City Council Services, Safety & Parks Committee · Tuesday, July 23, 2024 · City Council Digest

3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Minutes of June 25, 2024

packet pp.5–6

▶ Watch from 1:43 Open packet at p.5 ↗

Staff report:

APPROVAL OF MINUTES a) 06-25-24 City Council Services, Safety & Parks Page (1) Committee Minutes CITY OF ISSAQUAH City Council Services, Safety & Parks Committee 6:30 PM Council Chambers, 135 E. June 25, 2024 MINUTES Sunset Way, Issaquah WA

4. AGENDA ITEMS

Enhancing Recreation Programs COM 0020

45 min · Brian Berntsen, Parks & Rec Manager, Parks · packet pp.7–24

▶ Watch from 0:41 Open packet at p.7 ↗

Staff report:

One of the Mayor’s top priorities in 2024 is to enhance recreation programs. The recreation services team, operating out of four key facilities—the Community Center, Julius Boehm Pool, Senior Center, and Pickering Barn, provide a wide range of services to all ages and abilities of residents in Issaquah and the surrounding area.

Urban Forest Management Plan Update COM 0048

45 min · Dan Hintz, Urban Forest Supervisor, Parks & Community Services · packet pp.25–42

Topics: Trees

Previously discussed: Park Board · Jun 24, 2024

▶ Watch from 1:12 Open packet at p.25 ↗

Staff report:

The Parks and Community Services department is leading the effort to develop the city’s first Urban Forest Management Plan (UFMP) with urban forestry consultant PlanIT Geo.

2852 segments .txt ↗

0:10 ↗ welcome everyone my council member toam

0:13 ↗ Mars all the Tuesday July 23rd city

0:17 ↗ council services safety and Parks

0:19 ↗ committee meeting to

0:21 ↗ order we will start with public

0:26 ↗ comment uh there are multiple public

0:28 ↗ comment opportunities at tonight's

0:30 ↗ meeting there is a general public

0:32 ↗ comment opportunity at the beginning of

0:33 ↗ the meeting or you can make comments

0:36 ↗ after the presentations Council question

0:38 ↗ and answer periods on each of tonight's

0:41 ↗ agenda items members of the public May

0:43 ↗ address council at this time in person

0:45 ↗ or virtually those who signed up in

0:48 ↗ advance to make comments will be called

0:49 ↗ on first if you are joining us virtually

0:51 ↗ and would like to make comments please

0:54 ↗ raise your virtual hand if you're on the

0:56 ↗ phone press star three if you've joined

0:59 ↗ by computer or smartphone look for a

1:01 ↗ hand icon this varies by device one

1:04 ↗ option may be to go to the particip

1:06 ↗ participant panel and choose the raise

1:09 ↗ hand icon in the lower right hand

1:12 ↗ corner if you no one's in the room so uh

1:16 ↗ I won't do that part I will wait for a

1:17 ↗ moment to see if anyone raises their

1:19 ↗ virtual

1:21 ↗ hand yes has anyone signed up to speak

1:24 ↗ or indicated a desire to speak this

1:26 ↗ evening chair Mars we have no virtual

1:29 ↗ attendees ah as a reminder written

1:32 ↗ comments can be submitted at any time to

1:34 ↗ city council that's all one word at

1:37 ↗ isqua

1:39 ↗ w.gov next up we will uh consider

1:43 ↗ approval of minutes chairman mside move

1:46 ↗ for approval of the minutes of June 25th

1:49 ↗ 2024 second any discussion all in favor

1:53 ↗ say I I opposed extensions that carries

1:58 ↗ unanimously with that we will move on to

2:00 ↗ our agenda items and I will say I am

2:02 ↗ very excited because the common theme

2:05 ↗ that we have between both of tonight's

2:07 ↗ items are public input and you know we

2:10 ↗ live and breathe that is the oxygen to

2:13 ↗ our rocket you know you have to have

2:15 ↗ oxygen for Rockets and the that public

2:17 ↗ input is the oxygen that when it mixes

2:20 ↗ with the political fuel gets stuff done

2:22 ↗ so both of the items this evening are

2:24 ↗ informed quite a bit by public comments

2:26 ↗ so with that I will welcome Jeff Watling

2:28 ↗ uh to the to the as we just take on

2:34 ↗ c0020 enhancing Recreation programs and

2:37 ↗ you'll be assisted ay assisted by Brian

2:39 ↗ Burson our parks and wreck

2:42 ↗ manager absolutely good evening chair

2:45 ↗ March thank you for that introduction uh

2:47 ↗ hope to uh hope to be part of that fuel

2:49 ↗ tonight uh excited to bring you these

2:51 ↗ two topics uh from the Department uh

2:54 ↗ first up we wanted to talk about a uh

2:57 ↗ work plan U major work plan priority of

2:59 ↗ this this year I'm realizing Chris I

3:02 ↗ need to share my screen

3:07 ↗ correct give me I navigate it's there

3:11 ↗ just need to

3:13 ↗ uh nothing like navigating someone

3:15 ↗ else's laptop there we go all right

3:18 ↗ thank you again very very much uh first

3:20 ↗ topic tonight is a uh one of our major

3:23 ↗ work plan priorities for 2024 and that

3:25 ↗ is enhancing Recreation programs um this

3:29 ↗ is an area Focus this year um uh tonight

3:32 ↗ Brian burnson Recreation manager will be

3:34 ↗ here to to Really highlight a lot of the

3:36 ↗ major work that we've been doing this

3:38 ↗ year um I just want to note before Brian

3:40 ↗ comes up uh this is something that is

3:43 ↗ more than a one-year Journey uh this is

3:44 ↗ some work that we've been doing for the

3:46 ↗ past couple years and in many ways is a

3:48 ↗ mindset and a posture uh for us um even

3:52 ↗ as we move forward uh so with public

3:55 ↗ engagement being such a key a key piece

3:57 ↗ of of that

4:01 ↗ engine we'll stick with the Rocket

4:04 ↗ theme um our department parks and

4:07 ↗ Community Services is is immensely

4:09 ↗ diverse and you maybe have heard me say

4:10 ↗ this before in terms of what we as staff

4:13 ↗ talk a lot about our core roles and core

4:15 ↗ values and they're really boiled down

4:16 ↗ into two things and I think they're two

4:18 ↗ areas that really speak to um what an

4:23 ↗ outstanding place this is to live in

4:24 ↗ isqua and uh the goal I think we all

4:27 ↗ have as as Council as mayor as staff uh

4:30 ↗ to make this a livable community of

4:33 ↗ choice somewhere people want to live and

4:35 ↗ so um when you look at everything we do

4:37 ↗ as a department we really boil down to

4:39 ↗ these two things we through your

4:42 ↗ assistance make investments in places uh

4:44 ↗ we Steward the parks and open space and

4:46 ↗ trails that these residents own and then

4:48 ↗ we invest in people uh through a wide

4:50 ↗ variety of programs and services much of

4:52 ↗ what you hear tonight with Recreation

4:54 ↗ but also arts and Human Services um of

4:58 ↗ note as well recre really is an investor

5:00 ↗ of places also uh we have four

5:02 ↗ Recreation facilities extremely well

5:04 ↗ used that you'll hear about tonight uh

5:07 ↗ that we both Steward um and program out

5:10 ↗ of and that's the community center the

5:11 ↗ pool the senior center and the Pickering

5:13 ↗ Barn so with that really really brief

5:16 ↗ introduction um happy to invite our

5:19 ↗ Recreation manager Brian burnson

5:24 ↗ up thank you chair March council members

5:26 ↗ thank you for having me tonight once

5:28 ↗ again Brian burnson Recreation manager

5:29 ↗ for the parks and Community Services

5:32 ↗ Department just a quick point on this

5:34 ↗ pickle ball the the touching of paddles

5:36 ↗ that is a thing that is uh you know

5:38 ↗ that's that's sort of good sportsmanship

5:40 ↗ in pickle ball right there when you tap

5:41 ↗ your paddle with your

5:45 ↗ partner um the purpose of tonight's

5:48 ↗ presentation is to provide an update and

5:50 ↗ seek input from the services safety and

5:51 ↗ Parks committee on the framework and key

5:54 ↗ elements of the 2024 work plan

5:55 ↗ initiative of enhancing Recreation

5:57 ↗ program

6:01 ↗ tonight we'll be presenting a lot of

6:02 ↗ information and what would be what we'll

6:04 ↗ be asking of you is feedback on two

6:06 ↗ primary

6:07 ↗ questions is there any additional

6:09 ↗ feedback for staff to consider while

6:11 ↗ conducting further internal review and

6:13 ↗ Gathering residential input about City

6:15 ↗ Recreation programs and

6:17 ↗ services and as we plan for the 2526

6:20 ↗ budget cycle are there any

6:22 ↗ considerations or priorities you would

6:23 ↗ like for us to address in our ongoing

6:25 ↗ efforts to enhance Recreation programs

6:28 ↗ I'll be uh bringing the up again at the

6:30 ↗ end of the presentation just for our

6:39 ↗ discussion following is an overview of

6:41 ↗ the presentation topics for tonight's

6:44 ↗ discussion first I'll be sharing who we

6:46 ↗ are providing an overview of the

6:47 ↗ Recreation services division then I'll

6:50 ↗ be providing a brief overview of the

6:51 ↗ modifications made to our operational

6:54 ↗ procedures I'm also going to share some

6:57 ↗ changes enhancements we've recently made

6:58 ↗ to some of our programs next we'll spend

7:01 ↗ time looking at our community outreach

7:03 ↗ and Survey

7:04 ↗ results some of them there's a lot of

7:07 ↗ them so uh we'll cover some of them and

7:09 ↗ highlight them for you uh finally we'll

7:11 ↗ talk about our next steps and moving

7:16 ↗ forward often Recreation services is a

7:18 ↗ lot more than people realize um you know

7:21 ↗ the Recreation services division is Jeff

7:23 ↗ was talking about four facilities five

7:26 ↗ Dynamic teams that is the Comm you know

7:28 ↗ the Community Center Senior Center

7:30 ↗ pool Pickering barn and then our

7:31 ↗ athletic and field rentals is a team in

7:34 ↗ and of itself too um together these

7:36 ↗ teams provide a wide range of services

7:38 ↗ to Residents in isqua in the surrounding

7:40 ↗ areas and I want to take a couple

7:42 ↗ minutes just to briefly highlight each

7:44 ↗ of these teams for you um and the and

7:46 ↗ the important work that they do at the

7:48 ↗ community center we have Kathy Jones and

7:50 ↗ her team who provide special events

7:52 ↗ classes and programs for all ages

7:54 ↗ ability and abilities creating

7:55 ↗ opportunities for residents to connect

7:57 ↗ and engage with one another postco with

8:00 ↗ the installation of wood flooring the

8:02 ↗ community center continues to see more

8:04 ↗ and more growth in its classes programs

8:06 ↗ and events things have just really taken

8:08 ↗ off since Co um some of the programs

8:11 ↗ offered through the community center are

8:12 ↗ adaptive Recreation preschool Before and

8:15 ↗ After School Care Health and Fitness day

8:17 ↗ camps Dro in activities along with a

8:20 ↗ large variety of other classes and

8:23 ↗ program the Athletics and park Reynolds

8:25 ↗ team is responsible for organizing and

8:27 ↗ managing Youth and adult sports programs

8:29 ↗ and scheduling a variety of outdoor

8:31 ↗ active spaces such as ball field and

8:33 ↗ picnic shelters located throughout the

8:35 ↗ community in the last few years the

8:38 ↗ Athletics team has been excited to add a

8:41 ↗ variety of new programs including indoor

8:43 ↗ and outdoor pickle ball and sheer Camp

8:45 ↗ as well as expanding the gliders track

8:46 ↗ and field and cross country programs to

8:49 ↗ meet the increasing demand from the

8:50 ↗ public for this

8:56 ↗ program in the Athletics and rentals

8:58 ↗ Jared Bell and his team promote physical

9:01 ↗ health teamwork and social interaction

9:02 ↗ among participants of all ages and

9:04 ↗ stages within our community these

9:06 ↗ programs Foster a sense of community

9:08 ↗ Pride encourage active Lifestyles and

9:10 ↗ provide opportunities for Community

9:13 ↗ engagement the Julius bone pool has been

9:15 ↗ serving isqua since

9:18 ↗ 1972 fun fact I learned to swim in that

9:20 ↗ pool um as a young lad and I'm a

9:24 ↗ marginal swimmer so it it speaks volumes

9:27 ↗ Um Zack listen and the aquatic provides

9:29 ↗ swim lessons and trainings as well as

9:31 ↗ supporting six High School swim teams

9:33 ↗ and two private swim teams for their

9:35 ↗ swim practices and meets the pool was

9:37 ↗ excited to once again host the

9:39 ↗ underwater egg hunt and is looking

9:40 ↗ forward to providing a new Junior

9:41 ↗ lifeguard program this summer due to the

9:44 ↗ increase in demand and limited space

9:46 ↗ staff conducted a pool feasibility study

9:48 ↗ in 2023 to determine whether or not

9:50 ↗ additional capacity could be added to

9:52 ↗ the juice B pool site the pool

9:54 ↗ feasibility study has been completed and

9:56 ↗ staff is conducting education Outreach

9:58 ↗ this summer to gauge The public's

10:00 ↗ interest in additional water capacity

10:02 ↗ and staff is planning to return to

10:04 ↗ Council in September to give you an

10:05 ↗ update on some of that

10:07 ↗ work since taking over the operation in

10:10 ↗ 2017 the senior center has been a hub

10:12 ↗ for socialization and a place where

10:14 ↗ seniors can connect and be

10:16 ↗ seen kirston May and her team provide a

10:18 ↗ vast array of program offerings that

10:20 ↗ enrich the lives of seniors provide

10:22 ↗ opportunities for lifelong learning

10:24 ↗ wellness and Community engagement the

10:27 ↗ senior center continues to increase the

10:29 ↗ increase its relationship with our

10:31 ↗ community of ever increasing diverse

10:32 ↗ seniors for the second time we are the

10:35 ↗ proud recipients of the King County

10:36 ↗ veterans seniors and Human Services

10:38 ↗ funding Grant which connects seniors

10:40 ↗ with much needed

10:42 ↗ resources along with a summer fun a

10:44 ↗ Summer full of fun popular field trips

10:47 ↗ the senior center is providing meal

10:49 ↗ services four days a week and offering

10:51 ↗ meals that honor holidays and special

10:53 ↗ events that represent our diverse

10:56 ↗ population senior population

10:59 ↗ last but not least the picking Barn is a

11:02 ↗ destination Landmark within the city of

11:04 ↗ isqua providing one of the most popular

11:06 ↗ and well attended farmers markets on the

11:08 ↗ East Side in addition to being a premier

11:10 ↗ site for weddings and a wide variety of

11:12 ↗ special events Kelly Diane and the pck

11:15 ↗ gream barn team have recently introduced

11:17 ↗ the EBT and snap match programs which

11:19 ↗ provide food security for these for

11:21 ↗ those in need this year we are also

11:24 ↗ adding a variety of seasonal markets uh

11:27 ↗ in 2023 we added the EBT program and

11:30 ↗ then in 2024 this year we added the snap

11:33 ↗ match which will match some of those EBT

11:35 ↗ tollers so in up to like $

11:37 ↗ 225 you can double your money to buy

11:39 ↗ fresh fruit and

11:47 ↗ produce Recreation is unique and it's a

11:49 ↗ market driven service customers choose

11:52 ↗ to participate in the services the city

11:54 ↗ provides because of our reputation as a

11:56 ↗ trusted provider of consistent safe and

11:58 ↗ highquality programming

11:59 ↗ we are regularly adjusting and adapting

12:01 ↗ to meet the evolving needs and wants of

12:03 ↗ the community we provide diverse program

12:06 ↗ offerings that are accessible inclusive

12:07 ↗ and reflective of the community we

12:10 ↗ serve recognizing the trust customers

12:12 ↗ place in us we seek excellence and

12:14 ↗ customer service by providing

12:15 ↗ well-trained staff and quality

12:20 ↗ services part of our work of in

12:22 ↗ enhancing Recreation programs has been

12:24 ↗ looking at our operations to see where

12:26 ↗ modifications can be made to enhance

12:28 ↗ efficiency reduce costs and improve

12:30 ↗ overall performance and customer service

12:32 ↗ by identifying and addressing

12:34 ↗ inefficiencies and outdated processes

12:37 ↗ some of our some recent procedural

12:39 ↗ changes that we'd like to share with you

12:41 ↗ tonight of the scholarship program was

12:44 ↗ revised and adopted by Council in 2022

12:47 ↗ to more equably serve the ongoing needs

12:49 ↗ of those who do not have the resources

12:51 ↗ to participate in

12:53 ↗ program as we continue to share this

12:55 ↗ program with our community we recently

12:57 ↗ enhanced the scholarship program form

13:00 ↗ making it more accessible and user

13:01 ↗ friendly for more V wider variety of

13:04 ↗ program participants uh with a newly

13:06 ↗ hired adaptive Recreation coordinator um

13:09 ↗ we had our coordinator work with the

13:11 ↗ Adaptive community and understanding

13:13 ↗ what some of the barriers were on that

13:15 ↗ form so we worked through that and made

13:17 ↗ the form a little bit simpler to fill

13:19 ↗ out so that it was not because some

13:21 ↗ people just weren't even filling out

13:22 ↗ because it was just a little too hard so

13:24 ↗ we worked with them to make that a

13:25 ↗ little bit easier for them to access and

13:27 ↗ then get access to those funds funds and

13:30 ↗ those

13:31 ↗ resources this spring along with input

13:34 ↗ from the equity board we implemented

13:35 ↗ priority registration for some of our

13:37 ↗ more popular programs allowing residents

13:39 ↗ of isqua to register prior to the

13:41 ↗ program opening to the public this year

13:44 ↗ prior registration was implemented with

13:46 ↗ both summer camps and swim lessons

13:48 ↗ Community feedback reinforces that we

13:50 ↗ continue to have a supply demand and

13:53 ↗ demand Challenge and there is a need for

13:55 ↗ increased capacity Within These programs

13:57 ↗ the prior registrations the priority

13:59 ↗ registrations helped but we still have

14:01 ↗ more work to do in order to meet the

14:03 ↗ high demand for these popular

14:09 ↗ programs this year staff is also

14:11 ↗ reviewing rental spaces and Gathering

14:13 ↗ data on usage patterns pricing rental

14:16 ↗ policies and procedures best practices

14:18 ↗ and Community needs following this work

14:20 ↗ staff will identify areas for

14:22 ↗ improvement and revise the facility

14:23 ↗ Rental process and forms to refle

14:26 ↗ reflect the lessons that we learned

14:27 ↗ through that process

14:34 ↗ another part of our work in enhancing

14:35 ↗ Recreation programs has been looking at

14:37 ↗ the programs we offer and identifying

14:39 ↗ areas for improvement leading to

14:41 ↗ enhanced program enhanced program

14:44 ↗ quality and more effective use of our

14:47 ↗ resources some recent program changes

14:50 ↗ and enhancements there are uh quite a

14:52 ↗ few but a few we're going to highlight

14:54 ↗ tonight uh the before and after school

14:56 ↗ program called Schoolhouse wreck is a

14:58 ↗ program that began and was created in

15:00 ↗ response to the need for child care

15:02 ↗ amongst First Responders and those

15:03 ↗ needing to work outside the home during

15:06 ↗ covid this year the program that was

15:09 ↗ this was a staff run program has now

15:11 ↗ been transitioned to a third party

15:12 ↗ partner that cares for children before

15:14 ↗ and after school so that program that

15:16 ↗ was born within covid to support those

15:19 ↗ that needed to work outside the home has

15:21 ↗ now become a program that is now being

15:22 ↗ run by a third- party partner and that

15:24 ↗ frees up staff to then lean into some

15:26 ↗ other work and doing a little bit more

15:28 ↗ with Le if you

15:30 ↗ will post pandemic we were able to bring

15:32 ↗ back a full-time Recreation coordinator

15:35 ↗ position uh for the first time ever the

15:37 ↗ coordinator's primary responsibility was

15:39 ↗ dedicated to Adaptive Recreation

15:41 ↗ programming having a full-time

15:43 ↗ Recreation coordinator has helped to

15:44 ↗ greatly expand the programs classes and

15:46 ↗ events offered within the Adaptive

15:48 ↗ Community a few brand new programs will

15:50 ↗ be offered this year are within the

15:52 ↗ Special Olympics category of swimming

15:54 ↗ track and pickle ball in the past we've

15:56 ↗ offered uh we have offered basketball

15:59 ↗ and supported uh basketball and softball

16:01 ↗ but we're now adding those additional

16:03 ↗ three Sports as mentioned earlier the

16:05 ↗ gliders uh program was expanded to meet

16:08 ↗ increasing the increas in demand is now

16:10 ↗ serving over 600 participants this

16:13 ↗ year the summer camps offered through

16:15 ↗ the community center are an extremely

16:17 ↗ popular are extremely popular and and in

16:19 ↗ very high demand in 2024 with additional

16:22 ↗ funding approved by Council staff

16:24 ↗ offered an additional summer camp as

16:26 ↗ well as piling at two weeks Spanish

16:28 ↗ speaking camp

16:29 ↗ Camp implementing partty registration

16:32 ↗ and adding camps helped but did not take

16:34 ↗ care of the whole problem and this is

16:36 ↗ reflected within the survey responses

16:38 ↗ community service staff continues to

16:40 ↗ work toward increas in capacity for

16:41 ↗ residents to these popular

16:47 ↗ programs and right there with day camps

16:49 ↗ another popular program is our extremely

16:52 ↗ popular and in high demand swim lesson

16:54 ↗ program um in 2024 staff increased the

16:57 ↗ capacity by offering more swim lesson

16:59 ↗ classes along with increas in capacity

17:02 ↗ within the classes currently being

17:04 ↗ offered again as with summer camps

17:07 ↗ adding additional uh the adding priority

17:09 ↗ registration and increas in capacity

17:11 ↗ within the swim lesson program helped

17:13 ↗ but it didn't resolve the issue cool

17:15 ↗ staff is working to increase capacity

17:17 ↗ Within These popular programs so even

17:19 ↗ more children can and children and

17:21 ↗ people can learn to

17:23 ↗ swim the Recreation services division

17:26 ↗ provides a variety of community events

17:28 ↗ coming out of covid reestablishing some

17:30 ↗ much loved events and adding some new

17:32 ↗ ones has been a priority for the team

17:34 ↗ this year some of these events include

17:36 ↗ the down home 4th of July that was added

17:38 ↗ this year and bringing back bu at the

17:40 ↗ barn along with the underwater egg hunt

17:43 ↗ pool as mentioned earlier the picking

17:45 ↗ Barn implemented the EBT and snap match

17:48 ↗ programs which allowed for more access

17:50 ↗ to Farm Fresh Foods along with food

17:52 ↗ access program we will also be adding

17:54 ↗ some new seasonal markets this year um

17:56 ↗ to sort of celebrate different times of

17:58 ↗ the year and that was through some

18:00 ↗ Community feedback and input we got when

18:02 ↗ receiving impact on the farmers market

18:04 ↗ so people wanted longer and more markets

18:06 ↗ so we've added some seasonal markets and

18:08 ↗ we'll be piloting those uh this year too

18:11 ↗ uh the 2024 Farmers Market held its

18:13 ↗ first ever poster contest where local

18:16 ↗ artists competed for the opportunity to

18:18 ↗ have their design on the promotional

18:19 ↗ materials for this year's farmers market

18:21 ↗ so when you see the advertisements for

18:23 ↗ that that was that was a poster contest

18:25 ↗ and that was the artist that won it and

18:27 ↗ this is something we hope to do annually

18:29 ↗ and uh give artists an opportunity to

18:31 ↗ engage in helping us design some of our

18:33 ↗ marketing

18:34 ↗ materials in 2023 staff conducted a pool

18:37 ↗ feasibility study that confirmed there

18:39 ↗ is strong desire for additional pool

18:40 ↗ space within our community in 2024 staff

18:44 ↗ is conducting education Outreach to the

18:46 ↗ community to explore the community's

18:47 ↗ interest in the potential for increase

18:49 ↗ in capacity on the existing pool

18:54 ↗ site as part of the work to enhance

18:56 ↗ Recreation programs

18:59 ↗ staff conducted a community survey from

19:01 ↗ the end of May through June 21st the

19:03 ↗ survey received 818 responses and

19:06 ↗ provided valuable data and

19:09 ↗ feedback tonight staff will be providing

19:11 ↗ a quick highl high level overview of

19:13 ↗ some of the information

19:19 ↗ received and just as a quick note we did

19:21 ↗ uh in your staff packet we did provide a

19:23 ↗ link that if you want to there's a lot

19:25 ↗ of information there to take it took me

19:26 ↗ a little while to get through it all so

19:28 ↗ uh if you when you get time and or maybe

19:30 ↗ you already have but if you get a chance

19:31 ↗ to take a look at that um as a quick

19:35 ↗ reminder well that was my gave you my

19:37 ↗ quick reminder uh some of the takeaways

19:39 ↗ from the survey that we would like to

19:40 ↗ share are there were strong levels of

19:43 ↗ satisfaction with the existing programs

19:45 ↗ and services but with room to improve

19:47 ↗ we'll be discussing some of this on the

19:48 ↗ next slide that I'll be getting to there

19:51 ↗ is an interest for both new programs and

19:52 ↗ events there's also interest in

19:54 ↗ expanding existing popular programs and

19:56 ↗ services

19:58 ↗ there's a strong desire for an increase

20:01 ↗ in marketing Outreach that is vital in

20:03 ↗ ensuring residents are aware of programs

20:05 ↗ and services offered really interesting

20:07 ↗ to see how people found out about us and

20:09 ↗ that a lot of people would like more

20:11 ↗ venues and more connection points with

20:13 ↗ us to find out what we have going on

20:15 ↗ there is there are also limitations due

20:17 ↗ to the high demand and quick fill up

20:19 ↗ times which lead to frustration and

20:20 ↗ disappointment in some of our

20:23 ↗ programs and Brian when you say quick

20:26 ↗ like how how quick do some of these

20:27 ↗ programs fill up great question uh swim

20:30 ↗ lessons sometimes fill up in minutes

20:33 ↗ literally minutes and camps probably

20:35 ↗ more in your 15 to 30 minutes some of

20:37 ↗ them were

20:39 ↗ filling right which yeah which is too

20:41 ↗ fast right yeah thank you

20:46 ↗ yeah with over 600 responses to this

20:49 ↗ question this table encompasses some

20:52 ↗ feedback on our current programs and how

20:54 ↗ the community feels we are

20:56 ↗ doing a quick note I like to point out

20:59 ↗ is the neutral or not applicable column

21:01 ↗ reflects that participants taking part

21:03 ↗ in The Sur survey are not all familiar

21:05 ↗ with the program offerings as you will

21:07 ↗ see some of our smaller more targeted

21:09 ↗ programs have higher percentage of not

21:11 ↗ applicable due to the limited

21:12 ↗ populations they serve specifically

21:14 ↗ adaptive Recreation preschool and youth

21:17 ↗ and before and after school care you'll

21:19 ↗ see those numbers are a little higher on

21:21 ↗ the not applicable just there're smaller

21:23 ↗ markets and a lot of people don't have

21:24 ↗ familiarity with

21:26 ↗ those as we look at the overall satis

21:28 ↗ ified and unsatisfied columns we notice

21:30 ↗ a few things overall you'll see that the

21:33 ↗ satisfied side is greater than the

21:35 ↗ unsatisfied side and that there's room

21:37 ↗ for

21:38 ↗ improvement looking at the two columns

21:40 ↗ on the right we see that there is a

21:42 ↗ higher level of unsatisfied with

21:44 ↗ Aquatics and pool Fitness and Wellness

21:46 ↗ Sports and youth summer camp programs

21:49 ↗ the feedback from the community

21:51 ↗ indicates the need for increased

21:52 ↗ programming with Community with the

21:54 ↗ community asking for more more events

21:57 ↗ more programs and more opportunities

21:59 ↗ participate in a variety of classes

22:00 ↗ programs and events the farmers market

22:04 ↗ was a was a was a kind of a fun little

22:06 ↗ stat there to realize that out of all of

22:08 ↗ that you know people a lot of people

22:10 ↗ know about it and enjoy it right so it's

22:13 ↗ that was just a fun I wanted to point

22:15 ↗ that one out because that's sort of

22:17 ↗ surprised me a little bit with that

22:21 ↗ number actually being in at the market

22:23 ↗ didn't surpris me that much but it was

22:25 ↗ nice to see it

22:26 ↗ reflected uh third through the through

22:29 ↗ the writing questions asking what would

22:31 ↗ increase customer satisfaction and

22:34 ↗ program ideas customers would like to

22:36 ↗ see Four Strong threads came came out

22:39 ↗ through this feedback first there was a

22:41 ↗ desire for more community events and

22:43 ↗ social activities that bring people

22:45 ↗ together and connect our

22:46 ↗ community we also see an interest in

22:48 ↗ More arts cultural and environmental

22:51 ↗ programs next two prominent age groups

22:54 ↗ stood out additional teen and Senior

22:56 ↗ program is highly desired

22:59 ↗ there's a strong desire for increased

23:01 ↗ Sports and Fitness opportunities

23:02 ↗ including more Recreational Sports

23:04 ↗ health and fitness classes and programs

23:06 ↗ additional sports facilities and

23:08 ↗ additional fitness equipment in the

23:09 ↗ community center interesting the the

23:12 ↗ teen and seniors in that Sports and

23:13 ↗ Fitness they did have a a lot of that

23:15 ↗ programing I just me the programming I

23:16 ↗ just mentioned the Sport and Fitness was

23:18 ↗ also desired within the teen and Senior

23:21 ↗ feedback as well as mentioned in earlier

23:24 ↗ slides there is a strong desire for swim

23:26 ↗ lessons increased pool capacity and

23:28 ↗ additional aquatic

23:33 ↗ facilities enhancing Recreation

23:35 ↗ enhancing Recreation programs is an

23:37 ↗ ongoing effort it's rooted our past it's

23:40 ↗ driving our present and shaping our

23:42 ↗ future this is not a one-year task as

23:44 ↗ Jeff mentioned but it's a continual

23:46 ↗ journey to enrich the lives of our

23:47 ↗ residents through quality Recreation

23:49 ↗ services some of our key next steps are

23:53 ↗ to assess the feedback given in the

23:54 ↗ survey and identify the areas most

23:57 ↗ requested by the community and to

23:59 ↗ examine opportunities for future

24:01 ↗ programs to develop budgets and

24:03 ↗ resources to support additional

24:06 ↗ programming all the while maintaining an

24:08 ↗ open mindset regarding program

24:10 ↗ implementation and paying attention to

24:12 ↗ the exist to the existing programs and

24:14 ↗ their life cycles acknowledging when a

24:16 ↗ program may have reached the end of its

24:18 ↗ life and begun to feel stale or stagnant

24:21 ↗ if so staff will need to evaluate

24:23 ↗ whether or not it's time to allocate

24:26 ↗ these program resources into events and

24:28 ↗ possibly other programming opportunities

24:30 ↗ you know sometimes things just have a

24:31 ↗ life cycle and to acknowledge and

24:33 ↗ recognize that when we do what what

24:36 ↗ other opportunities can we lean

24:45 ↗ in lastly to develop a Cadence for

24:48 ↗ engaging with the community about

24:50 ↗ Recreation programs and services and

24:52 ↗ making it a part of our planning efforts

24:55 ↗ uh you know we regularly get and receive

24:57 ↗ feedback we do uh post you we do

24:59 ↗ evaluations on our programs after

25:00 ↗ they're over get tons of feedback from

25:02 ↗ the community talking to people

25:04 ↗ listening to people but we really found

25:05 ↗ it valuable and beneficial to reach out

25:07 ↗ through a survey and to gather that

25:09 ↗ input asking them you know please tell

25:11 ↗ us a little bit more about how we're

25:12 ↗ doing you know what do you like what

25:13 ↗ don't you like what do you want you know

25:15 ↗ that was really helpful and uh I think

25:17 ↗ that you know this is a process we'd

25:19 ↗ really like to engage in you every few

25:21 ↗ years or

25:23 ↗ so sorry council member Joe Brian thank

25:27 ↗ you now for that last comment about how

25:30 ↗ you're following up I'd like to put that

25:34 ↗ um comment in the context of the swim

25:37 ↗ programs and Facilities it looked like

25:39 ↗ on the survey page Aquatics and pool had

25:41 ↗ a 18% or so somewhat unsatisfied to very

25:46 ↗ unsatisfied um survey return and then um

25:51 ↗ in the survey followup for top

25:54 ↗ additional requested it programs there

25:57 ↗ was a strong desire for swim lessons

25:59 ↗ increased pool capacity and additional

26:01 ↗ aquatic facilities um my question is

26:04 ↗ we're looking at potentially expanding

26:06 ↗ the pool and I wanted to see how you

26:09 ↗ were taking those two pieces of

26:11 ↗ information and any other information

26:13 ↗ you're getting about the pool to help um

26:16 ↗ structure or uh facilitate a

26:18 ↗ conversation with the public about U

26:21 ↗ potentially expanding that

26:23 ↗ facility we've currently started a

26:26 ↗ friends of the juice bone pool group in

26:28 ↗ which she just had our first meeting in

26:30 ↗ which we're sharing some of this

26:31 ↗ information from we're going to be

26:32 ↗ sharing the information from the survey

26:33 ↗ we're going to be talking about the work

26:34 ↗ that we're doing about seeking like if

26:36 ↗ this you know this proposal how does it

26:38 ↗ sound to everybody because right now it

26:39 ↗ just is it's an idea it's a thought

26:41 ↗ right so we're thinking about that and

26:42 ↗ trying to float it out there with all

26:44 ↗ the information to see what does the

26:46 ↗ community think and feel about this we

26:48 ↗ have a um web page that's been set up

26:50 ↗ explaining the uh potential for this

26:52 ↗ project along with a couple questions

26:54 ↗ and uh as of I think this morning we had

26:56 ↗ close to 1,200 responses to that

26:58 ↗ which is outstanding as far as surveys

27:00 ↗ go so we're still in the process of

27:03 ↗ gathering a lot of that data to inform

27:05 ↗ be informed by the public on what maybe

27:07 ↗ they would their hopes and desires are

27:10 ↗ Brian that's great that you have such a

27:11 ↗ strong response um I know that we had uh

27:14 ↗ one of the coaches from the high school

27:16 ↗ swim team also come talk to us about the

27:18 ↗ pool um how are you integrating their

27:20 ↗ comments and their feelings uh and

27:23 ↗ desires for the pool into into that

27:25 ↗ process as well oh good great question

27:29 ↗ uh we're integrating them in the process

27:30 ↗ with their full body we have them as

27:32 ↗ part of our friends group so that that

27:34 ↗ coach you're speaking of we have her on

27:36 ↗ it we have uh the IST swim coach we have

27:39 ↗ community members we have uh yeah

27:41 ↗ Representatives that the pool in many

27:43 ↗ different shapes and forms we've tried

27:45 ↗ to we know a lot of the people that use

27:47 ↗ the pool right but we're also trying to

27:48 ↗ grab some people from the community that

27:50 ↗ just are part of the community right so

27:53 ↗ it's been nice to try to engage as many

27:55 ↗ a diverse group to speak about what this

27:57 ↗ potential project could look like great

28:00 ↗ and this is my last pool question the

28:02 ↗ bond is coming up for the school

28:03 ↗ district and I know that they have uh

28:06 ↗ included the pool in one of their

28:08 ↗ projects it's going to be in the entire

28:10 ↗ package the council's going to be um

28:13 ↗ considering um our endorsement of the

28:16 ↗ the bond package in an upcoming meeting

28:19 ↗ how has the school district uh been also

28:21 ↗ included in that

28:23 ↗ conversation great question uh School

28:26 ↗ District was part of our pool fusibility

28:28 ↗ study we had a couple of their team

28:29 ↗ members as part of that feasibility

28:31 ↗ study and Jeff is actively engaged with

28:33 ↗ speaking with their leadership about

28:35 ↗ this project and about the work we're

28:36 ↗ doing I don't know if you want to add

28:38 ↗ anything to that one or not but we're

28:40 ↗ we're engaging them in the process

28:42 ↗ through their leadership and our

28:44 ↗ leadership thank you very much I

28:46 ↗ appreciate the the

28:49 ↗ information car on thank

28:55 ↗ you below are the topics we discussed

28:59 ↗ and as we move into the direction needed

29:01 ↗ we'd be happy to answer and discuss any

29:03 ↗ questions that you may

29:06 ↗ have you want do do you want to tee up

29:09 ↗ the direction needed uh rubric before

29:11 ↗ I'd be happy to read them again yes

29:14 ↗ absolutely the direction needed uh one

29:16 ↗ is there any additional feedback for

29:18 ↗ staff to consider while conducting

29:20 ↗ further internal review and Gathering

29:22 ↗ resident input about City Recreation

29:24 ↗ programs and services and two as we plan

29:28 ↗ for the 25 26 budget cycle are there any

29:30 ↗ considerations or priority priorities

29:33 ↗ you would like us to address in the

29:34 ↗ ongoing efforts to enhance Recreation

29:38 ↗ program so I have a couple questions um

29:42 ↗ you mentioned the down home Fourth of

29:43 ↗ July being added this year haven't we

29:45 ↗ had the down home Fourth of July since

29:47 ↗ forever you're right it has been around

29:49 ↗ for a very long time I I don't know if

29:51 ↗ ior was in that one but I we have had it

29:52 ↗ for a long time yes recently this year

29:55 ↗ it was run by the Recreation services

29:57 ↗ department last year the city also ran

29:59 ↗ it and we built upon the good work that

30:01 ↗ the city did because it last year almost

30:04 ↗ didn't happen without the city stepping

30:05 ↗ in and doing some making it happen so we

30:08 ↗ built upon the good work that they did

30:09 ↗ last year and the rec Services team

30:11 ↗ which I work with ran it this year and

30:14 ↗ like I said uh and I say the rec service

30:17 ↗ team it's many hands it's many

30:19 ↗ departments many divisions uh many

30:21 ↗ volunteers um so it's Yeah by no means

30:24 ↗ it's not just Recreation services there

30:26 ↗ many hands that make that magic happen

30:29 ↗ excellent uh and then the other question

30:31 ↗ I have is really around um I think you

30:34 ↗ mentioned that this you got input from

30:37 ↗ the equity board I think yeah um how do

30:39 ↗ you go about

30:40 ↗ addressing uh equity on Recreation

30:44 ↗ things and I'm I'm just GNA I'm just

30:45 ↗ gonna my personal favorite right uh

30:49 ↗ cricket cricket pitches right how there

30:52 ↗ may or there may not be uh pent up

30:54 ↗ demand in the community for Cricket

30:56 ↗ pitches but there's other things that I

30:57 ↗ haven't even thought of because I'm a

31:00 ↗ Polish American and uh so how do you

31:04 ↗ make sure that we've covered we have a

31:07 ↗ lot of just a whole range of folks in

31:09 ↗ the the community and you've asked some

31:11 ↗ good questions um in engaging the public

31:14 ↗ but how do you know that you've teased

31:15 ↗ out the demands that are out there in

31:17 ↗ the community and having such a

31:20 ↗ diversity good question and I don't know

31:22 ↗ that we ever tease them all out I think

31:24 ↗ we continue to try to tease them out but

31:26 ↗ with that like the cricket pitches

31:27 ↗ that's been on our radar for quite I'll

31:29 ↗ use that as an example you know it's

31:31 ↗ been but we we don't let those things

31:32 ↗ drop we keep them on our radar and I

31:34 ↗ think for future planning is we get a

31:36 ↗ chance and opportunity to develop

31:37 ↗ something that's got to be a part of

31:39 ↗ that planning process and part of the

31:41 ↗ possibilities of what could be done as

31:42 ↗ we develop and grow into our future so

31:45 ↗ how on that one let's say I was let's

31:48 ↗ say I was a member of the South South

31:49 ↗ Asian Community how would I have gotten

31:51 ↗ the input in about Cricket pitches in

31:54 ↗ this

31:55 ↗ process oh go ahead

31:59 ↗ hey again uh great question uh great

32:01 ↗ question merging into sort of our Parks

32:03 ↗ system plan right so this is where our

32:06 ↗ department sort of um ties together in

32:09 ↗ terms of us doing direct programs but

32:10 ↗ also how we Steward those public spaces

32:13 ↗ and so you know I would say it it it

32:15 ↗ really starts um either way with uh that

32:19 ↗ community outreach and those

32:21 ↗ conversations um us getting a sense of

32:24 ↗ what need is um and then whether it's

32:28 ↗ programmatic or whether it's

32:30 ↗ infrastructure and capital um how do we

32:33 ↗ start folding that into our system plan

32:36 ↗ or our six-year

32:37 ↗ CIP or our

32:40 ↗ budgeting process uh so uh in particular

32:43 ↗ Cricut is a great example uh because uh

32:46 ↗ we have been having some really good

32:48 ↗ conversations with that Community um and

32:52 ↗ understanding it's not um building any

32:54 ↗ Athletic Field here in town is not a um

32:58 ↗ quick Endeavor um so how do

33:01 ↗ we utilize our existing fields to to

33:04 ↗ meet that Cricket need currently and so

33:07 ↗ uh that group we have a group um renting

33:10 ↗ Central Park fields we've created some

33:12 ↗ modifications up at Central Park and

33:14 ↗ allowed Cricket pitches uh to be um sort

33:18 ↗ of accessible through the two soccer

33:19 ↗ fields um as you may know anyone at home

33:23 ↗ listening a typical Cricket pitch takes

33:25 ↗ two two full-size soccer fields so

33:28 ↗ imagine those two full-size soccer

33:29 ↗ fields with a a cricket pitch right in

33:31 ↗ between them um is what we're able to do

33:34 ↗ and so um we're continuing looking at

33:37 ↗ Innovation um programmatically or

33:39 ↗ infrastructure wise but it really starts

33:41 ↗ with those conversations um I would add

33:43 ↗ our I think our conversation with the

33:45 ↗ equity board was a great example because

33:47 ↗ that really the conversation started

33:50 ↗ with access um and information for

33:54 ↗ registering for our programs how do we

33:56 ↗ ensure that all the Community knows

33:59 ↗ what's available and has access to those

34:01 ↗ programs that quickly diverged into not

34:04 ↗ only a sort of a registration

34:06 ↗ conversation but also this very

34:08 ↗ conversation of

34:09 ↗ programmatic

34:11 ↗ um creating new programs creating

34:14 ↗ programs that are meeting um Community

34:17 ↗ um um all residents uh within within the

34:21 ↗ the the community so I would say that is

34:23 ↗ not going to be a one-time conversation

34:26 ↗ that really becomes uh perpetual and

34:29 ↗ kind of like we've been saying this the

34:31 ↗ idea of enhancing wreck programs is not

34:33 ↗ a well let's accomplish it in 2024 and

34:35 ↗ then we're done it really is that

34:37 ↗ mindset and posture moving

34:41 ↗ forward I I just I just wonder I mean I

34:44 ↗ used a cricket pitch as an example for

34:46 ↗ the South Asian Community we also have

34:48 ↗ an East Asian Community we have a

34:50 ↗ Hispanic community in town I happen to

34:53 ↗ know soccer is quite popular in Hispanic

34:56 ↗ Community because I got to watch uh

34:58 ↗ Argentina versus Colombia the Copa

35:01 ↗ Americana a couple weeks ago um but

35:03 ↗ there's other sports as well and so I

35:06 ↗ just I I just wonder how we know that

35:09 ↗ we've gotten the feedback in those

35:11 ↗ communities because those communities

35:13 ↗ are historically underrepresented at

35:15 ↗ City Council meetings right they don't

35:17 ↗ tend to write in as much and uh I just

35:20 ↗ don't know how we get confidence that

35:23 ↗ we've that we've teased out those input

35:26 ↗ rather than just the usual suspects

35:28 ↗ who've been coming to us for 50 years

35:30 ↗ for recreational opportunities schools

35:32 ↗ and soccer fields think it's a great

35:34 ↗ question and comment I I think there are

35:35 ↗ some metrics I think one very measurable

35:37 ↗ metric is participation what are we

35:39 ↗ seeing what what um who is participating

35:42 ↗ in our programs who is renting our

35:43 ↗ Fields who's using our Parks uh that's

35:46 ↗ something we really try and track and

35:48 ↗ and keep be aware of so I think for a

35:51 ↗ future meeting we could we could come

35:52 ↗ back with some of that feedback and

35:54 ↗ share with you what we're seeing and the

35:56 ↗ conversations we really having um

35:59 ↗ internally I think that be great I think

36:01 ↗ that that would help me personally just

36:03 ↗ understand uh that that would be good to

36:05 ↗ see who who is using the field and how

36:06 ↗ they use uh other questions council

36:10 ↗ member Joe thank you um I had a question

36:14 ↗ about uh um participation in terms of

36:17 ↗ the survey participation um we certainly

36:21 ↗ have an active website where people can

36:24 ↗ uh log on and then participate in the

36:27 ↗ the survey

36:28 ↗ do we do anything to actively try to

36:30 ↗ find participants when they're involved

36:33 ↗ in our programs or they're um at the end

36:36 ↗ of a season or any type of

36:39 ↗ um Outreach like that you talking about

36:42 ↗ like how did we get the survey out into

36:44 ↗ the hands of the

36:45 ↗ public yes partially um that's uh but um

36:50 ↗ I guess I'll use just my own experience

36:52 ↗ when I was um when my kid was playing

36:56 ↗ basketball um um yes I was probably mad

36:59 ↗ at the Reps when I was leaving but it

37:01 ↗ would be a great opportunity for me to

37:03 ↗ also do a survey on the basketball

37:06 ↗ program for instance and if there were a

37:08 ↗ QR code as I'm leaving the gym that I

37:12 ↗ could just scan and then have it on my

37:14 ↗ phone for later when I had some time to

37:16 ↗ fill it out or if we handed out little

37:19 ↗ sheets during uh some of the events or

37:22 ↗ at the end of the the uh wreck program

37:25 ↗ on a Wednesday afternoon with a QR code

37:27 ↗ so moms and dads can go home and fill it

37:29 ↗ out when they get home do we do anything

37:31 ↗ like that so that we can kind of capture

37:33 ↗ the people that are using the programs

37:36 ↗ and give them an opportunity to give

37:37 ↗ feedback yes and most of our programs

37:40 ↗ especially with our larger programs we

37:41 ↗ do a post program evaluation where we

37:43 ↗ reach out to the parents and coaches to

37:46 ↗ get feedback from them on the programs

37:48 ↗ um in particular with this uh Recreation

37:51 ↗ program surve survey you know we reached

37:53 ↗ out to everybody in our database that

37:55 ↗ was a participant so that was great so

37:57 ↗ Communications was a great help in

37:59 ↗ pushing out through all the social media

38:01 ↗ for some of our seniors we made hard

38:02 ↗ copies right because our sen some of our

38:04 ↗ seniors still working on hard copies

38:05 ↗ type of thing so we we set them up and

38:07 ↗ they some don't know how to so we

38:09 ↗ actually let them handr write stuff and

38:10 ↗ then they were inputed for them by the

38:12 ↗ staff at the community center we worked

38:13 ↗ with Monica negrilla and her team to try

38:16 ↗ to reach out some of those populations

38:17 ↗ that you're talking about shair marks

38:19 ↗ about the uh you know how do we try to

38:21 ↗ get it to some of those populations that

38:23 ↗ we're not maybe seeing or not as

38:24 ↗ familiar with but that they are so we

38:27 ↗ use that Human Services team and try to

38:28 ↗ leverage some of our Partnerships and

38:30 ↗ some of our friends to help push that

38:31 ↗ out to a variety of

38:34 ↗ people great I'm glad we're trying to

38:37 ↗ cast a wide net as uh the chairman

38:39 ↗ pointed out and hope we continue to do

38:41 ↗ that so that we can really get a good

38:43 ↗ hand on the handle on the opinions of

38:46 ↗ our community thank

38:48 ↗ you so I'm going to ask if there are any

38:50 ↗ other questions before we get to I'm

38:52 ↗ going to I'm actually going to see once

38:55 ↗ more if there's any public uh uh comment

38:58 ↗ before we get to the actual Direction

39:00 ↗ need toie any other questions we want to

39:01 ↗ ask before that nope all right so uh

39:06 ↗ clerk I will ask again uh is there any

39:08 ↗ indication that any members of the

39:10 ↗ public wish to speak on this topic chair

39:13 ↗ marks we have no members of the public

39:14 ↗ in attendance either in person or

39:16 ↗ virtually I'm sure they're just watching

39:18 ↗ at home and not on the on the web uh

39:21 ↗ okay so now to uh be back on these

39:25 ↗ rubrics

39:31 ↗ Deputy council president there we go um

39:35 ↗ well first of all appreciation for uh

39:37 ↗ the work that you do this is you know

39:40 ↗ one of our most popular departments and

39:42 ↗ and we love it um couple things I wanted

39:45 ↗ to point out um I think uh first of all

39:48 ↗ I was really pleased when you added

39:51 ↗ adaptive Recreation and just a reminder

39:55 ↗ that that is a significant diversity and

39:57 ↗ Equity uh addition um that serves a

40:01 ↗ specific population that really often is

40:04 ↗ overlooked and so I'm really really

40:06 ↗ pleased that that was added uh to your

40:09 ↗ programming from looking at that chart

40:12 ↗ with the survey question on it um it

40:15 ↗ seems to me that uh the biggest

40:19 ↗ complaint is that people can't get in

40:22 ↗ which is a pretty nice complaint in a

40:25 ↗ way um because uh I don't hear a lot of

40:28 ↗ dissatisfaction with what is going on or

40:32 ↗ problems with the programs themselves

40:34 ↗ I'm hearing I I wish that I could get my

40:37 ↗ kids into this I wish you know I could

40:39 ↗ get myself into um which is a big uh

40:43 ↗ problem because we're you know how do we

40:45 ↗ fund everything that we want to do um

40:48 ↗ but so you're commended for the quality

40:51 ↗ of the programming that you are

40:53 ↗ providing uh and I wish that we could

40:56 ↗ and I hope that we can find some ways to

40:58 ↗ uh expand the opportunities for people

41:00 ↗ in our community uh I share uh council

41:03 ↗ member Joe and uh chair Martin's concern

41:07 ↗ about um hearing from people that we

41:10 ↗ maybe don't ordinarily hear from and um

41:14 ↗ uh I'm sure that you're doing uh trying

41:16 ↗ really hard to do that but I think that

41:18 ↗ would be just a general concern that

41:20 ↗ this group and the whole Council would

41:22 ↗ would uh be interested in hearing more

41:25 ↗ about um I think there to see the

41:28 ↗ question was is there anything more that

41:30 ↗ you could be doing seems like you're

41:32 ↗ doing a whole lot already so I don't

41:34 ↗ have any further um considerations or um

41:39 ↗ additional feedback or Communications on

41:41 ↗ that um and uh as well for the I liked

41:47 ↗ what Brian had to say about sometimes

41:50 ↗ programs come to an end and we need to

41:52 ↗ review them and look where else we can

41:54 ↗ deploy um that's the sort of a

41:57 ↗ continuous Improvement approach to to

42:00 ↗ the programming and I think if that's in

42:02 ↗ place uh then you're being very alert to

42:05 ↗ the changing um needs and and uh

42:09 ↗ concerns of our community so I honestly

42:11 ↗ don't have anything to add to the

42:13 ↗ discussion I think you're doing a very

42:15 ↗ thorough job I'm thrilled with the

42:17 ↗ number of participants in this survey

42:19 ↗ and the ones on the pool oh my gosh that

42:23 ↗ is amazing uh when I was at King County

42:25 ↗ we did community outreach we would have

42:27 ↗ been thrilled with 1,200 responses on

42:29 ↗ many many of the surveys we did so uh

42:32 ↗ you are commended there as well so that

42:34 ↗ is my input thank you thank you council

42:38 ↗ member Joe thank you in terms of

42:40 ↗ additional feedback um I think you're

42:43 ↗ doing a great job trying to reach out to

42:45 ↗ the community and the hard-to-reach uh

42:48 ↗ populations uh whether it's those that

42:50 ↗ do adaptive Recreation or those that are

42:52 ↗ in our uh uh minority communities in in

42:57 ↗ town that may not be um actively uh

43:01 ↗ doing surveys or uh have it as part of

43:04 ↗ their day-to-day lives so to speak um

43:07 ↗ not that I sit around and fill out

43:08 ↗ surveys all day or anything but the the

43:11 ↗ point is that you're trying to do

43:12 ↗ everything you can to to reach out to

43:13 ↗ the the populations that are there and I

43:16 ↗ I do appreciate that it is going to

43:18 ↗ guide a number of our decisions going

43:20 ↗ forward in terms of the pool um where we

43:23 ↗ um do Park expansions or do we put a

43:26 ↗ second dog park out there and those type

43:28 ↗ of type of questions so I appreciate

43:30 ↗ that uh as we plan for the 25 26 budget

43:33 ↗ cycle um I'll just comment that parks

43:37 ↗ and wreck is not all about programs

43:39 ↗ necessarily um you have done some

43:42 ↗ fantastic improvements to Confluence

43:45 ↗ Park in terms of uh better Turf uh

43:50 ↗ putting um nice barriers on the creek so

43:53 ↗ that the the stream can go ahead and and

43:56 ↗ uh do what it does when it floods and

43:58 ↗ and provide the nutrition to the soil

44:00 ↗ that's supposed to be there um those

44:03 ↗ enhancements um are important and um

44:08 ↗ they're appreciated by those that aren't

44:10 ↗ necessarily in active wck programs but

44:13 ↗ like to use our parks and open spaces so

44:16 ↗ I would encourage you to uh continue to

44:18 ↗ find Smart economical ways to do those

44:21 ↗ improvements um I know that sometimes

44:23 ↗ you use volunteers for some of the

44:25 ↗ plantings just as an example and some of

44:27 ↗ the trail maintenance that you do so um

44:30 ↗ those type of improvements are seen by

44:32 ↗ the public and they're appreciated by

44:34 ↗ the people that aren't necessarily in

44:36 ↗ the active programs themselves so just

44:38 ↗ wanted to pass that on and have you um

44:40 ↗ please look out for opportunities to

44:41 ↗ continue that work thank you thank you

44:46 ↗ uh so just a couple of thoughts uh on

44:48 ↗ things thrilled to see Kathy Jones is

44:51 ↗ still over at the re Center uh my kids

44:54 ↗ uh you know you've you've all heard

44:57 ↗ before my daughter had a transformative

44:59 ↗ experience being associated with that

45:01 ↗ Rex uh with the rec center and of course

45:03 ↗ with the youth Advisory Board and our

45:06 ↗ partnership with the with the school

45:07 ↗ district there um can you I just if can

45:10 ↗ you go back to the slide that showed the

45:12 ↗ percentages for a second because there's

45:14 ↗ something in there that just makes my

45:17 ↗ weak uh there we go so oh no you're

45:22 ↗ there there we go so the senior center

45:25 ↗ programs um you know

45:27 ↗ I was on

45:29 ↗ Council seven years ago when uh you know

45:34 ↗ this is such an important program for um

45:38 ↗ such a critical program for a section of

45:40 ↗ our community and it was there was so

45:43 ↗ much uncertainty when we took over that

45:46 ↗ program and I just want to say thank you

45:48 ↗ so much to see such uh such knocking it

45:52 ↗ out of the park in such a vital program

45:54 ↗ that so many people are just so

45:56 ↗ concerned you know that if we drop the

45:58 ↗ ball this is a really vital part of

46:00 ↗ their lives and and a part of their days

46:02 ↗ so I just I just have to point that out

46:04 ↗ how how happy that makes me that seven

46:07 ↗ years later we we're chugging along so

46:08 ↗ well um I don't know if I have much to

46:11 ↗ add that I haven't already talked about

46:13 ↗ you know I I always just wonder you know

46:17 ↗ we have the folks who a lot of folks in

46:20 ↗ our community they get involved like

46:22 ↗ like me through PTA and their schools

46:25 ↗ and from schools they get involved in

46:27 ↗ you know whether it's soccer or or other

46:29 ↗ sports swimming whatnot that's a natural

46:32 ↗ conduit for those folks to get involved

46:34 ↗ and let you all know what they want and

46:36 ↗ you know for folks that don't have kids

46:38 ↗ that come through the schools or that

46:40 ↗ don't get involved in some of those

46:42 ↗ structured activities I just always

46:44 ↗ wonder you know how where they're at 1

46:46 ↗ 12200 is certainly a great number and

46:48 ↗ that's a a non-trivial fraction of all

46:50 ↗ the households in in the in the

46:52 ↗ community right uh but uh uh you know I

46:56 ↗ just encourage continue to look for

46:59 ↗ opportunities to to uh as we said tease

47:02 ↗ out um where where the interests are you

47:05 ↗ know parks are such a key element in how

47:10 ↗ we see ourselves as a community right

47:13 ↗ you know we talk so much about the the

47:16 ↗ the core issues of you know water coming

47:18 ↗ out of the tap and things flushing and

47:20 ↗ you know being able to call the police

47:22 ↗ and call fire department but you know

47:24 ↗ with Parks you really get into the more

47:25 ↗ aspirational side and you get Beyond

47:28 ↗ those those you know what are just the

47:30 ↗ basics of daily life into the the parts

47:32 ↗ that really make life sweet and we're so

47:35 ↗ blessed uh with the natural resources

47:37 ↗ that we have here and you all I think do

47:39 ↗ a great job of uh leveraging that in how

47:43 ↗ and how we build our recreational

47:45 ↗ programs and Parks programs here so I

47:47 ↗ don't have a lot to add I I think this

47:49 ↗ was this is good data uh I'll look I'll

47:51 ↗ be excited as you continue to you know

47:54 ↗ to build off of it and come back to us

47:56 ↗ for with uh further

47:58 ↗ programs I don't I I think oh yeah

48:02 ↗ please round

48:03 ↗ two yeah I uh when on the farmers market

48:06 ↗ I think you said you know this is great

48:08 ↗ uh data from our community and I just

48:11 ↗ want to share that when I'm on my

48:13 ↗ regional committees or meeting with

48:14 ↗ regional people I can't tell you how

48:17 ↗ many times you know people will say oh

48:19 ↗ you have the greatest Farmers Market

48:21 ↗ isqua is the greatest farmers market or

48:24 ↗ I come over to isqua because I go to

48:26 ↗ your Farmers Market it really is a

48:29 ↗ highlight for our region and and not

48:32 ↗ just you know isqua it is a beautifully

48:35 ↗ run um you know really well well well

48:38 ↗ done farmers market and so anyway I mean

48:42 ↗ we could praise we could go through

48:43 ↗ should we go through each one of these

48:45 ↗ programs and praise them but uh I think

48:47 ↗ like you said Farmers Market that's a a

48:49 ↗ really nice affirmation from our

48:51 ↗ community but I hear very much the same

48:54 ↗ thing from Regional people as well

48:58 ↗ so at this point I will turn to City

48:59 ↗ administrator Bob quits and ask the

49:02 ↗ question which is have you gotten the

49:03 ↗ feedback you were looking for from us on

49:05 ↗ this item yes thank you U appreciate the

49:08 ↗ the committee's uh discussions as we

49:11 ↗ look at budget for 2526 it's important

49:13 ↗ to get this important feedback so thank

49:16 ↗ you Brian yeah thank you no and thank

49:19 ↗ you for the accolades much appreciated

49:21 ↗ but I I would like to point out you know

49:22 ↗ none of this happens without you all it

49:25 ↗ doesn't happen out without your support

49:26 ↗ without the support of our

49:27 ↗ Administration and honestly it's so many

49:29 ↗ hands it's all the different departments

49:31 ↗ I mean we work with Communications and

49:33 ↗ public works and park Ops and Facilities

49:35 ↗ I mean every Department in the city

49:37 ↗ often helps with a variety of our

49:39 ↗ programming in one way shape or another

49:42 ↗ and it wouldn't happen if it weren't for

49:43 ↗ the many hands are involved so thank you

49:45 ↗ for your

49:46 ↗ support and thanks for coming in uh this

49:49 ↗ evening to talk to us now with that

49:51 ↗ we're going to move on to co

49:54 ↗ 0048 Urban Forest management plan update

49:57 ↗ with Dan Heins our Urban Forest

49:59 ↗ supervisor with parks and Community

50:02 ↗ Services as Dan is making his way up I'd

50:04 ↗ love to give an introduction as well

50:06 ↗ Jeff Watling again uh thank you so much

50:09 ↗ uh great conversation tonight uh you may

50:11 ↗ recall in the 2018 adopted Park

50:15 ↗ strategic plan uh one of the key

50:17 ↗ operational goals was to initiate Urban

50:20 ↗ Forest Urban Forest management and the

50:22 ↗ green isqua program uh thanks so much to

50:25 ↗ your support um green isqua is growing

50:29 ↗ and quite frankly thriving um in its uh

50:32 ↗ work um and we've also hired last year

50:35 ↗ our first urban Forest manager Dan hints

50:38 ↗ who will be coming up and and giving

50:39 ↗ this overview one of one of Dan's first

50:42 ↗ tasks was to Endeavor into this work in

50:45 ↗ crafting U working with the community to

50:48 ↗ create the city's first urban Forest uh

50:50 ↗ management plan and he's done a great

50:52 ↗ job leading this effort um and also done

50:55 ↗ so much in the field already uh when you

50:57 ↗ look at our parks and Open Spaces um we

51:00 ↗ talk about as I said earlier we invest

51:02 ↗ in places um our well over 1500 Acres of

51:06 ↗ open space does not take care of itself

51:07 ↗ alone and so thank you for your support

51:10 ↗ getting ahead of this understanding the

51:12 ↗ importance of our Urban Forest truly

51:14 ↗ managing and stewarding that Urban

51:15 ↗ Forest um it's a responsibility uh that

51:18 ↗ we have now and and well into the future

51:21 ↗ um what you'll also hear tonight is

51:23 ↗ there are multiple benefits of that

51:24 ↗ Forest the benefits that it gives us for

51:26 ↗ livability the benefits it gives um to

51:30 ↗ Wildlife the benefits it gives to

51:32 ↗ climate um are are really really key so

51:35 ↗ I'm proud to introduce Dan hints come on

51:37 ↗ up and uh give this overview thanks for

51:40 ↗ that chance to give an intro thank you

51:42 ↗ director wling Dan hint I apologize for

51:45 ↗ getting your name slightly wrong there

51:56 ↗ Jeff thank you for the introduction

51:58 ↗ Council thank you for having me here

51:59 ↗ tonight to um present on the development

52:02 ↗ of the city's first urban Forest

52:03 ↗ management plan uh before I kind of dive

52:06 ↗ in I I do want to mention that Chris

52:07 ↗ pyer our lead consultant with Planet Geo

52:10 ↗ is uh attending virtually he'll be

52:12 ↗ available during the question and answer

52:13 ↗ session if there are some things that he

52:15 ↗ might have a little bit more uh

52:16 ↗ information to weigh on than I do so hi

52:19 ↗ Chris thanks for joining us um as Jeff

52:22 ↗ mentioned you know my my role was

52:23 ↗ created about a year and a half ago I've

52:25 ↗ I've been in this role year and a few

52:27 ↗ months now um and that was really the

52:29 ↗ start of the city investing in uh the

52:31 ↗ development of our um you know first

52:33 ↗ formal urban forestry program and really

52:36 ↗ a foundational piece of any Urban Forest

52:39 ↗ program is having an urban Forest

52:41 ↗ management plan essentially having a

52:42 ↗ plan that serves as a road map and a

52:45 ↗ guide um to build this program uh that

52:48 ↗ will support the long-term um health of

52:50 ↗ our Urban Forest as Jeff kind of

52:52 ↗ mentioned promoting and enhancing uh the

52:55 ↗ multitude of benefits trees and Forest

52:57 ↗ provide our community uh and we'll get

52:59 ↗ into those a little bit more in the next

53:00 ↗ few slides but obviously that's

53:01 ↗ environmental that's economic that's

53:04 ↗ social and you know certainly health

53:05 ↗ benefits to um that that our trees

53:08 ↗ provide here in

53:15 ↗ isqua um so kind of purpose of the

53:17 ↗ presentation tonight is to provide the

53:20 ↗ services safety and Parks committee an

53:22 ↗ update and seek input from the committee

53:23 ↗ on the progress to date our draft vision

53:26 ↗ statement for the urban Forest

53:28 ↗ management plan and five guiding

53:30 ↗ principles that we've developed uh that

53:32 ↗ will really kind of organize the

53:33 ↗ framework of the plan uh and you know

53:36 ↗ have uh sets of goals and strategies uh

53:39 ↗ for each of those guiding

53:42 ↗ principles so the direction needed and

53:45 ↗ and similar I'm sure you all are

53:46 ↗ normally aware of this the slide will

53:47 ↗ come back at the end here but um seeking

53:50 ↗ direction from the committee on um

53:52 ↗ specifically any additional feedback for

53:54 ↗ staff to consider while finalizing the

53:56 ↗ draft plan um and are there any

53:58 ↗ additional considerations for the park

54:00 ↗ board uh to study analyze prior to their

54:03 ↗ recommendation of the plan to city

54:05 ↗ council that should have been later this

54:08 ↗ fall I think that slide uh didn't get

54:10 ↗ updated there apologies for that so

54:12 ↗ looking it fall and we'll have a

54:13 ↗ timeline update here um so we started

54:16 ↗ working with Planet Geo back in uh under

54:19 ↗ contract back in October of 2023 and we

54:22 ↗ kind of have four um kind of main steps

54:25 ↗ along the process of development this

54:26 ↗ plan um I'll get in these a little bit

54:28 ↗ more detail as we kind of wrap up

54:30 ↗ process and inputs that led to the

54:32 ↗ vision statement and The Guiding

54:33 ↗ principles that we've developed to date

54:35 ↗ uh but initially that was a little bit

54:37 ↗ more behind the scenes focusing on you

54:39 ↗ know what we call Baseline assessment um

54:42 ↗ that is really you know kind of

54:43 ↗ reviewing a lot of the existing plans

54:45 ↗ policies uh city ordinances and code as

54:47 ↗ it relates to trees in isqua um at the

54:50 ↗ end of last year as we kind of turned

54:52 ↗ the calendar into 2024 we really focused

54:55 ↗ on internal staff survey and engagement

54:57 ↗ uh the public uh Outreach process chair

55:00 ↗ marks it's great to hear that yeah the

55:02 ↗ public data we we'll kind of highlight

55:03 ↗ here over the next couple slides and had

55:05 ↗ a lot of good uh feedback from our

55:06 ↗ community uh in in March and early April

55:09 ↗ as part of that process um and started

55:11 ↗ to bring in this primarily have been

55:12 ↗ bringing this to the park board and

55:13 ↗ environmental board uh multiple touch

55:16 ↗ points with both those boards uh since

55:18 ↗ the fall and more to come um we are kind

55:21 ↗ of wrapping up the third phase here of

55:23 ↗ goals and strategies and that's where we

55:25 ↗ have this um you know draft plan coming

55:28 ↗ with our our um excuse me our draft

55:32 ↗ vision and guiding principles uh and

55:34 ↗ then we'll have the plan development and

55:36 ↗ delivery here by the end of September um

55:39 ↗ and that will go to the park board at

55:40 ↗ the end of September the goal with

55:41 ↗ recommendation to bring back to this

55:43 ↗ committee and to uh full Council um

55:45 ↗ hopefully sometime in November possibly

55:48 ↗ December the goal is to have this

55:49 ↗ wrapped up definitely before the end of

55:50 ↗ this

55:52 ↗ year some of those kind of sub bullets

55:54 ↗ on the last one I'll get into a little

55:55 ↗ bit more on a on a future slide here um

55:57 ↗ but the next two slides do get into

55:59 ↗ public feedback as part of our uh

56:02 ↗ community outreach process uh kind of

56:04 ↗ late winter early spring this year um we

56:07 ↗ had a survey that we shared out through

56:09 ↗ our type form platform working with our

56:11 ↗ Communications team and Planet Geo to

56:13 ↗ design that survey uh we had 235

56:16 ↗ responses um some information here on

56:18 ↗ kind of uh demographics in terms of uh

56:21 ↗ parts of the city I think you know it

56:23 ↗ was pretty well spread out but uh you

56:24 ↗ know the highest was on squawk Mountain

56:26 ↗ 17% fair amount from Isel Highlands at

56:29 ↗ 11% and you know a fair amount of people

56:31 ↗ didn't provide a geographic response uh

56:33 ↗ to the survey too um I know Chris kind

56:36 ↗ of mentioned too that uh you know he was

56:38 ↗ kind of excited to see that there's a

56:39 ↗ little bit better representation from I

56:41 ↗ guess Millennials on this one at 40% as

56:43 ↗ often you know the percentage of 55 and

56:45 ↗ older is a little bit higher in surveys

56:47 ↗ like this so I think that was good to

56:49 ↗ see as part of this plan but you can see

56:50 ↗ in the upper right uh corner there of

56:52 ↗ this slide a little bit of a breakdown

56:54 ↗ on uh the ages of responses as we got

56:56 ↗ through the survey 3% under 18 could

56:59 ↗ have could have done a little bit better

57:00 ↗ there but we had a little bit of the the

57:01 ↗ youth voice and and some more direct

57:03 ↗ targeted meetings um with isqua garage

57:05 ↗ and and a few other kind of Youth

57:06 ↗ related groups in isqua too so um this

57:11 ↗ is the final uh kind of graphic on this

57:13 ↗ slide um is a little unrelated to the

57:15 ↗ demographics and gets into um a

57:18 ↗ partnership that uh we did with the

57:20 ↗ University of Washington Evans School uh

57:22 ↗ they have Consulting teams if you're

57:24 ↗ familiar with that the you need that are

57:25 ↗ graduating

57:26 ↗ uh students Masters in public policy um

57:29 ↗ so I I partnered on this with David REI

57:31 ↗ with our sustainability team here in

57:32 ↗ isqua and really looking as different um

57:36 ↗ opportunities to try to meet our 55%

57:39 ↗ canopy goal in our isqua climate action

57:41 ↗ plan how do we as a city you know better

57:43 ↗ invest uh you know not just on our

57:45 ↗ public parks and Open Spaces but also on

57:47 ↗ private properties here in here in isqua

57:50 ↗ so the survey also if people you know

57:52 ↗ said they were able to plant trees on

57:54 ↗ private property kind of their interest

57:56 ↗ level um their Knowledge and Skills to

57:58 ↗ do that we we learned that there's a lot

58:00 ↗ of like hey we want to do this we just

58:01 ↗ don't know quite how or quite how to you

58:03 ↗ know select the right species or care

58:05 ↗ for trees um and then really kind of

58:06 ↗ developed you know kind of what the

58:08 ↗ scale of a program like this could look

58:10 ↗ like and this is something we're hoping

58:11 ↗ to implement in launch in Fall of 2025

58:14 ↗ with our sustainability team and and I

58:16 ↗ think we have I think we have a question

58:17 ↗ from the deputy council president yes

58:19 ↗ yeah so uh I I and U Russell Joe also we

58:23 ↗ live in multif family um and so did did

58:26 ↗ you approach multifam uh Condominiums

58:29 ↗ and apartments to see if any of those

58:32 ↗ complexes would like to add trees to

58:33 ↗ their properties as part of the um Evans

58:36 ↗ School research there was some of that

58:38 ↗ it was a little hard to track down

58:40 ↗ Management on some of these especially

58:42 ↗ in a little bit shorter time frame we

58:43 ↗ had a little bit better success granted

58:45 ↗ more single family with some of the

58:47 ↗ larger HOAs in the city um but yeah so

58:50 ↗ also looking at commercial properties

58:52 ↗ too as part of that uh research with the

58:54 ↗ Evans team and and you know trying to

58:55 ↗ kind of figure out how that process

58:57 ↗ could look um but yeah I would say it

58:59 ↗ was definitely a little bit more skewed

59:00 ↗ to single family yeah all right well

59:02 ↗ yeah but thank you for making the effort

59:04 ↗ and I uh I think that would be a good

59:06 ↗ thing to pursue as well because you know

59:08 ↗ a lot of them have open land that could

59:11 ↗ be treed so yes yeah thank you thank you

59:15 ↗ um so moving forward into a little bit

59:16 ↗ more of the uh you know kind of content

59:19 ↗ that came out of the public survey uh

59:21 ↗ kind of starting in the top left uh

59:23 ↗ quadrant there uh we're kind of primary

59:26 ↗ concerns or issues we heard from the

59:27 ↗ public um 35% invasive plants and

59:31 ↗ species you know that's something that's

59:32 ↗ on top top of mind for people and

59:34 ↗ obviously a big part of our green isqua

59:36 ↗ program trying to address the impacts

59:37 ↗ that our invasive plant species have on

59:39 ↗ our uh Forest here in isqua um wildfires

59:43 ↗ and harmful tree pest or diseases is

59:45 ↗ also high up there at 20% um lots of

59:48 ↗ questions on you know what we're doing

59:49 ↗ to prepare for Wildfire what Forest

59:51 ↗ management looks like as part of that uh

59:53 ↗ need um it was really neat this actually

59:56 ↗ this past weekend we partnered with

59:57 ↗ Jared Schneider the city's emergency

59:59 ↗ response manager on the first chipper

1:00:01 ↗ days up on squawk mountain and squawk

1:00:03 ↗ Mountain Loop and you know while we met

1:00:06 ↗ with 10 homes and you know hauled out a

1:00:08 ↗ fair amount of material you know really

1:00:09 ↗ the goal was also just kind of education

1:00:11 ↗ Outreach and I think kind of building

1:00:12 ↗ that Goodwill that neighborhood that you

1:00:14 ↗ know does have a lot of concerns you

1:00:16 ↗ know where they're located up there

1:00:17 ↗ around Wildfire so I think that was a

1:00:18 ↗ really neat collaboration and hopefully

1:00:20 ↗ a model we can build off of you know

1:00:22 ↗ Pest and disease you hear a lot about

1:00:23 ↗ Emerald ashore which is something that

1:00:25 ↗ has justed started to make its way to

1:00:26 ↗ the Northwest it has decimated whole

1:00:29 ↗ populations of ash trees in the Midwest

1:00:30 ↗ and the east coast and they've just

1:00:32 ↗ identified it in Portland and Vancouver

1:00:34 ↗ so it's likely in Washington and kind of

1:00:35 ↗ a matter of time uh till we till we find

1:00:38 ↗ that here in isqua in the in County area

1:00:40 ↗ so really trying to prepare for these

1:00:42 ↗ things get ahead of the curve and and

1:00:43 ↗ you know kind of partner uh with

1:00:45 ↗ regional and you know State

1:00:46 ↗ organizations on kind of best practices

1:00:48 ↗ for obviously Wildfire preparedness and

1:00:50 ↗ and Pest and diseases uh infrastructure

1:00:53 ↗ damage definitely came up um you know

1:00:55 ↗ working sidewalk conflicts with trees

1:00:57 ↗ there uh trees and tree limbs falling so

1:00:59 ↗ essentially tree risk risk assessment

1:01:01 ↗ and kind of management we're doing there

1:01:02 ↗ as it relates to our trees can I just

1:01:05 ↗ pause it just for a second so when you

1:01:07 ↗ were talking about that Ash Bor yes um

1:01:09 ↗ I'm I'm from the Twin Cities and we had

1:01:13 ↗ Majestic Elms on every Street in

1:01:15 ↗ Minneapolis right and they all came down

1:01:18 ↗ because of Dutch Elm dise is there is

1:01:21 ↗ there some way that we're doing urban

1:01:24 ↗ forestry that is making us particularly

1:01:28 ↗ at risk for these sorts of

1:01:31 ↗ uni uh species like this I mean like I

1:01:36 ↗ have to imagine that in Minneapolis if

1:01:37 ↗ we hadn't had been so reliant on Elms we

1:01:40 ↗ would Dutch Elm wouldn't have torn

1:01:42 ↗ through the the community as much as it

1:01:44 ↗ did is there other lessons from things

1:01:47 ↗ like this ashp I I think so definitely

1:01:50 ↗ um you know and I'll touch on this on in

1:01:52 ↗ the next slide here a need for a tree

1:01:54 ↗ inventory and essentially knowing what

1:01:56 ↗ the composition of species or that's at

1:01:58 ↗ the genus level you know step up from

1:02:00 ↗ species uh that are generally going to

1:02:02 ↗ be you know susceptible to some of these

1:02:04 ↗ pests and diseases so there's there's a

1:02:06 ↗ pretty strong rule of thumb today uh you

1:02:08 ↗ know obviously species diversity more

1:02:10 ↗ tree diversity not relying too heavily

1:02:13 ↗ cities plant ashes and Maples like crazy

1:02:15 ↗ and you know I think we're realizing

1:02:16 ↗ that we should be kind of backing off

1:02:18 ↗ and looking at you know diversifying the

1:02:20 ↗ species and you'll see rules of thumb of

1:02:21 ↗ trying not to have more than 10% from

1:02:24 ↗ the same gener of plants uh like The Ash

1:02:27 ↗ Family so that's something I think we're

1:02:28 ↗ learning that it doesn't mean that

1:02:30 ↗ you're not going to lose that 10% but

1:02:32 ↗ it's not going to have the you know kind

1:02:33 ↗ of monumental consequences that Dutch

1:02:35 ↗ elm disease or before that the American

1:02:37 ↗ chestnut blight you know in the early

1:02:39 ↗ part of the 20th century had where there

1:02:41 ↗ were such uh ubiquitous uh you know

1:02:43 ↗ Street trees that just got wiped out so

1:02:45 ↗ then also it's you know how we spread

1:02:47 ↗ these as vectors prop proper pruning

1:02:49 ↗ techniques you know there's a lot of

1:02:50 ↗ guidance on when to prune and work with

1:02:52 ↗ ash trees when it's less likely to

1:02:53 ↗ spread the uh uh the The Beatles you

1:02:56 ↗ know during their you know kind of

1:02:58 ↗ active season so learning but I wouldn't

1:03:01 ↗ say learning to the point where we we

1:03:02 ↗ can avoid this necessarily it's kind of

1:03:04 ↗ minimizing or mitigating the the impacts

1:03:06 ↗ it has do we have risks on our hillsides

1:03:09 ↗ because I I think of my own property and

1:03:10 ↗ I think it's primarily Furs and Maples

1:03:14 ↗ um when these in these second and third

1:03:17 ↗ uh growth uh Forest that we have I mean

1:03:20 ↗ squawk got you know harvested 100 years

1:03:23 ↗ ago and they they planted on it do we

1:03:25 ↗ have are these uh you know I I think

1:03:28 ↗ those two I think those two genuses

1:03:31 ↗ represent probably 80% of the trees on

1:03:33 ↗ my property yeah that's that's a great

1:03:35 ↗ question and yeah we do have a native

1:03:37 ↗ species of Ash but it is not real common

1:03:39 ↗ you see it a little bit more in Wetlands

1:03:41 ↗ kind of lower part of the valley really

1:03:42 ↗ not in the forested hill size much at

1:03:43 ↗ all so we do have some along is AA Creek

1:03:46 ↗ but it's it's a small fraction of our

1:03:48 ↗ kind of native tree uh composition um

1:03:50 ↗ and then some of the species you're

1:03:51 ↗ talking about I mean there's certainly

1:03:53 ↗ naturally occurring diseases in pests

1:03:55 ↗ that can have is isues you know

1:03:56 ↗ laminated root Watts one with a lot of

1:03:58 ↗ our conifers Douglas fur Grand fur um

1:04:01 ↗ you know so there are issues that kind

1:04:02 ↗ of small populations can cause um you

1:04:05 ↗ know some some die off or need to remove

1:04:07 ↗ to keep things from spreading but you

1:04:08 ↗ know luckily we're not dealing with the

1:04:09 ↗ issues of like the Japanese pine beetle

1:04:12 ↗ a lot of the Mountain West is seeing or

1:04:13 ↗ things that are you know really wiping

1:04:14 ↗ out large scale uh you know native tree

1:04:18 ↗ populations in our in in the Cascades or

1:04:20 ↗ Foothills here obviously climate's

1:04:21 ↗ another conversation we'll talk about

1:04:23 ↗ here a little bit too but um right thank

1:04:25 ↗ you

1:04:26 ↗ sure um so and then the last sorry

1:04:30 ↗ council member Joe thank you um could

1:04:33 ↗ you uh go back one slide

1:04:36 ↗ please um the lower right hand corner we

1:04:39 ↗ talked about level of interest in

1:04:40 ↗ planting more trees on their property

1:04:42 ↗ you just touched on the climate concern

1:04:45 ↗ and uh we do talk about having the right

1:04:48 ↗ tree in the right place can make a big

1:04:51 ↗ difference in terms of you know the

1:04:52 ↗ sidewalk getting disrupted um you know

1:04:56 ↗ gutter problems for for houses has there

1:04:59 ↗ been kind of the next question beyond

1:05:01 ↗ the the survey results has there been a

1:05:03 ↗ discussion about either right tree in

1:05:06 ↗ the right place kind of touching on the

1:05:08 ↗ Chairman's questions or has there been a

1:05:11 ↗ discussion about um educating the public

1:05:13 ↗ about what trees might be best in our

1:05:16 ↗ changing

1:05:18 ↗ climate absolutely discussions are on

1:05:21 ↗ the way but I wouldn't say we're at the

1:05:22 ↗ point yet where we're you know um have

1:05:25 ↗ have the tools to communicate that

1:05:26 ↗ adequately to the public but I think

1:05:28 ↗ that is going to be informed a lot by

1:05:30 ↗ this Urban Forest management plan and

1:05:31 ↗ certainly some of the goals you're

1:05:32 ↗ seeing a lot of bigger cities like

1:05:34 ↗ Vancouver Seattle Portland essentially

1:05:36 ↗ develop climate adapted tree species

1:05:38 ↗ lists so essentially selecting species

1:05:40 ↗ through the lens of you know what's

1:05:42 ↗ which ones we think are going to be more

1:05:43 ↗ adapted to our changing climates versus

1:05:45 ↗ which ones we're seeing fail obviously a

1:05:47 ↗ lot of that is you know size for

1:05:48 ↗ planting space we we do have a lot of

1:05:50 ↗ trees that we put in inadequate planting

1:05:52 ↗ spaces especially in our Urban Villages

1:05:54 ↗ like Talis and is Highlands where we're

1:05:56 ↗ seeing those now 20 or 30 years starting

1:05:58 ↗ to cause a lot of these infrastructure

1:05:59 ↗ issues and even fail and some you know

1:06:01 ↗ storm conditions because of inadequate

1:06:04 ↗ planting space so it's you know it's

1:06:05 ↗ tough because the public loves those big

1:06:07 ↗ Majestic Ash and oak trees on Park Drive

1:06:09 ↗ but we also are causing a lot of

1:06:12 ↗ sidewalk you know lifting there too and

1:06:13 ↗ trying to figure out like do we need to

1:06:15 ↗ downsize you know H how that would be

1:06:17 ↗ received by the public and these are

1:06:18 ↗ definitely conversations we've been

1:06:19 ↗ having with ISO Highlands Community

1:06:21 ↗ Association and and generally they're

1:06:23 ↗ worse in the um Foothills and the valley

1:06:25 ↗ where we have much better soil and

1:06:27 ↗ deeper soil than the kind of glacial

1:06:29 ↗ till of the of the hillsides we have

1:06:31 ↗ where it's just really shallow and then

1:06:32 ↗ obviously it's been scraped a lot by

1:06:34 ↗ development so um so hopefully that

1:06:36 ↗ answers your question council member Joe

1:06:38 ↗ but it definitely definitely a big part

1:06:40 ↗ generally in the urban forestry field

1:06:42 ↗ and certainly what we're working on here

1:06:43 ↗ in isqua yeah thank you I just hope that

1:06:45 ↗ we can integrate it into our education

1:06:47 ↗ so that we can um have a healthy tree

1:06:50 ↗ canopy appreciate it thank you

1:06:51 ↗ absolutely thank

1:06:53 ↗ you jumping back to to this slide here

1:06:56 ↗ the last one kind of on concerns is

1:06:58 ↗ certainly navigating the tree permitting

1:07:00 ↗ process and regulation especially with

1:07:01 ↗ our updated tree preservation code of

1:07:03 ↗ last June so that's something I'm also

1:07:05 ↗ you know trying to work on with

1:07:06 ↗ Community planning department on how we

1:07:08 ↗ can do more education there um bottom

1:07:12 ↗ left there these kind of get at the

1:07:13 ↗ actions or initiatives that were uh you

1:07:15 ↗ know kind of prioritized by the public

1:07:18 ↗ survey here uh keeping mind they were

1:07:20 ↗ able to answer or select more than one

1:07:22 ↗ um answer here so these of course don't

1:07:24 ↗ add up to 100% but you can kind of see

1:07:26 ↗ how they're weighted relative to each

1:07:27 ↗ other um and I think people want to see

1:07:30 ↗ all of this you know is is what we kind

1:07:31 ↗ of are finding here you know from

1:07:33 ↗ obviously more public education and

1:07:34 ↗ raising awareness as as we were just

1:07:36 ↗ talking about as it relates to the

1:07:37 ↗ climate change uh data driven management

1:07:39 ↗ approaches incentivizing Tree Care and

1:07:41 ↗ planting on private property we talked

1:07:43 ↗ about that briefly with that udub Evans

1:07:45 ↗ um uh partnership we had this uh first

1:07:48 ↗ half of this year uh increased tree

1:07:50 ↗ planting in underserved areas and

1:07:51 ↗ development of green infrastructure and

1:07:53 ↗ spaces Open Spaces which I think really

1:07:55 ↗ ties to some of the priorities in the

1:07:57 ↗ park system plan too around connectivity

1:07:59 ↗ and and and connections through trails

1:08:00 ↗ and green spaces and more maintained

1:08:02 ↗ Park

1:08:03 ↗ areas um the importance of Engagement

1:08:07 ↗ public engagement initiatives uh these

1:08:09 ↗ were the ones that ranked highest as

1:08:10 ↗ very important uh volunteer events and

1:08:13 ↗ you know we've really done a lot of work

1:08:14 ↗ growing green isqua uh and have our you

1:08:16 ↗ know um green isqua volunteer

1:08:18 ↗ coordinator we had over 3,000 volunteer

1:08:20 ↗ hours last year and are well on track to

1:08:22 ↗ surpass that number this year that's a

1:08:24 ↗ program that we've been really proud to

1:08:25 ↗ see how we've really kind of run with

1:08:27 ↗ that and are dedicating um or have

1:08:29 ↗ dedicated volunteers our forest stewards

1:08:31 ↗ that are ongoing volunteers and adopt

1:08:33 ↗ areas and lead some of their own events

1:08:35 ↗ so that's been really really great to

1:08:36 ↗ see that take off but still room for

1:08:38 ↗ growth there uh Workforce Development

1:08:40 ↗ training and job placement that one was

1:08:42 ↗ interesting to see it as much support as

1:08:44 ↗ it does um or it did here in the survey

1:08:46 ↗ um that's obviously an area for growth

1:08:48 ↗ but we have been working with Gibson

1:08:50 ↗ we're trying to make more progress with

1:08:51 ↗ ISO high school we had two interns

1:08:53 ↗ through Gibson last year with our Urban

1:08:55 ↗ forestry program and have worked with a

1:08:57 ↗ lot of their design Labs um and really

1:08:59 ↗ uh have some room to grow with with ISO

1:09:01 ↗ high school as well in terms of

1:09:03 ↗ connecting with some of their

1:09:04 ↗ environmental programming uh and then

1:09:06 ↗ last but not least is contributing to

1:09:07 ↗ Citizen science so I think this is

1:09:08 ↗ really interesting in local research

1:09:10 ↗ efforts we have uh really been taking on

1:09:12 ↗ the coexisting with carnivores effort uh

1:09:14 ↗ as part of our Urban forest team and

1:09:16 ↗ really educating around uh you know

1:09:18 ↗ these animals that live and how we can

1:09:20 ↗ best coexist with them in our community

1:09:21 ↗ here and some of that is carnivore

1:09:23 ↗ spotter actually our park rangers our

1:09:25 ↗ regular working with people from the

1:09:26 ↗ public to educate on you know what to do

1:09:28 ↗ what not to do and how to document some

1:09:30 ↗ of these observations and it was really

1:09:31 ↗ neat to our green as a cordinator this

1:09:33 ↗ year worked with Wen Park Zoo to

1:09:35 ↗ continue amphibian studies on um

1:09:38 ↗ tradition Plateau at Round Lake with

1:09:39 ↗ volunteers uh twice a month for most of

1:09:41 ↗ the spring months there's a lot of

1:09:43 ↗ amphibians that use Round Lake as a um

1:09:46 ↗ uh their their essentially their

1:09:48 ↗ breeding grounds so um so but lots lots

1:09:51 ↗ of room for growth on this stuff too so

1:09:53 ↗ um last is the vision for the Urban

1:09:55 ↗ Forest uh the top response was serving

1:09:57 ↗ as a refuge for wildlife and

1:09:59 ↗ biodiversity which we've touched on

1:10:01 ↗ contributing to environmental health and

1:10:02 ↗ air quality expanding the Green Space

1:10:04 ↗ Network combating climate change which

1:10:06 ↗ we talked about briefly and then

1:10:07 ↗ preserving the city's historical

1:10:09 ↗ identity I interpreted that as you know

1:10:11 ↗ people view this place as Big Trees

1:10:13 ↗ Forest Rivers connections to lakes and

1:10:16 ↗ you know really wanting to make sure we

1:10:18 ↗ you know maintain that and balance that

1:10:19 ↗ with obviously people needing to live

1:10:21 ↗ people needing to get around uh the city

1:10:23 ↗ too

1:10:25 ↗ um so moving to the next two slides uh

1:10:27 ↗ or an update on our sorry oh hold on

1:10:29 ↗ more council member Joe thank you before

1:10:32 ↗ you you leave that last slide

1:10:34 ↗ um serves as a refuge for wildlife and

1:10:38 ↗ biodiversity and then um also the the

1:10:42 ↗ subject you talked about in terms of

1:10:43 ↗ living with carnivores um looking at um

1:10:48 ↗ you know what we're doing for wildlife

1:10:50 ↗ passage uh over I90 as we head up you

1:10:53 ↗ know over the past um

1:10:56 ↗ have we thought about or do we have a

1:10:59 ↗ urban a forest Corridor for our Wildlife

1:11:03 ↗ that we've thought about and um I'll

1:11:06 ↗ just reflect on I I used to live at the

1:11:08 ↗ end of Mount Everest Lane and uh the

1:11:11 ↗ city recently brought bought a property

1:11:13 ↗ that was close to uh my uh old house and

1:11:17 ↗ uh I was happy that they did that

1:11:19 ↗ because it often was a corridor for

1:11:22 ↗ Bears going through and bobcats and and

1:11:24 ↗ the deer

1:11:25 ↗ um has there been any thought to U

1:11:28 ↗ making sure that we have a a forest

1:11:31 ↗ highway so to speak for our Wildlife so

1:11:33 ↗ that they can uh stay safe and apart

1:11:36 ↗ from humans and and the cars and the

1:11:38 ↗ vehicles that could do them

1:11:42 ↗ harm i' I've had some preliminary

1:11:45 ↗ conversations Jee I don't know if you

1:11:46 ↗ have anything to weigh in on that or

1:11:47 ↗ maybe a little bit later here I have

1:11:50 ↗ thoughts but you know one area I think

1:11:52 ↗ you know obviously we're going to talk

1:11:52 ↗ in a couple slides here about our

1:11:54 ↗ riparian canopy and analysis and

1:11:55 ↗ riparian areas certainly as a wildlife

1:11:58 ↗ Corridor but I think there's certainly

1:11:59 ↗ needs connecting between the isqua elps

1:12:01 ↗ you know Tiger Mountain to squawk to

1:12:03 ↗ Cougar I would say from my experience

1:12:05 ↗ one of the area that would be really

1:12:06 ↗ high priority would be ISO Hobart Road

1:12:08 ↗ where I mean the the conservation of

1:12:09 ↗ Park point I think was a huge win for

1:12:11 ↗ connectivity between essentially one of

1:12:13 ↗ the narrowest parts of the valley there

1:12:14 ↗ between Tiger Mountain squawk Mountain

1:12:16 ↗ we see a lot of wildlife uh using that

1:12:18 ↗ area to get to Isle Creek and in between

1:12:20 ↗ those spots that's where we have one of

1:12:21 ↗ our Wildlife cameras with Woodland Park

1:12:23 ↗ Zoo at Park point there behind the LDS

1:12:25 ↗ church um we've had kind of like pipe

1:12:28 ↗ dream sessions around yeah what would

1:12:29 ↗ Wildlife Crossings or under Crossings

1:12:31 ↗ look like there because the road

1:12:32 ↗ obviously is an impediment um but in

1:12:35 ↗ terms of a formal comprehensive Wildlife

1:12:37 ↗ Corridor study I've certainly heard

1:12:38 ↗ interests from the community but I I

1:12:40 ↗ don't know if I can speak to any

1:12:42 ↗ immediate plans for that or what that

1:12:44 ↗ would look

1:12:47 ↗ like just a quick add yeah I think both

1:12:51 ↗ this effort and uh the park system Plan

1:12:54 ↗ update um has really sort of talked

1:12:56 ↗ around the edges of that um and

1:12:57 ↗ certainly identified um supporting

1:13:00 ↗ wildlife and having corridors for

1:13:02 ↗ wildlife as goals within each of those

1:13:05 ↗ but an actual Wildlife Corridor study is

1:13:08 ↗ not something that the city is engaged

1:13:10 ↗ in um yet but it would could be a future

1:13:14 ↗ Endeavor yeah perhaps we don't need a a

1:13:16 ↗ formal study but we could look at the

1:13:19 ↗ map from the air and if we see that

1:13:20 ↗ isqua Hobart Road um has a place where

1:13:24 ↗ there's a

1:13:25 ↗ a uh not a safe area for wildlife to

1:13:29 ↗ cross could we create one with um

1:13:32 ↗ lowcost uh brush and trees Etc on both

1:13:35 ↗ sides of the road and perhaps a a slow

1:13:38 ↗ zone for uh cars to bring that speed

1:13:42 ↗ down a little bit um as they go probably

1:13:45 ↗ need a little coordination with our

1:13:46 ↗ state Partners there but um anything we

1:13:49 ↗ can do to create a A system that the

1:13:52 ↗ wildlife can can move about and get to

1:13:55 ↗ the food and get to the places they need

1:13:57 ↗ to get to without interacting or being

1:14:00 ↗ potentially harmed would would be great

1:14:02 ↗ thank you oh thank you and let me uh

1:14:04 ↗ follow up on that are we aware of any

1:14:07 ↗ places in town where we have a

1:14:09 ↗ particularly High uh uh I don't the

1:14:13 ↗ world right word is I'll just say

1:14:15 ↗ roadkill

1:14:16 ↗ issue is aart for sure our our park

1:14:19 ↗ rangers and luckily it's it's usually

1:14:21 ↗ not carnivores but but deer on is a

1:14:24 ↗ Hobart yeah our our park rangers since

1:14:26 ↗ I've been here have dealt with four to

1:14:28 ↗ five deer carcass on is Hobart Beaver

1:14:31 ↗ carcass actually um smaller animals of

1:14:33 ↗ course too that that is at least what

1:14:35 ↗ I've observed and of course is visible

1:14:37 ↗ with the high amount of traffic that

1:14:39 ↗ passes through there and is there a

1:14:40 ↗ particular stretch of fys Hobart Road

1:14:42 ↗ where that occurs I've seen it from

1:14:44 ↗ Front Street essentially across uh right

1:14:47 ↗ here from the pool um and up to squawk

1:14:50 ↗ Valley Park I mean obviously that's the

1:14:51 ↗ end of city limit so that's my you know

1:14:53 ↗ most of but but yeah it's throughout

1:14:56 ↗ that stretch um you know leaving town

1:14:59 ↗ and cars are speeding up as they're

1:15:01 ↗ exiting the 25 M hour speed limit there

1:15:04 ↗ so all right thank you yeah thank

1:15:08 ↗ you um so transitioning to the tree

1:15:11 ↗ canopy assessment update um I think most

1:15:14 ↗ of you are aware the city did our first

1:15:16 ↗ urban tree canopy assessment in

1:15:18 ↗ 2019 um that was with 2017 data so the

1:15:22 ↗ data for this high resolution lar

1:15:24 ↗ imagery that's used for these

1:15:25 ↗ assessments usually lags one or two

1:15:27 ↗ years before that's available so you'll

1:15:29 ↗ see this bar graph below that looks at

1:15:31 ↗ the initial assessment in like I said

1:15:34 ↗ work done in 2019 with 2017 data the

1:15:37 ↗ update we did in the end of 2023 with

1:15:39 ↗ Planet geo with 2021 data and then the

1:15:42 ↗ original Baseline year that was selected

1:15:44 ↗ in 2019 is of 2011 so you can see uh I

1:15:48 ↗ think everyone's of course aware of the

1:15:49 ↗ 55% uh Target there too so a few just

1:15:52 ↗ kind of caveats or or kind of to think

1:15:55 ↗ about as as you Ponder this data here um

1:15:58 ↗ first of all this is something the plan

1:15:59 ↗ will recommend remeasuring every four to

1:16:01 ↗ five years uh it is it is a good

1:16:03 ↗ indicator for you know kind of highlevel

1:16:06 ↗ uh success in work with the urban Forest

1:16:08 ↗ um and certainly kind of ties into

1:16:10 ↗ evaluating success of our tree

1:16:11 ↗ preservation code as well uh these

1:16:13 ↗ assessments are getting cheaper and

1:16:14 ↗ cheaper too which is great as the

1:16:16 ↗ technology is getting better um also

1:16:19 ↗ tree canopy has measured at over 14 feet

1:16:21 ↗ height so that takes anywhere from 5 to

1:16:23 ↗ 10 even a little bit more depending on

1:16:25 ↗ the type of plant material for trees

1:16:26 ↗ that we plant today to then be

1:16:28 ↗ considered part of our Urban Tree canopy

1:16:31 ↗ um so what is this what does this

1:16:33 ↗ actually represent like how did we

1:16:35 ↗ increase a 3% increase in a city that

1:16:38 ↗ did a lot of building in those 13 years

1:16:42 ↗ it's impressive and and significant and

1:16:44 ↗ I I I think it's the investment the

1:16:46 ↗ city's had on I mean going back even to

1:16:48 ↗ the 1990s on land acquisition especially

1:16:50 ↗ in the valley along our creeks and the

1:16:52 ↗ work that the city's been doing you know

1:16:54 ↗ with partners like isqu elps mountain

1:16:55 ↗ sound Greenway City Le um open space

1:16:58 ↗ stewards you know to to reforest a lot

1:17:00 ↗ of these areas so you'll see in the

1:17:02 ↗ riparian slide some of the gains even

1:17:03 ↗ just in the last four years we've had

1:17:04 ↗ along isqua Creek uh on the next slide

1:17:07 ↗ here um I think also just being smarter

1:17:09 ↗ about the development and and we do have

1:17:11 ↗ some of the stronger tree preservation

1:17:14 ↗ codes in western Washington so I I I am

1:17:17 ↗ new to this and try to kind of learn

1:17:18 ↗ that myself but as a lot of cities are

1:17:20 ↗ struggling to stay at a certain

1:17:22 ↗ percentage or even going backwards I

1:17:23 ↗ mean it's pretty impressive that we gain

1:17:26 ↗ that amount in that uh time frame there

1:17:28 ↗ I I have actually actually have a

1:17:30 ↗ related question so we have a few

1:17:32 ↗ patches of of serious Forest right

1:17:35 ↗ tradition Plateau be Ridge over on

1:17:38 ↗ Cougar um I got a lot of concern from

1:17:42 ↗ the community about the top of tiger

1:17:44 ↗ being denuded uh whatever it was two

1:17:46 ↗ years ago yes and uh are we at risk of

1:17:50 ↗ that in any of our properties no so our

1:17:53 ↗ our City properties on tradition plat

1:17:55 ↗ are part of a um um the nrca the natural

1:17:59 ↗ resource Conservation Area so we

1:18:00 ↗ co-manage that with DNR so it's a

1:18:03 ↗ mixture of City City properties and and

1:18:05 ↗ State Properties so those are meant to

1:18:07 ↗ stay in conservation status with uh you

1:18:10 ↗ know passive Recreation essentially

1:18:12 ↗ hiking um there are areas as you get on

1:18:14 ↗ the you know kind of Highway 18 kind of

1:18:17 ↗ backside of Tiger Mountain that are

1:18:18 ↗ still State Forest working forest and

1:18:20 ↗ there's pretty regular Timber Halls

1:18:21 ↗ they're not as visible they're up roads

1:18:23 ↗ that only maybe hikers now and then um

1:18:26 ↗ but yeah the top part to my

1:18:28 ↗ understanding is warehouser held on to

1:18:30 ↗ that 90 or 100 acres there for the

1:18:31 ↗ communication towers that they own and

1:18:33 ↗ Lease so that's actually their biggest

1:18:35 ↗ kind of investment money maker it wasn't

1:18:37 ↗ necessarily removing the trees it was to

1:18:38 ↗ keep communication lines open for those

1:18:41 ↗ Towers is the explanation I got from DNR

1:18:43 ↗ as part of that project so you know I I

1:18:46 ↗ didn't communicate it back to council

1:18:48 ↗ because it's not our land sure but there

1:18:50 ↗ were a lot of people in the community

1:18:52 ↗ that were very upset the the top of

1:18:54 ↗ tiger had really been I mean there was

1:18:56 ↗ there were communication Towers but

1:18:58 ↗ those Towers didn't bother people a

1:19:00 ↗ tenth as much as that haircut that that

1:19:03 ↗ whole H Hilltop took my my my

1:19:06 ↗ understanding there's some talk about

1:19:07 ↗ transferring that land over to the state

1:19:09 ↗ now that it has been cut um but I I have

1:19:11 ↗ not heard any updates or much either

1:19:14 ↗ Jeff so yes I'm glad to hear that we

1:19:16 ↗ don't have to worry about that on the

1:19:17 ↗ lands that we do

1:19:18 ↗ control okay thank

1:19:21 ↗ you um so kind of picking up as I

1:19:23 ↗ mentioned you know also Urban tree

1:19:24 ↗ canopy is is really just one metric to

1:19:26 ↗ evaluate success so we obviously want to

1:19:28 ↗ continue to build a program to better

1:19:30 ↗ maintain our existing tree canopy and a

1:19:32 ↗ big part of that you know we kind of

1:19:34 ↗ talked about obviously developing my

1:19:36 ↗ position developing this Urban Forest

1:19:37 ↗ management plan I would say the Third

1:19:39 ↗ Kind of core foundational piece of an

1:19:41 ↗ urban forestry program is a tree

1:19:42 ↗ inventory and that will be a big

1:19:44 ↗ recommendation out of this plan and

1:19:46 ↗ something that we hope to start next

1:19:47 ↗ year um through our green isqua uh plan

1:19:50 ↗ our green isqua 20-year implementation

1:19:52 ↗ plan that we published a few years ago

1:19:54 ↗ we actually have some pretty good data

1:19:56 ↗ um chair Mars like you mentioned in

1:19:57 ↗ terms of forest composition uh in our

1:20:00 ↗ 1500 plus acres of forested parks and

1:20:02 ↗ Open Spaces um it's not down to the

1:20:04 ↗ individual tree but you can see what

1:20:06 ↗ dominant species secondary tertiary

1:20:08 ↗ species are uh in in our management unit

1:20:11 ↗ areas that we defined as part of that

1:20:12 ↗ green Isa plan so that data is actually

1:20:14 ↗ great and will be linked into the urban

1:20:15 ↗ Forest management plan but we don't

1:20:17 ↗ really have any of that for Street trees

1:20:19 ↗ trees and maintain Park areas um I would

1:20:22 ↗ estimate it's going to be somewhere in

1:20:23 ↗ the neighborhood of 10 to 15 maybe as

1:20:25 ↗ high as 20,000 trees that we get into in

1:20:27 ↗ inventory I've been talking to

1:20:28 ↗ neighboring cities that have done this

1:20:29 ↗ recently there's great funding through

1:20:31 ↗ the state to to um build out tree

1:20:33 ↗ inventory so that's something that will

1:20:35 ↗ speak into the question around pest

1:20:36 ↗ diseases you know getting a much better

1:20:39 ↗ understanding of the composition of our

1:20:40 ↗ Urban forest and then also the health of

1:20:42 ↗ it too so you know the generally tree um

1:20:46 ↗ inventories include what we consider in

1:20:48 ↗ the arborous field a basic or level one

1:20:50 ↗ um tree Health assessment uh so that

1:20:52 ↗ would be part of that data and then

1:20:54 ↗ would would be integrated into our asset

1:20:56 ↗ management system that Parks is working

1:20:58 ↗ to build out here in the next year uh so

1:21:00 ↗ we can you know track uh maintenance

1:21:02 ↗ pruning work orders and all that stuff

1:21:04 ↗ as it relates to those trees and the

1:21:05 ↗ built environment so that will provide a

1:21:07 ↗ lot of information and help kind of set

1:21:09 ↗ goals and priorities as we have you know

1:21:11 ↗ a much clearer idea of you know both the

1:21:12 ↗ composition and health of our Urban

1:21:15 ↗ Forest um and the last thing I said too

1:21:17 ↗ there was a little bit of a discrepancy

1:21:19 ↗ on the boundaries of isqua that was used

1:21:21 ↗ in the 2019 and 2023 data you might be

1:21:24 ↗ familiar that we have the Central Park

1:21:26 ↗ open space south of Central Park that is

1:21:28 ↗ City owned but not technically within

1:21:29 ↗ City Limits so that was included in 2019

1:21:32 ↗ but not in 2023 so that that factors in

1:21:35 ↗ probably a little bit you know it's 43

1:21:37 ↗ Acres it might be half a percent or

1:21:39 ↗ something that was excluded in this

1:21:41 ↗ update that is you know probably 90 to

1:21:43 ↗ 100% tree canopy there so there's

1:21:45 ↗ there's a lot of nuances there's a lot

1:21:46 ↗ of subtleties to this data but it's

1:21:48 ↗ still like I said a good kind of 30,000

1:21:50 ↗ foot view of of you know literally of

1:21:52 ↗ our canopy and then also our program

1:21:54 ↗ council member Joe thank you um in the

1:21:58 ↗ climate action plan uh one of the goals

1:22:01 ↗ was to increase Community green spaces

1:22:03 ↗ and increase tree canopy cover to 50

1:22:07 ↗ 55% by

1:22:09 ↗ 2035 is that

1:22:12 ↗ 51.9% the same number or is that a

1:22:16 ↗ different number in other words do we

1:22:17 ↗ have to go up by another 4% or is it a

1:22:21 ↗ different apples oranges comparison no

1:22:24 ↗ that is that is the that is the number

1:22:26 ↗ so we looking at yes over three and a

1:22:28 ↗ half% in the

1:22:29 ↗ next 11 12 years so I know that's

1:22:31 ↗ something that we'll kind of chat with

1:22:33 ↗ sustainability as they kind of reassess

1:22:35 ↗ um you know goals in the IAP you know uh

1:22:38 ↗ approaching the end of The Five-Year

1:22:39 ↗ implementation there um and I think

1:22:41 ↗ that's a that's a conversation with the

1:22:42 ↗ community for sure I mean uh in the

1:22:45 ↗ assessment here it's not on the slide

1:22:47 ↗ but um you know we have this 51% canopy

1:22:50 ↗ about 33% of our city is unplannable

1:22:52 ↗ which is mostly impervious surfaces um

1:22:54 ↗ so that leaves about 16% so we'd have to

1:22:57 ↗ then Forest a quarter of our plantable

1:22:59 ↗ areas and then you get into conflicts

1:23:00 ↗ around you know utilities you know how

1:23:02 ↗ close we want to plant to houses

1:23:04 ↗ especially as we talk about defensible

1:23:05 ↗ space and Wildfire preparedness you know

1:23:07 ↗ with the State Building Code updates

1:23:09 ↗ that are being proposed so there's a lot

1:23:11 ↗ of nuances here and I think definitely

1:23:13 ↗ some needed Community conversations on

1:23:16 ↗ um the added benefits that reaching that

1:23:17 ↗ goal certainly have but also some of the

1:23:21 ↗ um tradeoffs of that space lost and um

1:23:24 ↗ so I think that so so yes to your

1:23:26 ↗ question um and I think there in my

1:23:28 ↗ opinion some more Community conversation

1:23:30 ↗ on um how realistic that goal is and

1:23:34 ↗ what that means as uh you know tradeoff

1:23:36 ↗ for land use okay so the bottom line is

1:23:38 ↗ if we follow the climate action plan we

1:23:41 ↗ want to get to 55% by 2030 increasing by

1:23:45 ↗ about

1:23:47 ↗ 3.8% on that number that is on the

1:23:50 ↗ screen correct okay thank you Deputy

1:23:53 ↗ Council council president to Michelle

1:23:55 ↗ okay first of all you can tell that we

1:23:57 ↗ love our trees great yeah yeah lots of

1:24:00 ↗ questions um so when we're talking about

1:24:02 ↗ impervious services are is there any

1:24:04 ↗ thinking um and this is maybe a crazy

1:24:07 ↗ question but any thinking about how we

1:24:09 ↗ maybe turn some of those impervious Sur

1:24:12 ↗ surfaces into impious surfaces uh get

1:24:15 ↗ rid of some of our vast parking lots for

1:24:17 ↗ one thing and uh roof uh I know some

1:24:20 ↗ people like in New York they're planning

1:24:22 ↗ on roofs and things like that so any of

1:24:25 ↗ those kinds of plans or thoughts uh as

1:24:27 ↗ we're going into this um you know trying

1:24:30 ↗ to reach that 55%

1:24:32 ↗ goal not that I'm aware of I don't know

1:24:35 ↗ Jee if you have anything to comment on

1:24:36 ↗ that or

1:24:39 ↗ um no it's great Dan um yeah seeing

1:24:43 ↗ where we actually are and this goal is

1:24:45 ↗ it's it it becomes this really critical

1:24:47 ↗ point in in conversation I think as we

1:24:50 ↗ uh looked at that a lot of that 33% is

1:24:52 ↗ in central isua so you know not an

1:24:56 ↗ answer tonight but as we really look and

1:24:59 ↗ dig into the centralistic plan and as

1:25:01 ↗ there are goals for

1:25:03 ↗ redevelopment um you know as that area

1:25:06 ↗ gets reimagined and redeveloped how

1:25:09 ↗ might we add some additional tree canopy

1:25:11 ↗ as as those other Redevelopment goals

1:25:13 ↗ are being being met um lots of lots of

1:25:17 ↗ future conversations and opportunities

1:25:20 ↗ but it's going to need to we're going to

1:25:21 ↗ need to be really

1:25:22 ↗ creative yeah and just as a up and I

1:25:24 ↗ think we've talked about this before the

1:25:26 ↗ more urban we become I think we the last

1:25:29 ↗ time you were before us we were talking

1:25:31 ↗ about the more urban will become the

1:25:33 ↗ more precious those green trees and um

1:25:36 ↗ chances for reflection and sitting in a

1:25:38 ↗ green space become uh you know we don't

1:25:41 ↗ want a concrete uh forest in uh Central

1:25:45 ↗ isqua we want that to be something that

1:25:48 ↗ people find livable and so yeah so thank

1:25:52 ↗ you for thank you for this and

1:25:54 ↗ absolutely yeah and Dan how long have

1:25:56 ↗ you been with the city now a year and a

1:25:58 ↗ couple months go I I will tell you I'm

1:26:00 ↗ really impressed you have a vast amount

1:26:02 ↗ of knowledge and I'm really learning a

1:26:03 ↗ lot from this presentation so so thank

1:26:06 ↗ you so much and you've learned a lot in

1:26:08 ↗ your year and a half with us so thank

1:26:10 ↗ you thank you helps i' I've lived in the

1:26:12 ↗ city and my past role worked with the

1:26:13 ↗ city but actually as a city employee

1:26:15 ↗ that's still been a fairly short short

1:26:16 ↗ period but um and

1:26:22 ↗ Sor um and I would say to that to that

1:26:24 ↗ to yes you know micro Forest micro green

1:26:26 ↗ spaces there's a lot of research on the

1:26:28 ↗ benefits there so we don't need tens of

1:26:30 ↗ Acres even small little patches you know

1:26:31 ↗ there's a lot of um kind of research on

1:26:33 ↗ the benefits there to um so yeah I think

1:26:38 ↗ I think that's the last I have on this

1:26:39 ↗ slide and the next uh slide here is

1:26:41 ↗ getting into which is new for this tree

1:26:43 ↗ canopy assessment a specific riparian uh

1:26:46 ↗ tree canopy assessment so I I think most

1:26:48 ↗ people are familiar but just to make

1:26:49 ↗ sure you know riparian is the uh buffer

1:26:52 ↗ around our Waterway so Lake Shores River

1:26:54 ↗ I um and you know really looked at in

1:26:56 ↗ ecology as as as top priority you know

1:26:58 ↗ critical habitats for wildlife water

1:27:01 ↗ quality improvements and and in more and

1:27:03 ↗ more storm water management so that was

1:27:05 ↗ really the impetus of us being you know

1:27:07 ↗ a salmon City uh and the the the pretty

1:27:09 ↗ impressive history that isqua has on on

1:27:11 ↗ salmon restoration on ISO Creek uh you

1:27:14 ↗ know to actually kind of establish a

1:27:15 ↗ baseline of how we're doing with uh tree

1:27:18 ↗ canopy in the buffers of our kind of

1:27:20 ↗ primary salmon bearing streams which

1:27:21 ↗ tibits Creek the north and east Forks of

1:27:23 ↗ is Creek main stem Isa Creek and the

1:27:25 ↗ little bit of Lewis Creek and laughing

1:27:27 ↗ Jacobs Creek that pass through uh City

1:27:29 ↗ Limits um we use the regulatory 15 foot

1:27:32 ↗ stream buffer for this analysis to try

1:27:34 ↗ to keep that consistent um and you can

1:27:37 ↗ see essentially these are uh you know

1:27:39 ↗ the 2017 to 2021 so a four-year change

1:27:42 ↗ analysis for those streams um the one I

1:27:45 ↗ am most proud and excited about is isle

1:27:47 ↗ Creek a nine Acre gain in the last four

1:27:49 ↗ years and I think that really speaks to

1:27:51 ↗ what I you know touched on briefly

1:27:52 ↗ earlier is that we we invest a lot on on

1:27:54 ↗ acquisition conservation and restoration

1:27:56 ↗ along ISO Creek uh big big part I would

1:27:59 ↗ say you know at least 50 to 60 70% of

1:28:01 ↗ our green isqua work uh is is you know

1:28:03 ↗ within that buffer on Isa Creek so I was

1:28:05 ↗ really excited to see that East Fork of

1:28:08 ↗ Isa Creek those two acres my guess is

1:28:09 ↗ that's probably Confluence Park is a

1:28:11 ↗ good chunk of that uh you know over

1:28:13 ↗ those years too then you can see a lot

1:28:14 ↗ of the other systems have stayed static

1:28:16 ↗ I think you know an interesting analysis

1:28:17 ↗ that won't be in this plan is you know

1:28:19 ↗ the different land uses public private

1:28:21 ↗ you know along these stretches too which

1:28:23 ↗ we could certainly use this data to do

1:28:24 ↗ further analysis like that but right now

1:28:26 ↗ we're just looking systemwide so really

1:28:28 ↗ to help speak to the salmon recovery uh

1:28:31 ↗ goals um and then the last thing I want

1:28:33 ↗ to touch on this is that our um I'm

1:28:35 ↗ working closely with our Public Works

1:28:36 ↗ engineering team and our state ecology

1:28:39 ↗ storm water permit that we have to

1:28:40 ↗ submit annually is going to have more

1:28:42 ↗ and more requirements in the coming

1:28:43 ↗ years on riparian planning restoration

1:28:46 ↗ and and canopy goals for riparian area

1:28:48 ↗ so I think we're already doing great

1:28:50 ↗ work there and this will just better

1:28:51 ↗ help uh you know set the stage for those

1:28:53 ↗ needs with with public works as well so

1:28:56 ↗ there are nonprofits that do uh riparian

1:29:01 ↗ work as well right on small Creeks do we

1:29:04 ↗ partner or engage with those Folks at

1:29:06 ↗ all in our work yes um several of them

1:29:08 ↗ so so Mountain Sound Greenway trust is

1:29:10 ↗ you know the big one historically that

1:29:12 ↗ has done a ton partnering with the city

1:29:14 ↗ you know primarily focusing on isqua

1:29:15 ↗ Creek you know that's where a lot of the

1:29:17 ↗ funding is derived from for our shinook

1:29:18 ↗ salmon which is a threatened species as

1:29:20 ↗ I believe you all know Under The

1:29:22 ↗ Endangered Species Act uh so that's been

1:29:24 ↗ the big one we're doing more and more

1:29:26 ↗ work with trout unlimited's local

1:29:27 ↗ chapter and they're the uh they

1:29:29 ↗ administer the urban Wildlife Refuge

1:29:31 ↗ partnership for Lake samamish which is

1:29:32 ↗ really cool so both on the education

1:29:34 ↗ front but also on the Hands-On

1:29:35 ↗ stewardship I would say those are the

1:29:37 ↗ big two um the city has done a little

1:29:39 ↗ work in the past with mids sound

1:29:40 ↗ Fisheries which is the Fisheries

1:29:41 ↗ enhancement group for this area um then

1:29:44 ↗ obviously more and more trying to pull

1:29:45 ↗ in snami tribe and you know make sure

1:29:47 ↗ that they are having a you know voice

1:29:48 ↗ and and some direct involvement in this

1:29:50 ↗ work too so those those are the ones

1:29:51 ↗ that immediately come to mind thank

1:29:54 ↗ thank

1:29:55 ↗ you so uh this is the last slide kind of

1:29:58 ↗ tying this all together before we just

1:29:59 ↗ have two more slides on the draft vision

1:30:02 ↗ statement and those five guiding

1:30:03 ↗ principles that we talked about in the

1:30:05 ↗ introduction I'll go through this kind

1:30:06 ↗ of quick because I kind of touched on

1:30:07 ↗ this in the timeline but you know the

1:30:09 ↗ research period reviewing existing plans

1:30:11 ↗ and programs specifications standards

1:30:13 ↗ protocols uh analysis is what we really

1:30:15 ↗ just dove into with some of the tree

1:30:17 ↗ data um benchmarking this one I haven't

1:30:20 ↗ talked about but you know since we've

1:30:21 ↗ been a tree City USA City through the

1:30:23 ↗ Arbor Day Foundation for I should know

1:30:25 ↗ this 31 years 34 years um it's I think

1:30:29 ↗ it's the seventh or eighth longest in

1:30:30 ↗ the state of Washington there's about 95

1:30:32 ↗ communities in Washington that have Tree

1:30:34 ↗ City USA status and annually we have to

1:30:36 ↗ submit a report on the funding we've

1:30:38 ↗ used for let's say pruning tree planting

1:30:40 ↗ you know what our volunteerism looks

1:30:42 ↗ like you know staff um so that

1:30:44 ↗ benchmarking this is stuff that Chris

1:30:46 ↗ worked on at Planet Geo uh you know kind

1:30:48 ↗ of comparing us to similar size cities

1:30:50 ↗ in the region and I would say high level

1:30:51 ↗ takeaways on that we invest a lot in

1:30:53 ↗ tree planting we invest a lot in

1:30:55 ↗ volunteerism and maybe not quite as much

1:30:57 ↗ on Tree Care and kind of later life tree

1:30:59 ↗ maintenance and I think that's an area

1:31:00 ↗ we have a lot of a lot of growth there

1:31:03 ↗ um the urban Forest audit is a United

1:31:05 ↗ States uh Forest Service protocol that's

1:31:07 ↗ really looking at you know kind of core

1:31:09 ↗ uh structures and strategies in an urban

1:31:11 ↗ Forest program and a lot of that we do

1:31:14 ↗ have in progress obviously a lot of

1:31:15 ↗ things in the audit we haven't started

1:31:17 ↗ being a very new program but that's uh

1:31:19 ↗ really guides uh the the goals and

1:31:21 ↗ strategies that will be in this Forest

1:31:23 ↗ management plan is is that audit um then

1:31:26 ↗ we talked about internal engagement and

1:31:27 ↗ Community engagement quite a bit at the

1:31:29 ↗ beginning of this presentation I'll say

1:31:30 ↗ on the staff engagement we had a survey

1:31:33 ↗ filled out by about 55 staff members

1:31:34 ↗ which was great I think I sent it to

1:31:36 ↗ just 60 or 62 that I thought were you

1:31:38 ↗ know most directly or even somewhat

1:31:40 ↗ indirectly working with trees so that

1:31:41 ↗ was actually really good responses there

1:31:43 ↗ and then Chris and I had a fair amount

1:31:44 ↗ of follow-up kind of targeted key

1:31:46 ↗ meetings on themes like climate

1:31:48 ↗ resiliency uh you know conflicts with

1:31:50 ↗ infrastructure and then you know

1:31:52 ↗ certainly uh plans and policy and and in

1:31:54 ↗ our tree

1:31:55 ↗ code um so that all has kind of brought

1:31:58 ↗ us to this point where we are today

1:32:00 ↗ where we have this vision statement um

1:32:02 ↗ I'll I'll read this real quick uh isqua

1:32:04 ↗ envisions a thriving Urban forest or a

1:32:07 ↗ diverse and cared for tree canopy

1:32:09 ↗ strengthens our community for

1:32:10 ↗ generations to come this verdant

1:32:12 ↗ tapestry will enhance our livability

1:32:14 ↗ promote health and well-being support

1:32:16 ↗ wildlife and habitat and contribute to a

1:32:18 ↗ sust sustainable future for all um and

1:32:21 ↗ at the bottom there we have a few of the

1:32:23 ↗ you know top survey priorities responses

1:32:26 ↗ kind of tying back to that public survey

1:32:28 ↗ and then the staff survey uh to to just

1:32:30 ↗ kind of make the connections that this

1:32:31 ↗ wasn't you know pulled out of thin air

1:32:33 ↗ this was really informed by uh responses

1:32:35 ↗ we got from from the community and from

1:32:37 ↗ of our uh City staff some of my

1:32:39 ↗ colleagues as

1:32:41 ↗ well and then this leads to the uh you

1:32:44 ↗ know kind of last main slide content

1:32:46 ↗ slide here for the urban Forest

1:32:48 ↗ management plan is these five guiding

1:32:50 ↗ principles um I don't think I'll read

1:32:52 ↗ every there kind of these are sub vision

1:32:54 ↗ statements for each of the five

1:32:55 ↗ principles um but obviously happy to

1:32:57 ↗ discuss those but essentially there's

1:32:59 ↗ kind of five five buckets here and the

1:33:00 ↗ first one is Equitable and resilient

1:33:02 ↗ canopy cover uh so that's talking about

1:33:04 ↗ some of the tree canopy goals that's

1:33:06 ↗ talking about climate adaptation you

1:33:08 ↗ know looking at you know right tree

1:33:09 ↗ right place and also for a changing

1:33:11 ↗ climate uh Equitable is partly tree

1:33:14 ↗ distribution but the um American Forest

1:33:16 ↗ has this great tool called the Tre

1:33:18 ↗ Equity score and you can actually look

1:33:20 ↗ at ratings across sub areas of isqua

1:33:23 ↗ Chris would probably know this but

1:33:24 ↗ there's at least six or eight or nine

1:33:25 ↗ within isqua and we do have some

1:33:27 ↗ slightly lower scores relative to other

1:33:29 ↗ spots in the city which makes sense

1:33:30 ↗ Central isqua along I90 where there

1:33:32 ↗ might be a little bit more air pollution

1:33:34 ↗ uh congestion and things like that so I

1:33:36 ↗ think that will help inform some

1:33:37 ↗ priority planting areas uh as we talk

1:33:40 ↗ about kind of that equitable

1:33:41 ↗ distribution obviously maintenance and

1:33:43 ↗ management how how we operate day-to-day

1:33:45 ↗ you know that's both in Parks Public

1:33:47 ↗ Works uh we we are interacting with

1:33:49 ↗ trees almost daily in the city and want

1:33:51 ↗ to make sure we're following best

1:33:53 ↗ practices there

1:33:54 ↗ uh tree preservation and protection kind

1:33:56 ↗ of gets into our code and policies as it

1:33:58 ↗ relates to trees in isqua and then you

1:34:00 ↗ know the funding to you know provide

1:34:01 ↗ these level of services for essentially

1:34:03 ↗ all three of those uh guiding principles

1:34:05 ↗ above and then certainly last but not

1:34:08 ↗ least something I'm very passionate

1:34:09 ↗ about is the you know Community

1:34:11 ↗ Education engagement and stewardship um

1:34:13 ↗ we've been really trying to build that

1:34:15 ↗ out it was actually great to see in

1:34:16 ↗ Brian's presentation the desire from the

1:34:18 ↗ rec Services survey for more

1:34:19 ↗ environmental programs and light bulb

1:34:21 ↗ went off is like yeah we need to do

1:34:22 ↗ better collaboration with with the rec

1:34:24 ↗ Services team on some of the stuff we're

1:34:25 ↗ doing through green isqua uh essentially

1:34:28 ↗ environmental programs and essentially

1:34:29 ↗ you know definitely priority of building

1:34:31 ↗ better programs for for youth in the

1:34:33 ↗ city too but we're doing a lot of that

1:34:34 ↗ where myself our park rangers Partners

1:34:37 ↗ we're working with we've hosted almost

1:34:38 ↗ two dozen events this year with 300 plus

1:34:41 ↗ uh people you know other those are

1:34:42 ↗ guided hikes coexisting with carnivores

1:34:44 ↗ panel we did back in the spring um been

1:34:47 ↗ really proud of of what we've built

1:34:48 ↗ there but we've heard there's a lot of

1:34:49 ↗ desire for more information on like I

1:34:51 ↗ said right tree right place tree care

1:34:54 ↗ uh even from the HOAs for more

1:34:55 ↗ coordinated efforts on some of their

1:34:57 ↗ private native growth protection areas

1:34:59 ↗ uh so I think there's still obviously a

1:35:00 ↗ lot of room uh to grow on the Community

1:35:03 ↗ Education

1:35:04 ↗ front so kind of just summarizing this

1:35:07 ↗ all together uh we kind of started with

1:35:09 ↗ you know the purpose of this Forest

1:35:11 ↗ management plan as a foundation for this

1:35:12 ↗ program plan timeline and progress to

1:35:15 ↗ date Community engagement uh the tree

1:35:17 ↗ canopy or the Urban Tree canopy cover

1:35:19 ↗ analysis our vision statement and draft

1:35:22 ↗ guiding principles

1:35:24 ↗ um the direction needed uh we're seeking

1:35:26 ↗ direction from the committee on the

1:35:27 ↗ urban Forest management plan

1:35:29 ↗ specifically is there any additional

1:35:31 ↗ feedback for staff to consider when

1:35:32 ↗ finalizing the draft plan are there any

1:35:35 ↗ additional considerations that the park

1:35:36 ↗ P should study analyze prior to the

1:35:38 ↗ recommendation of the plan to city

1:35:40 ↗ council again sorry that should be this

1:35:42 ↗ fall um and next steps this this should

1:35:45 ↗ be a little bit more accurate on time

1:35:47 ↗ frame is uh the draft the first draft

1:35:49 ↗ should be ready in the next couple weeks

1:35:50 ↗ here we'll be taking that to the

1:35:51 ↗ environmental board in August um making

1:35:54 ↗ some edits modifications bringing a near

1:35:56 ↗ complete plan to the park board towards

1:35:58 ↗ the end of September uh hopefully they

1:36:00 ↗ will recommend to move that forward uh

1:36:02 ↗ you know my understanding we'd like to

1:36:03 ↗ bring it back to this committee uh in

1:36:05 ↗ October with you know possible adoption

1:36:08 ↗ by the the full City Council in November

1:36:11 ↗ so that that is all I have maybe I'll go

1:36:13 ↗ back to this slide um here for for

1:36:15 ↗ questions and thank you thank uh

1:36:19 ↗ questions before we go to um feedback

1:36:23 ↗ deputy council

1:36:24 ↗ president uh thanks I didn't catch this

1:36:26 ↗ earlier so um and this might be a

1:36:28 ↗ question for City administrator Bob

1:36:31 ↗ quits um is there a fiscal impact of

1:36:35 ↗ this plan and is November perhaps too

1:36:38 ↗ late for our budget discussions or is

1:36:40 ↗ there not is is that not relevant to the

1:36:44 ↗ budget

1:36:45 ↗ process Deputy Council pres members of

1:36:47 ↗ the committee good evening um absolutely

1:36:50 ↗ there's budget impacts um you know I I I

1:36:54 ↗ think that the timing of this is the

1:36:56 ↗ timing of this we continue to to move

1:36:59 ↗ forward on lots of fronts and lots of

1:37:01 ↗ topics and so uh um I I don't know that

1:37:04 ↗ you will see a lot in the

1:37:07 ↗ 2526 uh budget to directly identify this

1:37:11 ↗ I think the the tree inventory is

1:37:13 ↗ probably the top of the list um and so

1:37:16 ↗ that is something that we will continue

1:37:18 ↗ to look at and think about uh I think a

1:37:20 ↗ lot of things build from that um as I

1:37:24 ↗ think you know we are looking at some

1:37:26 ↗ very difficult budget questions um and

1:37:29 ↗ so this will have to be in the mix of

1:37:30 ↗ that but uh um you know I we're not

1:37:34 ↗ going to be able to wait for this I

1:37:36 ↗ think that the tree inventory is

1:37:37 ↗ something that's in the mix already and

1:37:40 ↗ U we'll have to see what other Council

1:37:42 ↗ priorities there are

1:37:44 ↗ Citywide council member Joe thank you um

1:37:49 ↗ do we work with or um get any guidance

1:37:52 ↗ from H sound Regional Council on our

1:37:55 ↗ tree canopy um the reason I'm asking is

1:37:58 ↗ they do have a section entitled tree

1:38:00 ↗ canopy uh in there and um they did have

1:38:04 ↗ a meeting on uh protecting mature trees

1:38:07 ↗ while adding housing at their July 18th

1:38:10 ↗ growth management policy board meeting

1:38:13 ↗ um the only reason I know about that is

1:38:15 ↗ our council president uh attended that

1:38:17 ↗ meeting and reported out on it um do we

1:38:20 ↗ interact with them and and would it be

1:38:22 ↗ something that might be beneficial for

1:38:23 ↗ to look at um I think no I have not at

1:38:27 ↗ least and I think that's great I I

1:38:29 ↗ actually was not aware of that body but

1:38:32 ↗ I think that's a great idea I would say

1:38:33 ↗ a lot of the high level tree canopy work

1:38:35 ↗ is certainly done through dnr's urban

1:38:37 ↗ forestry program and then a little bit

1:38:39 ↗ you know King conservation D District as

1:38:41 ↗ well or some of the agencies or or

1:38:43 ↗ organizations we've been more connected

1:38:45 ↗ with and I'll just add that many of our

1:38:49 ↗ neighbors would look at

1:38:51 ↗ 51% and say

1:38:54 ↗ spectacular best ever um so you know I

1:38:58 ↗ think a lot of the regional issues are

1:39:00 ↗ to you know even put these topics on the

1:39:03 ↗ table in some communities on tree canopy

1:39:05 ↗ I think we're doing very very well you

1:39:08 ↗ know as as Dan has indicated you know

1:39:11 ↗ there's only so many other places we can

1:39:12 ↗ plant a tree uh and in many many

1:39:14 ↗ communities there's lots of room for

1:39:16 ↗ growth so part the fun no absolutely and

1:39:21 ↗ um they do highlight that Tiger Mountain

1:39:23 ↗ has a 70% tree canopy as as one of the

1:39:26 ↗ highlights so um you know they're they

1:39:28 ↗ are looking at our uh neighborhood and

1:39:31 ↗ our our areas that are close to us so I

1:39:34 ↗ just thought it would be a good

1:39:35 ↗ information Source not necessarily that

1:39:37 ↗ we want to be the highest snom has a

1:39:41 ↗ 55.8% canopy and kitap a 54.1% canopy so

1:39:46 ↗ you know it can go higher in some

1:39:48 ↗ communities but as as Dan pointed out I

1:39:51 ↗ think we need to find the right mix for

1:39:52 ↗ our neighor neighborhoods and our our

1:39:54 ↗ population so thank

1:39:58 ↗ you and with that before we answer the

1:40:00 ↗ question on Direction needed I will turn

1:40:03 ↗ to uh the clerk uh Chris and ask once

1:40:06 ↗ again is there uh has uh a a horde of

1:40:10 ↗ folks descended on our online uh

1:40:12 ↗ Community eager to provide comments on

1:40:14 ↗ this

1:40:16 ↗ topic chair Marts

1:40:19 ↗ shockingly the answer is no we have no

1:40:22 ↗ uh members of the public in attendance

1:40:24 ↗ well that is disappointing but uh that

1:40:27 ↗ will allow us to move on to the part

1:40:29 ↗ where we uh address the questions that

1:40:31 ↗ are in front of us so who wants to go

1:40:36 ↗ first Deputy council president thank you

1:40:39 ↗ well first of all uh just commending

1:40:42 ↗ Jeff and Dan and Brian as well please

1:40:44 ↗ please uh Express this has been just a

1:40:47 ↗ most informative evening and I really

1:40:50 ↗ really appreciate everything that you're

1:40:52 ↗ doing um

1:40:54 ↗ I and I did have questions about equity

1:40:56 ↗ and Dan you answered those so so uh it

1:40:59 ↗ sounds like we've got a great tool to

1:41:01 ↗ look at uh specifically how we can

1:41:03 ↗ measure equity in in relation to the

1:41:06 ↗ canopy and that was the only real

1:41:08 ↗ concern I had so I don't have any

1:41:11 ↗ additional feedback um and I don't have

1:41:15 ↗ any additional considerations I think

1:41:16 ↗ you've done a most thorough job um this

1:41:19 ↗ was a really great presentation so thank

1:41:21 ↗ you so much um

1:41:23 ↗ yeah sorry I'm sorry I just I think you

1:41:27 ↗ just did a great job and there's nothing

1:41:28 ↗ more to add to it so thank you council

1:41:31 ↗ member Joe thank you I'll Echo the

1:41:34 ↗ comments of my steam

1:41:37 ↗ colleague Barb Michelle and uh say thank

1:41:41 ↗ you for the presentation tonight I'll

1:41:43 ↗ also just on a personal note thank you

1:41:45 ↗ for your involvement with friends for

1:41:48 ↗ Lake samam State Park appreciate you

1:41:50 ↗ being on the board taking an active role

1:41:52 ↗ in our Community Beyond just uh serving

1:41:55 ↗ as one of our uh employees is watching

1:41:58 ↗ our Urban Forest appreciate that um I

1:42:02 ↗ think that uh again to kind of echo the

1:42:05 ↗ conversation or the comment I made on

1:42:07 ↗ the parks um there are a number of

1:42:09 ↗ lowcost things that we can do to enhance

1:42:13 ↗ our parks and there are number of

1:42:14 ↗ lowcost things that we can do to enhance

1:42:16 ↗ our Urban Forest whether it's uh

1:42:18 ↗ volunteers uh putting in trails that are

1:42:21 ↗ properly put in there rather than slice

1:42:23 ↗ through in a way that can cause erosion

1:42:25 ↗ and runoff and problems like that one of

1:42:28 ↗ the topics here was that um people

1:42:30 ↗ really appreciate the urban Forest not

1:42:32 ↗ just for the the shade that it provides

1:42:34 ↗ and the green but also as a sponge for

1:42:39 ↗ runoff and making sure that the um

1:42:42 ↗ environment has the capacity to take on

1:42:45 ↗ that uh heavy rainfall that we get and

1:42:48 ↗ then let it out slowly into the streams

1:42:50 ↗ over time it's a very important element

1:42:52 ↗ for us and I'm glad that we're paying

1:42:54 ↗ attention to uh the land around the

1:42:57 ↗ creek isqua creek specifically um as uh

1:43:00 ↗ we're concerned about salmon habitat but

1:43:02 ↗ we're also concerned about uh keeping

1:43:04 ↗ that stream uh healthy um so that it can

1:43:07 ↗ continue to support all the um the

1:43:10 ↗ animals and the amphibians that might

1:43:13 ↗ use that stream as well so I appreciate

1:43:15 ↗ the work and the tie in that you see

1:43:17 ↗ between the urban Forest preservation

1:43:19 ↗ that we've got and the health of the

1:43:21 ↗ creek and the overall environment so

1:43:23 ↗ really appreciate those efforts as well

1:43:26 ↗ um those are my

1:43:27 ↗ comments thanks uh couple thoughts one

1:43:32 ↗ around uh did you say there's ongoing

1:43:35 ↗ repairing survey that we're going to

1:43:37 ↗ keep doing work on the repairing

1:43:39 ↗ environment or that's

1:43:42 ↗ done the canopy assessment's done I

1:43:44 ↗ think that would be something we would

1:43:45 ↗ like to track in the future I think what

1:43:47 ↗ I mentioned is that our um uh annual

1:43:50 ↗ storm water permit through Department of

1:43:52 ↗ ecology is going to require more uh

1:43:54 ↗ riparian exactly what council member Joe

1:43:57 ↗ kind of mentioned recognizing that you

1:43:58 ↗ know trees serve as green infrastructure

1:44:00 ↗ and have a lot of benefits in terms of

1:44:02 ↗ storm water and runoff before it gets

1:44:04 ↗ into our waterways so that's I think

1:44:06 ↗ that's where some of the alignment is to

1:44:08 ↗ where our our Public Works teams going

1:44:09 ↗ to need this kind of information

1:44:11 ↗ essentially canopy goals and um you know

1:44:14 ↗ assessments of riparian areas I think

1:44:15 ↗ it's in the next four or five years

1:44:16 ↗ that's going to be more uh uh required

1:44:19 ↗ as part of that annual permit sure and

1:44:21 ↗ and to that I would love to see uh the

1:44:25 ↗ riparian environment be one of the

1:44:27 ↗ factors we think about in our land

1:44:28 ↗ acquisition right so we we tend to think

1:44:31 ↗ in terms of Trail

1:44:32 ↗ connectivity and uh but you know the

1:44:36 ↗ ability to cool our uh our visiting

1:44:39 ↗ salmon as they're coming up the uh up

1:44:42 ↗ The Creeks is is super important um you

1:44:45 ↗ know you mentioned

1:44:47 ↗ measuring uh canopy and the that we can

1:44:51 ↗ put some numbers to the equity

1:44:53 ↗ okay then let's do something about that

1:44:55 ↗ right step one is to measure it step two

1:44:58 ↗ is to fix it right and it would be nice

1:45:00 ↗ at some point to get uh something that

1:45:03 ↗ talks about by neighborhood or by you

1:45:06 ↗ know you you pick the pick the way but

1:45:09 ↗ you know we talk about it those of us

1:45:10 ↗ who live are lucky enough to live up

1:45:12 ↗ high up on squawk we have a lot of tree

1:45:15 ↗ canopy um but you know there's there's

1:45:18 ↗ folks that have less and I think that we

1:45:20 ↗ should think about whether that leads us

1:45:22 ↗ to any policy um to address it and then

1:45:26 ↗ the third thing is I have also living on

1:45:29 ↗ squat the downside is you know over the

1:45:32 ↗ last 15 years I've seen a number of

1:45:34 ↗ cautionary examples of tree removal uh

1:45:38 ↗ both uh legal and non-legal and even the

1:45:42 ↗ legal ones um I have seen people have to

1:45:45 ↗ put in extremely expensive uh corrective

1:45:49 ↗ measures because they took down too many

1:45:50 ↗ trees you know we talk about that

1:45:53 ↗ mountain uh is beautiful but it's it's

1:45:56 ↗ mainly a giant chunk of uh of ous rock

1:46:00 ↗ and uh it's very easy to unsettle what

1:46:03 ↗ what soil there is on top of it and uh

1:46:06 ↗ won't name any names but uh perhaps even

1:46:08 ↗ neighbors of mine that have found uh

1:46:10 ↗ that it's a quick way to get yourself in

1:46:12 ↗ a lot of trouble and I I would like us I

1:46:15 ↗ I would love to see some Outreach into

1:46:17 ↗ the community again not not shame based

1:46:21 ↗ uh governance but making making people

1:46:23 ↗ aware that they need to be really really

1:46:25 ↗ careful when they remove trees uh

1:46:27 ↗ especially people who live um you know

1:46:30 ↗ near critical slope right um that that

1:46:34 ↗ they can they can not just get in

1:46:36 ↗ trouble not just have a a fine

1:46:38 ↗ Associated but you know have to just you

1:46:40 ↗ know these beautiful views that they

1:46:42 ↗ want to have uh you know they can find

1:46:46 ↗ themselves needing to do a lot of work

1:46:48 ↗ to to maintain their property if it if

1:46:50 ↗ it goes wrong so I think there's a role

1:46:51 ↗ for us to help educate the public on

1:46:54 ↗ being super careful about tree removal

1:46:56 ↗ I'd like to see uh I think that it's

1:46:59 ↗ worth seeing if there's some inexpensive

1:47:01 ↗ ways we can get that that message

1:47:06 ↗ out anything else round two anybody all

1:47:10 ↗ right here's where I turn to City

1:47:12 ↗ administrator and say do you have what

1:47:14 ↗ you need yes sir thank you all right

1:47:18 ↗ well uh Dan I want to thank you for

1:47:20 ↗ coming in today uh director Watling

1:47:22 ↗ always a pleasure to have you here and

1:47:25 ↗ uh I guess with that uh well what on the

1:47:29 ↗ agenda do I have a I I don't have any

1:47:32 ↗ announcements to make does anybody have

1:47:33 ↗ anything they need to bring up all right

1:47:35 ↗ then with that at 8:18 we are adjourned

Approved minutes

The minutes PDF below is the canonical record. Structured parsing of attendance and motions for this body's minutes format is not yet implemented — open the PDF for the full content.

Open PDF