City of Lebanon Shade Tree Commission met Jan. 5.
Here are the minutes provided by the commission:
Opening: A meeting of the Lebanon Shade Tree Commission was held at 5:00 p.m., at the City Building. The meeting was called to order by Casey Burdick.
In Attendance: Margaret Uchtman, Mike Saracina, Jim Ludwick, Don Mowry, Shawn Ford, and Casey Burdick
A. Approval of December Minutes: Motion to approve Mike Saracina, seconded by Jim Ludwick, approved by Board.
B. Agenda:
New Business:
a. ODNR Urban Canopy Restoration Grant
The grant was submitted on October 29th. The grant was approved and the tree planting will move forwards this spring. Casey is just waiting on the final paperwork from ODNR.
b. 2022 Tree Planting Program- The tree planting program will include Highland Ave, Wright Ave, and Tecumseh Trail hopefully partially paid for through the grant funds. Summit Street will also be planted. It was not included in the grant because the number of tree planting location couldn’t be determined due to progress of construction at the time the grant application was due. Mickie, Jim, and Casey walked Summit St and determined the plantings sites. There are a total of 38 potential planting sites on Highland Ave., 18 on Wright Ave., and 57 on Summit St.
We will also be doing a native seedling planting in the Turtlecreek Nature Preserve along the new paved trail following the Lebanon Trail project. The tree planting will take place on Earth Day as a collaboration with the Warren Co SWCD on April 22nd from 4-6pm. The public will be invited to join in. We will also be installing tree planting tubes to protect the seedlings from wildlife browse.
There will also be a few Memorial Trees including an American Beech in honor Hewitt Mulford.
c. 2021-2022 Tree Pruning and Removal program- Cardinal Landscaping is finishing up the tree removals on the end of the year contract. Should be done by mid January. Pruning and removals for 2022, Casey recommends focusing on pruning the zelkova’s on Broadway and removing and replacing the remaining pear trees downtown. The Cemetery should also have trees assessed and create a plan for needed removals.
d. Arbor Day Celebration 2022- Casey spoke to the Principal at St. Francis DeSales and they are excited to host the Arbor Day Celebration in 2022. At this point, they are fine with doing the event in person. The Shade Tree Commission came up with the theme for the poster contest, “Trees are Cool”. Casey will reach out to the school art teachers regarding the poster contest shortly.
e. Developing a 5 year work plan- Casey started work on developing a 5 year work plan for the tree program and any park landscaping projects. This would mirror the Capital Improvement Plan created by the City’s Engineering Department. The hope is this will help residents know the schedule for tree removal, pruning, and replacements. It will also help the Shade Tree Commission be more involved in planning process, instead of just reacting to issues as they arise. To start a spreadsheet of all the upcoming street projects was presented with the year the construction work is schedule. Some ground truthing work will need to be done to determine the amount of work needed in each area. This is going to be a process, but very worthwhile in the longer term.
https://cms8.revize.com/revize/lebanonoh/Shade%20Tree%20Commission%20Meeting%20Agendas%20&%20Minutes/2022/1-5-2022%20Shade%20Tree%20Meeting%20Minutes.pdf
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