September 25, 2007

Members present: Bill Ruppert, Jenny O’Toole, Susan Renard, Paul Loida, and Judy Wickersham. Roger Vonder Bruegge was excused.

Guests were Jay Turner, Sharon Miller, Gwen Wahlmann, and Craig Conway.

I. The meeting was called to order at 7:05 pm.

II. Citizen Comments: Jay Turner of Custom Tree Company spoke. This company does utility line clearance work for Kirkwood Electric. He is concerned about the Bradford Pears in the 400 block of Washington. “Either we trim the whole tree below the power line or we open up a hole through the middle,” he said. Either way it will not look good and he doesn’t want to ruin anything. He said he would like to take these trees down and replant. Judy Wickersham asked who would pay for replanting, and Jay Turner said he would for the trees in question. Bill Ruppert said there must be a resource for this, and Susan Renard said Ameren donated money to the city of Clayton to plant trees to compensate for all the Bradford Pears they had to take down along Big Bend.

III. Secretary Report: Judy Wickersham. The minutes from August 28 were approved with corrections.

IV. Chair Report: Bill Ruppert - tabled

V. Council Liaison Report: Councilman Joe Godi – absent.

VI. Community Department Guest: Mark Petty, Kirkwood Electric Company

A.     Bill Ruppert introduced Mark Petty and reaffirmed this commission’s desire to work with him. He said we have long made an effort to get people to avoid planting trees under power lines as evidenced by the “Recommended Street Trees” booklet we put together. He said he thought it would be great if Kirkwood Electric sponsored the printing of this booklet.

B.     Bill Ruppert explained the technical difference between “trimming” and “pruning.” Trimming is a term used to cut back bushes, and pruning is the term used for trees.

C.     Mark Petty said that Kirkwood Electric was in the process of upgrading power lines to a much higher voltage, and to do that they will need more clearance. “We’ve got a reliability problem,” he said. “Outages are increasing significantly. Last year there were five major outages.” He said they are going to have to get back to the proper clearances. We need to make people understand what they’re going to see as a result.

D.     Bill Ruppert asked if there would be any consolidation of lines. Some streets have lines on both sides of the street. Mark Petty said it was hard for him to answer that right now. Bill Ruppert asked what area is under an engineering study right now, and Mark Petty said the northeast quadrant. They will move around the city in a counter-clockwise fashion.

E.      Bill Ruppert asked if there is any kind of policy about removing a tree. When do we prune and when do we remove public trees? Mark Petty said they don’t have a hard and fast policy. This is something we’ve got to start working on. What they try to do is compromise. Topping off trees is not really the answer. Bill Ruppert said we are in the midst of drafting a tree ordinance. We need to have something mentioned in “Eye on Kirkwood” to let the public know. He asked Mark Petty if he could come up with some guidelines from his industry, and Mark Petty said yes. However, he pointed out that Kirkwood Electric does not have funds budgeted for replanting. Bill Ruppert asked where that discussion begins. Mark Petty said it begins with the rates. We don’t have the revenue coming in. Susan Renard asked about the money developers have to pay to cut down trees. Bill Ruppert said this practice has just started, and it is something we have to track.

F.      Mark Petty asked if we can create a map when we do the annual tree survey showing overlays for power lines. June Hutson said we’ve never had access to that information, but one of the symbols we use in the survey indicates wires overhead. A hazardous tree pertained more to the tree’s condition, not necessarily whether it is interfering with power lines. Mark Petty said he would like to see how we can merge data. He said we have some opportunities here. Paul Loida asked if having GPS coordinates would make it easier, and Mark Petty said yes. June Hutson said we need to streamline the whole process of taking a street tree inventory. We shouldn’t expect volunteers to give us so much information. Bill Ruppert said Kirkwood depends heavily on its volunteers. He said we have a lot of catching up to do on our inventory due to all the trees that have been removed in all the storms.

G.     Bill Ruppert asked Mark Petty what is the policy on communicating to adjacent homeowners when a tree removal is scheduled. Mark Petty said they knock on doors and hang door hangers. June Hutson asked if they notify homeowners if they are going to prune a tree on an easement, and Mark Petty said no. He said he welcomes any suggestions about keeping the public informed.

H.     Craig Conway asked why increased voltage requires 6-8 feet of clearance. Mark Petty said the higher the voltage, the greater the clearance needed. He said there is a difference between what we’re doing here and what other cities do.

I.        Bill Ruppert said this city has erred in terms of tree retention. He also thinks the “Tree Trimming” brochure should be posted on the city’s website.

VII. Activity Reports

A.     Planning & Zoning: Roger Vonder Bruegge

Bill Ruppert said Roger Vonder Bruegge told him that the P & Z subcommittee on infill housing met with the city council September 13, but only two people had anything to say about trees.

B.     Jr. Treekeepers: Paul Loida

1.      Smoky the Bear was a success on the float for Greentree Festival. Bill Ruppert hopes that next year we can find a way to incorporate the Tree City USA banner on the float.

2.      This year there are between 120 and 130 kids participating in the Jr. Treekeepers program at Tillman and St. Peter’s. Robinson is not participating, and we don’t know yet about North Glendale. Judy Wickersham suggested exploring other places like summer camps and latch key programs to offer the Jr. Treekeepers program.

3.      There is $1250 in their account. Bill Ruppert asked Michael Brown for some assistance in purchasing materials for the program, and Michael Brown asked for a list of what we need. Paul Loida said that because we don’t know yet if North Glendale will be participating, we haven’t been able to finalize the list.

C.     Education & Outreach: Jenny O’Toole.

No programs have been set up yet.

D.    Kirkwood Tree Survey: Susan Renard.

June Hutson said we need to standardize the inventory.

E.     Greentree Festival: June Hutson

June Hutson said sharing a booth with other commission and council members did not attract many people. The best part was getting to know other people on boards. Bill Ruppert said he talked to Murray Pounds about locating the booth next year at the intersection of the sidewalks closer to the information booth.

F.      Tree City USA/Growth Award Submittals: Judy Wickersham

No activity yet. Applications are mailed in October.

G.    KUFC Annual Report: Judy Wickersham

Judy Wickersham asked if the report is due October 31 or January 1 as there are different dates cited in past documents.

H.    Kirkwood Tree Code/Tree Manual: Bill Ruppert

There will be a 7 am Council work session on October 11. Forty minutes are allotted to discuss the ordinance draft. Bill Ruppert said he received an email from Alan Hopfl reporting a Park Board meeting. Apparently there is a misunderstanding about the proposed tree ordinance. Bill Ruppert said he is going to attend the work session to make sure everybody has a copy of the proposed tree code. There is nothing more we can do at this point.

VIII. Commission Items

A.     Bill Ruppert received a call from the property owner at 435 Gill Ave. who had requested permission to remove two street trees. The owner received a letter from the Director of Public Works, Ken Yost, stating that the recommendation from KUFC, which was accepted by him, is that the property owner should have a certified arborist evaluate the honey locust tree to establish its value and payment made to the City for that amount. The City Street Division would evaluate the White Pine tree and take appropriate action.

B.     The America in Bloom awards event is September 27-29. After that, the AIB committee will put the final chapter in the book they will be selling.

C.     Bill Ruppert said he would like to invite Murray Pounds, Director of Parks, to our next meeting.

IX. Old Business

            Nothing reported.

X. New Business

Bill Ruppert reported that we didn’t do our tree planting at the Greentree Festival this year. Furthermore, he identified three trees we planted in previous years and they are all dead. Maybe the park is not the right place to plant our trees. The Arbor Day tree planting has raised a much bigger issue.

XI. Next Meeting: Tuesday, October 23, 2007, 7 pm

XII. Adjourn: the meeting was adjourned at 9:30 pm.

The City is interested in effective communication for all people. Upon request, these minutes can be made available in an alternate format, such as audio tape, by calling 314-822-5894.