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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - Natural Resources & Conservation Committee - 03/02/2022 South Burlington Natural Resources & Conservation Committee 575 Dorset Street South Burlington, VT 05403 (802) 846-4106 www.sburl.com Natural Resources & Conservation Committee Meeting Wednesday, March 2, 2022 at 6:00 PM Virtual meeting only Interactive Online Meeting (audio & video): https://meet.goto.com/877966317 By telephone (audio only): 1-408-650-3123; Access Code: 877-966-317 In all cases, you will have the opportunity to both listen AND speak. AGENDA 1. Welcome & Review of Virtual Meeting Protocol (6:00) 2. Additions, Deletions or Changes in order of Agenda Items (6:05) 3. Comments from the Public not related to the agenda (6:10) 4. Adoption of minutes (6:15) 5. Discussion: Pesticide use in the city. (6:20) 6. Public participation strategy for the Open Space Plan (6:40). 7. Discuss City’s Tree ordinance and Emerald Ash Borer Plan (7:00) 8. South Burlington Land Trust update (John) (7:20) 9. Members & Staff Reports (7:30) a. Chair- none b. Staff Report c. Work Group/Member Reports: i. Open space workgroup ii. Drew’s tracking 10. Discuss Future Agenda Items (7:55) 11. Confirm Next Mtg Date: 04/06/2022, 6 PM (1st Wed. of month) 12. Adjourn (8:00 pm) NATURAL RESOURCES & CONSERVATION COMMITTEE February 02, 2022 6pm Attending: Ashley Parker, Jean Sebastien-Chaulot (Chr), Larry Kupferman (Vice Chr), Katherine Boyk, Drew Shatzer, Bill Wargo & Lisa Yankowski Missing: John Bossange & David Crawford Public attendees: Sarah Brutzman, Roseanne Greco & Linda Bailey 1) This meeting was conducted virtually. 2) Additions/Deletions a. Drew wanted discuss tracking. Will be presented under the members’ & staff reports. 3) Comments from the public. a. Sarah Brutzman wanted to bring our attention to some redevelopment proposed at the Davis Studios, the corner of Lindenwood Dr & Shelburne Rd. They are trying to get the property rezoned from residential to commercial. Create more impervious parking lot surface for a proposed day care facility. Her concern is centered around the water table being affected because of trees that appear to be slated for removal. The trees currently help provide a buffer between the Davis property and the properties that back up to it on Brewer Parkway. Sarah feels blind-sided and wonders how the company can apply to completely change from an educational center restaurant to a day care. Try to get the property rezoned and not have to notify the abutting property owner. She has not found the city very careful trying to get questions answered. b. The NRCC was not aware of this project. There are trees that have been taped. This could be to save or remove them- we do not know. What LDRs is the site subject to? We need to get more information on this project. Roseanne added that she feels we need to propose a tree ordinance to protect trees that can help mitigate climate issues from being indiscriminately removed by developers. 4) Minute adoption: Larry moved to adopt, Bill 2nd. Minutes for 01/05022 unanimously adopted. 5) Topsoil conservation. a. Jean had broached this subject – how do we protect construction sites from soil eroding into streams and rivers. Do we have an regulations controlling potential damage? Ashley wasn’t sure if South Burlington did or not. Hay bales and plastic have been used at some sites. We need to check on this, possibly with: the stormwater department or construction companies like ECI, SD Ireland. 6) NRCC comments regarding the City Council public hearing on the prosed LDR changes held January 3. Lisa ascertained the council received Jean’s email with our thoughts, and support to the possible changes. The largest land owners and the developers were complaining and feeling they were being threatened. They feel they will not be able to develop land they control or own. Jeff Davis’ group and the Hill Farm they want to build over 20 commercial buildings- no tenants but they really need to develop these buildings on agricultural land. a. A new thought around how to better protect habitat blocks from encroachment approval. Any land being proposed for development needs to be evaluated by a non- biased party. It takes more than a few hours to evaluate wildlife movement. Wildlife cameras could provide more information. Thorough site visits should be required. i. Larry is going to check with Paul and Marla, on the technicalities behind the current regulations. Is our proposal something that could be added? What would be involved to do so? Who would have to pay? ii. Roseanne thought this was a great idea and that asking the neighbors & adjacent landowner is another source of information. (The group opposing the Dorset Meadows proposed development used these methods.) 7) Land Trust Update a. John is not attendance so there is no update. 8) Land acknowledgement discussion & possible recommendation. Ref memo from Ashley with notes from Chief Stevens to Jens Hilke. a. According to City Manager, Jessie Baker- we can recommend, not recommend or lead a public discussion on the subject. Our decision. Katherine asked if we can decide to add this to our Open Space Plan or do we need an, “OK?” Larry would like to introduce this topic in our open space plan. Ashley thinks we should invite the public to comment on this this subject. Larry wants to get either public input or input from other city committees before we have our draft plan. 9) Ash Borer Mitigation a. Burlington is planting new trees before they remove them. Treating is too expensive with the number of trees that were planted. Drew feels there a better way of handling the situation and will talk to Craig Lambert, SB City Arborist, to check on the city’s tree ordinance. Roseanne asserts many trees in the city are privately owned. To preserve them you would need to be able to prohibit land owners from indiscriminately removing trees. Trees help relieve issues with the climate, flooding and soil erosion. b. Drew feels we need to work on making sure the tree ordinance protects trees. Not just city owned trees. Tighten up the ordinance. Ashley will check on what is involved with getting changes made to an ordinance. We may need to have a work group to work with Craig and ask the Climate Action Task Force to help. i. SB Tree Ordinance Tree_Ordinance_1-3-2017.pdf (revize.com) 10) Members & Staff Reports a. Chair- none b. Reference Ashley’s report. NRCC and Rec & Parks will be invited to a joint meeting to review updated park management plans. The Red Rocks review is done. Wheeler work is set to begin 4/28 between US Fish & Wildlife and Audubon VT, (see the additional information and map from Ashley included with the information for this meeting.) Jens Hilke- VT Fish & Wildlife, may have some extra wildlife cameras we may be able to borrow. i. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN THE VT MASTER NATURALIST PROGRAM- reach out NOW! It is filling up. 11) Lisa moved to adjourn, Larry 2nd , adjourned 8:15pm Our next meeting is……… Wednesday March 2, 2022 at 6pm. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS - Holidays are over, everyone is back the work group needs to get together to continue work on the Open Space Plan. Larry will reserve space. - Roseanne thinks we should into pesticide use around the city. Lisa has history with this subject as a member of the Voice for Potash Brook Watershed. - Discuss tree ordinance and what information we have. - Draft LDR’s – where is this at? - Drew has been tracking. - Discuss possibility of a public/other SB committee meeting to get other thoughts, ideas and considerations on the Open Space Plan LDR Proposed changes public meeting February 7 Town Meeting Day is March 1 Some NRCC committee members need to get renewal applications in. MEMO To: Jessie Baker, City Manager From: Justin Rabidoux, Director of Public Works Date: August 26, 2021 Re: South Burlington Emerald Ash Borer Management Plan SUMMARY Emerald ash borer (EAB), is an exotic beetle that was discovered in southeastern Michigan in 2002. The adult beetles nibble on ash foliage but cause little damage. The larvae feed on the inner bark of ash trees, disrupting the tree's ability to transport water and nutrients. EAB probably arrived in the US on solid wood packing material carried in cargo ships or airplanes originating in its native Asia. As of 2018, it is found in 32 states, and the Canadian provinces of Ontario, Quebec, and Manitoba. Since its discovery, EAB has: 1. Killed hundreds of millions of ash trees in North America. 2. Caused regulatory agencies and the USDA to enforce quarantines and fines to prevent potentially infested ash trees, logs or hardwood firewood from moving out of areas where EAB occurs. 3. Cost municipalities, property owners, nursery operators and forest products industries hundreds of millions of dollars. 4. Once infested, ash trees rapidly decline and are killed in 3-5 years. BACKGROUND In May 2018, EAB was on the verge of entering Chittenden County prompting Public Works staff to give City Council a presentation on EAB (see attached). Later that year during the FY’20 budget process an Emerald Ash Borer project was added to the CIP (see attached CIP project sheet) showing $1.2M in expenses spread across seven years. The project was described as: DESCRIPTION: The City owns 770 ash trees and with the coming spread of EAB disease, we need to 1) remove the trees before they become infected and 2) replant the following year with a TBD species. JUSTIFICATION: To avoid the loss of 770 city street trees to disease, we are proactively removing them and then replanting. The project was also included in the FY’21 and FY’22 budgets and has about five years left. At the beginning of this project the City owned 775 ash street trees, primarily located in the following neighborhoods: 1. Village at Dorset Park 2. Dorset Farms 3. Nowland Farm and a few streets east and west of the golf course 4. Deerfield To date we have removed 141 ash trees, replanted 65, and we have 64 under contract to be planted this fall/next spring. We still have 634 remaining ash street trees in the city. Public Works staff has removed a few dozen of the trees and the rest have been contracted out. Our average price per tree for removal, stump grinding and tree replanting is $900. Our initial CIP estimate was $1,500/tree, so we are hopeful we will spend significantly less than the $1.2M overall budgeted. When planting new trees to replace a removed ash, the City has been selecting trees from a list, which continues to evolve annually based on availability, pricing and our goal of establishing a diverse inventory of new street trees. 1. River Birch 2. Baumanii Horsechestnut (fruitless) 3. Ginkgo ‘Presidential Gold’, ‘Halka’, ‘Magyar’ 4. Honeylocust 5. Amur maackia (small tree 25 ft) 6. London Planetree ‘Exclamation’, ‘Bloodgood’ 7. Swamp White Oak 8. Red Oak 9. Kentucky Coffee Tree ‘Espresso’(seedless) 10. Accolade Elm 11. Regal Elm 12. Shingle Oak 13. Freeman Maple ‘Sienna Glenn’ or ‘Celebration’ There are other management options for dealing with EAB, including treating the trees with an insecticide instead of removing them. From the City of Montpelier’s EAB Management Plan (attached): Treatment of the ash trees does not guarantee long-term survival of those trees because once treatment starts it cannot end without the tree succumbing to EAB. At a minimum, treatment provides time for the City and homeowners to plant replacement trees and for those trees to develop and contribute to the cityscape. Insecticide treatment would need to continue annually or biennially for the remainder of a tree’s life. The treatment cost for this insecticide is $12/inch of tree diameter. For our remaining 634 ash trees that have an average diameter of 12”, our annual cost, assuming we could treat them biennially, for the treatment is in the $50,000 range (634/2 * $12/inch of diameter * 12” diameter). Based on the above, staff’s initial recommendation and eventual CIP project was to proactively remove our street ash trees as soon as possible along with interplanting new trees. An additional consideration is the ~600 acres of forested and conserved land the City owns that undoubtably contains hundreds of ashes. We have no intention of doing any removal of ashes in these areas. The City welcomes any group into these areas with the goals of improving public access to the land and its forests, increasing educational opportunities or any other purpose. RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends the City Council allow Public Works to continue the EAB capital project as originally approved, specifically to proactively remove our street ash trees and replace them with new trees. List of attachments 1. May 2018 EAB Presentation to City Council 2. FY’20 EAB CIP page 3. City of Montpelier EAB Management Plan (with pertinent sections highlighted) South Burlington City Council Meeting –May 21, 2018 Presentation by: -Adam Cate, Deputy Director Operations -Craig Lambert, City Arborist -Justin Rabidoux, Director What is Emerald Ash Borer Emerald ash borer (EAB), is an exotic beetle that was discovered in southeastern Michigan in 2002. The adult beetles nibble on ash foliage but cause little damage. The larvae feed on the inner bark of ash trees, disrupting the tree's ability to transport water and nutrients. EAB probably arrived in the US on solid wood packing material carried in cargo ships or airplanes originating in its native Asia. As of February 2018, it is now found in 32 states, and the Canadian provinces of Ontario, Quebec, and Manitoba. Since its discovery, EAB has: 1. Killed hundreds of millions of ash trees in North America. 2. Caused regulatory agencies and the USDA to enforce quarantines and fines to prevent potentially infested ash trees, logs or hardwood firewood from moving out of areas where EAB occurs. 3. Cost municipalities, property owners, nursery operators and forest products industries hundreds of millions of dollars. State of Vermont Actions Slow the Spread -EAB’s most common and damaging mode of transportation is by hitching a ride on firewood into a new area. To slow the spread, Vermont is recommending that no ash firewood that has not been heat treated be transported out of the known infested area. Ash firewood may be transported within the infested area. Quarantine of Invasive Emerald Ash Borer -Vermont has joined the US Dept of Agriculture’s 31-state quarantine boundary. The quarantine will help reduce the movement of infested ash wood to un-infested regions outside of Vermont’s borders. Ash wood may not be moved from Vermont to Maine, Rhode Island, or 5 counties in New Hampshire because the pest has not been identified in these states and counties. Vermont will be directing available resources to protect state forest health by providing Vermonters with low-risk options for use and disposal of wood that is already infested. Swift Street Extension SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS Woodpeckers feed on the larvae, damaging the bark South Burlington: 760 Ash trees in ROW-Replacement cost $450,000 80% of our ash trees are in the highlighted three neighborhoods MANAGEMENT OPTIONS Interplantng –already underway in SB; establishes a canopy to replace the ashes to be removed Proactive Removal TREATMENT OPTIONS Direct Injection Soil Injection Treatment occurs prior to a tree becoming infested. It involves the injection of pesticides into/around the tree. It is seen as a way to prolong the life of an ash if/when it becomes infested while replacement trees are planted/funds raised. This is to be viewed as a temporary option only and will not stop the eventual death of an ash once it’s infested. Next Steps Continue to monitor the spread of the disease in Vermont Work with City management during upcoming budget talks to establish revenues necessary to deal with the eventual arrival of EAB Continue to interplant Evaluate the pros/cons of treatment Continue community outreach and education Start the proactive removals of selected areas with City staff. If removal is not done incrementally over the coming years we will be forced to contract with landscaping companies at a large expense if we are suddenly hit with EAB. OVERVIEW OF GENERAL FUNDCAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM EXPENDITURES TOTALED BY EXPENDITURE COSTS AND FUNDING SOURCEPROJECT:Removal of infected ash trees0DEPARTMENT/STAFF CONTACT:FINANCIALS  (in $1,000)FY 20FY 21FY 22FY 23FY 24FY 25FY 26FY 27FY 28FY 29Total:Estimated Costs:Studies, Design, Engineering, Inspection, GC, Legal‐            Land/ROW/Easement Acquisition‐            Construction 50              200            200            200            200            200            150           1,200        Furniture & Equipment‐            TOTAL ESTIMATED COSTS:50             200           200           200           200           200           150          ‐            ‐            ‐           1,200        Funding Sources:General Fund50              200            200            200            200            200            150            ‐             ‐             ‐            1,200        Grant/Donation/Developer Contribution‐            Current Bond‐            Anticipated Bond‐            Road Improvement Impact Fee‐            Trade‐In Generated Revenues‐            Other‐            TOTAL FUNDING SOURCES:50             200           200           200           200           200           150          ‐            ‐            ‐           1,200        STATUS:  Hope to begin this multi‐year effort in FY'20DESCRIPTION:  The City owns 770 ash trees and with the coming spread of EAB disease, we need to 1) remove the trees before they become infected and 2) replant the following year with a TBD species.OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT: N/AJUSTIFICATION:  To avoid the loss of 770 city street trees to disease, we are proactively removing them and then replantingAVG ESTIMATED SAVINGS PER YEAR:FINANCIALS COMMENT: Year 1 is removal, all following years are removal and replantingAVE ESTIMATED REVENUES PER YEAR:Public Works/Justin RabidouxDraft FY 2020-2029 Capital Improvement Program - South Burlington, VT updated 11/14/2018Page 23 of 127 Natural Resources & Conservation Committee Staff Update – 3/2/2022 Open Space Fund Projects – - Red Rocks Park: • Our team is updating our plans with revised trail improvement data. We have a better idea of impacts to wetland buffers and are preparing plans for permit submittal. As noted previously, permit submittal will include any federal, state, and local permit entities as required. Permit submission will include all projects (trail improvements, stormwater, erosion issues, beach culvert, park entrance re-do, etc.). - Wheeler Nature Park: • US Fish & Wildlife will have their consultant beginning invasive removal work on February 28th. This will only include removal of woody invasives using the “brontosaurus” machine, and should be wrapped up by mid-March. The cut-stump management strategy for those areas requiring a more targeted approach will begin in the fall of 2022. • NOTE: The “brontosaurus” work discussed above should wrap up mid-March, and the site will be safe for volunteers looking to do invasive plant removal this season. If there are any questions on the safety of this site, please contact staff with questions. • Staff hoping to explore additional wayfinding signage needs in the park this spring. That work has been delayed. - Hubbard Recreation & Natural Area: • Project team is still waiting for the archaeology work to take place. This work can’t happen until the spring of 2022, so the project is on hold until the archaeology work can be completed (including the design for the shared use path and other proposed park elements). Champlain Valley Conservation Partnership (CVCP): • The partnership met on February 23rd. • The partnership has signed off on the use of a new logo for outreach purposes. You can check it out here. • The partnership is working on creating an education panel to include partner land trusts to discuss regional conservation goals and strategies. This may be an opportunity for the public to engage with the regional group, so stay tuned for more information on that. • The partnership is also going to be creating a seasonal list of engagement opportunities that will include walks, workshops, etc. These opportunities will take place in different parts of the region and topics will cover various conservation themes. • St. George will be holding a “Community Fair” on its Town Meeting Day, which was moved to April 30th. They have asked the partnership to participate in that day and promote land conversation and stewardship. There may also be an event led by Ethan Tapper to discuss forest management in St. George. More details to come. Management Plan Task Force Update: • The Committee has been invited to a Joint meeting with the Recreation & Parks Committee to review and discuss the proposed Red Rocks Management Plan update. This will be a virtual meeting on March 24th at 6 PM. More information to come as the agenda is released. • Once the Red Rocks update is adopted, staff will begin work on the updates to the Wheeler Nature Park management plan. This will need to coincide with the forthcoming conservation easement. Other: • ARPA Funding: The Council is going to be working on a community outreach strategy to discuss the use of ARPA funds. If you have thoughts or ideas about the use of that funding, please stay tuned for more information on how to participate and share those ideas. There is likely going to be a survey, along with an opportunity to share ideas in a meeting. • City Nature Celebration & City Nature Challenge: Staff is collaborating with representatives from Burlington, the Intervale, UVM, and Winooski on coordinating this year’s City Nature Celebration. You can find information about last year’s event here. It is an event that spans from the spring equinox through the summer solstice. It includes a bioblitz event. The City will be providing event information for speakers doing talks in the library, and I will also be sharing Community Hike and Weed Warrior event information. Stay tuned for updates on this. • Invasive Plant Management & Weed Warrior 2022: The City has a new agreement with Mike Bald for another three years of invasive plant work at Red Rocks, Wheeler, and Hubbard. We will be coordinating Weed Warrior events for this year. It currently looks like there will be 3 or 4 official events where participants can be trained to identify and remove invasive plants. • Community Hike Series 2022: Staff continues to work on lining up a Community Hike Series for this season. As of now, Drew is going to be leading an Interpretive Woods Walk at Wheeler on March 12th. Stay tuned for more details and to register. • Volunteer Stewardship Program: Staff is reviewing some out of school grants options to fund positions that might support the implementation of the programming proposed by the UVM NR206 group.