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03-14-07C~C, ~TO° Minutes of March 14, 2007, Tree Conservation Board tT(:ity Corsmission ^ City M~ca~er © City Attorney CITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH ^ Press TREE CONSERVATION BOARD ^ File REGULAR MEETING MINUTES ~ March 14, 2007 A regular meeting of the Tree Conservation Board was held Wednesday, March 14, 2007 at the Adele Grage Cultural Center. Present were Chair Maureen Shaughnessy, Stephanie Catania, Brea Paul, Carole Varney, and City LiaisonlPlanner Erika Hall. Jim McCue was absent. 1. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 6:58 pm. 2. Recognition of Visitors There were no visitors present. 3. Approval of Minutes of February 28th, 2007 Meeting Chair Shaughnessy requested that page 3, item E of the meeting minutes be revised to note that the applicants had waited beyond six months after the Tree Board Application was approved before starting the construction of a pool, thus avoiding mitigation and having to pay into the tree fund. Stephanie Catania motioned to approve the minutes from the February 28, 2007 regular meeting. Carole Varney seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. 4. New Business a. Tree Removal Permits i. 801 Atlantic Boulevard Before getting into the specifics of the application, the board members had a general discussion as to the incompleteness and insufficiency of the initial application, which was deferred at the previous meeting. Additionally, it was noted that the application form was not completed correctly. It was noted that some changes needed to be made to the existing form as a matter of clarification to applicants and that applications needed to be carefully reviewed in the future. If applications are not complete or correctly filled out, they will be returned to the applicant and will not be reviewed until such deficiencies are corrected. Discussion ensued as to the removal and replacement of healthy, mature palms with new palms. Chair Shaughnessy suggested that the applicant might want to transplant the existing palms to the rear of the property or to the adjacent Page 1 of 8 Minutes of March 14, 2007, Tree Conservation Board property. It was noted that one 36" palm was located in the right-of-way and therefore would require 100°lo mitigation. A motion was made by Board Member Stephanie Catania to issue a Tree Removal Permit for 801 Atlantic Boulevard (Jax Federal Credit Union building) for the removal of three (3) 18" Palms, one (1) 30" Palm, and one (1) 36" Palm in the exterior zone; and, one (1) 36" Palm in the right-of--way. Total mitigation would be provided by the planting of fourteen (14) 8-10" Sabal Palms, two (2) 3" Live Oaks, and twelve (12) 2.5" East Palatka Hollies. Board Member Carole Varney seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. 5. Old Business a. 620 Beach Avenue It was noted by Erika Hall that at the February 28t" meeting a letter proffered by Chris Lambertson of Elite Homes, dated November 30, 2006 and referring to three trees that had been removed from the site without permit, had not been read into the minutes and thus was not included in the motion for permit and the subsequent mitigation requirements. Ms. Hall said that the omission was redlized the next day and that she had contacted Chair Shaughnessy who allowed that the mitigation for these three trees should be included in the required mitigation statement of the permit and that it would be discussed at the March 14t" meeting so that there was an official record establishing receipt of the letter and proper mitigation of 100% of 41" of Palm for those trees removed without permit. b. 1680 Jordan Street Ms. Hall informed the board members that she had tried to contact Ms. Cynthia Doctor regarding her tree mitigation on several occasions but had been unsuccessful. Chair Shaughnessy noted that she had realized that Ms. Doctor had never signed her application and that this should probably be pursued pending possible future legal issues. Board Member Carole Varney asked should the board members try to approach and discuss this issue with City Commissioners. Discussion was had as to how the Commission might handle this matter: Would they maintain Ms. Doctor's obligation to replace 100% of the removed Oaks or would they work with her to come to some sort of compromise or offer some sort of assistance given her circumstances? Ms. Shaughnessy noted that due to Florida Page2of8 Minutes of March 14, 2007, Tree Conservation Board Sunshine Laws, two members of the same board cannot meet outside the sunshine, but that did not preclude individual members of the Tree Conservation Board meeting with individual members of the City Commission to discuss the manner. Board Member Stephanie Catania recommended that Ms. Hall draft a letter to Ms. Doctor, summarizing the situation thus far and explaining to her the potential consequences of not meeting her obligations to mitigate the removed trees. Ms. Varney requested that the letter might offer Ms. Doctor some alternatives to obtaining low-cost or free trees or perhaps some ideas for raising money to pay into the tree fund. Ms. Varney mentioned that Hickory Creek and Mulch Masters were usually good places to look. Board members agreed that a letter should be sent to Ms. Doctor. Chair Shaughnessy said that she would try to speak with Commissioner Fletcher and Commissioner Simmons, while Board Member Varney said that she would speak with Commissioner Borno regarding the matter. It was agreed by al{ that this matter needs to be moved in the direction of resolution and gotten off the table. c. Dora Road property Erika Hall told the board members that she had sent a letter to Greg Birdsong in response to his notice of land clearing of the Dora Road property. Members stated that they had received the letter in their packets. Ms. Hall stated that Mr. Birdsong came to City Hall within an hour (March 1, 2007) after receiving a faxed copy of the letter. There he spoke with Sonya Doerr, Community Development Director, who confirmed the specifications of the letter and directed Mr. Birdsong to follow proper procedure by first conducting a tree survey and filing a tree removal application before proceeding with other site preparations. Mr. Birdsong stated that he would go to the site and immediately halt the work that was supposed to begin that morning. Chair Shaughnessy stated that she had gone out to the property to take a look and she saw that there were large piles of dirt that had been pushed up against trees, and there were pieces of large equipment present. Further, she said that it appeared that one machine had made a large swath into interior of the property. Members asked whether Mr. Birdsong had yet submitted a tree removal application, and Ms. Hall stated that she had not seen any materials from Mr. Birdsong. Page 3 of 8 Minutes of March 14, 2007, Tree Conservation Board d. 871/825 Sherry Street Ms. Hall stated that she had spoken with former Tree Board Liaison and Director of Public Works Rick Carper to find out if he had any additional information on the Sherry Street properties. He said that he had nothing beyond the report that the owners of 871 Sherry were now putting in a swimming pool. Chair Shaughnessy stated that she had again driven by and it appears that the owners are now putting down pavers, probably as pool decking. Board members queried whether permits had been pulled for either the swimming pool or the pavers. Ms. Hall said that she would check with the Building Department. Discussion continued as to the 6-month no construction rule. It was noted that this was an issue that definitely needed to be considered in the revision of the Tree Protection Ordinance. Chair Shaughnessy made the suggestion that perhaps they look into changing it to a one-year period instead. e. 589 W 14t" Street Erika Hall requested background on this property given that Chair Shaughnessy had sent a couple of emails describing a potential problem with mitigation follow-through. Chair Shaughnessy stated that the property had formerly belonged to Merv Russell who had redeveloped the site in mid-2001 as the site of his business, 3M Painting. As part of the redevelopment, a landscape plan was approved and a tree removal permit was issued with the stipulation of mitigation to include the planting of trees along 14t" Street. Approximately two years ago, before completion of the landscaping, Mr. Russell put the property up for sale. Then- Building Official Don Ford spoke with Mr. Russell on some occasion, after which, the "for sale" sign was removed and it was assumed that the property was taken off the market. Recently, Chair Shaughnessy said that she had driven by another property (89 W 4t") and saw Mr. Russell's work trucks located there. She then went to the City of Jacksonville Property Appraiser's website and looked up 589 W 14t" and found that the property was now owned by Murr Auto Body. Thus, it appears the sales transaction was completed and a certificate of occupancy was issued for the site without the former owner meeting mitigation obligations. Ms. Hall asked should the former owner be contacted and presented with a bill for his unpaid mitigation. Board Member Carole Varney suggested that a letter be sent to the new owner. Chair Shaughnessy and Board Member Catania added that a copy of the issued tree removal and building permits should be included, Page 4 of 8 Minutes of March 14, 2007, Tree Conservation Board with the sections describing mitigation and landscape requirements highlighted. All members agreed that the current owner would probably contact the previous owner in light of this. Discussion continued as to whose responsibility it becomes to meet these obligations once a sales transaction occurs. Chair Shaughnessy asked how this might be tracked. Ms. Hall noted that strict deadlines needed to be added and enforced. For example, if an applicant comes before a board without a landscape plan, they might be given 6 months to present a plan before the board. 1f, at the end of those six months, no plan has been produced, then the applicant would be presented with an invoice and be required to pay the appropriate amount into the tree fund. Further, Ms. Ha11 stated a similar system needed to be implemented for actually getting the mitigation trees in the ground so that staff could fo{low- up on survival of those trees. If, once a landscape plan has been approved for mitigation purposes, and the trees have not been installed after 6 months, the board should require payment into the tree fund. Board members agreed that setting such deadlines were issues to be considered in the near future. Chair Shaughnessy expressed concern over similar situations occurring with other properties located in her neighborhood. She presented Ms. Hall with some information as to the locations and described how landscape plans were part of new residential development areas, how the landscapes had not been completed but now the homes are on the market. Members were curious as to if the properties change ownership, who will be responsible for mitigation? Ms. Hall stated that she would research the issued permits and the change of ownership of the 589 W 14th property and draft a letter to the current owner. A copy of that letter will be accompanied by a report of the situation at the next regularly scheduled meeting. Additionally, she will look into the other properties mentioned by Ms. Shaughnessy. f. 1260 Mayport Road Ms. Hall stated that during the interim since the last regular meeting, Chair Shaughnessy had emailed that trees located at the 1260 Mayport Road development site were not properly barricaded. Ms. Hall visited the site to find that the orange net was wrapped tightly around the trees and pushed up the trunks, sometimes as high as four or more feet. Ms. Hall reported that she had drafted a letter to the owners on March 13, citing the provisions for barricading and stating that corrective measures must be made Page 5 of 8 Minutes of March 14, 2007, Tree Conservation Board before site work commenced the following morning lest the Building Official be dispatched to issue a stop work order. The letter was faxed and response was received via phone call within 15 minutes. The owners stated that they would immediately correct the barricading. 6. Reports & Announcements a. New property owner notification Ms. Hall reported that she had spoken with various staff members in the City of Atlantic Beach Utilities department who thought that including a public service announcement/brochure regarding tree protection in the utility bills would probably not be a problem. The bills are not dispatched from City Hall, so the brochures would have to be taken to a third party. Additionally, Ms. Hall stated that she had talked with Utilities Clerks to determine how difficult it would be for them to present such information to new residents requesting service and .have them sign a "statement of receipt". Such a system would definitively put the burden of responsibility squarely on the shoulders of resident. The Clerks seemed to think this would be workable, not requiring much work beyond the normal process. Ms. Hall stated that she had not gone beyond the City, had not spoken to anyone at JEA who provides electricity to the City's residents. She thought that starting with the local water utility would be a good start. She mentioned that the next step would probably be to create some sort of public service announcement(s) or brochure(s) and present to the City Manager and/or Commission along with the ideas for publicizing. Ms. Hall stated that while communicating with Florida DOF Forester Joshua Amend regarding another issue, he offered assistance in creating such public relations materials. The board agreed that this would be something to continue working on. b. Urban & Community Forestry Grant Ms. Hall reminded the board members that the deadline for the Urban & Community Forestry Grant is March 30. While most of a submittal has been put together, there is work still to be done on the required narrative and budget portions. Ms. Hall also told the members that, as part of the annual Strategic Planning exercise that the City had gone through on February 27-28, it had been decided that revision of the Tree Protection Ordinance was lowered on the list of priorities and might not occur until next year. Thus, it might be best to wait and apply for next year's grant. Chair Page 6 of 8 Minutes of March 14, 2007, Tree Conservation Board Shaughnessy stated that she would speak with Commissioner Fletcher about the grant. c. RJ Tree Service Ms. Hall reported to the board members the incident involving John Bennett d/b/a RJ Tree Service. Mr. Bennett falsely presented himself as an employee of the City of Atlantic Beach and then an acquaintance of former Building Official Don Ford as a means to gain the trust of Margo Hill and sell his services to her. Ms. Hill began to feel as if she were being scammed and contacted the City of Atlantic Beach on several occasions over the next few days. As the events unfolded and multiple investigations were conducted by Ms. Hall with the Department of Agriculture, Department of State/Division of Corporations, and the City of Atlantic Beach Clerk's office, it became apparent that Mr. Bennett also falsely presented himself as licensed and insured to conduct these services, and misdiagnosed Ms. Hill's trees in order to spray them and gain entry to cut other trees. The Department of Agriculture has instigated an investigation regarding Mr. Bennett's licensing as a Certified Pesticide Applicator, per request of Ms. Hall on behalf of Ms. Hill. Board members agreed this is a case of "Buyer Beware". Still, even though the property owner gave permission for the services to be performed, the City has the responsibility to research such cases so that we can make others aware of such unscrupulous business practices. Additionally, we need to stay on top of businesses operating from within the bounds of the City without the appropriate business tax receipts. Ms. Hall noted that she would begin submitting short informational pieces, warning residents to be wary and check the credentials of such street peddlers, to the monthly newsletter. Other venues of communication will also be explored. d. All Pro Tree Service Chair Shaughnessy reported to Ms. Hall via email that she had determined that the probable culprit in the 1680 Jordan Street tree cutting is All Pro Tree Service, located at 11001 Saint Augustine Road, Apartment 1208, Jacksonville, FL 32257. The listed phone number for this establishment is 703-9927, which is the same as the number that member Jim McCue obtained from the bicycle solicitor. Ms. Hall reported that she had checked the Department of State/Division of Corporations and that no such corporation or no such fictitious name is registered. She stated she would check with the City of Jax to determine if there is a current tax receipt, but Page 7 of 8 Minutes of March 14, 2007, Tree Conservation Board beyond that, warning residents to be wary of whom they hire is the only recourse that currently exists. On a related note, Ms. Hall stated that City Hall had received several calls that day (March 14) from residents in Selva Linkside regarding "illegal" tree-cutters who had been blocking roads with downed trees. Residents expressed concern over the cutters being impaired by alcohol and drugs, and one caller asked if they might be sexual predators. At one point the City of Atlantic Beach Police Department was dispatched to the site, where officers spoke with the workers and then left. 7. Adjournment A motion was made by Board Member Stephanie Catania to adjourn the meeting at 8:40 pm. Board Member Carole Varney seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. mkt, ~ ~ ~ a`Z c~D '7 Chair Date Page 8 of 8