always feels
so solitary
so I think for me personally how I see
people usually use Parks is usually it's
a one or a two person and with a four or
five foot bench two people can sit on it
and it's less like the Gazebo we would
have more benches for Gathering the
thing the reason why it is parallel to
here is the grade goes up and so we and
then at this point the grade goes down
right so we can't really have we're not
going to want to have a bench going this
way and facing this guy because he could
potentially fall backwards and roll down
the hill
um but I think at this lower area here
that might be an interesting point to
sort of say do you have some benches
that are actually turned at a 90 degree
in a couple areas where there could be
some smaller Gatherings because if there
are already a group of people here and
you come down as I mean personally I
know that when I've been down here a
couple times if some if one person is
sitting in the Gazebo I don't feel
comfortable going up and sitting in the
same gazebo right just and it's just
it's kind of human nature right and it
you know you just kind of feel like oh
well they got there first so no I think
we could definitely look at you know
taking a couple of these areas and
having
some more benches what about a large
rocks
I've had a few of those for extra people
to sit on yeah that'd be cool yeah
anyway yeah
so in my last comment would be whether
we're able to review the signage that
says Schneider Park
that's actually that'll be part of my
update
what does that mean well just I have an
update on our signage well I was going
to offer comment my my opinion on this
the signage so great do you want me to
wait for that
okay well I'm I'm mindful that this is a
very naturalized area not as formal as
some of our other areas and yet in my
opinion we have transitioned to a more
contemporary sign with stainless steel
leathers and a cleaner look than what
we've used at like Bexley park or city
of Bexley and to me it feels it it feels
a little jarring it's nice
is the draft to Monument just again the
monument design oh gosh it doesn't feel
it doesn't feel like it reflects the
area it feels like it would reflect Main
Street but not a naturalized dog park
native planting area
so this sign is part of an overall sign
package that what we're trying to do is
between Jeffrey Park and Schneider Park
um have some entry Monument signs that
are similar in the in the areas so that
people started to kind of recognize oh
this is a Bexley public park kind of
coming in so things that are similar to
this we would have down along Clifton so
it would be Jeffrey Park you know
I can't remember what we called it like
the Lower Meadow or upper Meadow or
something like that
um and it does have um it does have a
little bit more of a modern look to it
the kind of the overall you know signs
are not too modern and it's it wouldn't
be stainless steel it would be a darker
it would be the darker tone of that you
would see of this metal here
um and I think the thought was that this
provides a consistency between all of
the parks but we wouldn't necessarily
have something that is different for
each individual one
well I I just I'll just stand with my
comments we already have great signage
for the medians great signage to come in
and I for instance we already have those
pillars on uh Clifton and Nelson and
then we're transitioning to a different
style it feels a little bit like you've
got the case of the schizos so do we
have signed jurisdiction
is signage for us to approve I mean I
think it's important I think we're in
the process of trying to figure out like
we haven't this isn't final that's why
it's called yeah the mayor's got this
great line which I think is fabulous
this is just a Counterpoint that's
that's correct a Counterpoint to what
was happening well I was just gonna say
I was doing that a lot I learned that
for my child good I was just gonna
suggest that if if there's an overall
approach to signage maybe we can sort of
Reserve further discussion on on signage
to the extent our input is desired and
move forward with the rest of the plan
yeah I think that's okay we do there
will be a forum for that so that's
that's part of my update so are there
any other questions or comments Mary
first of all I wanted to say I think
it's a fabulous plan and needless to say
I was very excited about your perennial
um Native bed and as as we sort of
discussed via email
um my concern is that it might be too
shady
um because this doesn't necessarily you
know show you how many trees are really
down there which is wonderful
um so my only other thought would be
that in the event that we decide that
that's not going to work I'd think I am
because it's so dry to that soil um I
don't know if we need to do some kind of
a soil test on that yeah
um just to see because like I said it
just looked very dry
oh it's gonna be irrigated because this
bed no I don't think so yeah I don't
think so is I don't think we've got
water down there that we could actually
pull from it's yeah like I said it's
just it's definitely dry and that's why
I was thinking maybe a rock garden
instead you know with like they said
with those sedges
uh yeah Sedum sedges yeah yeah actually
that's that's a good idea yeah yeah I
have a poem If you want to hear mine
sedges have edges rushes have oh I
forget
no never mind
do you have any comments
I like uh
the maples
like we just decided it's too matchy
matchy maybe it's yeah I I might suggest
um again having made the disclaimer that
I'm far from
aesthetically have any judgment
whatsoever but to me
um a smaller Pine that wasn't going to
get much more than eight feet
um I think Pine's close in proximity to
Japanese maples have a nice feel to them
okay rather than the ICA the big so
rather than
that something that's half the size no I
was suggesting
you keep the two Japanese maple on
either side
here yeah oh yeah I like that and
Evergreen there
I was just gonna ask like what what kind
of tree do people like there I like it I
like it Evergreen
okay
um if we don't have any other comments
we are are we taking a motion to approve
this plan
this isn't so much
we can definitely talk about benches I
wasn't focused other than the benches
kind of really along and through here
and the chess tables and then a couple
in through here I wasn't focused but too
much on benches I I also didn't want to
junk it up with too many benches because
it feels so open and everything there so
I would I would almost but I mean it's
obviously up for all of us since this is
pretty much a city project right
I would almost start with less and see
how they're used and if there's a need
for more rather than have so many
because it's you know it's like it's
almost it's almost like the the rhythm
of you know too many of the Japanese
maples up at the front like if you have
too many benches it's kind of like oh
God there's no one here
and then the other thing on benches and
it just hit me it's like I would keep
them to four feet or put something in
the middle if they go to six so you
don't get I I know Allen Creek has a lot
of people that go up and down it yeah
places to sleep yeah I can just try to
keep them right
um
are sitting
I
um
um I live in that area in the Summer
where there's a mile I walk along the
lake
Lakefront Lakeside and from our point of
view many of those benefits that you
close to each other they would put some
back on the other side of the path
rather than let them all be on one hand
one side
that's just for my these are too close
to each other yeah
tell me what that distance is please uh
I'm gonna say that that is probably 30
feet oh well that's good
and I think in other factors
yeah another factor is there's a really
active population that lives in the
apartment complex just over here that
walks a lot and sits a lot and I think
that um whenever we're out at the park
um when we had the batches you would
always see people use their users got
used a lot so and on the other side of
the path it drops off there's a
topography that slopes away so there's a
little bit more either engineering or
safety concerns if we were sure
absolutely that's good all good
so given the time I'm going to suggest
that we bring a motion which from what
I've heard would be that we would
approve the plan with the following
modifications one would be the proposed
perennial garden might be reconsidered
in light of
um the amount of light it receives is
um some sort of rock garden with
plantings or something that continues
the idea of native species
um but accommodates the issue of light
replacing the Third
uh or the top Japanese maple with a
planting acceptable to the city's
consultant with a strong emphasis that a
pine would be great
um and then
um I think maybe consideration
um as to whether the number of benches
is is the right number for the usage
that it will receive is that emotion
that everyone can live with
if so is someone want to make that
motion
I can can I make it well no no I'll do
it I'll tempt it okay so I make a motion
to approve the plan submitted by LNF for
Schneider park with the following
addition conditions
um The Perennial uh Circle bed
um given the potential for light issues
be considered or modified considering
the like oh my God I'm really screwing
this up
uh take into account that there might
not be enough sunlight there and revise
the bed accordingly
um and instead of three Japanese maples
we'll use two and replace the third with
a a pine of
uh Elena's Choice as well as
um
oh what was the third one more benches
well consideration for more Ventures
consideration of more benches
you've heard the motion is there a
second
sort of emotion any further discussion
all those in favor say aye aye
aye opposed
and the motion carries I will compliment
Elena because when I first saw the poem
I thought the walk might have to go all
the way downtown but
but that I turn it back over to the
chair okay well thank you so
um we have 25 minutes left and uh we
have a Columbia
Plaza update and the splash pad update
so I'm wondering are those aren't for
approval those are FYI correct yep you
want me to just fly through them or do
you wanna put them at the end and see if
there's time unless you feel you need
approval no not right now and those we
can push those to next month if we need
to yeah I mean it's really just more you
know I wouldn't I mean I think we wanted
to get out of the conversation
um some decent guidance about the curb
the curbing questions and the medians oh
for the meetings yes definitely for the
meetings at least focus on that okay
great the median's on Columbia Place on
the yeah
okay and I think well in general
material materiality
and maybe is it okay if we move on to
that real quickly and I I do have to
Edison at some point here
um
you have a library make sure my kids are
not starving to death on the way over
there
um
do you wanna you wanna do it okay so um
this is uh Columbia Plaza and final name
to be determined um and the intent is
that uh so mksk has been working um on
this as um kind of the next phase as you
recall the Follies are down in this
lower lower area here and here one has a
pump room for
um the the new irrigation for the fields
and then the second is the restroom and
the thought with this is it is part of
the master plan
and we wanted to stitch the two sides of
the park together
and create a new median
so we'd be widening Columbia Avenue we'd
be introducing a new median down the
center and then have pull off kind of
protected parking on either side a new
sidewalk coming down and then new
plantings throughout and then creating
this closet that is actually going to be
at the same elevation as the um Fields
right so you would essentially ramp up
to this and then there's a plaza with a
Pergola structure here on either sides
and connections out into the um into the
plan so we're not going to bother with
this and so you can see we are looking
at actually using a brick uh sidewalk as
well as a Brick Street
and there has been some discussions
about
um the material and that's where we
would love to get your input in today so
as the street moves along and through
here we're looking at actually doing a
brick curb so we can kind of bring that
detail back um into here and as this is
currently is configured is whether or
not we would be using a cobblestone or a
granite curb in this Center and we'll
kind of go into that in a little bit
more so these are the basically on the
two sides
and then looking at the center here you
can see we're ramping up and we're
ramping up and this is all at the same
level as the sidewalks and then the park
we have a Pergola structure here
um where there's a Pergola and a Pergola
this is open the X's that you see would
be string lights these would be seat
walls there's an opening then out into
um the the lawn area with like a view
and then these are kind of the future
paths that might come up at some point
in the future that's why they're
somewhat ghosted in we are currently
looking at as this is configured is a a
granite paver
these are ballers to basically kind of
protect you know for Street traffic
going in through here there be an
opening and through here
of the bollards than a stippling of a
lighter Granite against a darker Granite
just to make sure that people understand
that this is a crosswalk kind of moving
in through there and then
um grades I'm going to kind of move
forward they have some rough ideas of
plant material and
um of basically trees multi kind of stem
trees in through the center the median
design they are thinking and you'll see
in some of the renderings of having you
know boxwoods with some annual shrubings
kind of around the the center and
through there and I'm going through this
quickly so I can kind of get to the to
the rendering so you can kind of see it
a little bit more now this was the
pergola structures themselves were
approved by the ARB last week
I think it was last week last week and
there was a very fruitful discussion it
was it's on YouTube I haven't listened
to it yet but I encourage everyone to
potentially listen to it
um they they started to have a lot of
kind of conversations about the
materials and whether or not the brick
you know curves though like fantastic
great bring it back we've got brick
herbs and Bexley we have Burke streets
and Bexley is it getting to be a little
too much to have you know kind of this
much Granite having Granite curbs around
the medians as well as kind of you know
kind of the Granite pavers in this in
this area and is there a desire to have
less of a um an urban feel like kind of
a downtown Urban feel and more of a
park-like setting and are there
opportunities to introduce perhaps more
brick into this area and you know
smaller selective areas of that Granite
as just kind of like a highlight and
less of kind of just okay it's brick
streets and sidewalks and then there's
this you know kind of granite curb
there was also discussion about the
medians themselves that you can kind of
see here of having this you know kind of
formal boxwood hedge with then you know
kind of service Berry trees within it
and then you know some kind of annual
planting in the center is that also too
formal and too fussy for an open Park
and is it potentially you know kind of
too much you know kind of Maintenance
and is there an opportunity to
reconceive those medians potentially as
um more of if you're looking at you know
kind of scrolling back up to a plan view
of it that it is more of a connection of
the lawn so if this is grass with you
know it's more of like the medians that
we have in Bexley I think unfair or
Bexley Park where it's lawn with trees
in the center and less so much of kind
of a formal kind of organization around
it this is an example of Airbnb by the
way wandering into uh areas other people
doing it see that happens other people
do it often said architects our secret
Landscape Architects but less people
Architects rarely think of earthquakes I
do I think I'm everything and I mean
but we will make no comments on another
board
they're not going to watch this
um so this is this is a view of the the
pergolas
um and so again you can see there there
has been you know kind of talk
um throughout the community of being
able to have a place that has you know
kind of some shade
um and that so there is it's open on
either side and then there would
actually be a covered roof structure
here that you wouldn't actually see the
roof from below you know it would be
detailed such that it just looks like a
flat roof
um but just in case you're caught in the
rain there's an area that kind of you
know hide out in through there with some
low seat walls that people could use for
additional seating here you can see the
bollards the intent is that it's a
Bollard with chain
um and that if and when the city uh
decides to have a function here and we
close off the park those chains can come
out and that entire thing can be used as
a plaza and people kind of seamlessly
you know kind of moving through
um and to that point of seamlessly
moving through one of the things that
was brought up was you know people kids
are probably going to jump over these
Hedges and you know traips right through
this right
um and would they or would they not in
talking with Mike Price He said that
really when people are at the park for a
soccer practice or a game or something
usually they're on the East field or the
West Field there's not a lot of
crossover between the two Fields And so
there's been some discussion about like
all of a sudden thinking that they're
going to be like hordes of kids that are
just running across and getting you know
jumping over you know everything and
it's it will happen kids will move
across but probably not to the frequency
as much but it is a consideration that
we need to keep in mind
um another more you know kind of street
view of um you know introducing the
sidewalk and then looking at
um the the pergolas themselves
a section in through here so you can
kind of get a sense of the width of the
median Drive aisle parking New Street
tree new sidewalk the trees that are
there now in that area just to know are
going to need to be removed in order to
do this and so we're going to need to
remove those existing trees because the
street is coming straight through that
and then everything would have to be you
know then kind of replanted
um they were look talking about a
potential multi-stem tree in the center
of smaller ornamental like maybe a
service Berry or a magnolia or or
something in through there so nothing
that is going to be you know kind of too
big in through there as has been the
consideration so far so not a lot of of
plant material has been you know kind of
selected other than you know some
boxwoods and you know some ornamental
trees and things like that but we would
wanted to open up the discussion to kind
of get your everyone's thoughts about
the overall kind of feel that you know
we would like to have in this park and
to see you know if you guys had any
thoughts or input on it
go ahead go ahead Mr Wilson
um well you've heard the invitation
comments on the look or feel then that's
open to primarily to the the hard
materials but also to the issue of hedge
or I think that as the tree commission I
think definitely comments on the median
you know in terms of how we how do we
think that that median should function
and how should it look for the you know
kind of makes makes sense and you know
as the tree commission you know just to
be able to kind of look at it and
whether than the the ARB and again I
didn't listen to the comments yet but
from what I've understood they were
concerned that it just felt a little too
fussy almost in in too formal and less
you know because Commonwealth right now
is just a big open green plane and that
all of a sudden it felt that like it was
interrupted by something that felt like
it was kind of maybe not of the same
character as the rest of the park so
should those medians feel more park-like
it can still have trees but maybe it's
not a formal you know boxwood hedge that
needs to be trimmed with you know bulbs
maybe it's something that's a little
softer
um and just you know and nothing's been
deciding yet like I said that I think
the the um
the pergolas were approved
um with a couple of conditions in terms
of removing some of the um
Hardware details and some of it were
just some small architectural comments
but in general they approved that but
they did kind of wander off and have a
you know a discussion yeah so since
we're running out of time let's just why
don't we just go along Barb do you have
comments I definitely think the less
formal is better I also think that at
least in the beginning uh kids are going
to be running back and forth It's a new
you know it's something new and they're
going to be
um they're going to be looking at it and
running around and and uh to think that
they're not I think is
you know uh unrealistic but I definitely
because when you look at this angle it
just looks like so much hard space
uh Hardscape but
I don't think it is you know when you
look at the other you know other angles
but
you know
just have to be I think we have to be
really careful that it works and like
you just said Works into the whole
feeling of the park
Molly yeah
um yeah I have some comments um I don't
mind the size Applause I think it's
helpful in part to have that and I don't
know if I love all the granite I think
that's our Molly do you like the size of
the plaza or don't like this the size of
the plaza I don't really like all the
granite I think when I'm in North Bexley
I just feel like it's old and
um it's stately and I just think that
the granite is more Columbus Commons or
um
Nationwide Boulevard it just doesn't
appeal it doesn't seem like Beck sleep
to me
um the mediums I would dump the hedges
and the annuals I think that's a lot of
Maintenance I think kids people will
cross not only on the sidewalk but it'll
cross through the shrubs that you know
you're going to lose boxwood and trying
to get them to fit in and hedge and it'd
just be hard I I think that I'm not sure
if it'd be a brick medium too it's
grates and trees in it I don't know but
um I think that is a lot of work on the
medians the other thing and I know it's
not in our purview is I see these flat
roofs in the pergola I don't know why
ARB didn't think about green roofs
because if we want to be sustainable and
we want I mean green groups would be
pretty cool out there it's a flat roof
um on them or something it's Bexley and
it it doesn't look so hard then okay I'm
going to move this along
um Oh Sheila we're making a joke about
the plastic boxwoods let's let's move on
I I like the end entry
in the beginning of this Century I think
that looks stately I think it looks like
a good fit for where it's being placed
and then when we go to the plaza
um I'm not a fan of all that brick and
the pergolas to me don't really
harmonize with the entry it looks very
Urban in this section versus the
formality of the front entrance
um I don't think that two of them are
compatible in my opinion I'd like to see
this soften and
I could redesign the percolas I would
but I know that's not my job yeah how
would you
I I would have a um less of a these took
somewhat Oriental
um very Urban
um so I would have something that would
be well we're getting a picture here for
me yeah I mean that to me is a little
bit more
compatible with the entry so the not to
enter the the mksk renderings are
slightly different than what the pergola
has been designed I think and so I think
that that was a comment that Brian Ken
Jones had made in the meeting of just
like there there is you know this idea
of kind of using a white oak
um one of the comments was you know like
the stone walls but perhaps maybe not
all of this you know kind of be Stone
pillars maybe those Stone pillars come
down still introduce that stone to tie
that to those front entry pergolas but
then bring that back a little bit but
that's interesting you say that yeah
because it's such a incredible design
and I think a huge enhancement for the
park and whatever change is going to be
done yes it's going to change the whole
feel of what we've had over a hundred
years or 150 years
um but I think that's a great vision and
I'd love to see more of that in the
parking lot
I'm Mary uh I agree with Sheila
regarding the pergola and I also agree
with Molly about the boxwood and keeping
it you know not so formal because of the
maintenance
um I think it's you know it's going to
be really beautiful when it's done and
um as far as the granite and the fact
that North Bexley is so much brick it
seems like you'd want to keep that brick
going and keep it consistent
Susan okay so
um when I ever see the plaza I'm Jarred
by the color of the gray Granite it
feels so cold compared to the brick and
and that's that's what I've seen I'm
thinking Limestone something that would
be warmer and maybe more inviting to
Molly's point about Columbus Commons or
Nationwide it it doesn't feel cozy
somehow it doesn't feel cozy and I'd I'd
have the medium just grass and some
ornamental trees I think that would be
lovely and would kind of uh negate a
little bit of the I don't want to say
overbuilt feeling because that that
sounds negative but what I'm saying is
so many more installations it'll it kind
of softened that the pergola is in a way
to me feel like one too many
installations we've got the great
Follies
I mean I know why we want them we want
shelter somewhere but I guess you know
maybe they'll just have to stay in the
bathroom longer I don't know
I I don't know but but it feels to me
like the pergolas are answering a call
and will be there 365 days a year and
how many times will the bees I don't
know maybe that's where people
congregate when they have soccer and I
think one of the things that we don't
see is that looks like a very long block
by the time you come into it it's you
know it's a short block it's a short
block so I think in a way it looks more
overbuilt than it would be on site
that's it Celeste
I agree with every every account here
what people are saying and I do think
that the mediums are sort of pencil-like
compared to The Pedestrian walk across
the what the street so to speak and I
think it is to Stark in its brightness
um it almost it's like I think I'm going
down in one of the paths at Cedar Point
uh with all that bright concrete there
um when I look at a medium I think of
Grant every single time and all over the
his his crew has had to put up with with
trees being run into and I would strike
anything really fancy uh the boxwood you
know he wraps the boxwood on Broad
Street every year and still we lose some
bro some of them I think we keep it
simple I I think that we'll probably
have some people run into them I think
we'll probably have kids want to do
figure eights around every all the
pieces so I don't know if we should
really put a big investment in them up
front to see how people handle them I
agree with the
um
uh with the overhang the
what is that the the trellis type of
thing
thank you the pergola I like what we
were designing with mksk was designing
at the beginning when we were doing the
entrance to
um
Bexley across from
St Charles at one point because that
looked beautiful there was Stone and
I I agree that I don't think that people
are going to really be using these for
picnics so much and I think they'd
rather be out in the sun or in the shade
somewhere
um maybe we'll have more trees than what
we see there
I don't know I I just don't think I feel
like those aren't going to be used that
much
okay
um I the only thing that I would add
um and I would I'm just focused on the
medians I would say brick over Granite
cobblestone as a secondary material
um
I I agree with everyone else about the
boxwoods I guess my only suggestion
would be to consider some other ground
color cover than grass this is a big
grassy area and I would suggest
something that should hold up to people
stepping on it but isn't more grass and
doesn't require more money
well I'll say that if you put in ground
cover you're going to get a lot of weeds
coming through and it takes a lot of
work to clean out ground cover over
mowing the grass yeah
yeah so sorry but can I just real
quickly I want to defend a little bit of
the programming of this just to kind of
explain the context which is that the
pergola
and Plaza Concepts
we we really don't even have a
experience of anything like this in the
city per se to really draw from other
than our shelter houses
um and just the amount of activity that
we have at the park and especially as we
build up the Arboretum Futures I think
that it's kind of an if you build it
they will come a concept and the plaza
very much part of this vision is that it
will be really easy to shut off this
section of Columbia for a jazz in the
park event or for some sort of a
community Gathering where that applies
or that makes sense when it becomes the
focal point of those Gathering spaces
this sort of ethos behind it I'm not
saying it used to be gray for granted
but the um just the scale of it is
within that context
I don't think it I I didn't hear anybody
saying they thought this didn't like the
plaza it was the materials for the plaza
unless someone didn't like I was like
the plaza in fact I thought someday
you'd probably shut it off bothered it
off on both ends and then put food
trucks where those parking spaces are
and people walk up and down the Brick
Street
because to me that would be a nice event
so is that enough is that too many
comments that's very helpful thank you
thank you very much
yes you can so there are a billion
things that we could have on here but I
I feel the only compelling thing to our
Benchmark basically
Landmark tree lady is to have her put
into motion and onto the agenda this
year's class nominated class of landmark
trees so we can vote on it and it can be
part of the Arbor Day release
that's the most immediate
you are
I have already got over 11 000
oh that's great that's great go team go
okay
yes right there if you could move down a
little bit on the sorry yeah I would
first like to reach out and tell Molly
O'Donnell when a wonderful husband she
has and that last night Ed and I were um
walking the parks in the dark and doing
our yellow ribbons and I had a very hard
time at nine o'clock identifying two of
the trees so I reached out to Dick who
met me this morning very kindly and we
were able to
confirm the two trees I was looking for
but I couldn't see them in the dark we
did have a committee but
um through many obligations of my
committee it was it ended up being dick
and I and we I think plowed through it
very well we have chosen these um
wonderful Selections in the park and
since this is the year of the park we
focused on in the park so I hope that
you all will appreciate that we have a
lot of wonderful trees throughout the
city but since this was our year to
highlight the parks we chose these
species in the park and um Sheridan Park
was a little bit challenging
um you know you don't have a lot of
choices you have most most of the
Community Gardens which are so wonderful
so we did choose the ginkgo in the front
that is highlighted and um I think
you'll be very pleased
any questions
Mr Archer would you concur with this
these nominations
yeah I think this is uh you know great
group of trees I didn't even think about
the year of the parks and they're in the
Parks but that's
it was um you know we
wavered one one way or another trying to
figure out the best but it just made
sense that that's where we should
highlight our Landmark trees this year
so next year we'll have another
discussion about whether we put it out
to the public to nominate or if our
committee will go through the city and
choose other areas so thank you so
Sheila would you like to put a motion
forward that we accept these I would
like to motion at these
2023 Landmark trees are
um
approved and I look for your motion
to have that happen okay is there any
discussion
emotion is made and seconded that we
approved these 13 trees especially
landmarks trees for 2023
and hope that we can publicize the tree
roots off of them by next Friday on
Arbor Day so all those in favor say aye
aye all those same sign okay motion
carries and I think we're at six o'clock
602 and that we should adjourn so move
um we'll need to we'll need to look at
how we can either add more minutes to
our meetings or be a more efficient or
talk less none of those seem to be too
exciting for me or good Alternatives but
and I apologize for the technical issues
as well if we didn't have that we might
have been able to well get on some
things so I think that maybe we need to
apply for a grant for some computers
okay we are what Mr Wilson