HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-26-2018 Tree Committee Meeting MinutesTree Committee Meeting
July 26, 2018
3p.m.
Delchamps Room
Members present: Patrick Waldrop, Skip Jones, Richard Johnson, Jo Hogan, Paul Fontenot. Absent:
Harriett Gutknecht, Jay Robinson and Craig Tappan. Gayle Fogarty took minutes. Guest: Barry Gaston and James E. Smith
Paul Fontenot called the meeting to order at 3: 10 p.m. The minutes from the meeting held on April 19,
2018 were reviewed and approved, 1 st motion by Patrick Waldrop and 2 nd by Jo Hogan and unanimously carried.
New Business: Guest: Barry Gaston spoke to the Tree Committee, he stated that he would like to
encourage the City to declare Knoll Park as a Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary. He added that volunteers
and seeds could be obtained from the community to make this possible and the City would not incur any expense. There was general discussion among the members.
A motion was made to recommend Knoll Park be declared a Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary and
encourage volunteers to provide a work day to make this possible, 1 st motion by Skip Jones and 2nd by
Patrick Waldrop and unanimously carried. Gayle Fogarty was asked to send this motion to the City
Clerk for the upcoming City Council meeting.
Richard Johnson presented a tree permitting issue to the committee. The tree discussed is a large
loblolly pine located at the NW comer of a building located at 50 Green Road South, Suite B. Richard
informed the committee that Paul Merchant has assessed the tree and determined it is healthy and the request to remove the tree was declined. See attached notes.
Guest: James Smith addressed the Tree Committee with his concern that the tree is so large it has become a safety hazard and requested that the tree be removed. There was general discussion among
the committee regarding the pine tree. Many committee members recognize the roots have grown close to the building's foundation, and have affected the driveway, although the tree is healthy.
A motion was made to support the recommendation of Public Works Director, Richard Johnson and Horticulture Supervisor, Paul Merchant to agree that Mr. Smith has the right to remove encroaching roots into his foundation, but the city, at this time, could not approve the removal of the healthy loblolly pine, 1st motion by Patrick Waldrop and 2nd by Skip Jones and unanimously carried.
A motion was made to recommend to the City Council the appointment of Greg Wittendorfer to the
Tree Committee, 1 st motion by Skip Jones and 2nd by Patrick Waldrop and unanimously carried. Gayle
Fogarty was asked to send this motion to the City Clerk for the upcoming City Council meeting.
Old Business: Paul Fontenot asked Richard Johnson about the tree committee reviewing landscape
plans, he wanted to know what the process is to be able to see the plans prior to final approval by the
City. Richard stated that he is working on this and added that the City is working on "close out documents and action plans." Paul inquired if it would be possible to hold the certificate of occupancy until the landscape requirements are approved. There was general discussion among the committee members.
Paul Fontenot also expressed his concerns on enforcing the tree ordinance to keep Fairhope set apart
from other cities.
There was also general discussion among the members of what tree seedlings would be chosen for
Arbor Day 2019.
The meeting adjourned at 4: 10 p.m.
Gayle Fogarty
From:·
Sent:
To:
Cc:
Subject:
Attachments:
Paul:
Richard Johnson
Tuesday, July 24, 2018 9:25 AM
Garden Designs
Paul Merchant; Gayle Fogarty; jesmithpc@qmaH.com
Tree Permit Issue -For Discussion at the _Tree Committee
Smith Tree Information Reduced.pdf
Pl.ease review the attached information. Mr. Smith has requested a permit to remove a large pine �t the �W corner of
his building at the Intersection of Greeno and Prospect. It is an impressive specimen and r'nay be greater than 48" in , . . caliper. Paul Merchants assess_ment is that the tree is healthy and is a dominant feature to the streetscape. As you can
see from the county GIS the tre·e may reside partially on the public ROW. Because of these factors, a tree removal
permit was declined. I suppo·rt Paul's assessment and conclusions. ·
� I do not dispute that the driveway apron has been uplifted by root growth and that roots have grown uncomfortably
close to the building's foundation. There ls a· distinct pos sibility that some of the brick veneer cracking observed ·and
noted is due to root action from the tree. We did inform Mr. Smith that he had the right to remove surface roots to
repave his driveway and that we could not prevent affirmative action to remove roots encroaching into the fou�dation.
Mr. Smith does not agree with our determination and has expressed his position in t_he thoughtful letter attache,d. He
would like to remove the tree. I appreciate his concern and his desire to protect the investment iry his property.·.! am
seeking guidance from the committee. This is not a full-blown appeal to our decision, but it may come to that.
I will ask Gayle to forward this to the full membership an� I would like it to be a topic of discussion of the comm,ttee.
Thank you for your consideration,
RDJ
Richard D. Johnson, P.E.
Public Works Director
City of Fairhope Email: richard.johnson@fairhopeal.gov
555 ·s. Section St. -Fairhope, AL 36532
Office: 251-929-0360
Cell: 251-423-7418
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