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CALL TO ORDER At 7:00 PM by Chair Shaughnessy
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT Stephanie Catania, ]im McCue, and Maureen Shaughnessy
BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT Carole Varney, Brea Paul
MEETING FACILITATOR Erika Hall, Staff Planner/TPO Administrator
RECORDING SECRETARY (vacant)
VISITORS R GUESTS None
APPROVAL OF MINUTES October 24th, 2007 Regular Meeting
MOTION/SECOND Tim McCue /Stephanie Catania
DlscussloN None
vorE Unanimous
NEW BUSINESS
TREE REMOVAL PERMITS
R
i
PROPERTY __
620 Beach Avenue (Barker Residence /Chris Lambertson, Elite Homes) t
Chris Lambertson, General Contractor/Elite Homes, appeared before the board to
request the removal of two Cherry Laurels, one (1) 6" and one (1) 11", previously
shown and incorrectly labeled on the original tree survey as Oaks. Mr.
Lambertson stated that canopy and proximity to the property line/existing fence
had affected the growth & development of these trees and that they were
misshapen and scraggly. Mr. Lambertson noted that, as discussed at previous
meetings with the Tree Board, extensive landscaping will be installed and all
minimum tree and mitigation requirements will be met onsite.
Additionally, Mr. Lambertson stated that a fence is currently being designed for
DISCUSSION the property. In particular, he hopes to install a brick pillar fence along Ocean
that is architecturally detailed (stepped/inset) so as to accommodate existing
Palms. However, Mr. Lambertson said that there is the possibility that one or two
of the Palms will still have to be relocated in order for the fence to be properly
aligned, but this cannot be determined until the actual masonry work is in
progress. Thus, Mr. Lambertson requested that he be given permission to
relocate said trees, should the need arise, without delaying work and coming
before the Tree Board again. Board members agreed that this was permissible as
long as Mr. Lambertson provided Ms. Hall with a copy of the Landscape Plan
,
showing the location of the proposed fence and the potentially affected trees, and
so long as Mr. Lambertson maintained contact with Ms. Hall throughout the
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?bfinufes o f f/ie Nouemf er tt~, 2007 ~u~ar ?4leefin9 o f f/ie ?'ree Conservafion Board
process, notifying her should trees have to be relocated. Given the size and
maturity of the trees, Mr. Lambertson wished to alert the Tree Board to the fact
that the trees might not survive relocation, but that he was pledging to mitigate
for those trees should they have to be relocated and not survive. The Board
thanked Mr. Lambertson for appearing and discussing the progress of the project
,
and for being thoughtfully roactive in protection of the Palms.
Jim McCue /Stephanie Catania: A motion was made to direct staff to issue a
MOTION/SECOND tree removal permit for the removal of the following trees from the rear exterior
zone: one (1) 11"and one (1) 6" Cherry Laurel, with no mitigation required.
VOTE Unanimous
ACTION ITEMS PERSON RESPONSIBLE DEADLINE
Issue tree removal permit to applicant, per direction of Erika Hall 11/15/2007
board's motion. Stay in communication with Mr.
Lambertson regarding the installation of the brick fence
in proximity to the Palms along Ocean.
NEW BUSINESS TREE REMOVAL PERMITS
PROPERTY 562 Nautical Boulevard (Cerrat0 Residence)
There was no representative for the application present. Ms. Hall informed the
Board that she had met with the property owner, who was requesting the removal
,
of one (1) 21" Pine in the rear exterior zone. The applicant had told Ms. Hall that
the tree was a hazard and that it was also being removed to accommodate the
installation of a swimming pool at the residence. She pointed out that the
DISCUSSION applicant had noted the two other existing trees on the submitted survey, being
an 11" Cabbage Palm and an 8" Crepe Myrtle. Ms. Shaughnessy noted that Palms
could only be used to mitigate for Palms. Ms. Hall stated that she had informed
the applicant of minimum tree requirements on residential lots, and that mitigation
specifications might require the planting of an additional tree(s) to meet mitigation
and minimum tree requirements.
Stephanie Catania /Jim McCue: A motion was made to direct staff to issue a
MOTION/SECOND permit for the removal of one (1) 21" Pine from the rear exterior zone, to be
mitigated with 10.5" of Pine and/or Hardwoods. (Mitigation with Palms is only
acceptable as replacement for existing Palms).
vorE Unanimous
ACTION ITEMS PERSON RESPONSIBLE DEADLINE
Issue tree removal permit to applicant, per direction of Erika Hall 11/15/2007
board's motion.
REPORTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS INFORMATION PROVIDED BY MS. HALL
EVENT Community Clinic (Tentative)
Date: Ms. Hall reminded Board Members that they had ori
inall
re
ue
t
d th
t
DISCUSSION g
y
q
s
e
a
an event be scheduled for either January or early February so that the community
could be educated on proper planting and pruning methods. Ms. Hall stated that
over the last month, dates were narrowed to either January 12tt' or January 26cn
because January 19"' is a three-day holiday weekend and many residents might
be out of town. She said that, upon conferral with Public Works Director Rick
Carper, she had decided upon January 12tH because it precedes Florida Arbor Day
Page 2 of5
?btinufes o{f6ie November ~t~, 20o7'~u~ar ?4teetin~ of ftie ?ree Conservation Boart~
on Friday, January 18~'. This would be a good opportunity to tie in and promote
the City's Adopt-a-Tree Program.
Schedule: Ms. Hall stated that, as previously discussed with the Board, she had
originally intended there to be a slate of "classes" that would address a range of
topics, from regulatory aspects of development to choosing the right tree to
xeriscaping. However, Ms. Hall, who has been doing all of the planning and
coordinating of this event, has not been able to secure a landscape architect or
designer nor has she received affirmation from any of the Master Gardeners as to
their ability to participate. Additionally, some of the Tree Board members have
indicated that they would not be available. Thus, the schedule has been whittled
to two (2) sessions, with the first being a presentation by Ms. Hall (confirmed)
and Mr. Carper (confirmed), and covering matters such as land development
regulations and stormwater drainage requirements, as well as the tree protection
ordinance and permitting process. It is Ms. Hall's intention to supplement this
discussion with handouts from the Duval County Extension Agency, the University
of Florida Department of Environmental Horticulture, and the St. Johns River
Water Management District, along with other agencies and/or organizations as
deemed pertinent. The second session will include demonstrations of proper tree
selection, planting, pruning and pest abatement, accompanied by Q & A for
Certified Arborist Early Piety (confirmed, pending fee/approval by City Manager)
and City Beautification Chief Alex Hawkins (tentative). Additionally, Mr. Hawkins
(or designee) will be prepared to sign attendees up to participate in the City's
Adopt-a-Tree program.
Flyer: Ms. Hall showed the Board Members two versions of the flyer that she had
designed for the event, the first showing the full slate of topics, and the second
showing the revised schedule of two sessions. Ms. Hall noted that the final flyer
would not appear as such however, because she had been informed that there is
no fund to cover the costs of printing and/or other administrative costs related to
the Tree Board. Ms. Hall stated that Mr. Johnson's assistant Karen Kempf
recommended printing black & white on colored paper. However, that still leaves
the question of how to pay for colored paper and ink/printing.
General/Administrative: When the idea of this event first surfaced, Ms. Hall
stated that she was directed by City Manager Jim Hanson to work with Recreation
Director /Events Coordinator Timmy Johnson to put this event together. She
anticipated that she would supply the information to that department, and that
schedules, confirmations and marketing materials would be handled there.
However, that has not been the case. Ms. Hall said that it has been up to her to
develop the schedule, continuously coordinate with tentative participants, design
a flyer, and obtain handout materials and finally, once all was "set", try to figure
out how to pay for it. Ms. Shaughnessy asked couldn`t money be used from the
Tree Fund since this is a community education event. Ms. Hall stated that,
according to the Tree Protection Ordinance, those monies could only be spent on
"public tree planting projects". Further, Ms. Hall stated that she has no
involvement with the Tree Fund. When Ms. Hall arrived -and took the Planner's
position and subsequently TB Administrator's position - in February, the Tree
Fund was administered by Parks and Rec (Mr. Johnson) which housed the City
Beautification program at that time. At the beginning of the new fiscal year,
however, City Beautification was moved to Public Works (Mr. Carper).
Additionally, Ms. Hall noted that she had been questioned by Finance as to the
lack of activity in the Tree Fund over the last two (?) years. Ms. Hall stated that
she informed the Finance Department that a) she had never had involvement with
the Tree Fund, but b) she surmised that the lack of activity was due to the fact
that most people plant new trees or designated existing trees in lieu of paving
--~~..
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Pa9e3 of5
7Kinutes of ttie November tt~, 2ooy `RC~u~ar 7Neefin9 o f Effie free Conservation Board
mitigation monies. Mr. McCue asked could Ms. Hall not request that a small
amount of money be released from Tree Funds for administrative costs of this
event. Ms. Hall told the Board that she was told that there was ve
little m
ry
oney
left in the account. Ms. Shaughnessy stated that at last report (during Don Ford's
tenure) there was Hearty $40,000.00 in the account -what had happened to it?
Ms. Hall told the board that she did not know -that she is not privy to such
information -and since she arrived all of her administrative expenses for Tree
Board have either come from the Department of Community Development /
Planning & Zoning budget or directly from her own pocket. However, Ms. Hall
stated that she is unable to sustain this support and she will no longer pay for
tree board materials or supplies out of her own pocket. Mr. McCue asked if Ms.
Hall could find out what Tree Fund expenditures had been approved over the last
couple of years. Ms. Hall stated that she could make the request. Additionally
,
Ms. Hall stated that she was still waiting for response from Early Piety regarding
his fee for participation in the January event. She said that she had been told
that Mr. Piety has participated pro bono in the past, but Mr. Carper informed her
that Mr. Hanson said that he (City Manager) would have to approve the
expenditure. In conclusion, Ms. Hall stated that the entire event is tentative at
best. Furthermore, Tree Board members should anticipate receiving all of their
materials (applications for review, reference materials, etc) electronically from
now on. This will cut down dramatically not only on the cost of co
ies and
p
postage, but also on the amount of time Ms. Hall puts into making copies and
assembling packets each month.
ACTION ITEMS PERSON RESPONSIBLE DEADLINE
Request information from Finance Department on Tree
Fund expenditures over the past two years. Erika Hall , 12/12/2007
REPORTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS INFORMATION PROVIDED BY MS. HALL
EVENT Adopt-a-Tree Program
Ms. Hall stated that she had provided information from last meeting's discussion
DISCUSSION regarding revisions to the Adopt-a-Tree Program to Mr. Carper. She said that he still
would like input as to where (geographically) the City should concentrate planting
efforts for the upcoming tree.
ACTION ITEMS PERSON RESPONSIBLE DEADLINE
Provide list of recommended geographic areas for public Maureen Shaughnessy ASAP
tree planting to Erika Hall and/or Rick Carper.
REPORTS $ ANNOUNCEMENTS INFORMATION PROVIDED BY MS. HALL
CALENDAR Tentative Calendar for Regular Meetings in 2008;
Regular Meetings in November & December 2007
Ms. Hall passed out a tentative schedule of board & commis
i
ti
f
s
on mee
ngs
or
calendar year 2008, and asked board members to review the scheduled dates for
regular Tree Board meetings. It was agreed that the meeting scheduled for
December 24, 2008 would be cancelled. This is a holiday for City employees and
DISCUSSION it is anticipated that many people will either be out of town or entertainin
uests
g g
and family members.
Ms. Catania asked if the next regular meeting (November 28, 2007) had been
cancelled. Ms. Hall said that it had not yet, but through conversations with a
couple of individual board members over the past few weeks, she did not foresee
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