12-10-13 Street Tree MinutesKALISPELL STREET TREE COMMISSION
MEETING HELD DECEMBER 10, 2013
Present: Members: Bette Albright, David Jones, Rebecca Bodnar and Lance Isaak
Staff. Lisa Simmer and Chad Fincher
Absent: Andrea Davidson, Brock Anderson
The meeting was officially called to order at 4:02 pm by Bette Albright.
Agenda Topics:
Ordinance Update
Daily Interlake article
Miscellaneous
Old Business
There were no omissions or corrections to the November minutes. All members voted in favor
of accepting the November minutes.
Ordinance Update
Lisa informed the group that the draft ordinance and their cover memo were delivered to the city
attorney for review. The group questioned the time line this review would take and it was
explained that this could not be determined as it is not the most pressing matter or priority task
on the city attorney's desk. Staff stated they will keep in contact with the city attorney's office
and keep the tree committee updated on the progress. Staff stated they anticipate it will be closer
to spring before the city attorney responds. It was noted by staff and members that it is not
anticipated that the city attorney will make a lot of changes, and recodification and renumbering
will happen in the attorney review process.
Daily Interlake Tree Article
Bette submitted the Urban Forestry article, written by member Andrea Davis, which ran in the
Daily Interlake on November 30th. Bette said she sent a thank you note to the Daily Interlake
article. Lisa noted that she is using this article as part of the criteria for the growth award.
Rebecca stated that she did receive calls from several people who knew she is on the tree
commission and one person forwarded to her a document ISA "water management and trees",
which she submitted to the group for their review. Rebecca stated that this person felt that some
of the information in the newspaper article goes against the recommendation in the ISA water
management and trees article and the citizen felt this could result in trees being overwatered.
Rebecca informed the concerned citizen she would bring their concerns before the board.
Discussion was held regarding the concerns of the citizen, and watering of trees. David did note
that this article was reviewed by Jamie Kirby, DNRC State Forester, she did make corrections
and suggestions and the newspaper article did state watering "as needed" and if you have
questions to call Kalispell Parks and Recreation. Chad noted that in all his years of looking at
trees, he's yet to see a tree that has been overwatered, however have seen countless newly
planted trees not receiving water. Chad noted that the forwarded ISA standards did show two
different soil types, neither of which are soil types that staff are encountering in routine Kalispell
plantings. The group determined that citizen concerns and input is to be expected, and that
members did their due diligence in having it reviewed by Jamie Kirby. Rebecca stated she had
assured the caller the article was reviewed by a forester before submittal. It was also noted that
in the future, the Daily Interlake may not run a full article as submitted due to space constraints.
It was agreed that a disclaimer may be needed informing citizens that many factors could affect
their tree and the type of care that is needed. The group agreed to continue with quarterly article
submittals and the next submittal would be on January's agenda to discuss.
Miscellaneous Business
Miscellaneous
The group acknowledged the article in the Daily Interlake about member Lance Issak, noting it
was a very good article and all were pleased with it.
David Jones introduced the topic of the group working on a Kalispell Urban Forest Management
Plan. David passed around examples of master plans from other cities. David also presented a
copy of an online Urban Forest Management Plan toolkit, which is a website that can be used by
anyone in creating a management plan. The members discussed and acknowledged the many
reasons why it is important to have a management plan in place. The group discussed exploring
and possibly tackling this project in upcoming year. The general consensus by members and
staff is that the group could at least accomplish a draft, possibly a complete document. Lisa said
she would put in on the January agenda for additional discussion.
Chad gave a brief report on the TreeWorks inventory in response to member's inquiries. Chad
explained that DNRC provided intern John Driessen, recently added most of the parks trees and
at this time he feels that we have 90% of the public trees in the inventory. Chad noted that the
crew and staff continually update the inventory; however he would like to see a complete update
in the next few years. Chad stated it's just nice to update for conditions, sizes, etc.
Lisa informed the group that she is finishing up the Tree City USA recertification, annual
Growth Award and the Arbor Day Grant ($750) and will hopefully have them submitted by the
end of the week, in advance of the December 31s', 2013 deadline.
The next meeting was scheduled for January 14th, 2014, at 4 pm.
The meeting adjourned at 4:34 pm.
Approved by the Street Tree Committee, January 14, 2014