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MINUTES OF THE PUBLIC WORKS & SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE JANUARY 9, 2023 AUDITORIUM Present: Councilmembers Rader, Bullock& Baker Also Present: Mayor George, Law Director Vargo, Engineer Papke, Project Manager Sam Bonvissuto of the Division of Streets & Forestry, Division of Streets and Forestry staff, Tree Education and Advisory Board members, & Deputy Clerk Lascu taking minutes Approval of the minutes of the November 7, 2022 meeting of the Public Works & Sustainability Committee. Motion by Chair Rader without objection to approve the minutes without the necessity of a reading. All in favor. Motion passed. Communication from Councilmember Rader regarding Public Works & Sustainability Committee meeting with the Tree Education &Advisory Board. (referred 12/19/22) Members of the Tree Education and Advisory Board(TEAB) delivered a segmented presentation involving all board members who detailed TEAB actions over the past year and gave future guidance on tree and sustainability issues. Linda Grandstaff, President of TEAB, gave an overview of the board and background on its creation. She highlighted the importance of educating residents about the value of private property tree plantings. She spoke to the city's adoption of TEAB's 19 point tree policy, which is designed to increase the city's tree canopy significantly by 2035. She noted all the efforts that city forestry staff have undertaken in the past year and spoke about how hiring an urban forester would help tree strategy and community outreach. Matt Krems spoke about TEAB's 3 point strategy for city action in 2022, which involved collaborating with the city,promoting the city's tree program, and educating residents. TEAB made suggestions on city planting materials, shared tree planting specifications, successfully advocated for the installation of tree guards and staffing a watering truck. The board also consulted with an arborist to save the trees near Lakewood Park playground. TEAB also started a most distinguished tree contest to further promote the city's tree planting program that received 25 entries. Board members also conducted outreach in concert with the Madison Court Community Coalition and wrote articles for the city website and social media pages. Councilmember Baker asked if TEAB had any recommendations for tree protection during construction/replacement of sidewalks, specifically what to do with the roots of developed trees. He noted that some cities use permeable material that has a different aesthetic, and that ADA compliance must be considered as well. Mr. Krems stated that the group has some simple recommendations and other more cumbersome ones. He emphasized that the city needs guidelines that are simple and enforceable, and that the group has drafted a short sample that their hoping to get buy in from the city engineer on.