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Home My WebLink About07-16-2009 Tree Committee Meeting MinutesThe Tree Committee of the City of Fairhope met July 16, 2009 at 3:00 PM in the City Administration Building in the conference room. Present: Bobby Green, Chairman; member Paul Fontenot. Jennifer Fidler, Horticulturist . Betty Rivenbark, Secretary. Absent: Rick Kingrea, Skip Jones, Mariah Gwynn, Tom Ellis. Susan Davis and Ed Skinner were also present. There was not a quorum present, so no official meeting was held. Bobby in looking at Agenda items said we would put off due to members not being here the agenda items. He said he Mariah and Skip were still working on the ordinance, need to put it in ABC order, that Mariah is still compiling it. At this time Ed Skinner spoke, he and Susan Davis were here about the oak tree that is over their property, the newsstand and antique business on Section Street. He said last week he was worried for his life and then Jennifer came to see him and gave them permission to trim the oak tree limbs; he said he is grateful for that. He said the tree has grown a lot in the last two years, doesn't know if it is living or dying but growing. He talked about his insurance and said it is not on the building but contents and it is up for renewal next month, if anything happened it would be a dramatic loss, and he doesn't know what he is looking at. He said we should be reexamining the issues. He said if he had to he has other businesses and could move the valuable stuff to other locations in the northwest or Washington and lease out the building, possibly to a salon or something like that. He showed pictures and said he would like to cut all the limbs that are overhanging his building. He said he knows we love the tree but doesn't know where we are going. He said if he can't get insurance he will be out of the building, he has a mortgage; he said he will be going the last mile to protect his contents. Jennifer said there is a change in the health of the tree, the limbs they want removed were struck by lightning. She said they are growing back on the west side but she is afraid to take off too much on the east side; it is already imbalanced. She said the insurance issue has people cutting trees/limbs all over town, she knows Dennis Byrne has on his properties. She said she agrees we need to look at it as a committee. Bobby said he had called two insurance agents who do commercial insurance and they had not heard of such a situation, in general they are not writing wind damage insurance west of Greeno Road, but not denying coverage because of a tree. Bobby said he would be interested in seeing what done in other cities, he just got back from Charleston and wondered what they do. Paul Fontenot asked if a business owner wanted to go to maximum building height in CBD could we stop them, Jennifer said no, zoning ordinance overrides Tree Ordinance, and if not in CBD could get a variance. Mr. Skinner remarked if the tree continues to grow it will also grow over Mac Walcott's building. Jennifer said she is not clear on the air space, She said it had to be 5 or 6 ft off the building where when wind blows it will not hit the building. Ms. Davis said she is concerned that someone will get hurt, and referred to the limb that recently fell on the Church Street property. We need to understand the gravity of the situation and she will sue if something happens. She and Mr. Skinner had proposals for trimming from Gary Ickes and he is supposed to come next week and trim limbs. Bobby said we could watch the tree. Mr. Skinner said he will get back with Bobby, he would like to feel safe in his office. Susan Davis said we should take everybody into consideration, not just the hotel, she said she watched the construction crews for the hotel damage the tree. Bobby Green thanked them for coming and said he will call them personally. He told them when we have a quorum here we will ask for an opinion from the City Attorney, Tut Wynne. Bobby said he had asked for a paper trail, been down to Public Works and looked at the Publix site tree survey and grading with Jennifer and Jonathan. He said he will make a request to get copies from the City Clerk. He asked Jennifer about Kudzu control and she said she had been busy, had not had time to do anything. Jennifer was asked about the tree cutting at Quail Creek and she related what had happened. The meeting was duly adjourned.