AgdaPkt 2006-12-04 - Laserfiche WebLink

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7A Development Services staff have desired further study and adjustment to the existing Page 2 construct under which we have been working in order to provide alternate solutions. In late 2005, the Mayor determined that it was time to establish a new Community Tree Task Force to revisit a broad range of issues. The Task Force was created in a similar fashion to the Recycled Water Task Force. Invitations were broadly circulated and over 100 community members applied. The selection criteria sought diversity in terms of viewpoint, geographic location within the City, as well as varying levels of knowledge about trees. The final selection of 25 members and 5 alternate members was made by the Mayor and Council Member Bain and approved by the Council as a whole in early 2006. Tree Task Force Meetings: Twelve meetings were noticed and scheduled for the second and fourth Wednesday of each month from March through August. The first meeting was held at City Hall, and the rest of these meetings were held at the Main Library. In August, the Task Force determined that they needed an additional meeting to complete their work assignment. This final (thirteenth) meeting was noticed separately and held on September 13, 2006 in the Community Activities Building. All of the Tree Task Force meetings were facilitated by Dr. Cecil Reeves and were also supported by City Staff. Group agreements with respect to absences, quorum, and consensus were established at the first meeting. Thresholds for attendance and decision- making were set at high levels. Tree Task Force Members could miss no more than two meetings. A quorum was determined to be 80% ofthe active membership. Consensus was determined to be 80% of the members present, assuming that a quorum was present. The Tree Task Force meetings were interactive and a wide variety of information was provided to the members in different formats. City Staff supplied the background on existing policies and practices and also created a field trip itinerary to help highlight the range of challenges associated with the subject at hand. In the early half of the sessions, four expert guest speakers made presentations: . John Melvin (Regional Field Specialist from the California Department of Forestry); . Nelda Methany (Bay Area based consulting arborist with extensive experience in municipal tree regulations and served as consultant to the 1998 task force); . Rob Kerth (Marketing Manager Sacramento Tree Foundation presenting Sacramento's ambitious 28-jurisdiction "Greenprint" canopy enhancement program); . Jack Stephens (founding member of City Trees, Redwood City's own community- based tree-planting and education group). "Homework" was also regularly assigned by the facilitator to keep the meetings productive. An eight-member subset of the Tree Task Force was established at the sixth meeting on May 24th. This 'Working Committee" met on the alternative Wednesdays ofthe Tree Task Force schedule, and additional times as well near the end of the process. The Working Committee discussed and prepared draft documents for consideration by the larger group. The Working Committee's meetings were not noticed and were generally conducted at the Community Activities Building. The Working Committee did not have permission to make decisions for the larger Task Force Staff would like to acknowledge to the City Council the significant effort devoted by all Tree Task Force members and especially those serving on the Working Committee. The Page 2 of 4