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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Natural Resources & Conservation Committee - 07/06/2022NATURAL RESOURCES & CONSERVATION COMMITTEE Approved Meeting Minutes Wednesday July 06,2022 6pm Attending: Andrew Bolduc (Deputy City Mgr), Jean Sebastien-Chaulot (Chr), Larry Kupferman (Vice Chr), John Bossange, Lisa Yankowski, Bill Wargo, Drew Shatzer, Katherine Boyk & Linda Bailey Public attendees: Rosanne Greco & Chris Trombley. This was in person at city hall with remote access capability 1) No additions, deletions or changes to the agenda. 2) Comments from the public a. We were joined by Roseanne Greco. Roseanne wanted to bring attention to pine trees where 4 Sisters Rd & Nowland Farm Rd meet, and in Hubbard Park. The trees have needles turning brown and the trees appear to be dying. Thought we may want to evaluate the issue. The NRCC is the “Tree Board” in South Burlington. b. We just happened to have a guest from Teacher’s Tree Service who had joined us. Greg said this is being looked in to and samples are going to UVM, for testing. 3) Adoption of minutes a. We have 1 correction from PFA to PFAS. Larry moved to approved, John 2nd. Approved - 1 exception- Linda. 4) City Updates and bylaws a. We welcome Andrew- this is his “1stst official meeting with the committee taking over for Ashley Parker. We also welcome our newly appointed committee member Linda Bailey. Lisa has been re-appointed for another 3 yrs. and Jean is re-appointed for 2 yrs. Helen Riehle (City Council Chr), is going to be our council liaison. b. Andrew did a quick run through of the bylaws for city committees adopted May 02, 2022, (ref handout in our information packet). c. The Policy Priorities & Strategies retreat to decide on city and committee work plans is July 11. d. The Grand list grew 1.35% and Andrew will be setting the tax rate .4455% and the school rate is down about 2% e. The city will be switching to Microsoft 365 sharepoint for collaborative and document sharing opportunities. Set up for August meeting? f. Weed Warriors are now under Recreation & Parks department with Mike Bald under contract through this season. Look for upcoming events. g. We have a new hire- Erica Quallen as the new Deputy Director of Public Works/Director of Capital Projects. She will replace Ashley. Tom DiPietro is replacing Justin Rabidoux as head of Public Works, (he had been Deputy Director of the Water Quality/Storm water). We also have finalists for Tom’s former position. h. MAKE SURE TO FILL OUT THE CITY SURVEY ON HOW TO SPEND THE ARPA FUNDS: www.surveymonkey.com/r/ARPA 5) Ash tree options for treatment. Guest speaker Greg Renaldo from Teachers Tree Service a. Greg has been involved with treating ash trees for protection against the Emerald Ash Borer. His wisdom and experience were sought to learn more about what is involved with treating trees vs SB currently removing and replacing. i. Emamectin Benzoate is injected into a tree trunk where it can be picked up by the tree’s vascular system and distributed throughout. It can be used in environment tally sensitive areas. It affects the larval stage. It lasts about 2 years and does need to be re-done. This the downside since the tree(s) being treated need to have another hole drilled into its trunk. Overtime this can cause decline in a tree. The treatment will not help a tree in poor health nor be very effective for a tree under attack by the ash borer. Treatment needs to be done by a licensed applicator. It is being widely used in Milwaukee, WI. b. Further discussion centered around overall cost and how it could be paid for. Greg suggested letting homeowners cover some of the cost under city guidelines. Or it could be used as a bridge giving replaced trees time for growth. 6) Small grant application-neither Katherine nor Andrew has seen nor heard anything about who had been approved. Katherine will send an inquiry asking for an update. 7) Airport acquired land- possibly working with the airport on using the land for community benefit as gardens, planting trees or keeping as open space. We questioned the soil and use of PFAS. There was a farm that was affected. How do we find out if the land where homes had been removed was contaminated? a. It was suggested checking to see if the state did any water or soil testing. 8) Mulch “volcanos” a. Practice done by many landscapers around trees where mulch is piled up around the base of a tree. This not a healthy for trees as it can encourage surface root development and the tree strangling itself. The mulch can lead to rotting of the bark around the base of the tree. We need to find out if this is happening on city properties. We can work to encourage flatter mounds. 9) Weed Warriors: possible plant swap. a. This was a suggestion Drew brought up based on a collection of seeds at the SB Public Library people can get to use in their gardens and leave any extra seeds for others to have. How about trying this with plants. b. The suggestion to have a table at an SB Thursday Night Out was brought up. We could have information available and maybe have a plant swap. We need a plan. 10) SB Herbicide/Pesticide ordinance. a. Per Jean- no ordinance or policy exists for the state or the city. This topic was added to our priorities work plan. We are waiting the city retreat to see if this topic is approved. Once it is approved, we can ask for guidance to develop an ordinance or a pledge for property owners not to use pesticides or herbicides. We do know there be instances where these may be the best solution for an issue. 11) Best practice for lawn care. a. There is already lots of available information for landowners to access. We should check for what resources are on the city site and Linda suggested having a piece to the city’s weekly email. Andrew suggested we check on any regulations as well. 12) Allocation of ARPA Funds. a. Larry says everyone should do the survey. He will write a letter for the committee to consider asking the city council for some of the funds to along with what is already budgeted for tree replacement. An extra $100k would help to expand and restore tree coverage in South Burlington. www.surveymonkey.com/r/ARPA 13) Staff reports review #4 a. See the information the Power Point slides sent by Bill for work from the Climate Action Committee. They are focusing on electric heat for new developments. And considering the possibility of an ordinance to push for electricity. b. Some of our tasks from there list were reassigned. c. Land Trust- no update. d. The work group has been getting some work done. We have some open spaces that we know if it is protected and other parcels we don’t. We are hoping there is an information source we can go to. Andrew will check on this. i. The work group will start meeting Thursday at 5pm at the library. Our next meeting is Wednesday August 3, at 6pm AUGUST 4, 2022 at 6PM- CITY VOLUNTEER TRAINING Everyone should attend even if you have been on a committee(s) before. Future Agenda Items -Election of officers -John’s letter -feedback from Drew on Weed Warriors -Update from Andrew about the City Council Retreat -Invite Helen to join us.