HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-09-2011 Regular MeetingThe Tree Committee of the City of Fairhope met Wednesday November 9th, 2011 at 3:00 PM in
th e D e lchamp s Room , Fairhope C ity H a ll
Present: Bobby Green , Chairman; Skip Jones, Ri ck Kingrea-City Council R epresentati ve, Paul
Fontenot, Kent Schwartz , JoAnne Ho ga n, and Jenni fer F idler-Public Works Director an d
Horticulturist. Absent: Maria Gwynn , H arriett and Wa lt Bolton. Guests: Mike Odom-Fa irhop e
Courier, Leslie Stejskal-Fairhope Single Tax Corp ., Joe Bullock-Civi l E ngin eer.
The minutes of the Jul y 20, 201 1 meetin g we r e dul y approve d w ith one c han ge :
Paragraph Two; Removal Of Trees
The committee discuss ed that once a tree is submitted for remova l and th e City
Horti culturist makes the det ermination it shou ld not be re moved, th e initial applicant will be
responsible for supplying a report from a li censed arbo rist at his/her discretion and cost.
(The word "two" is to be struck from th e Jul y 20 , minutes and replaced wi th "a".)
Skip Jones moved to do thi s , Rick Kin grea 2nd the motion and it carried unanimou s ly .
Complete Trees Program
Kent passed out a "Sample Template" for Tree Maintenance Scheduling and examples of Tree
Care Plans no w in u se w ithin other communities. D iscussion centered around worki ng on an
inventory of tree s planted s in ce 2000 and then adding newly planted trees eac h year with an
emphasis on sc heduled m a int ena nce of same. Rick s u ggested ha ving a plan in place th at wou ld
include any Public Works budget reque st s for the 20 12-20 13 fiscal year. Kent will be meeting
with Jennifer and Harriett to put a plan in place .
Bishop/Boothe Road Opening
Mr. Bullock showed the committee two plans for th e proposed opening of Bishop/Boothe Road
between Nichols and Morphy Avenu es. There are many large tr ees w ithin the proposed 40' right
of way that wo uld ne ed to be removed to faci litate the cons tru ction .
To minimize tree removal , an adjacent property owner wou ld allow some construction on hi s
leasehold. Certified arborist, Gary Ickes has been consulted and w ill iss ue a report on possible
impact to remainin g tree s . City Horticulturist/Certified Arbori st ha s been consulted as we ll.
Planning and Zoning ha s g iven preliminary approval to the project which will go before Council
for final approval.
Paul and Jennifer suggested FSTC have Certified Arborist, Cleve Formwalt give them a report
on the possible impact to trees as he ha s worked closely w ith Mobile's "Liveoak Protection
Ordinance" for man y years.
Bobb y as ked if a traffic stud y had be en don e th at show s a need for the construction. Mr. Bullo ck
replied one is not normall y done for a seco ndary artery suc h as this. Bobby offered that wo uld , of
course be up to the c ity Council as to the need.
There was unanimous agreement in prai se of en g in eering effo rt s made to preserve as many trees
as possible w ithin the propo sa l.
Landfills to Parks Initiative
Current uses of the landfill site and length of time till portions reach capacity w ere discussed.
Jennifer, Bobby, Paul , and Walt will meet on site for further discussion.
Requests For Tree Removal
Jennifer is putting together a w ritten policy for Public Works department as suggested by the
committee in the July 201 lMeeting.
Arbor Day
Jennifer reports Arbor Day is set for Saturday, February 25 th
. Walt and Harriett are working
with her on the project.
Meeting was adjourned at 4 :28 PM
Minutes taken and submitted by Bobby Green , Chair.