Park Board · Monday, May 23, 2022 · City Council Digest

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Minutes of April 25, 2022

packet pp.3–4

▶ Watch from 1:44 Open packet at p.3 ↗

Staff report:

APPROVAL OF MINUTES a) 04-25-22 Park Board Minutes Page [0000] CITY OF ISSAQUAH Park Board 7:00 PM Virtual Meeting April 25, 2022 MINUTES

4. REGULAR BUSINESS

Welcome and Introductions

Director · 10 min · Jeff Watling, Parks and Community Services

Park Board Leadership Appointments – Chair and Vice Chair, (A)

Director · 15 min · Jeff Watling, Parks and Community Services · packet pp.5–10

Topics: ParksBoards & Commissions

Open packet at p.5 ↗

Staff report:

Pursuant to the City of Issaquah Ordinance No. L545, Section 1, we, the members of the City of Issaquah Park Board do hereby adopt, publish and declare the following rules and regulations.

Park Board Rules and Regulations – Alternate and Legacy position considerations, (D)

Director · 20 min · Jeff Watling, Parks and Community Services · packet pp.11–32

Topics: Parks

Open packet at p.11 ↗

Staff report:

REGULAR BUSINESS d) MAT T MECHLER AND JENNIFER FINK PARKS AND COMMUNITY SERVICES DIRECTOR

City Tree Programs, (I)

Discussion · 45 min · Jennifer Fink, Park Planner and Project Administrator Matt Mechler, Parks Operations Supervisor

Topics: Trees

5. REPORTS

Director's Report

▶ Watch from 1:45:50

Chairperson's Report

▶ Watch from 1:49:25

Youth Report

▶ Watch from 1:53:01

3046 segments .txt ↗

0:02 ↗ good evening everyone

0:04 ↗ welcome to the

0:06 ↗ park board meeting of may 23rd 2022.

0:11 ↗ um

0:12 ↗ this evening we have some new board

0:15 ↗ members that are joining us and some new

0:17 ↗ staff members that i haven't seen before

0:20 ↗ so i'm looking forward to

0:21 ↗ meeting those people as well

0:24 ↗ uh and so

0:26 ↗ first thing we're gonna do is um

0:29 ↗ do a bit of a roll call here for the

0:31 ↗ board members

0:33 ↗ and uh when i call your name please uh

0:36 ↗ take yourself off mute if you're there

0:38 ↗ and just acknowledge your attendance

0:41 ↗ uh chris

0:44 ↗ present

0:49 ↗ zach

0:50 ↗ present

0:52 ↗ marlene

0:55 ↗ hello present

0:58 ↗ and um

0:59 ↗ i think we're going by tim is that right

1:03 ↗ that's right

1:06 ↗ thank you for being present and uh do on

1:10 ↗ bill i believe you're going by katie are

1:12 ↗ you here to as well tayden tonight katie

1:15 ↗ yes i'm present thank you

1:17 ↗ thank you

1:19 ↗ so

1:20 ↗ everybody's here that we've got tonight

1:22 ↗ so we do have a quorum this evening

1:25 ↗ uh and

1:26 ↗ our next

1:28 ↗ aspect here to cover is the approval of

1:31 ↗ minutes did everybody have an

1:32 ↗ opportunity to review minutes from our

1:34 ↗ last meeting of april 25th

1:37 ↗ anybody have any questions comments or

1:39 ↗ corrections

1:42 ↗ not seeing anything does anybody have

1:44 ↗ any objection to approval of minutes

1:48 ↗ seeing no objection i hereby approve

1:50 ↗ minutes for our meeting of april 25th

1:53 ↗ thank you for that

1:56 ↗ um next item

1:59 ↗ is uh i'm just going to briefly mention

2:02 ↗ the things that we're going to cover on

2:03 ↗ the agenda this evening

2:06 ↗ and we're going to have a little bit of

2:07 ↗ a round rob and welcome here since we

2:09 ↗ have some new people with this this

2:11 ↗ evening to introduce everyone

2:14 ↗ uh we're going to have leadership

2:16 ↗ elections this evening here for this

2:18 ↗ next term for both chair and vice chair

2:22 ↗ uh we're going to have an update on

2:24 ↗ rules and regulations which is always

2:26 ↗ good timing especially for new people

2:29 ↗ that are joining us

2:31 ↗ and we're going to have a great

2:32 ↗ presentation from matt meckler

2:35 ↗ uh on and uh and maybe i see rick

2:38 ↗ somewhere too um

2:40 ↗ and uh regarding the city tree program

2:43 ↗ where there's a number of things there

2:44 ↗ that we're gonna talk about this evening

2:47 ↗ so given that i wanted to just uh then

2:51 ↗ move on to public comments melissa do we

2:53 ↗ have anybody that's uh with us from the

2:55 ↗ community that like to speak

2:58 ↗ we have two members of the community

3:00 ↗ susan novell has her hand raised and we

3:02 ↗ also have connie marsh on the line susan

3:05 ↗ i'm going to promote you to a panelist

3:07 ↗ so you can go ahead and make your

3:08 ↗ remarks

3:12 ↗ um good evening can you hear me

3:14 ↗ we can hear you can hear you thank you

3:15 ↗ susan for joining us um thank you park

3:19 ↗ board for being here tonight and staff

3:21 ↗ um

3:22 ↗ my name is susan neville and i live on

3:24 ↗ cougar mountain for about 26 years so

3:27 ↗ i've been around a while

3:28 ↗ i would like to comment

3:30 ↗ on the tree program you're going to

3:32 ↗ discuss towards the end of your

3:34 ↗ evening

3:36 ↗ um

3:37 ↗ as some of you may know the recent title

3:40 ↗ 8 land use code changes

3:42 ↗ that they're going into effect now

3:44 ↗ includes a lot of what you're talking

3:46 ↗ about during that

3:48 ↗ tree program

3:50 ↗ and i've been following the changes

3:52 ↗ closely especially

3:54 ↗ critical areas and tree canopies and

3:59 ↗ the environment

4:00 ↗ and under the new code changes

4:03 ↗ many of the areas that you're discussing

4:06 ↗ including the replanting of trees

4:09 ↗ uh talking about contracted certified

4:11 ↗ arborists and even the heritage trees

4:14 ↗ are getting many more protections added

4:16 ↗ to them

4:18 ↗ um to our zoning

4:20 ↗ which is something that's been coming

4:22 ↗ around in a long time and i'm very

4:24 ↗ excited about

4:26 ↗ um

4:27 ↗ during the ppc and environmental board

4:30 ↗ meetings covering these topics

4:32 ↗ on the first draft

4:34 ↗ um it was very much mentioned that

4:38 ↗ insufficient amount of monitoring or

4:40 ↗ oversight system will be in place to

4:43 ↗ ensure the compliance and success of our

4:46 ↗ our new um codes that we're putting in

4:50 ↗ and because of those reasons

4:52 ↗ the city council has agreed that during

4:55 ↗ the upcoming june mid-year budget talks

4:58 ↗ which is next month

5:00 ↗ they will look at the addition of one or

5:03 ↗ both of these positions

5:05 ↗ to help ensure compliance

5:07 ↗ and monitoring and what's needed

5:10 ↗ to ensure the protections of our canopy

5:12 ↗ and environment

5:14 ↗ and the first one they're looking at is

5:16 ↗ the certified on staff arborist

5:18 ↗ which currently kirkland and edmonds

5:20 ↗ have one

5:21 ↗ and this person helps intrigue removal

5:24 ↗ anything you would call

5:26 ↗ your person for the contracting plus

5:28 ↗ developmental review

5:30 ↗ other inspections

5:32 ↗ um

5:33 ↗ they belong to the community

5:36 ↗ they have an interest

5:38 ↗ they're not somebody we're buying

5:40 ↗ without of interest in our future

5:43 ↗ um i think it would be a really good

5:45 ↗ aspect to think about the other one i

5:47 ↗ just wanted to share with you was the

5:49 ↗ possibility of a urban forest manager

5:52 ↗ and currently renton and tacoma have

5:54 ↗ this plus

5:56 ↗ of the others

5:58 ↗ they oversee all tree management

6:01 ↗ development maintaining all tracking

6:02 ↗ methods

6:04 ↗ the monitor and removal compliance and

6:06 ↗ preservation of tree inventory

6:09 ↗ so i wanted you to be aware that this is

6:11 ↗ going on too

6:12 ↗ because like i had mentioned before um

6:14 ↗ i'd rather use our money on a person on

6:16 ↗ staff

6:17 ↗ rather who

6:19 ↗ is in

6:20 ↗ our future and knows it and we can work

6:22 ↗ with rather than spending our money on

6:25 ↗ consultings like we have in the

6:27 ↗ past so thank you for your time look

6:30 ↗ forward to a new board and have a good

6:33 ↗ evening

6:34 ↗ thank you for your comments susan have a

6:37 ↗ good evening too

6:39 ↗ uh melissa anybody oh you mentioned

6:40 ↗ connie's with us

6:45 ↗ yeah let me move her up the panel just

6:47 ↗ one moment

6:49 ↗ okay connie you are all set

6:54 ↗ oops

6:55 ↗ okay hi you guys so

6:58 ↗ susan said many things i agree with but

7:01 ↗ i was wondering if i could possibly

7:02 ↗ comment after the presentation because i

7:05 ↗ really have no idea

7:07 ↗ what

7:08 ↗ what they're going to say or how it's

7:09 ↗ going to be couched is that possible

7:13 ↗ for you connie and since this is my last

7:16 ↗ uh

7:17 ↗ evening as chair i'll i'll bend the

7:19 ↗ rules a little bit just for you

7:21 ↗ especially since we didn't have an awful

7:23 ↗ lot of time to review the material this

7:25 ↗ time too so do you have any other

7:27 ↗ comments other than trees or is that

7:29 ↗ your only comment

7:30 ↗ well i'm sort of so excited about trees

7:32 ↗ i can't think about anything else so

7:34 ↗ okay so i'll come back to you after we

7:36 ↗ have our discussion about trees thank

7:39 ↗ you

7:45 ↗ so that's all

7:46 ↗ that everyone okay

7:50 ↗ so actually that puts us right on time

7:52 ↗ here too so let's move into um

7:56 ↗ welcoming

7:57 ↗ and i think jeff's gonna take this to

8:00 ↗ start off the show

8:02 ↗ yeah thanks brad and um boy welcome um

8:07 ↗ welcome katie and and tim to the to the

8:09 ↗ park board we thought we'd take a couple

8:12 ↗ minutes here and and do

8:14 ↗ um like we would in a real room uh go

8:17 ↗ around the table and and introduce

8:19 ↗ ourselves

8:20 ↗ but uh we'll do this brady bunch style a

8:23 ↗ little bit so

8:24 ↗ uh what we'd love to hear is just uh

8:27 ↗ perhaps everyone share their name

8:29 ↗ um their

8:30 ↗ either relationship or how long they've

8:32 ↗ been related to issaquah and then maybe

8:35 ↗ one fun fact why don't we go with what's

8:37 ↗ your favorite view

8:40 ↗ in issaquah

8:41 ↗ if you have a favorite view so

8:44 ↗ i'll be the guinea pig and then after

8:46 ↗ you go

8:48 ↗ you get to you get to say tag

8:50 ↗ to the next person since we're not

8:52 ↗ actually

8:53 ↗ around a table so

8:55 ↗ um

8:56 ↗ jeff watling uh parks and community

8:58 ↗ services director here with the city of

8:59 ↗ issaquah i've um been in this role since

9:03 ↗ 2016. so it'll be uh six years this

9:06 ↗ august and uh it's been an absolute

9:09 ↗ privilege uh serving this community

9:12 ↗ lots of favorite views in issaquah

9:15 ↗ if i was to pick one right now this

9:18 ↗ moment

9:19 ↗ it's probably because i was out there

9:21 ↗ this weekend

9:22 ↗ but if you stand on home plate at

9:25 ↗ veterans memorial park and look south

9:28 ↗ with the view of city hall but then

9:31 ↗ the view of squawk mountain beyond it it

9:33 ↗ is absolutely stunning it is just a

9:35 ↗ gorgeous valley view

9:37 ↗ and to do that in the fall with all the

9:39 ↗ the colors popping is uh

9:42 ↗ is amazing

9:45 ↗ tim why don't you go next

9:52 ↗ okay uh thank you yeah my name's tim

9:55 ↗ motley i live on squawk mountain and

9:57 ↗ i've been in esquad for about four and a

10:00 ↗ half years and have really enjoyed

10:03 ↗ spending time in the parks and trails

10:04 ↗ and mountains

10:06 ↗ and so yeah i guess

10:08 ↗ my favorite view would probably be on

10:10 ↗ squawk mountain from debbie's view uh

10:12 ↗ there's been a number of times i've uh

10:15 ↗ sat up on the little bench up there uh

10:17 ↗ been alone

10:19 ↗ and enjoyed a spectacular uh view of

10:22 ↗ mount rainier

10:23 ↗ so

10:25 ↗ yeah i love it

10:27 ↗ and

10:28 ↗ i am at a bit of a disadvantage because

10:31 ↗ i can't see everyone else's names and i

10:33 ↗ don't really know you yet so katie i see

10:36 ↗ your name so i'm going to you and hey

10:38 ↗ we'll go next

10:40 ↗ okay okay thanks thank you my uh i'm

10:43 ↗ katie

10:44 ↗ and i lived here in issaquah since 2004

10:48 ↗ and my favorite views of the city would

10:51 ↗ have to be on top of poopoo trail

10:54 ↗ and i i always love to say that the name

10:57 ↗ of that trail because my kids they

10:59 ↗ they they get a kick out of it every

11:01 ↗ time because they i don't know what

11:03 ↗ they're envisioning so i had to try to

11:05 ↗ tell them no poo poo means it's like the

11:07 ↗ train used to go up there and it makes

11:09 ↗ the sound poo poo but you know with kids

11:11 ↗ they

11:12 ↗ come up with something else all together

11:14 ↗ so i'm very excited uh to be here um my

11:17 ↗ first meeting i feel very official so

11:20 ↗ thank you for welcoming me in thank you

11:26 ↗ do you want to go next sure i'll go

11:29 ↗ uh my name's brad book

11:32 ↗ i've been the chair now for six years

11:34 ↗ and with the park board for 10 years

11:37 ↗ i've been a resident of squawk mountain

11:40 ↗ for 38 years so i guess i'm showing that

11:44 ↗ i'm a bit aged

11:45 ↗ compared to others

11:48 ↗ um

11:49 ↗ my favorite view well katie kind of took

11:52 ↗ it but i'll go with it again as a poo

11:55 ↗ poo point um

11:57 ↗ i guess the thing that i like about it

11:59 ↗ is got a great viewpoint to look at

12:01 ↗ squat mountain which is certainly

12:03 ↗ dear to my heart

12:05 ↗ and also to the lake sammamish watershed

12:08 ↗ which is also something very special so

12:11 ↗ those are my

12:13 ↗ two reasons actually there's there's

12:15 ↗ others

12:16 ↗ and also other great viewpoints as well

12:19 ↗ but um

12:20 ↗ i'm gonna pass it off to chris

12:26 ↗ hi i'm chris kovac

12:28 ↗ i am

12:29 ↗ been a resident of squawk mountain for

12:32 ↗ 22 years

12:35 ↗ been on the park board for four years

12:38 ↗ and

12:40 ↗ my favorite views have already been

12:43 ↗ stated

12:44 ↗ debbie's would be one of them

12:46 ↗ so kind of a smaller

12:48 ↗ little nugget

12:50 ↗ is on the trail from i think it's the

12:53 ↗ maybe the crystal creek trail or

12:55 ↗ something from the top of sycamore

12:58 ↗ going up squawk mountain to

13:00 ↗ the

13:01 ↗ east ridge trail there's this one

13:03 ↗ portion where there are these big huge

13:06 ↗ boulder erratic boulders and you kind of

13:08 ↗ hike through that and there's there was

13:10 ↗ a bridge there it was damaged i'm not

13:12 ↗ sure if it's been restored yet but

13:13 ↗ that's one of my favorite little spots

13:17 ↗ thanks chris i got to go look for that

13:18 ↗ one

13:20 ↗ not far from your house

13:24 ↗ and uh who are you gonna pass it off to

13:26 ↗ how about marlene

13:31 ↗ all right um

13:32 ↗ i'm marlene waxey i also live on squawk

13:35 ↗ mountain i've lived in istanbul since

13:37 ↗ 2016. so

13:39 ↗ i'm going to be one of the newer newer

13:40 ↗ folks to escort onto squawk i guess

13:42 ↗ because there's a lot of us on squawk um

13:45 ↗ i love it

13:46 ↗ um came here for work and just really

13:48 ↗ fell in love with this squad

13:50 ↗ um

13:51 ↗ great views that you all have said one

13:53 ↗ that hasn't been said that i really

13:54 ↗ enjoy is just at central park kind of at

13:57 ↗ golden hour

13:58 ↗ you know when the when it's sunny and

14:00 ↗ beautiful you see the city and the

14:02 ↗ mountains and it's just really

14:04 ↗ really beautiful and you catch it right

14:06 ↗ and it all seems to be glowing so i'm a

14:09 ↗ big fan of that one as well

14:14 ↗ and let's see who has like now i'm

14:16 ↗ playing who hasn't gone yet rick have

14:18 ↗ you gone

14:19 ↗ who hasn't gone

14:21 ↗ no rick hasn't gone

14:23 ↗ perfect that's what i thought

14:32 ↗ good work rick and that you're muted

14:33 ↗ this gives me a chance to introduce you

14:35 ↗ as well rick still is our new

14:37 ↗ uh parks operations manager

14:41 ↗ um not our i.t director but the park

14:43 ↗ operations manager uh with with uh the

14:46 ↗ city's been here a month now rick

14:49 ↗ can we hear you

14:53 ↗ oh

14:56 ↗ if your laptop's in a port you might

14:58 ↗ want to

14:59 ↗ take it out no worries why don't we pass

15:02 ↗ it to zach

15:06 ↗ i'm zach sablisky i've been with the

15:08 ↗ parks board for one year i lived in

15:11 ↗ issaquah for about four years

15:14 ↗ and now living in ravensdale

15:18 ↗ right against the cedar river watershed

15:20 ↗ my favorite view in the izzy alps is

15:23 ↗ actually kevin's point it's a um

15:27 ↗ kind of like sub peak between middle

15:29 ↗ tiger and south tiger and it gives

15:32 ↗ excellent panoramics i think of the

15:34 ↗ entire area you can see

15:37 ↗ kind of east

15:39 ↗ uh west tiger as well as middle tiger

15:41 ↗ and then look towards south tiger and

15:43 ↗ even off to squawk and some of the other

15:46 ↗ mountains um so

15:48 ↗ because it's kind of been logged out in

15:50 ↗ that area some really nice views there

15:58 ↗ next step zach

16:01 ↗ um

16:03 ↗ how about are we a staff as well uh

16:06 ↗ jennifer yep

16:10 ↗ hi

16:11 ↗ i'm jennifer fink park planner and

16:13 ↗ project administrator with the city i

16:15 ↗ have been here

16:18 ↗ all finishing my eighth year august i'll

16:20 ↗ start nine um

16:23 ↗ and

16:23 ↗ one of my favorite views i live in

16:26 ↗ spanish but technically i still feel

16:28 ↗ like i miss a quack because i do

16:29 ↗ everything in this squad

16:31 ↗ um

16:32 ↗ but

16:33 ↗ one of my favorite views that has not

16:35 ↗ been mentioned i'm going to call two

16:38 ↗ one is at

16:40 ↗ east sunset trailhead when you hike up

16:42 ↗ to the top just when you hit the power

16:44 ↗ line trail there's a highly

16:47 ↗ unpopulated view that you can sit and

16:50 ↗ enjoy yourself and look out at lake

16:52 ↗ sammamish as well as downtown area and

16:55 ↗ it is really uh quite spectacular it's

16:58 ↗ very similar to poopoo point but uh

17:00 ↗ probably less traveled

17:02 ↗ and then um another view is from a piece

17:06 ↗ of property we're hopefully closing on

17:08 ↗ recently and it's a wonderful view back

17:10 ↗ over

17:11 ↗ at both uh grand ridge and tiger

17:14 ↗ mountain so um the property is on squawk

17:17 ↗ so

17:18 ↗ very nice indeed look forward to

17:21 ↗ more of the community being able to

17:22 ↗ enjoy that one day

17:29 ↗ and next up jennifer

17:32 ↗ i'm going ryan

17:35 ↗ all right well my name is ryan remy and

17:38 ↗ i'm the youth representative to the

17:39 ↗ parks board along with another sean fan

17:43 ↗ and so we both serve on the advisory

17:45 ↗ board and the parks board and sort of

17:46 ↗ serve as a connection between the two so

17:48 ↗ i've been on the youth advisory board

17:49 ↗ for seven years and i've been on the

17:51 ↗ parks board for about a year and a half

17:52 ↗ now which has been really exciting

17:54 ↗ and i'd have to say my favorite view is

17:56 ↗ anywhere i can spot a paraglider i think

17:58 ↗ that's really cool that that's a

17:59 ↗ recreational opportunity where we live

18:00 ↗ and it's just really cool to start

18:02 ↗ seeing them out again now that the sun's

18:04 ↗ out um yeah and i will pass it off to

18:06 ↗ matt

18:09 ↗ hi everyone i'm matt meckler i'm our

18:11 ↗ parks operations supervisor i grew up on

18:15 ↗ squawk mountain but on the other side on

18:17 ↗ the may valley side so i spent my

18:19 ↗ childhood roaming the woods up on top of

18:21 ↗ the mountain

18:23 ↗ i've been with the city of issaquah

18:25 ↗ since 1986 i started as a seasonal

18:28 ↗ part-time employee while going to

18:29 ↗ college and then in 1991

18:32 ↗ started full-time with our parks

18:34 ↗ department went to our public works

18:35 ↗ department for a couple years and then

18:37 ↗ jumped back over to parks and

18:39 ↗ here i am

18:40 ↗ and my favorite view and i'm surprised

18:43 ↗ no one's said this yet is um

18:47 ↗ i like the view from grandview park when

18:48 ↗ you go all the way out to the very end

18:50 ↗ where the big rocks are because you can

18:51 ↗ see all the way north up to mount baker

18:53 ↗ on a clear day the north cascades

18:56 ↗ seattle bellevue the olympics it's it's

18:58 ↗ pretty awesome so i think that's one of

19:00 ↗ my favorite and most easily accessible

19:02 ↗ views in our park system

19:06 ↗ and i

19:07 ↗ guess we could try rick again

19:09 ↗ let's see if this microphone works oh it

19:11 ↗ doesn't look good

19:16 ↗ yeah that looked good yeah

19:20 ↗ bummer sorry rick

19:22 ↗ rick's favorite view let's guess rick's

19:24 ↗ favorite no just kidding

19:26 ↗ melissa do you want to you want to wrap

19:28 ↗ it up

19:29 ↗ sure i'll wrap it up so melissa chang

19:32 ↗ parks operations specialist i've been

19:34 ↗ with the city for almost nine years and

19:38 ↗ um

19:39 ↗ my favorite view isn't necessarily an

19:42 ↗ outlook view a little take a different

19:44 ↗ stance um but over at confluence park

19:48 ↗ i really enjoyed

19:51 ↗ walking through those trails and

19:53 ↗ meandering my way down to

19:55 ↗ the riverside or creekside with my son

19:58 ↗ and um watching him talk to the ducks

20:01 ↗ and

20:02 ↗ you know throw little breadcrumbs and

20:04 ↗ other things to them has you know been

20:07 ↗ one of my favorite views slash memories

20:09 ↗ of the city and i like um checking it

20:12 ↗ out every spring and seeing how it's

20:14 ↗ changed ever so slightly right because

20:16 ↗ with all the flow of water it definitely

20:18 ↗ changes year to year so that would be my

20:22 ↗ favorite and rick if you wanna you could

20:24 ↗ drop something in the text to everyone

20:26 ↗ if you wanted to um

20:30 ↗ sorry your mic isn't working

20:33 ↗ yeah i can't tell what's going on

20:35 ↗ hey now we can hear you okay

20:40 ↗ unplugged it four or five times there's

20:42 ↗ like four options anyway ricksville uh

20:44 ↗ park operations manager i've been in

20:46 ↗ parks and recreation about 37 38 years

20:50 ↗ professionally

20:52 ↗ i have i coached soccer for 15 years and

20:55 ↗ we we just installed a bench a donation

20:59 ↗ bench at central park and sitting down

21:02 ↗ with the family looking over the soccer

21:04 ↗ field with the mountains behind that's a

21:06 ↗ pretty cool view especially with all the

21:08 ↗ motions the family had that was pretty

21:09 ↗ cool so

21:11 ↗ and i started march 1st

21:14 ↗ so thank you rick nice to meet you

21:19 ↗ and um another thing about rick is he's

21:21 ↗ very persistent just terrific

21:23 ↗ demonstrated here tonight no glad you're

21:26 ↗ here rick thanks

21:28 ↗ well that was fun and and as always it's

21:31 ↗ great to actually uh see how many great

21:33 ↗ places there are here in town

21:35 ↗ to see what we

21:37 ↗ have to enjoy here um

21:39 ↗ day in day out so

21:41 ↗ maybe some of those are i know i picked

21:43 ↗ up at least a couple there along the way

21:45 ↗ that i didn't even know about so

21:49 ↗ so um

21:51 ↗ we're on to our next item in the agenda

21:53 ↗ which is uh

21:55 ↗ leadership elections and i'm gonna have

21:58 ↗ jeff kick off this one

22:01 ↗ gladly brad thank you and uh a little

22:04 ↗ different night tonight i too thank you

22:07 ↗ for for playing along with the

22:08 ↗ introductions um always fun

22:11 ↗ um some housekeeping tonight so our our

22:14 ↗ first matter is with the new year um

22:18 ↗ elections of a chair and a vice chair um

22:22 ↗ as brad said um this appointment will be

22:25 ↗ a little different in that it'll be a

22:27 ↗ first time for me in my what will be six

22:30 ↗ years uh brad has served as the chair

22:33 ↗ uh for six years now um so i would just

22:36 ↗ first before

22:38 ↗ i guess seeing if anyone's interested i

22:40 ↗ just want to give a big kudos and a

22:42 ↗ thank you to brad and his role as chair

22:45 ↗ um has been fantastic and and brad it's

22:48 ↗ been such a pleasure working with you

22:49 ↗ directly as a chair and our chance to

22:51 ↗ meet

22:52 ↗ um

22:53 ↗ on a pretty regular basis in terms of

22:55 ↗ setting agendas and getting these things

22:57 ↗ going and i just know your passion for

22:59 ↗ this town your passion for parks your

23:01 ↗ passion for the environment is just

23:03 ↗ evident in

23:04 ↗ in who you are so um kudos for all of

23:08 ↗ that

23:08 ↗ thank you jeff appreciate it

23:12 ↗ so in that you know tip historically

23:15 ↗ we've we've sought nominations uh i

23:17 ↗ think as brad and i sort of talked

23:18 ↗ through this we thought before we take

23:20 ↗ nominations we rather than being

23:22 ↗ voluntold or pointed to by someone else

23:25 ↗ i want to put out on the table is are

23:27 ↗ any of our board members interested in

23:29 ↗ serving

23:30 ↗ as chair

23:33 ↗ i think as brad has demonstrated this is

23:35 ↗ a role that

23:38 ↗ really provides facilitation during the

23:40 ↗ meetings um a chance to

23:43 ↗ to work with staff

23:45 ↗ in setting work plan and agenda for the

23:48 ↗ uh for the park board so

23:51 ↗ in that are there any of you that are

23:53 ↗ interested in being considered

23:56 ↗ for the chair

24:15 ↗ i see zach

24:17 ↗ is

24:17 ↗ interested

24:19 ↗ thanks for prompting me all along there

24:21 ↗ bella i mean we appreciate your

24:23 ↗ assistance tonight

24:28 ↗ so in that zach do you want to maybe

24:30 ↗ share some thoughts um

24:32 ↗ a few words on on your interest be great

24:36 ↗ yeah i'm

24:37 ↗ uh well definitely very passionate about

24:39 ↗ issaquah parks even not you know

24:41 ↗ necessarily being a resident um

24:45 ↗ any longer uh it's definitely a place

24:47 ↗ that's very special to me and

24:49 ↗ and um

24:51 ↗ you know one of my my favorite places to

24:55 ↗ to um

24:56 ↗ to visit and definitely just want to

25:00 ↗ sort of

25:01 ↗ do my part to continue

25:04 ↗ um

25:06 ↗ you know continue the good work that's

25:07 ↗ being done with the parks and

25:10 ↗ um

25:12 ↗ you know

25:15 ↗ well i know too

25:16 ↗ your role as vice chair this last year

25:18 ↗ have certainly you know enjoyed the

25:20 ↗ opportunity to have you join in on those

25:23 ↗ agenda meetings as well

25:26 ↗ um

25:28 ↗ so the board knows that there is not a

25:31 ↗ residency requirement uh for the chair

25:34 ↗ position um

25:37 ↗ just wanted to clarify that um

25:42 ↗ do we have any of that interest oh go

25:44 ↗ ahead brad sorry

25:45 ↗ maybe i just stepped on your words there

25:47 ↗ jeff sorry about that do we have any

25:48 ↗ other people that have interest in being

25:51 ↗ chair

25:56 ↗ seeing none

25:58 ↗ i'd like to officially nominate zach

26:01 ↗ to be chair here this next term

26:07 ↗ and uh thank you marlene for seconding

26:10 ↗ that

26:12 ↗ and

26:14 ↗ every board member if you would like to

26:16 ↗ raise your hand if you approve the

26:19 ↗ nomination please raise your hand

26:23 ↗ one two three

26:26 ↗ four can't see if katie's hand is has

26:29 ↗ raised but she doesn't actually know

26:30 ↗ zach

26:32 ↗ um that is an adequate amount to say um

26:36 ↗ yes my hands yeah i'm raising my hand

26:39 ↗ you pissed me but i am thank you thank

26:41 ↗ you katie

26:43 ↗ that's yeah

26:44 ↗ that's an official vote and um

26:47 ↗ uh authorization and so zach thank you

26:50 ↗ and welcome as the new chair for this

26:52 ↗ next term

26:55 ↗ thank you

26:57 ↗ thank you zach

26:59 ↗ i won't put you on the seat tonight zach

27:02 ↗ i'll go ahead and conclude things for

27:03 ↗ you so you can still take another

27:05 ↗ breather here for tonight thank you

27:09 ↗ uh okay jeff on the vice chair

27:13 ↗ sounds good on device chair so similarly

27:16 ↗ before

27:17 ↗ um the nominations start bantering about

27:21 ↗ around our virtual room

27:22 ↗ um is there anyone interested in being

27:25 ↗ considered as the vice chair similar to

27:27 ↗ the chair role

27:29 ↗ you

27:32 ↗ certainly take part in working with

27:33 ↗ staff on work plan and setting the

27:35 ↗ agendas for the meetings you would serve

27:37 ↗ the role of chair

27:39 ↗ if the chair is not available for

27:42 ↗ uh for a meeting

27:44 ↗ as well

27:46 ↗ any interest in being considered vice

27:49 ↗ chair

28:00 ↗ i guess i'd be willing to be vice chair

28:02 ↗ i don't want the responsibility of chair

28:04 ↗ so glad zach wants to do that but

28:08 ↗ could help out um

28:10 ↗ in the event that zach cannot fulfill

28:11 ↗ his duties or whatever else is needed uh

28:14 ↗ from the vice chair uh situation

28:17 ↗ thank you marlene appreciate that

28:21 ↗ ditto

28:22 ↗ any other interest was fantastic so zach

28:25 ↗ visually gave a reluctant hand that was

28:28 ↗ a it was

28:29 ↗ like an audible yeah i'll i'll do it

28:33 ↗ you guys are and i say this all right i

28:35 ↗ did strategically wait to see if anyone

28:37 ↗ was really excited about it because i

28:38 ↗ wouldn't want to take away like you know

28:40 ↗ but i'm happy to step up if we need if

28:43 ↗ we need someone to do that i

28:45 ↗ so applaud much like brad just your your

28:48 ↗ interest and willingness to serve on an

28:50 ↗ advisory board like this and to take a

28:52 ↗ leadership role knowing how all of you

28:54 ↗ have

28:55 ↗ busy lives with a lot going on so

28:58 ↗ thank you so much

29:00 ↗ anyone else have an interest in vice

29:02 ↗ chair

29:07 ↗ seeing none i will officially nominate

29:11 ↗ marlene to be vice chair

29:15 ↗ second

29:16 ↗ okay zach is second

29:19 ↗ so all in favor of marlene as vice chair

29:23 ↗ please raise your hand

29:29 ↗ there's katie hi katie

29:31 ↗ hello

29:34 ↗ and that looks unanimous to me so

29:36 ↗ welcome to

29:37 ↗ vice chair position marlene i know you

29:40 ↗ and zach are going to be great additions

29:42 ↗ to the board and we look forward to

29:44 ↗ working with you in the year ahead so

29:47 ↗ thank you thank you all and thank you in

29:49 ↗ particular zach and marlene um a

29:52 ↗ suggestion and i i want to say this too

29:54 ↗ as we went through our introductions

29:56 ↗ brad i know you have so willingly

29:58 ↗ expressed interest in

30:00 ↗ sort of coming alongside zach i i don't

30:03 ↗ want to say mentoring but you know

30:04 ↗ providing some assistance as that baton

30:06 ↗ has passed so

30:08 ↗ um zach marlene as we set the agenda

30:11 ↗ meeting uh next month we'll coordinate

30:14 ↗ that with brad as well on your schedules

30:16 ↗ and and start that process so again

30:18 ↗ thank you so much i also want to offer

30:20 ↗ this and and i doesn't necessarily need

30:22 ↗ to be at this at the meeting or a show

30:24 ↗ of hands but as

30:26 ↗ tim and katie are coming on board as the

30:28 ↗ park board

30:30 ↗ i know they'll certainly get perspective

30:31 ↗ of what this is like from staff but um

30:34 ↗ it'd also be great if they had a chance

30:36 ↗ to understand the perspective of park

30:38 ↗ board from you as other park board

30:40 ↗ members so if any of you are interested

30:42 ↗ in

30:43 ↗ reaching out to either tim or katie and

30:46 ↗ um just sharing your thoughts

30:48 ↗ perspective

30:49 ↗ helping them gain some knowledge and

30:51 ↗ understanding of what

30:53 ↗ the park board is like or answering any

30:56 ↗ questions

30:57 ↗ please

30:58 ↗ extend yourself extend an invite

31:02 ↗ go grab some coffee or or something so

31:04 ↗ not i guess an official mentoring

31:06 ↗ program but just i think a chance to

31:08 ↗ share your perspective um i would i

31:11 ↗ would encourage that

31:14 ↗ and i would encourage it even further to

31:17 ↗ maybe make it a little bit perhaps more

31:19 ↗ official that

31:21 ↗ it may be for this next term if somebody

31:24 ↗ wants to be a mentor for

31:27 ↗ either katie or tim

31:29 ↗ that you make that be known

31:31 ↗ and

31:33 ↗ not only to them but to the board

31:36 ↗ and

31:37 ↗ you know for them to have an opportunity

31:40 ↗ as a go-to person if they ever have any

31:42 ↗ questions or

31:44 ↗ would just like to speak off-record i i

31:46 ↗ think it's good to actually have some

31:47 ↗ experience provide that kind of insight

31:51 ↗ but i'm certainly intending to do that

31:53 ↗ for zach and and also can do that for

31:56 ↗ marlene as well in that respect so that

32:00 ↗ that's my official um

32:03 ↗ nomination of myself as a mentor for

32:05 ↗ both of you here in this next coming

32:07 ↗ term so always feel free that you can

32:08 ↗ reach out to me at any time

32:13 ↗ so i think that kind of uh

32:15 ↗ less you have more on that topic jeff i

32:17 ↗ think that kind of concludes elections

32:19 ↗ this evening

32:20 ↗ sure does

32:22 ↗ good

32:25 ↗ with that

32:26 ↗ we're on to our next item which is um

32:29 ↗ rules and regulations and jeff you're up

32:33 ↗ again

32:34 ↗ all right well this um i know we have

32:37 ↗ got some interest in

32:39 ↗ getting to our city tree program we

32:42 ↗ we will um this was just an opportunity

32:44 ↗ and really a continuation of a

32:47 ↗ conversation we started at last month's

32:49 ↗ meeting

32:50 ↗ i think with some of the

32:53 ↗ transition that we're seeing amongst the

32:54 ↗ park board uh one of the one of the

32:57 ↗ items that was discussed um and that we

33:00 ↗ wanted to sort of um

33:02 ↗ invite conversation and discussion and

33:04 ↗ and get a sense of what council goals or

33:06 ↗ council board park board goals might be

33:09 ↗ forgive me

33:10 ↗ was this idea of

33:13 ↗ how we want to look at maybe creating

33:15 ↗ some additional flexibility within the

33:18 ↗ alternate positions

33:20 ↗ so

33:20 ↗ within our rules and regulations we now

33:22 ↗ have two alternate positions

33:24 ↗ that really are defined as alternates

33:26 ↗ and as such they've really been seen as

33:29 ↗ and most often

33:30 ↗ thought of as

33:32 ↗ a position to transition into the park

33:35 ↗ board

33:37 ↗ as um

33:38 ↗ we

33:39 ↗ again sort of see where we're going and

33:42 ↗ knowing we're in the midst of a

33:43 ↗ recruitment phase for par additional

33:45 ↗ park board positions

33:47 ↗ uh one of the ideas that come up is

33:49 ↗ what would it look like to have

33:51 ↗ added flexibility to those positions to

33:54 ↗ consider not only an alternate as

33:56 ↗ someone's transitioning in

33:58 ↗ but

33:59 ↗ utilizing

34:01 ↗ those opportunities that two-year term

34:04 ↗ for more of a transition out and in

34:07 ↗ essence sort of thinking of it also as

34:10 ↗ a legacy type position where someone who

34:13 ↗ has served

34:15 ↗ a lengthy term and still has some

34:17 ↗ interest in serving

34:19 ↗ knowing many items on the park board are

34:21 ↗ often multi-year

34:24 ↗ either projects or initiatives

34:28 ↗ you know

34:29 ↗ how might this be an opportunity to

34:31 ↗ create that

34:33 ↗ create that flexibility

34:35 ↗ myself and melissa had had a chance to

34:38 ↗ talk a little bit further with the city

34:40 ↗ clerk's office to understand a little

34:41 ↗ bit about what

34:43 ↗ mechanics might look like in those

34:47 ↗ um alternates but before i i guess

34:49 ↗ before i jump into that i i would

34:51 ↗ i guess pause and open it up for

34:54 ↗ um just some reflection or thoughts that

34:57 ↗ you all might have on

34:59 ↗ um

35:03 ↗ interest in that perspective i know we

35:05 ↗ talked about this um a little bit but um

35:08 ↗ is there

35:10 ↗ uh is there interest in in adding

35:12 ↗ flexibility and if so

35:14 ↗ would it be with

35:15 ↗ the the two existing alternate positions

35:18 ↗ or or

35:19 ↗ is there interest in considering

35:22 ↗ um additional positions

35:28 ↗ any thoughts show of hands

35:31 ↗ zach

35:32 ↗ i think i'd prefer an additional

35:34 ↗ position um added so as to not take away

35:38 ↗ from uh incoming members to uh

35:42 ↗ in the alternate position

35:47 ↗ other thoughts tim

35:50 ↗ do you have any uh history on using

35:53 ↗ alternatives in the past

35:56 ↗ we do great question yeah typically

35:59 ↗ alternate positions have been like i

36:01 ↗ said

36:02 ↗ for

36:03 ↗ um sort of transitioning into

36:06 ↗ uh

36:07 ↗ the bar the park board so not

36:09 ↗ necessarily

36:10 ↗ as a

36:13 ↗ sort of more of this transition out or

36:15 ↗ this legacy

36:17 ↗ piece that would be a

36:18 ↗ a new

36:20 ↗ a new consideration

36:26 ↗ yeah yeah i guess could you just

36:27 ↗ elaborate on what you saw as advantages

36:30 ↗ or

36:31 ↗ challenges that was faced when you use

36:33 ↗ that program because it's a new concept

36:35 ↗ to me

36:37 ↗ yeah great great point so within the the

36:40 ↗ bylaw most boards and commissions in the

36:43 ↗ city i think they all have alternate

36:44 ↗ positions these positions are not

36:47 ↗ um

36:48 ↗ regular positions in that if all the

36:50 ↗ regular

36:51 ↗ um border or commission members are

36:53 ↗ there uh they are not a a voting member

36:57 ↗ um but as an alternate they are invited

36:59 ↗ to attend all meetings they do you know

37:02 ↗ are not encouraged to attend all

37:05 ↗ meetings but interact in discussion um

37:08 ↗ be informed so that

37:10 ↗ should especially if it's a topic that

37:12 ↗ is covered over multiple meetings

37:16 ↗ and should a regular position

37:19 ↗ not be there

37:21 ↗ a regular member not be there on any

37:22 ↗ given night the alternate would be

37:25 ↗ a voting member

37:27 ↗ in in their stead and so

37:29 ↗ in that context more often than not the

37:33 ↗ alternate positions have been

37:35 ↗ utilized by someone who is

37:38 ↗ initially

37:40 ↗ coming onto the board in some cases and

37:42 ↗ then

37:44 ↗ [Music]

37:45 ↗ you know

37:47 ↗ next

37:48 ↗ application cycle may apply for a

37:50 ↗ regular position and be seated as a

37:52 ↗ regular position

37:54 ↗ does that help give

37:56 ↗ a little bit of context

38:01 ↗ yeah i guess

38:03 ↗ a follow-up is what do we have

38:06 ↗ in terms of alternate positions or

38:08 ↗ regular positions that are unfilled

38:10 ↗ right now

38:12 ↗ great question we have one regular

38:14 ↗ position that's unfilled and the two

38:16 ↗ alternate positions are currently

38:18 ↗ unfilled

38:23 ↗ and also just to clarify alternates are

38:26 ↗ a two-year term whereas regulators are a

38:28 ↗ four-year term

38:29 ↗ so it gives that so it kind of gives new

38:31 ↗ people an opportunity to

38:34 ↗ um you know get their feet wet to some

38:36 ↗ extent with the board before they make

38:38 ↗ any longer commitment

38:44 ↗ i would be in favor of uh adding legacy

38:47 ↗ positions as an additional

38:49 ↗ um

38:51 ↗ much like zach said rather than to take

38:53 ↗ away from

38:54 ↗ regular positions

38:56 ↗ i do like it's something that i actually

38:59 ↗ brought up frankly um

39:01 ↗ in the course of discussion about this

39:03 ↗ topic and and so i i'm in favor of the

39:07 ↗ the term and and the intention of it um

39:12 ↗ i think the details just need to be

39:14 ↗ you know the the

39:16 ↗ the length of it um and also whether or

39:18 ↗ not there would be any

39:20 ↗ uh potential voting rights uh or not you

39:23 ↗ know much like

39:24 ↗ alternate positions or whatever i think

39:27 ↗ those details need to be ironed out as

39:29 ↗ well

39:33 ↗ no i appreciate that brad and and

39:35 ↗ hearing that from both you and zach i

39:37 ↗ saw a couple of general head nods occur

39:40 ↗ was there

39:41 ↗ do others share that similar perspective

39:44 ↗ in terms of rather than creating

39:46 ↗ flexibility with the two existing

39:48 ↗ alternates there's interest in that

39:49 ↗ flexibility

39:51 ↗ but there's interest in adding

39:53 ↗ a few more positions a few more

39:55 ↗ alternate slash legacy positions

40:02 ↗ i personally think it's a good idea to

40:06 ↗ keep a balance in every board and

40:08 ↗ commission and it's a way of keeping uh

40:12 ↗ older more experienced and knowledgeable

40:14 ↗ people still in the midst of the board

40:17 ↗ um

40:19 ↗ and so i guess that's that's the

40:21 ↗ intention of it

40:23 ↗ yep

40:25 ↗ so is the intent really

40:27 ↗ to

40:29 ↗ not have someone be

40:31 ↗ you know

40:32 ↗ start as an alternate then become a

40:34 ↗ board member then become chair

40:36 ↗ and then just resign retire

40:38 ↗ and maybe to

40:40 ↗ pays them out keep them on board to help

40:41 ↗ with the next care and

40:43 ↗ uh

40:45 ↗ transition them out slowly

40:47 ↗ [Music]

40:48 ↗ yeah the intent would be to have that

40:50 ↗ flexibility not not all regular members

40:53 ↗ would need to become would need to phase

40:55 ↗ out that way some some regular members

40:57 ↗ might say hey you know what i i'm not

40:59 ↗ interested in reappointment i love my

41:01 ↗ time serving i'm done but if there is

41:03 ↗ you know expressed interest from someone

41:05 ↗ who

41:06 ↗ um

41:07 ↗ wants that right you know this would

41:10 ↗ you know would this would you know

41:13 ↗ create some of that flexibility um to to

41:16 ↗ do that and understand in periods of

41:18 ↗ relatively high turnover for any board

41:20 ↗ or commission

41:23 ↗ is this the way to

41:25 ↗ keep some of that

41:27 ↗ experience

41:29 ↗ on the board

41:30 ↗ as that transition out happens

41:34 ↗ yes i would say and sorry if you guys

41:35 ↗ covered this i had there was another dog

41:37 ↗ in our yard and my dog was barking crazy

41:39 ↗ so sorry for being going on for a second

41:41 ↗ had a little uh little pet pet situation

41:44 ↗ um

41:46 ↗ i don't think you know adding

41:47 ↗ flexibility is ever a bad thing so for

41:49 ↗ me if really the conversation here is

41:51 ↗ about changing the rules that we can do

41:53 ↗ either or

41:54 ↗ um i don't really see a downside to

41:57 ↗ um sort of adjusting rules to be a

41:59 ↗ little more flexible based on the needs

42:01 ↗ of the board at any given time

42:05 ↗ all right well i'm certainly hearing i'm

42:07 ↗ hearing

42:08 ↗ a a general consensus of of the same

42:12 ↗ thing and so i you know we're not

42:13 ↗ intending we weren't intending to try

42:15 ↗ and draft something tonight or take

42:17 ↗ action tonight

42:18 ↗ in fact i was saying melissa and i had a

42:20 ↗ chance to talk with the clerk's office

42:22 ↗ so

42:22 ↗ our intent would be to come back

42:24 ↗ at the next meeting the june meeting

42:27 ↗ with

42:28 ↗ um

42:29 ↗ some some language for you all to

42:31 ↗ consider and also an understanding of

42:33 ↗ what the process would be um in talking

42:36 ↗ with the clerk's office

42:37 ↗ um

42:38 ↗ to make a

42:40 ↗ adjustment of adding

42:42 ↗ um um adding in in essence adding

42:45 ↗ positions to a border commission there

42:47 ↗ would be

42:48 ↗ not only an amendment needed of the

42:50 ↗ rules and regulations but also

42:52 ↗ the imc the israel municipal code

42:55 ↗ so there would need to be an adjustment

42:57 ↗ an amendment to the imc that would

43:00 ↗ um uh be

43:02 ↗ you know the support of mayor and

43:03 ↗ council and approval of council

43:06 ↗ again not a

43:08 ↗ not a reason not to do this or have that

43:10 ↗ consideration but uh just wanted to to

43:13 ↗ make sure that was

43:14 ↗ known and understood

43:16 ↗ but again a process we would undertake

43:19 ↗ and work uh directly with the clerk's

43:21 ↗ office on that

43:22 ↗ on that consideration so appreciate the

43:24 ↗ discussion uh more to come our plan will

43:27 ↗ be to circle up with them and

43:30 ↗ bring something back in june for

43:33 ↗ discussion and potential action

43:36 ↗ so thank you

43:37 ↗ can i just ask a quick follow-up which

43:39 ↗ is you know i

43:41 ↗ i found out about the position from

43:44 ↗ the letter from the mayor which i

43:45 ↗ actually read

43:47 ↗ but i just wonder how else do you

43:51 ↗ find people that might be interested

43:54 ↗ in serving on this board or other boards

43:58 ↗ yeah that's a great question usually so

44:01 ↗ how isoqua done park or just board and

44:04 ↗ commission recruitment is

44:07 ↗ same time every year uh that sort of

44:10 ↗ winter february march time frame uh

44:12 ↗ recruitment is is sent out typically by

44:15 ↗ the mayor's office it starts

44:17 ↗ we will send it out to

44:20 ↗ various databases we have within our

44:22 ↗ parks department uh for example tim you

44:25 ↗ know now we have

44:27 ↗ uh an active recruitment right now i was

44:29 ↗ going to mention another director's

44:30 ↗ report but i'll mention it now the

44:32 ↗ active recruitment for that vacant

44:34 ↗ regular position and those two vacant

44:35 ↗ alternate positions is out now

44:38 ↗ we've

44:39 ↗ sent that out and via email to

44:43 ↗ our you know recreation user groups

44:46 ↗ [Music]

44:47 ↗ many of the non-profits

44:49 ↗ partners and those that you know rent

44:51 ↗ our spaces or use our spaces or we

44:53 ↗ partner in so many ways with

44:55 ↗ we send that announcement out

44:58 ↗ to them as

45:02 ↗ well okay jeff you want to make a

45:05 ↗ comment about the quorum issue

45:10 ↗ well yeah thank you uh not so much the

45:12 ↗ quorum issue but the bylaws that were i

45:15 ↗ believe the bylaws that were attached on

45:17 ↗ this agenda were

45:19 ↗ not the

45:20 ↗ uh there were some amendments that were

45:21 ↗ made in last august we will make sure

45:25 ↗ when we bring back the

45:27 ↗ um

45:28 ↗ proposed language and the process that

45:30 ↗ would be needed we will also bring that

45:33 ↗ back with the most updated

45:36 ↗ rules and regs

45:37 ↗ from last august

45:40 ↗ is that what you were

45:42 ↗ yeah yes but also um

45:47 ↗ last august we had changed quorum to

45:49 ↗ five people

45:52 ↗ but because of the fact that we're short

45:54 ↗ staffed by three people that it makes

45:56 ↗ sense at this point anyway in the

45:58 ↗ interim to maybe continue with a quorum

46:01 ↗ as being only four

46:03 ↗ members

46:05 ↗ um

46:07 ↗ we need to just accomplish at least 50

46:09 ↗ percent essentially of of what we have

46:11 ↗ in terms of membership

46:14 ↗ yeah and i will i will um i will confirm

46:17 ↗ that with the clerk's office as well as

46:19 ↗ as we

46:20 ↗ uh discuss and and what we bring back

46:22 ↗ we'll sort of yeah we'll propose some

46:25 ↗ um

46:26 ↗ yeah what some options are or

46:29 ↗ um if we just consider you know

46:32 ↗ proceeding um

46:35 ↗ without that amendment so yeah i'll run

46:37 ↗ that down with the clerk's office

46:43 ↗ um that cover that

46:46 ↗ sure does thank you everybody

46:51 ↗ so

46:54 ↗ matt we kind of got you we got you going

46:56 ↗ here a little earlier than normal so i'm

46:58 ↗ glad that uh we were able to do that for

47:00 ↗ you so

47:01 ↗ any of that

47:03 ↗ yeah if you don't mind i i'd love to

47:05 ↗ kick this off and um

47:07 ↗ a

47:08 ↗ number of staff will certainly be taking

47:09 ↗ part in this and and matt will certainly

47:11 ↗ be uh a big part of the show uh for

47:14 ↗ certain so

47:16 ↗ yeah i guess just thank you brad for i

47:18 ↗ think for context and following a number

47:21 ↗ of our recent meetings and susan thank

47:23 ↗ you i think you spelled out a lot of

47:25 ↗ a lot of the context for this

47:27 ↗ conversation given

47:29 ↗ um

47:30 ↗ some of the title 18 discussions some of

47:32 ↗ the

47:33 ↗ uh the joint meetings you've all had

47:35 ↗ with um with the

47:36 ↗ ppc um obviously

47:39 ↗ um the the

47:41 ↗ the importance of trees the um the

47:44 ↗ proposed revisions with the tree code uh

47:47 ↗ certainly felt like it was good timing i

47:49 ↗ know as brad and i have talked through

47:51 ↗ agendas

47:53 ↗ bringing forward and providing just an

47:55 ↗ overview to not only our new park board

47:57 ↗ members but all of you as as board

47:59 ↗ members

48:00 ↗ just an understanding in some context of

48:02 ↗ what we currently do what our current

48:05 ↗ city tree programs are

48:07 ↗ within um

48:09 ↗ that are overseen by this department by

48:11 ↗ parks and community services

48:13 ↗ uh so

48:14 ↗ not only matt but jen fink

48:17 ↗ and melissa are here as well as well as

48:19 ↗ rick just to provide an overview of

48:22 ↗ those programs

48:24 ↗ and have a chance to answer questions

48:26 ↗ and then at the at the conclusion

48:29 ↗ i would love to to share some thoughts

48:32 ↗ about moving forward um into into 2023

48:36 ↗ and and beyond and some considerations

48:39 ↗ that um

48:41 ↗ would love to share so with that

48:43 ↗ i know

48:45 ↗ jennifer thank you for sharing the

48:47 ↗ presentation

48:50 ↗ and matt i believe

48:52 ↗ you get to kick it off

48:58 ↗ all right

49:03 ↗ i think we're ready for the next slide

49:06 ↗ which is just kind of a

49:07 ↗ kind of our top whoops yeah there we go

49:09 ↗ kind of our talking point so yeah i'm

49:11 ↗ going to kick it off tonight just kind

49:12 ↗ of talking about

49:13 ↗ our tree city usa program and then jen's

49:16 ↗ going to kind of take

49:17 ↗ take the lead for a few of them and then

49:18 ↗ i'll be back with green issaquah and

49:20 ↗ contracted arbor services

49:23 ↗ so just starting out with tree city usa

49:26 ↗ ready for the next slide

49:29 ↗ um so

49:30 ↗ tree city usa is a is a program that the

49:33 ↗ city of issaquah has been involved in

49:35 ↗ for

49:36 ↗ this is actually our 30th years that

49:38 ↗ we've been a that we are working on our

49:40 ↗ tree city usa at the end of this year

49:42 ↗ we'll submit our application to the

49:43 ↗ state

49:44 ↗ to meet the qualifications

49:46 ↗ it's one of the oldest arbor day

49:49 ↗ foundations programs that they have at

49:51 ↗ street city usa and there's over

49:53 ↗ 3 600 cities across the united states

49:55 ↗ that are tree city

49:57 ↗ on

49:58 ↗ like i said this is our 30th year

50:01 ↗ issaquah is tied for seventh

50:04 ↗ for being one of the oldest street

50:06 ↗ cities in the state of washington

50:09 ↗ and in case you were wondering who we're

50:10 ↗ tied with clyde hill everett and olympia

50:14 ↗ are the other three that are the same

50:16 ↗ amount of years as us as a tree city usa

50:20 ↗ and if you really want to kind of visit

50:23 ↗ the site if you go to the arbor day.org

50:25 ↗ website you can go and you can look at

50:27 ↗ all the different tree cities by state

50:30 ↗ and there's some really really neat

50:31 ↗ information in there and then if you

50:33 ↗ click on washington it'll show all the

50:35 ↗ all the cities in the state of

50:36 ↗ washington that are tree cities and how

50:38 ↗ many years they've been in or an act of

50:41 ↗ tree city usa

50:45 ↗ speaking of washington here's a pretty

50:47 ↗ good slide infographic of just kind of

50:49 ↗ talking just in washington itself so as

50:51 ↗ you can see

50:52 ↗ there's 93 communities in the state of

50:55 ↗ washington that are tree city usas

50:58 ↗ um

50:59 ↗ over 37 000 trees were planted

51:03 ↗ last year as part of the tree city usa

51:06 ↗ program

51:07 ↗ in case you were wondering who the

51:08 ↗ longest active tree city usa is in the

51:12 ↗ state of washington that's ellensburg

51:13 ↗ and they've been a tree city usa for 38

51:15 ↗ years

51:18 ↗ seattle's our largest tree city usa and

51:20 ↗ our smallest city is uh city of hunts

51:22 ↗ point so those are kind of some stats

51:24 ↗ there

51:25 ↗ i kind of went through and dug through

51:27 ↗ some information that i had and i kind

51:29 ↗ of pulled up some fun fun stats for

51:31 ↗ everybody um kind of going back to 2016.

51:34 ↗ so since 2016

51:36 ↗ to 2021

51:38 ↗ issaquah has planted over 21 000 trees

51:41 ↗ just within our city parks natural areas

51:44 ↗ and open spaces

51:47 ↗ this year to date

51:49 ↗ we have already planted 1016 trees and

51:52 ↗ right now we have about 400 trees that

51:54 ↗ are stored in our nursery that we're

51:56 ↗ kind of over summering that we'll be

51:58 ↗ ready to plant this fall

52:00 ↗ when we start doing some more

52:01 ↗ restoration projects when the winter

52:03 ↗ rains come

52:04 ↗ [Music]

52:07 ↗ we'll go for the next one

52:09 ↗ yeah so um tree city usa there's a few

52:11 ↗ things that you need to do to

52:14 ↗ meet the tree city usa criteria um you

52:17 ↗ have to have a tree board or department

52:19 ↗ which the park board kind of serves as

52:21 ↗ that role for us in issaquah

52:24 ↗ you have to have a community tree

52:25 ↗ ordinance

52:26 ↗ and you have to spend at least two

52:28 ↗ dollars per capita on urban forestry

52:31 ↗ and probably the least challenging but

52:33 ↗ the most enjoyable standard to meet is

52:36 ↗ you know celebrating arbor day and

52:37 ↗ having a

52:38 ↗ mayoral proclamation

52:40 ↗ designated a day as arbor day

52:44 ↗ this last couple of years the arbor day

52:46 ↗ foundation has actually kind of um

52:49 ↗ um waived that the the arbor day event

52:52 ↗ and the proclamation just because of the

52:53 ↗ pandemic but we're really excited that

52:56 ↗ this year we could start that back up

52:57 ↗ again so this year um issaquah

53:00 ↗ celebrated our arbor day on april 24th

53:02 ↗ and we had it up at harvey manning park

53:04 ↗ so we're glad to get that tradition back

53:07 ↗ up and running and our uh we had the

53:09 ↗ proclamation then too

53:11 ↗ so that's just kind of a really quick

53:13 ↗ overview on our tree city usa program

53:16 ↗ and now i think jen's going to kind of

53:18 ↗ talk a little bit about

53:20 ↗ the milling trees grant

53:24 ↗ hi

53:25 ↗ so

53:26 ↗ yes i'm here to talk about the 1 million

53:28 ↗ trees grant

53:33 ↗ we were awarded in 2019 pre-pandemic um

53:38 ↗ 75 000

53:39 ↗ to plant 10 000 trees was our grant

53:42 ↗ application

53:45 ↗ it was king county's goal to try and

53:47 ↗ plant 1 million trees county wide

53:50 ↗ and we were able to get our trees

53:52 ↗ planted with our partners the washington

53:55 ↗ conservation corps as well as the

53:57 ↗ mountains to sound green white trust

54:01 ↗ we ended up not using all of our grant

54:03 ↗ funds available however we do have some

54:05 ↗ impressive numbers to share

54:09 ↗ um matt do you want to talk about this

54:12 ↗ slider shall i

54:16 ↗ i'm sure i can read it off here um so

54:18 ↗ yeah our million tree grant uh

54:21 ↗ we planted about 20 little over 21 acres

54:24 ↗ in six different parks and open spaces

54:26 ↗ um those sites included the pickering

54:28 ↗ reach uh sammamish cove park indy

54:31 ↗ johnson park park point

54:33 ↗ uh issaquah creek greenway and squawk

54:36 ↗ valley park um kind of the northern

54:38 ↗ portion of squawk valley park

54:40 ↗ and as jen mentioned you know we were

54:42 ↗ able to

54:43 ↗ the timing was actually it couldn't have

54:44 ↗ been more perfect because we also had

54:46 ↗ our washington conservation corps crew

54:48 ↗ that was working for us during this time

54:50 ↗ um and then at the same time mounts of

54:53 ↗ sound greenway had a um

54:56 ↗ uh they also had a uh americorps group

54:59 ↗ so we were able to add that one slide

55:01 ↗ that was back a couple with a big group

55:02 ↗ picture that was a kind of our

55:04 ↗ washington conservation corps and the

55:05 ↗ america corps

55:07 ↗ team that helped us plant a lot of trees

55:10 ↗ in a very short period of time it was

55:11 ↗ very impressive so we did a lot of

55:13 ↗ plantings in current restoration areas

55:17 ↗ and then also some new ones too so we

55:18 ↗ were able to infill some areas and then

55:20 ↗ then start some new sites too so that

55:23 ↗ was really exciting

55:32 ↗ some of the additional work that was

55:34 ↗ done with the million trees grant uh we

55:37 ↗ also did some invasive removal of

55:39 ↗ blackberry and some canary reed grass so

55:41 ↗ we could get some

55:42 ↗ trees planted in those areas and give

55:44 ↗ them a fighting chance

55:46 ↗ uh we also did mulching

55:49 ↗ and some caging

55:51 ↗ we completed our grant application in

55:53 ↗ 2021

55:54 ↗ and um

55:56 ↗ during the pandemic it was a little hard

55:58 ↗ to get some of these trees planted so we

56:00 ↗ had to extend our grant period however

56:04 ↗ through this grant program we were able

56:06 ↗ to successfully plant

56:08 ↗ 11

56:10 ↗ 385 trees

56:12 ↗ 28 which were evergreen and 72 percent

56:16 ↗ deciduous

56:17 ↗ we felt just shy of that 75 000 meaning

56:20 ↗ we couldn't

56:22 ↗ spend enough money

56:23 ↗ in getting the work done

56:25 ↗ but we had some amazing results um

56:28 ↗ as part of that and so these are areas

56:31 ↗ that we continually do restoration work

56:34 ↗ on and so we're always out um

56:37 ↗ checking on them and making sure that

56:39 ↗ the trees that have been flagged as you

56:40 ↗ saw in that earlier picture um are doing

56:43 ↗ well and having a fighting chance

56:50 ↗ so now we're going to talk a little bit

56:52 ↗ about

56:53 ↗ heritage trees and landmark trees

56:56 ↗ and for the imc i just wanted to quickly

56:59 ↗ kind of

57:00 ↗ provide some background as to what each

57:03 ↗ of these definitions for the trees are

57:06 ↗ a heritage tree is a group of trees or

57:08 ↗ trees specifically designated by the

57:10 ↗ city because of either historical

57:13 ↗ significance special character

57:15 ↗ or community benefit

57:18 ↗ whereas a landmark tree is a tree

57:20 ↗ greater than 30 inches in diameter

57:22 ↗ breast height

57:24 ↗ and so when there comes time for tree

57:26 ↗ removal

57:27 ↗ um

57:28 ↗ there's some specific characteristics or

57:31 ↗ preservation techniques that can be used

57:33 ↗ uh for landmark tree

57:37 ↗ a squash heritage tree program was

57:40 ↗ established the 10th year of tree cities

57:43 ↗ usa

57:45 ↗ this was not an adopted

57:48 ↗ program

57:49 ↗ by city council this is more of an

57:53 ↗ program

57:55 ↗ some of the application requirements if

57:57 ↗ you go to the city's website you type in

58:00 ↗ heritage tree program it'll pull up a

58:02 ↗ web page

58:03 ↗ that are stated on the application

58:06 ↗ is um

58:08 ↗ anyone can make a nomination however the

58:11 ↗ you need to obtain the property owner's

58:14 ↗ signature

58:16 ↗ um

58:17 ↗ and they

58:18 ↗ acknowledge the heritage tree does not

58:20 ↗ limit someone's ability to either prune

58:22 ↗ remove or otherwise maintain the tree

58:26 ↗ it provides a description of the

58:28 ↗ characteristics that merit

58:30 ↗ having some special heritage status

58:33 ↗ and the deadline for submitting

58:35 ↗ applications

58:36 ↗ is september 1st we'll accept them all

58:38 ↗ year round

58:40 ↗ and the park board

58:42 ↗ reviews applications at their september

58:45 ↗ meeting to make any nominations

58:50 ↗ um things that make a unique and

58:53 ↗ noteworthy characteristics of heritage

58:56 ↗ trees are either their size or their age

58:59 ↗ specifically a tree that has reached a

59:01 ↗ size or age not normally seen for that

59:04 ↗ species in the pacific northwest it can

59:06 ↗ be the largest oldest or most

59:08 ↗ outstanding specimen

59:10 ↗ in the area

59:12 ↗ can also have some historic significance

59:14 ↗ a tree that's notable because of its

59:16 ↗ association with early settlers

59:19 ↗ region or a historic event

59:21 ↗ and it can also have some ecological

59:22 ↗ value

59:24 ↗ a notable tree that can provide benefits

59:26 ↗ that maybe aren't typically seen in this

59:29 ↗ area

59:32 ↗ uh

59:33 ↗ designated trees are identified and

59:36 ↗ registered and maintained by the city

59:39 ↗ they are mapped for public use on the

59:41 ↗ city's public gis layer

59:46 ↗ any

59:48 ↗ as a park board makes their nominations

59:50 ↗ for consideration at their september

59:52 ↗ meeting

59:53 ↗ uh a proclamation will be read by the

59:55 ↗ mayor in november which is uh

59:58 ↗ chosen for that month because it's the

59:59 ↗ washington urban and

1:00:01 ↗ community forest month

1:00:03 ↗ uh the property owner who uh

1:00:07 ↗ received the nomination or has the

1:00:09 ↗ property for which the nominated tree is

1:00:12 ↗ on uh will receive a certificate

1:00:14 ↗ and

1:00:16 ↗ you can find out more information

1:00:19 ↗ on the city's website

1:00:24 ↗ i'm now going to quickly uh

1:00:26 ↗ oh i see your hand there brad

1:00:29 ↗ before we move on i wanted to ask a

1:00:31 ↗ little bit there was a bunch of

1:00:32 ↗ clarification about heritage trees but

1:00:34 ↗ not much about landmark trees is there

1:00:38 ↗ more specifics about what the parameters

1:00:41 ↗ are for a landmark tree

1:00:43 ↗ uh landmark tree is only due to size

1:00:47 ↗ how about in terms of pruning removal

1:00:49 ↗ and all of that is it can still be

1:00:51 ↗ pruned and maintained

1:00:56 ↗ so really the same

1:00:58 ↗ issues apply to a landmark tree except

1:01:00 ↗ for the size then

1:01:02 ↗ um

1:01:03 ↗ no a landmark tree is not necessarily a

1:01:05 ↗ heritage tree

1:01:07 ↗ uh just because you have a large uh

1:01:12 ↗ you know western red cedar on your

1:01:13 ↗ property does not mean it as

1:01:16 ↗ warrants

1:01:17 ↗ any of the noteworthy or special

1:01:18 ↗ characteristics to have it

1:01:20 ↗ named as

1:01:22 ↗ a land or a heritage tree heritage tree

1:01:25 ↗ has to have those special

1:01:26 ↗ characteristics not just notably size

1:01:30 ↗ where a landmark tree is more based

1:01:33 ↗ solely upon size

1:01:40 ↗ so now i'll give a brief uh

1:01:43 ↗ update on our carbon credit um

1:01:46 ↗ program uh

1:01:48 ↗ back in february of 2020 we went to city

1:01:51 ↗ council

1:01:53 ↗ on a study session

1:01:56 ↗ to introduce the carbon credit programs

1:01:59 ↗ uh

1:02:00 ↗ update council on

1:02:03 ↗ partners and kind of what it what the

1:02:05 ↗ whole program is

1:02:07 ↗ um can potentially develop a

1:02:10 ↗ funding source for green management

1:02:13 ↗ um

1:02:14 ↗ took a while but during a pandemic but

1:02:17 ↗ then in october of last year

1:02:20 ↗ we did take forward a successful

1:02:23 ↗ agenda bill to city council seeking

1:02:25 ↗ authorization to

1:02:27 ↗ pursue the city's first carbon credit

1:02:30 ↗ application

1:02:32 ↗ carbon credit program is the earning and

1:02:35 ↗ selling of carbon credits

1:02:38 ↗ we worked with our partners city forest

1:02:41 ↗ credits and

1:02:43 ↗ there's two different types of projects

1:02:45 ↗ that you can enroll in a carbon credit

1:02:47 ↗ program

1:02:48 ↗ one is for tree planting projects

1:02:51 ↗ and the other is for preservation or

1:02:53 ↗ acquisition projects

1:02:57 ↗ as i mentioned

1:02:58 ↗ we worked with our partner city forest

1:03:00 ↗ credits here in seattle

1:03:02 ↗ they are

1:03:04 ↗ 501c3

1:03:05 ↗ and they developed a lot of protocols to

1:03:08 ↗ talk about tree planting projects

1:03:12 ↗ and preservation projects

1:03:14 ↗ when you enroll

1:03:16 ↗ through the carbon credit program

1:03:20 ↗ they serve as a certification registry

1:03:22 ↗ to ensure that the credits

1:03:25 ↗ that you have within the property are

1:03:28 ↗ valid and they send those through a

1:03:30 ↗ third party verification process

1:03:33 ↗ um

1:03:34 ↗ but carbon credits alone

1:03:37 ↗ knowing what you have and what it's

1:03:38 ↗ worth is not worth anything until it has

1:03:41 ↗ a successful buyer

1:03:43 ↗ and so buying of the carbon credits is

1:03:46 ↗ really kind of the alternate

1:03:48 ↗ end of this piece

1:03:49 ↗ but what goes into determining how many

1:03:52 ↗ carbon credits any particular project

1:03:55 ↗ holds

1:03:57 ↗ takes a look at the plants planted or

1:03:59 ↗ the existing

1:04:01 ↗ carbon and the trees and the soil

1:04:04 ↗ existing tree canopy

1:04:06 ↗ they also do factor in a whole bunch of

1:04:08 ↗ complicated

1:04:09 ↗ characteristics like brain interception

1:04:12 ↗ carbon dioxide avoided air quality

1:04:15 ↗ and

1:04:16 ↗ energy saved

1:04:20 ↗ so the city um as you know back in

1:04:23 ↗ 2019 obtained

1:04:26 ↗ the

1:04:27 ↗ bergson property or

1:04:29 ↗ what we're now calling harvey manning

1:04:32 ↗ park

1:04:33 ↗ that would be the yellow area this

1:04:35 ↗ project site here

1:04:37 ↗ which is adjacent to king county and the

1:04:40 ↗ city's existing harvey manning park

1:04:43 ↗ so we enrolled our first

1:04:45 ↗ pilot carbon application

1:04:48 ↗ for this property

1:04:52 ↗ and working with our friends at city

1:04:55 ↗ forest credits we were able to take part

1:04:58 ↗ in a national sale

1:05:01 ↗ uh issaquah was one of 13

1:05:04 ↗ other cities in urban forest projects

1:05:07 ↗ that pooled together all of their carbon

1:05:09 ↗ credits

1:05:10 ↗ and sold them to one particular buyer

1:05:15 ↗ there were two others in washington

1:05:17 ↗ state king county and city of shoreline

1:05:20 ↗ that both had projects as well as

1:05:23 ↗ issaquah

1:05:24 ↗ nationally this was a really big

1:05:27 ↗ win for city forests and preservation of

1:05:31 ↗ forests as a way to

1:05:34 ↗ meet our commitment to climate

1:05:36 ↗ and

1:05:37 ↗ all of the issue credits were issued by

1:05:40 ↗ for this national sale were issued by

1:05:43 ↗ city forest credits but as i said there

1:05:45 ↗ were 13 throughout the nation

1:05:48 ↗ um

1:05:49 ↗ the buyer of the city's carbon credits

1:05:52 ↗ was region network development

1:05:54 ↗ and we're working um they've done a

1:05:57 ↗ national release as far as the

1:06:01 ↗ press release on the national sale and

1:06:03 ↗ we're working with our local enemies

1:06:05 ↗ king county and shoreline to come up

1:06:07 ↗ with a

1:06:10 ↗ local press release sharing the news

1:06:12 ↗ with

1:06:14 ↗ others in the region

1:06:18 ↗ having gone through this process looking

1:06:20 ↗ at both tree planting projects we

1:06:22 ↗ considered some of our trees planted as

1:06:25 ↗ part of the million trees project as a

1:06:28 ↗ potential planting project

1:06:30 ↗ and preservation

1:06:32 ↗ um

1:06:33 ↗ all of these projects require a lot of

1:06:36 ↗ detailed application materials

1:06:38 ↗ require some maintenance for the project

1:06:41 ↗ lifespan some planting as you might have

1:06:43 ↗ seen in the other

1:06:44 ↗ um there's some

1:06:47 ↗ protocols and characteristics that will

1:06:49 ↗ run with the land for either 25 years in

1:06:51 ↗ the case of an

1:06:53 ↗ acquisition

1:06:54 ↗ 40 or 100 years

1:06:56 ↗ and so you really have to be thinking is

1:06:59 ↗ the the funds you're getting out of the

1:07:01 ↗ exchange is it financially worth

1:07:04 ↗ some of the costs that go into the

1:07:06 ↗ lifespan of the entire project

1:07:08 ↗ there's also periodic reporting for the

1:07:10 ↗ project lifespan

1:07:13 ↗ and everything that has

1:07:15 ↗ a carbon credit

1:07:17 ↗ uh when you sell those carbon credits

1:07:19 ↗ you also get a covenant or a deed

1:07:21 ↗ restriction that is applied to that

1:07:23 ↗ property

1:07:24 ↗ limiting in the case of our preservation

1:07:26 ↗ project

1:07:27 ↗ limiting the removal of trees

1:07:30 ↗ there's also application fees registry

1:07:32 ↗ fees

1:07:33 ↗ fees and

1:07:36 ↗ at the end of the day

1:07:37 ↗ you can calculate all this stuff for a

1:07:39 ↗ project but until there's a buyer of the

1:07:41 ↗ credits that's really

1:07:43 ↗ kind of

1:07:44 ↗ um

1:07:46 ↗ bringing everything full circle

1:07:48 ↗ and one thing we learned through this

1:07:50 ↗ project or process

1:07:52 ↗ is that not all projects actually make a

1:07:54 ↗ good

1:07:55 ↗ candidate for a project crediting uh

1:07:57 ↗ crediting program

1:07:59 ↗ our application uh due to some of the

1:08:02 ↗ nuances like with the million trees

1:08:04 ↗ program a lot of that infill plantings

1:08:06 ↗ hard to monitor for a 25-year uh

1:08:10 ↗ lifespan

1:08:11 ↗ so um if you would like to learn more

1:08:13 ↗ about city forest credits

1:08:15 ↗ um and their different protocols that

1:08:17 ↗ they set forth their all of their

1:08:19 ↗ information is on their website

1:08:21 ↗ um and they were a great partner to work

1:08:24 ↗ with in this um

1:08:26 ↗ process

1:08:31 ↗ me again jennifer yes go ahead brad

1:08:35 ↗ this carbon credits is an interesting

1:08:37 ↗ topic so what kind of money does the

1:08:39 ↗ city actually get

1:08:41 ↗ for instance for um

1:08:43 ↗ uh harvey manning park land

1:08:46 ↗ in credits i mean that's a funding

1:08:48 ↗ yeah we sold over

1:08:50 ↗ 6 000 credits i want to say was don't

1:08:54 ↗ quote me i might be wrong but it was

1:08:56 ↗ 6409 i believe it was

1:08:58 ↗ and we received over 200 000

1:09:02 ↗ and where does that money go

1:09:04 ↗ so that's actually going to be used to

1:09:06 ↗ help with um

1:09:08 ↗ steward green assaqua as well as other

1:09:12 ↗ projects for urban forestry as well as

1:09:16 ↗ uh maintenance of harvey manning park

1:09:18 ↗ itself ensuring invasives and long-term

1:09:21 ↗ health of those trees

1:09:23 ↗ so it doesn't have to be completely

1:09:25 ↗ contained

1:09:26 ↗ within the

1:09:28 ↗ particular land itself it could be

1:09:30 ↗ spread to other areas correct it is just

1:09:32 ↗ revenue that comes to a city but we in

1:09:35 ↗ our agenda bill that went to council

1:09:37 ↗ sought purposeful use of these funds for

1:09:40 ↗ forest stewardship

1:09:42 ↗ activities

1:09:48 ↗ and again there is a restriction on

1:09:50 ↗ harvey manning for uh a 40-year period

1:09:53 ↗ of time

1:09:56 ↗ thanks yes tim

1:09:58 ↗ yeah thanks jennifer uh great

1:10:00 ↗ presentation uh i have a question that

1:10:03 ↗ might be outside of the scope of what

1:10:05 ↗ you're talking about but when we're

1:10:06 ↗ talking about going out that many years

1:10:09 ↗ and with climate changing the way it is

1:10:11 ↗ what kind of attention is being made to

1:10:14 ↗ planting trees that may be able to

1:10:16 ↗ survive if not thrive in a climate that

1:10:19 ↗ may be drier and warmer than what is

1:10:22 ↗ we're traditionally used to here

1:10:26 ↗ that's

1:10:27 ↗ great very good question

1:10:29 ↗ as we go through some of these

1:10:32 ↗ properties harvey manning is a great

1:10:33 ↗ example

1:10:34 ↗ it's a long-standing

1:10:37 ↗ stand of trees

1:10:39 ↗ there are some areas with very healthy

1:10:40 ↗ understory and some areas with invasives

1:10:43 ↗ and what we can do to help diversify

1:10:46 ↗ some of the plant material in that

1:10:48 ↗ understory and help preserve the trees

1:10:51 ↗ also harvey manning park is one of those

1:10:53 ↗ sites that also has

1:10:56 ↗ six streams and 12 wetlands on it so

1:11:00 ↗ water

1:11:01 ↗ is naturally occurring there

1:11:03 ↗ but making sure you're

1:11:05 ↗ putting in drought resistant and

1:11:06 ↗ tolerant

1:11:08 ↗ plant species ensuring the biodiversity

1:11:11 ↗ within those areas to ensure the health

1:11:13 ↗ and pollination of

1:11:15 ↗ existing plants as well

1:11:17 ↗ so we take a look at what plants in the

1:11:20 ↗ local eco system you know whether it's

1:11:22 ↗ in a wetland area or it's a dryer upland

1:11:25 ↗ area and making sure we plant the plants

1:11:27 ↗ that have a good um

1:11:29 ↗ steady fighting chance to make sure that

1:11:31 ↗ they're adaptable in their current

1:11:33 ↗ conditions

1:11:36 ↗ okay thanks much

1:11:37 ↗ thank you

1:11:40 ↗ math i think we'll pass this back off to

1:11:42 ↗ you for green and sequoia

1:11:46 ↗ all right

1:11:48 ↗ do you want me to go ahead and take this

1:11:49 ↗ melissa i know we talked about you got

1:11:51 ↗ it it's all you all right cool all right

1:11:53 ↗ so yeah the green nissan club program um

1:11:55 ↗ that was launched in 2020 it's a it's a

1:11:58 ↗ collaborative effort between the city of

1:12:00 ↗ issaquah forterra community groups

1:12:02 ↗ nonprofits schools businesses

1:12:04 ↗ and

1:12:05 ↗ hundreds of volunteers to help restore

1:12:07 ↗ and maintain our forested parks and open

1:12:09 ↗ spaces

1:12:11 ↗ um

1:12:12 ↗ last year um you know we were able to

1:12:14 ↗ gather some data from all the work that

1:12:16 ↗ we've done so some 2021 impacts of the

1:12:20 ↗ the

1:12:21 ↗ greenest squad program we're able to

1:12:24 ↗ basically get almost one and three

1:12:26 ↗ quarter acres uh

1:12:28 ↗ a new restoration

1:12:30 ↗ um we were able to actually engage 309

1:12:33 ↗ volunteers for a total of 876 volunteer

1:12:37 ↗ hours

1:12:38 ↗ and a total of

1:12:40 ↗ 3589 plants

1:12:42 ↗ and i kind of again did some digging

1:12:46 ↗ through my through my records and i

1:12:48 ↗ thought i'd throw out a couple other

1:12:49 ↗ little fun facts too

1:12:51 ↗ again i'm using that 2016 through 2021

1:12:54 ↗ data that i had in in my database and

1:12:57 ↗ from that time period we've had over

1:13:00 ↗ 2775 volunteers

1:13:03 ↗ that have donated or volunteered over

1:13:05 ↗ 9030 hours during that time period

1:13:08 ↗ and then just kind of bringing up to

1:13:10 ↗ date where we are right now from january

1:13:12 ↗ to today

1:13:14 ↗ um we have had over a dozen green

1:13:17 ↗ issaquah vents so far this year

1:13:20 ↗ we're up to

1:13:21 ↗ 1016 trees planted in our city at parks

1:13:24 ↗ and open spaces

1:13:26 ↗ we've had

1:13:27 ↗ 242 volunteers 199 of those were adult

1:13:31 ↗ and 43 were youth

1:13:33 ↗ and we also have a third of an acre

1:13:36 ↗ um in new restoration just in this year

1:13:38 ↗ alone

1:13:41 ↗ and all of that you know really starts

1:13:43 ↗ with our four stewards they're they're a

1:13:46 ↗ really key

1:13:47 ↗ part of this whole program

1:13:49 ↗ and so we've we've had a couple training

1:13:51 ↗ opportunities um where we've been able

1:13:53 ↗ to train for stewards um on some online

1:13:56 ↗ classes and it's part of the degree in

1:13:59 ↗ squad program

1:14:01 ↗ so the volunteer foresters receive

1:14:03 ↗ training and for stewardship and work

1:14:05 ↗ closely with our

1:14:06 ↗ with our partnership staff

1:14:08 ↗ and they in turn

1:14:10 ↗ also lead volunteer events in our

1:14:12 ↗ forested parks and natural areas

1:14:15 ↗ so we have had

1:14:17 ↗ in 2021 we had 12 stewards who were

1:14:20 ↗ trained in the program

1:14:22 ↗ and out of those 12 stewards we had some

1:14:24 ↗ sites that were adopted already so we've

1:14:27 ↗ had projects um at east sunset way so if

1:14:30 ↗ you drive up um like you're going to the

1:14:31 ↗ highlands you may have seen some great

1:14:33 ↗ work taking place up there at that

1:14:35 ↗ trailhead

1:14:36 ↗ bernstein park

1:14:37 ↗ uh the squad helps trails club has

1:14:40 ↗ adopted that site and in fact just had a

1:14:42 ↗ work party there this last saturday so

1:14:44 ↗ and that is if you haven't been over

1:14:45 ↗ there in a while that site's looking

1:14:47 ↗ amazing

1:14:48 ↗ it's a car creek natural area so we have

1:14:50 ↗ the northwest dogwood street project or

1:14:54 ↗ site i should say we have a volunteer

1:14:57 ↗ for steward who has adopted that

1:14:59 ↗ uh rainier trail south so as you're

1:15:01 ↗ going from the community center towards

1:15:03 ↗ second avenue we actually have one for

1:15:05 ↗ steward who's been doing a bunch of work

1:15:07 ↗ down there kind of closer to the second

1:15:09 ↗ avenue side

1:15:11 ↗ and then harvey manning park where we

1:15:13 ↗ had our arbor day event we have our four

1:15:14 ↗ stewards up there and then also another

1:15:16 ↗ forest steward who's working in the

1:15:18 ↗ talus open space too kind of on the

1:15:20 ↗ south side of talus

1:15:22 ↗ and then in 2022 um this year we've had

1:15:26 ↗ four new stewards join our um team

1:15:29 ↗ and one of them

1:15:31 ↗ has volunteered although we haven't had

1:15:33 ↗ any events there yet uh confluence park

1:15:35 ↗ we have another steward who's interested

1:15:37 ↗ in another portion of the rainier trail

1:15:39 ↗ kind of more

1:15:41 ↗ kind of that center section of the

1:15:42 ↗ rainer trail just

1:15:44 ↗ north of the bus barn in between the bus

1:15:45 ↗ barn the community center

1:15:47 ↗ and then

1:15:48 ↗ again with our burnston park stewards we

1:15:51 ↗ were able to partner with sanmar and

1:15:53 ↗ have a really big

1:15:55 ↗ 40-plus

1:15:56 ↗ kind of corporate event out there with

1:15:58 ↗ our forest steward and sanmar which they

1:16:01 ↗ did amazing work i think we had

1:16:04 ↗ gosh i think we had about 26 yards of

1:16:05 ↗ wood chips and they had them all spread

1:16:07 ↗ in a matter of three hours so we were

1:16:08 ↗ able to mulch all around a lot of the

1:16:10 ↗ plantings that we had done this last

1:16:12 ↗ fall so really really some neat stuff

1:16:14 ↗ going on

1:16:15 ↗ within our um open space and parks

1:16:19 ↗ with the force dude program or grenade

1:16:21 ↗ scope program

1:16:24 ↗ and then we'll go for the next slide

1:16:33 ↗ there we go so yeah not only do we plant

1:16:36 ↗ a lot of trees but we have to maintain a

1:16:37 ↗ lot of trees too

1:16:39 ↗ um so we work with our contracted arbor

1:16:43 ↗ services to help us kind of manage and

1:16:46 ↗ maintain those trees so we do work with

1:16:48 ↗ a company a consulting arbors company to

1:16:51 ↗ do tree inspections so they look at

1:16:54 ↗ hazard trees trees of concern

1:16:58 ↗ we do probably about 15 to 20

1:17:01 ↗ tree evaluations per year um to be

1:17:04 ↗ honest with you right now is kind of the

1:17:05 ↗ quiet time we're we're through fall

1:17:08 ↗ um but once um you know the storms start

1:17:11 ↗ coming in october

1:17:12 ↗ that's when we start really seeing a lot

1:17:14 ↗ of

1:17:16 ↗ tree concerns

1:17:18 ↗ a lot of them are happening in you know

1:17:20 ↗ our forested areas or natural areas that

1:17:22 ↗ border

1:17:23 ↗ housing developments a great example is

1:17:25 ↗ up in the highlands we have a lot of

1:17:26 ↗ tree issues up there so

1:17:29 ↗ usually when the first winds start

1:17:30 ↗ blowing that's when we start hearing

1:17:32 ↗ about some concerns and that's when we

1:17:34 ↗ work closely with our consulting

1:17:36 ↗ arborist to take a look at trees make

1:17:38 ↗ sure you know the concerns are addressed

1:17:40 ↗ and anything that we need to do to

1:17:42 ↗ fix that concern is taken care of which

1:17:45 ↗ then we work with our contracted tree

1:17:47 ↗ services a couple of them are listed

1:17:49 ↗ there to kind of take care of those

1:17:51 ↗ trees that are a little bit beyond

1:17:54 ↗ our parks operations team expertise so

1:17:57 ↗ you know big trees that are next right

1:17:58 ↗ next to houses or next to things um that

1:18:01 ↗ are really difficult to remove or

1:18:03 ↗ they're just the size of them

1:18:05 ↗ um

1:18:06 ↗ and then

1:18:08 ↗ most of the time when we do work in our

1:18:10 ↗ city open space natural areas is we try

1:18:12 ↗ to um

1:18:14 ↗ make those trees

1:18:16 ↗ we call them habitat snags so the tree

1:18:18 ↗ is cut down if it needs to be removed

1:18:20 ↗ you know not every tree needs to be cut

1:18:21 ↗ down someone can just be pruned and

1:18:23 ↗ they're fine that's all it needs to be

1:18:24 ↗ done but if we do need to remove a tree

1:18:26 ↗ we try to create habitat snags which is

1:18:29 ↗ cutting the tree to a height to where

1:18:31 ↗ should it fall at a later date it's not

1:18:34 ↗ going to cause any damage but it still

1:18:35 ↗ provides habitat to the surrounding

1:18:37 ↗ areas so it's it's a great host for

1:18:40 ↗ woodpeckers or cavity nesting birds

1:18:42 ↗ insects things like that

1:18:44 ↗ and then also

1:18:45 ↗ the debris that we prune or that are

1:18:48 ↗ from trees that we prune in our city

1:18:49 ↗ open space is usually left in the open

1:18:51 ↗ space to decompose naturally

1:18:53 ↗ and kind of just help promote the forest

1:18:55 ↗ health and habitat of the forest

1:18:58 ↗ so that is kind of what we do for our

1:19:01 ↗ contracted arborist

1:19:03 ↗ and consulting

1:19:04 ↗ and i think that might be the last slide

1:19:07 ↗ matt well oh

1:19:10 ↗ we've been without a city arborist for a

1:19:12 ↗ number of years now so has that proven

1:19:15 ↗ to be the best um

1:19:18 ↗ way to go i mean is it

1:19:21 ↗ more economical still to not have an

1:19:24 ↗ in-house arborist

1:19:28 ↗ um it's it's a little bit

1:19:30 ↗ more i would say there's some challenges

1:19:33 ↗ just because you have to coordinate um

1:19:35 ↗ you know scheduling an arborist to come

1:19:37 ↗ out to look at so

1:19:38 ↗ the response time sometimes especially

1:19:40 ↗ you know winter time when we do have our

1:19:42 ↗ storms we're not the only city around

1:19:44 ↗ that has tree issues you know it's like

1:19:45 ↗ it all happens at the same time so

1:19:47 ↗ coordinating with an arborist or even

1:19:49 ↗ tree contracted company to come out in a

1:19:51 ↗ timely

1:19:52 ↗ frame is is a little bit more

1:19:54 ↗ challenging so it has its challenges for

1:19:56 ↗ sure

1:19:58 ↗ yeah i would echo that matt and

1:20:00 ↗ brad something i was going to add in my

1:20:02 ↗ closing thoughts along those lines is

1:20:05 ↗ you know as we've certainly

1:20:07 ↗ um

1:20:08 ↗ been

1:20:09 ↗ looking at our resources needs within

1:20:11 ↗ our park maintenance and our park

1:20:12 ↗ operations team and have i think made

1:20:14 ↗ some really good headway over the last

1:20:16 ↗ couple years it's something that matt

1:20:18 ↗ and rick and i have been talking about

1:20:19 ↗ recently

1:20:20 ↗ i think the the the discussions that

1:20:22 ↗ have come out of the ppc

1:20:24 ↗ um title 18 discussion susan thank you

1:20:27 ↗ you you you made comment to this in your

1:20:29 ↗ public comment we're really taking a

1:20:31 ↗ look at at what's the

1:20:33 ↗ the

1:20:34 ↗ the right um fit for arborist resources

1:20:37 ↗ that we need in this in the city and and

1:20:40 ↗ i guess i would encourage us to think i

1:20:42 ↗ don't know that it's onesie twozy

1:20:44 ↗ anymore i don't think that it's one or

1:20:46 ↗ the other i i think you know we're

1:20:48 ↗ taking a creative look rick and matt and

1:20:50 ↗ i at how do we

1:20:52 ↗ um increase some of our in-house

1:20:54 ↗ arborist skills whether it's getting

1:20:57 ↗ multiple you know arborist licenses

1:21:00 ↗ and looking at that through the budget

1:21:01 ↗ process but then also recognizing we're

1:21:03 ↗ probably going to also need to lean on

1:21:04 ↗ some contracted arborist work

1:21:07 ↗ um as well so

1:21:09 ↗ um you know given the size of our forest

1:21:11 ↗ given

1:21:12 ↗ um i think the number of calls we are

1:21:15 ↗ expected to respond to finding that

1:21:18 ↗ balance of both um some in-house

1:21:20 ↗ resources

1:21:22 ↗ um and and contracted resources is a is

1:21:26 ↗ an approach that we want to be pointing

1:21:27 ↗ towards as we as we head into 22 20 or

1:21:30 ↗ 2023 2024

1:21:33 ↗ uh budget um if i could also add just a

1:21:35 ↗ couple of of closing thoughts a big matt

1:21:38 ↗ jennifer thank you for tag teaming

1:21:41 ↗ that really quick overview would love to

1:21:44 ↗ get thoughts and comments from you as

1:21:45 ↗ the board but um i guess i just want to

1:21:47 ↗ highlight

1:21:49 ↗ um you know within this department and i

1:21:51 ↗ think these programs represent a lot of

1:21:53 ↗ really

1:21:54 ↗ great work

1:21:55 ↗ but

1:21:57 ↗ none of these programs alone

1:22:00 ↗ and even collectively these programs are

1:22:02 ↗ not an urban forest management program

1:22:06 ↗ and as

1:22:08 ↗ we again take inventory of the work that

1:22:10 ↗ we do um

1:22:12 ↗ as we listen to the community and and

1:22:15 ↗ and understand needs and interests and

1:22:18 ↗ as the the the public acreage that that

1:22:22 ↗ the city's asked to manage gr has grown

1:22:25 ↗ we do think it's time believe it's very

1:22:27 ↗ much time that we strongly consider

1:22:30 ↗ um

1:22:31 ↗ looking at a bigger picture taking these

1:22:33 ↗ programs and not seeing them as the

1:22:36 ↗ um

1:22:37 ↗ uh the answer themselves but taking a

1:22:38 ↗ look at that bigger picture of what what

1:22:40 ↗ does urban forest management look like

1:22:42 ↗ what does an urban forest program look

1:22:44 ↗ like

1:22:45 ↗ um

1:22:46 ↗ um and we we think it's time uh and and

1:22:50 ↗ that's certainly something that we've

1:22:51 ↗ begun some conversations with the

1:22:53 ↗ mayor's office um again i i hear susan's

1:22:56 ↗ public comment and and her expressing

1:22:59 ↗ council interest as well so we

1:23:00 ↗ anticipate

1:23:01 ↗ uh there being some budget related

1:23:03 ↗ conversations around

1:23:05 ↗ how does the city take these programs

1:23:07 ↗ but understand

1:23:10 ↗ let's look at the umbrella of urban

1:23:12 ↗ forest management and how we're taking

1:23:15 ↗ that bigger perspective that can look at

1:23:17 ↗ everything from

1:23:19 ↗ development application review

1:23:21 ↗ to

1:23:22 ↗ you know tree maintenance standards and

1:23:24 ↗ practices

1:23:25 ↗ um to everything um everything in

1:23:28 ↗ between so

1:23:29 ↗ certainly more to come as

1:23:32 ↗ as those conversations ensue but thank

1:23:34 ↗ you for letting us just take a a chance

1:23:36 ↗ to give a pretty broad overview around a

1:23:39 ↗ lot of a lot of topics related to trees

1:23:42 ↗ so thank you

1:23:45 ↗ so i kind of wanted to open things up

1:23:47 ↗ for questions and comments from the

1:23:50 ↗ board about the tree

1:23:52 ↗ um

1:23:53 ↗ concept and

1:23:55 ↗ and also i i do want to bring connie in

1:23:57 ↗ at the end of that as well as i

1:23:58 ↗ mentioned earlier

1:24:00 ↗ so does anybody have any questions or

1:24:02 ↗ discussion about what we just heard

1:24:05 ↗ about trees

1:24:08 ↗ zach

1:24:11 ↗ yes i'm just kind of curious um it was

1:24:13 ↗ very early on in the slides with regards

1:24:15 ↗ to the amount of trees planted and seems

1:24:18 ↗ like some some excellent numbers i was

1:24:20 ↗ just curious as to the retention rate or

1:24:23 ↗ if there's any sort of follow-up with

1:24:25 ↗ regards to survival rate of the trees

1:24:28 ↗ and then also just thinking

1:24:30 ↗ um

1:24:31 ↗ planting more xeric species or

1:24:34 ↗ kind of right tree right place i guess

1:24:37 ↗ so just sort of with the trees that are

1:24:39 ↗ being put in

1:24:40 ↗ is there

1:24:41 ↗ any sort of follow-up as to survival

1:24:44 ↗ rate

1:24:47 ↗ matt as you look at that 21 000 number

1:24:50 ↗ any any sense of sort of what i mean i

1:24:53 ↗ think that dates back to 2016

1:24:56 ↗ you know what have we seen in terms of

1:24:58 ↗ retention and survivability

1:25:00 ↗ i'm going to be going out tomorrow and

1:25:02 ↗ counting them to see how they i'm just

1:25:04 ↗ kidding um no they're we we live in a

1:25:07 ↗ pretty good spot you know a lot of our

1:25:09 ↗ trees are planted along issaquah creek

1:25:12 ↗ which is a natural flood plain so we

1:25:14 ↗ have some really really good soils so

1:25:16 ↗ and i think um even kind of maybe

1:25:19 ↗ comparing numbers with mountains of sun

1:25:20 ↗ greenway and a lot of projects they've

1:25:22 ↗ done we've actually had a really good

1:25:23 ↗ success rate in our trees that we have

1:25:25 ↗ planted in our open spaces the i think

1:25:27 ↗ part of it is because of the great soil

1:25:29 ↗ conditions

1:25:30 ↗ i know some of the projects that have

1:25:32 ↗ been done they do have to monitor and

1:25:34 ↗ and kind of

1:25:35 ↗ take into account tree mortality

1:25:38 ↗ and uh but we don't do that in-house but

1:25:41 ↗ i've seen

1:25:42 ↗ you know some great

1:25:44 ↗ some great um progress throughout the

1:25:45 ↗ years i mean i i think a great example

1:25:48 ↗ is um along the pickering trail so if

1:25:50 ↗ you're down at the pickering barn and

1:25:51 ↗ you're you're standing at the pickering

1:25:53 ↗ barn parking lot you're looking towards

1:25:54 ↗ zazaqua creek

1:25:56 ↗ um i want to say 20

1:25:58 ↗ 25 years ago we planted all that that

1:26:00 ↗ was just a big open field you could look

1:26:02 ↗ from basically picking dunk barn all the

1:26:04 ↗ way down towards i-90 and it was just a

1:26:06 ↗ field and now you go down there and it's

1:26:08 ↗ it's a forest i mean it's it's a small

1:26:10 ↗ forest but the trees are you know 40 50

1:26:12 ↗ feet tall and there's owls and great

1:26:14 ↗ things living in there so you and then

1:26:16 ↗ animal hospital kind of across the

1:26:18 ↗ street from there too another great

1:26:19 ↗ example we have examples like that all

1:26:21 ↗ through our system so you know some of

1:26:23 ↗ them are a little bit younger for us and

1:26:24 ↗ some of them are a little bit older but

1:26:25 ↗ i think we've had some really good

1:26:26 ↗ success from everything i've seen you

1:26:28 ↗ know being out in the field and then

1:26:30 ↗ just with what we've planted

1:26:32 ↗ recently

1:26:34 ↗ i don't hopefully that kind of helps you

1:26:36 ↗ it's not an exact answer but i think

1:26:38 ↗ from what i've seen it's it's looking

1:26:39 ↗ really good from

1:26:40 ↗ the trees that we have planted

1:26:44 ↗ and success rate

1:26:47 ↗ any other questions uh comments to the

1:26:50 ↗ the tree team here

1:26:55 ↗ i have a few comments that i'd like to

1:26:58 ↗ make about heritage trees um

1:27:02 ↗ a little disappointed in the program

1:27:04 ↗ frankly

1:27:05 ↗ i don't think we've kept up with it very

1:27:07 ↗ well um

1:27:09 ↗ i think in part it's been because of the

1:27:11 ↗ loss of a city arborist who

1:27:15 ↗ historically used to be

1:27:17 ↗ the one that provided nominations to the

1:27:20 ↗ board each year i mean i i was when i

1:27:22 ↗ first started i remember with the board

1:27:25 ↗ 10 years ago that's what was happening

1:27:29 ↗ and then it just kind of has fallen off

1:27:31 ↗ i mean the last posting i see in the

1:27:33 ↗ city website is like 2012. so we're like

1:27:36 ↗ 10 years without any

1:27:38 ↗ nominations

1:27:40 ↗ which seems odd

1:27:41 ↗ i think that that

1:27:44 ↗ lets us know that we need to do some

1:27:47 ↗ work on that program to you know to

1:27:49 ↗ revitalize it um especially as a tree

1:27:52 ↗ city i think that it's important for us

1:27:54 ↗ to acknowledge

1:27:56 ↗ heritage and landmark trees

1:27:58 ↗ and so i guess um

1:28:02 ↗ i

1:28:03 ↗ i don't know if everybody had an

1:28:04 ↗ opportunity yet to read mary lynch's

1:28:07 ↗ email that came through this afternoon

1:28:09 ↗ but i echo much of what she had to say

1:28:13 ↗ um i think that in in some part the

1:28:16 ↗ community may not be aware of of these

1:28:19 ↗ programs to some extent so i think some

1:28:22 ↗ outreach to the community by issaquah

1:28:25 ↗ communications um would be helpful

1:28:28 ↗ uh to

1:28:29 ↗ you know to seek nominations

1:28:32 ↗ um i i think that um

1:28:36 ↗ also i think it would be

1:28:39 ↗ nice to do some outreach to some

1:28:42 ↗ specific groups to try and get more

1:28:45 ↗ nominations i mean we have the

1:28:47 ↗ park ops

1:28:48 ↗ people that are always out and about

1:28:50 ↗ that that should be maybe looking for

1:28:53 ↗ that sort of opportunity and we have a

1:28:56 ↗ couple groups like issaquah alps trails

1:28:58 ↗ club it seems odd to me that we don't

1:29:01 ↗ get nominations from a group like that

1:29:03 ↗ but maybe having some communication or

1:29:05 ↗ outreach to them might be helpful

1:29:08 ↗ i think now that we have green issaquah

1:29:10 ↗ stewards

1:29:12 ↗ another great opportunity for people

1:29:14 ↗ that are out and about you know to start

1:29:17 ↗ being

1:29:18 ↗ cognizant of special trees that that

1:29:21 ↗ could make some nominations

1:29:24 ↗ so i don't know it

1:29:26 ↗ we really need to have more nominations

1:29:29 ↗ coming in annually to the board each

1:29:32 ↗ september

1:29:33 ↗ really they need to be made earlier than

1:29:35 ↗ that so that an evaluation can be done

1:29:38 ↗ to see if they even qualify i guess to

1:29:39 ↗ some extent so that the board can

1:29:41 ↗ actually

1:29:43 ↗ make some action in september um

1:29:46 ↗ i would even be

1:29:48 ↗ you know

1:29:49 ↗ i was curious it was mentioned that

1:29:51 ↗ heritage trees are on the gis map

1:29:54 ↗ it'd be nice to actually publish that so

1:29:57 ↗ that people could have more awareness of

1:29:59 ↗ where these trees even are

1:30:01 ↗ because when you look at the website

1:30:03 ↗ there's a little comments about it but

1:30:04 ↗ to actually go find that tree might be a

1:30:07 ↗ little bit of a challenge well if you

1:30:10 ↗ brad if you go to the city's

1:30:12 ↗ map layer

1:30:14 ↗ right into the public gis the heritage

1:30:17 ↗ trees have been added as a layer in

1:30:19 ↗ there and you can turn them on and find

1:30:20 ↗ where they're located

1:30:23 ↗ so so i guess i need to improve my my

1:30:27 ↗ internet layering skills to to find that

1:30:30 ↗ i guess because it'd be nice to see a

1:30:32 ↗ map of that jeff you had a comment on

1:30:34 ↗ that

1:30:36 ↗ oh i'll wait till you're done brad i had

1:30:39 ↗ some follow-up and yeah thank you and i

1:30:41 ↗ also think you know this is a little

1:30:42 ↗ tidbit here but you know i also think

1:30:44 ↗ once a tree heritage or a landmark tree

1:30:48 ↗ has been accepted by the city it'd be

1:30:51 ↗ nice to even

1:30:52 ↗ mount a tiny little plaque on it or

1:30:54 ↗ something you know just so that there's

1:30:56 ↗ some acknowledgement so that people

1:30:58 ↗ could see it

1:30:59 ↗ people might not want to do that on on

1:31:02 ↗ private property maybe as much unless

1:31:04 ↗ the property owner was accepting of it

1:31:06 ↗ but i mean i just think we need to we

1:31:09 ↗ need to do more

1:31:10 ↗ to get that up and running um

1:31:13 ↗ and because it's been

1:31:15 ↗ in a void

1:31:16 ↗ and i i think that it

1:31:18 ↗ even if it takes a subcommittee or

1:31:20 ↗ something from the park board

1:31:21 ↗ potentially to maybe give more of an

1:31:23 ↗ emphasis or focus on that i certainly

1:31:25 ↗ would be

1:31:27 ↗ one that would be

1:31:28 ↗ you know willing to get get involved

1:31:30 ↗ with something like that but something

1:31:32 ↗ to kick around think about we need to

1:31:34 ↗ have more people back on the board here

1:31:36 ↗ to

1:31:38 ↗ you know to

1:31:39 ↗ maybe do something like that but

1:31:41 ↗ we need to do something because a

1:31:42 ↗ 10-year void just doesn't seem right for

1:31:45 ↗ the amount of special trees that we have

1:31:47 ↗ in our community

1:31:49 ↗ and i think acknowledging special trees

1:31:51 ↗ is it goes a long ways to giving purpose

1:31:56 ↗ so that's my two cents

1:31:58 ↗ and so go ahead jeff and then i do want

1:32:00 ↗ to bring connie in as well

1:32:04 ↗ so thank you for those those comments

1:32:06 ↗ brad and and certainly referencing mary

1:32:08 ↗ lynch's comments as well i i i think

1:32:11 ↗ both of those are are fair and and

1:32:13 ↗ certainly i would i would agree as well

1:32:15 ↗ that

1:32:16 ↗ you know the the it's a program that

1:32:18 ↗ certainly predates my time here

1:32:21 ↗ um

1:32:22 ↗ um it certainly appears to be a program

1:32:24 ↗ that lived

1:32:27 ↗ um it

1:32:30 ↗ it

1:32:34 ↗ it's time to take a look at it and

1:32:36 ↗ review it and probably update it um i i

1:32:40 ↗ again a well-meaning well-intended

1:32:41 ↗ program that

1:32:43 ↗ maybe lived more with one staff person

1:32:45 ↗ than

1:32:46 ↗ a

1:32:47 ↗ city

1:32:49 ↗ wide

1:32:51 ↗ program and and

1:32:53 ↗ i think it's again that's very fair

1:32:55 ↗ feedback and and worth

1:32:57 ↗ um some review some updating what is it

1:32:59 ↗ we want to try and accomplish with a

1:33:01 ↗ program like this and how do we go about

1:33:03 ↗ accomplishing it um and considering it

1:33:06 ↗ in a in a broader scale and

1:33:09 ↗ i think meshes with some of the again

1:33:11 ↗ the goals and commitment of of taking a

1:33:13 ↗ broader look at

1:33:15 ↗ our urban forest program and how we want

1:33:17 ↗ to recognize

1:33:20 ↗ special trees heritage trees within that

1:33:23 ↗ urban forest program so um thank you

1:33:26 ↗ both brad and and mary for that uh those

1:33:28 ↗ comments

1:33:30 ↗ thanks jeff

1:33:32 ↗ anybody else want to make a comment on

1:33:34 ↗ trees

1:33:37 ↗ not seeing anything melissa could you

1:33:39 ↗ loop uh connie in

1:33:42 ↗ i will brad and since the start of the

1:33:45 ↗ meeting we've also had um both mary

1:33:47 ↗ lynch and julian middle join as well so

1:33:50 ↗ i don't know if you want to open it up

1:33:51 ↗ for them when connie concludes

1:33:54 ↗ uh and then i'm sorry tim has his hand

1:33:57 ↗ raised before i promote connie for

1:33:58 ↗ making comments go ahead tim just what's

1:34:01 ↗ bubbling in the background there was a

1:34:03 ↗ comment about maybe private homeowners

1:34:05 ↗ don't want to plaque on their tree or

1:34:07 ↗ what have you but

1:34:09 ↗ could we spin it that it would be

1:34:11 ↗ something that you know potentially even

1:34:13 ↗ makes a property more valuable because

1:34:15 ↗ you've got designated heritage trees per

1:34:18 ↗ se on the property uh and it would be a

1:34:21 ↗ you know a

1:34:23 ↗ a gold star basically on your property

1:34:26 ↗ that could be useful and you know people

1:34:29 ↗ would find

1:34:30 ↗ you know point not only of pride but of

1:34:32 ↗ uh increasing

1:34:34 ↗ potentially the perceived value of the

1:34:36 ↗ property you know it's all in the spin

1:34:38 ↗ right so

1:34:40 ↗ just the thought that it could uh be

1:34:42 ↗ something that property owners would

1:34:44 ↗ seek out if you spun it appropriately

1:34:49 ↗ good point tim

1:34:51 ↗ like i said i think there's lots more

1:34:53 ↗ brainstorming we can do and maybe a

1:34:56 ↗ subcommittee at some point

1:34:58 ↗ in this next term might be appropriate

1:35:00 ↗ to you know give some more emphasis on

1:35:02 ↗ on that to help

1:35:04 ↗ advise the city uh as as you

1:35:08 ↗ you know consider uh you know revising

1:35:10 ↗ the program a little bit

1:35:14 ↗ um go ahead melissa and i and you know

1:35:16 ↗ we've got uh we got a few minutes uh

1:35:18 ↗ extra so if mary and uh whoever wanted

1:35:22 ↗ to step in um after connie as long as

1:35:24 ↗ they keep it short

1:35:26 ↗ okay sounds great i'm gonna i'll go

1:35:28 ↗ ahead and promote connie up for you

1:35:31 ↗ okay connie you have the floor

1:35:35 ↗ okay uh connie marsh on squawk

1:35:39 ↗ mountain i see him in the dark the sun

1:35:41 ↗ has gone down

1:35:42 ↗ so i'm going to start with one yes urban

1:35:46 ↗ forest plan

1:35:47 ↗ and then i'm going to

1:35:49 ↗ [Music]

1:35:51 ↗ loop back in history i suppose

1:35:55 ↗ to chris berlotto

1:35:58 ↗ who

1:35:59 ↗ worked like crazy

1:36:02 ↗ to plant those plants along issaquah

1:36:05 ↗ creek in the buffer that now we're

1:36:07 ↗ seeing

1:36:08 ↗ as forest um

1:36:12 ↗ and that was a point in time where the

1:36:14 ↗ community was fighting like crazy to

1:36:17 ↗ protect the base of tiger mountain to

1:36:19 ↗ prevent it from being

1:36:22 ↗ a big multi-development

1:36:25 ↗ and and prevent the trees from coming

1:36:28 ↗ down there

1:36:29 ↗ we did lose the battle with grand ridge

1:36:32 ↗ and uh the isqua highlands happened with

1:36:35 ↗ all those trees

1:36:37 ↗ being taken down and all of this was to

1:36:41 ↗ be able to

1:36:43 ↗ allow people to have homes and so you

1:36:46 ↗ have this tension between do we preserve

1:36:48 ↗ the environment in the forest or do you

1:36:51 ↗ create housing

1:36:52 ↗ and now

1:36:53 ↗ we are at this interesting place where

1:36:56 ↗ we have

1:36:58 ↗ climate change

1:37:00 ↗ and the need for the trees becoming

1:37:03 ↗ and not just trees but understory

1:37:06 ↗ becoming more

1:37:08 ↗ and more important to make sure that we

1:37:10 ↗ thrive into the future

1:37:12 ↗ so

1:37:14 ↗ the basic question is

1:37:16 ↗ why are we protecting our trees what are

1:37:19 ↗ we trying to do

1:37:22 ↗ and this should be the basis of the

1:37:25 ↗ urban forest management plan it's not

1:37:28 ↗ just trees it's the understory of trees

1:37:31 ↗ it's the habitat creation of trees and

1:37:34 ↗ it's what trees do for

1:37:36 ↗ storm water and cleaning the air and

1:37:39 ↗ doing all of the and raising property

1:37:41 ↗ values it's those myriad wonders

1:37:45 ↗ of the trees

1:37:47 ↗ that we don't address right now when we

1:37:49 ↗ have these little pockets of programs

1:37:52 ↗ that we don't track we don't measure

1:37:55 ↗ and they don't actually mesh with our

1:37:57 ↗ private development rules and

1:37:59 ↗ regulations

1:38:00 ↗ and i think that this urban forest

1:38:03 ↗ management plan that can cover all of

1:38:06 ↗ those

1:38:07 ↗ is

1:38:08 ↗ the only even somewhat elegant solution

1:38:12 ↗ to this problem that we have with a

1:38:14 ↗ bunch of different programs that sort of

1:38:17 ↗ sort of work but we don't know how well

1:38:20 ↗ and we don't know know if they're the

1:38:21 ↗ right thing in the right place at the

1:38:24 ↗ right time

1:38:26 ↗ and um

1:38:28 ↗ so

1:38:31 ↗ i guess the whole presentation made me

1:38:33 ↗ gasp a little bit because i've lived it

1:38:35 ↗ i've lived trying to plant the trees

1:38:37 ↗ i've watched them die i've watched the

1:38:39 ↗ developers kill the trees that are

1:38:41 ↗ mature and plant little baby trees and

1:38:44 ↗ then they're allowed to die and all the

1:38:46 ↗ time we're tree city usa and we're

1:38:48 ↗ supposed to be protecting all of this

1:38:50 ↗ and so the community's frustration and

1:38:53 ↗ our environmental frustration makes it

1:38:56 ↗ very

1:38:58 ↗ difficult not not to get super excited

1:39:00 ↗ about the concept of trees as you might

1:39:03 ↗ have seen over the weekend so

1:39:04 ↗ um

1:39:06 ↗ if we see progress and i don't

1:39:09 ↗ necessarily see progress is buying a

1:39:11 ↗ piece of par parcel and then getting 200

1:39:14 ↗ 000 for carbon credit so more impact can

1:39:16 ↗ happen across the world

1:39:18 ↗ that to me is not success

1:39:20 ↗ uh because i think we have to look at it

1:39:23 ↗ as a holistic

1:39:25 ↗ system which we are not

1:39:27 ↗ uh doing it at this point i'm not going

1:39:30 ↗ to go into the past i'm just going to

1:39:32 ↗ encourage i already did deny um i want

1:39:35 ↗ to encourage

1:39:36 ↗ a far better future that starts

1:39:39 ↗ immediately and one of those immediate

1:39:42 ↗ things is

1:39:43 ↗ we actually need to protect our heritage

1:39:46 ↗ trees

1:39:47 ↗ and our our larger trees right now all

1:39:50 ↗ we do is name them and then we can cut

1:39:52 ↗ them down so it's sort of beside the

1:39:54 ↗ point

1:39:55 ↗ we as a park board you can start making

1:39:59 ↗ comments on these rules and regulations

1:40:02 ↗ that go forth

1:40:03 ↗ and

1:40:04 ↗ ask

1:40:05 ↗ that this type of a tree actually be

1:40:08 ↗ protected not just named

1:40:12 ↗ and that would be a step in the right

1:40:14 ↗ direction and i think would show us give

1:40:16 ↗ a signal to the city council

1:40:19 ↗ about your position now do you have this

1:40:21 ↗ position

1:40:22 ↗ i don't know but i think you should be

1:40:24 ↗ asked if you have this position

1:40:27 ↗ and then what you might want to do to

1:40:29 ↗ support this position to the city

1:40:31 ↗ council because right now you're in sort

1:40:33 ↗ of a passive role of yeah we sort of

1:40:35 ↗ like what you're doing you could become

1:40:37 ↗ active and you could promote

1:40:40 ↗ this tree preservation concept and bring

1:40:43 ↗ it to

1:40:44 ↗ to up raise it to a top layer thank you

1:40:47 ↗ thank you connie

1:40:51 ↗ uh melissa you mentioned mary and

1:40:54 ↗ someone else

1:40:56 ↗ yes so we have um mary lynch and also um

1:41:00 ↗ julian mydell so let me

1:41:04 ↗ go ahead and i'm just going to promote

1:41:06 ↗ mary up for a second so we can see if

1:41:08 ↗ she'd like to make comment

1:41:11 ↗ hi mary do you like to make comment

1:41:13 ↗ tonight

1:41:19 ↗ thank you i i sent my letter in um

1:41:23 ↗ and i appreciate brad you saying what

1:41:25 ↗ you did say

1:41:27 ↗ uh because i don't see a purpose right

1:41:29 ↗ now as it's stated with the heritage

1:41:31 ↗ tree

1:41:33 ↗ uh program i don't see really any major

1:41:36 ↗ public benefit because it's really not

1:41:38 ↗ being promoted or encouraged for visit

1:41:41 ↗ and as connie said they're not being

1:41:43 ↗ protected

1:41:44 ↗ so i i just question uh unless we get

1:41:47 ↗ something going and really show what

1:41:49 ↗ value there is

1:41:51 ↗ to the public i question the program and

1:41:54 ↗ and wasting people's time

1:41:56 ↗ to you know

1:41:57 ↗ nominate because it's not being promoted

1:42:00 ↗ um

1:42:01 ↗ i'm not against it but if we're not

1:42:03 ↗ really going to promote it and use it

1:42:04 ↗ and protect it i don't see why we're

1:42:06 ↗ having it so that's my question it's a

1:42:08 ↗ waste of you know dollars and time

1:42:11 ↗ unless we really say what is the value

1:42:14 ↗ and why are we doing that i want to also

1:42:17 ↗ support what connie said um just case in

1:42:20 ↗ point i was up at the highlands

1:42:22 ↗ during the uh heat wave and that's where

1:42:25 ↗ the it reached 116 in the highlands

1:42:28 ↗ because they don't have no big trees up

1:42:30 ↗ there

1:42:32 ↗ where down on the

1:42:34 ↗ valley floor and other places where we

1:42:35 ↗ had trees you know it didn't get that

1:42:38 ↗ hot

1:42:39 ↗ so i think we need to look at the total

1:42:41 ↗ canopy and the trees and how we protect

1:42:43 ↗ it and how it's integrated and the

1:42:45 ↗ understory is as connie said

1:42:47 ↗ and i really think we need to have an

1:42:49 ↗ arborist on board that works with

1:42:52 ↗ reviewing the tree permits that works

1:42:55 ↗ with reviewing what's happening with

1:42:58 ↗ development looks at the street um

1:43:01 ↗ tree program make sure we have trees

1:43:03 ↗ that really are of value that we're

1:43:05 ↗ replanting

1:43:06 ↗ and the other thing connie said we're

1:43:08 ↗ not doing a good job of accounting

1:43:11 ↗ when we are requiring on development to

1:43:13 ↗ plant trees and that's been my concern

1:43:16 ↗ with the review of the title 18 is

1:43:19 ↗ there's no accountability once trees are

1:43:22 ↗ planted

1:43:22 ↗ you go over to the school district and

1:43:25 ↗ the trees that were planted there we

1:43:27 ↗ lost a lot just over the years and last

1:43:29 ↗ year with the

1:43:31 ↗ the heat wave there's even more that

1:43:33 ↗ have gone and there's no replanting

1:43:35 ↗ occurring in most of our developments

1:43:37 ↗ when a tree dies

1:43:39 ↗ so

1:43:40 ↗ taking down big trees and replacing them

1:43:42 ↗ with little trees isn't really working

1:43:44 ↗ as far as i can see

1:43:46 ↗ thank you

1:43:47 ↗ thank you for your time thank you for

1:43:48 ↗ your thoughts mary

1:43:51 ↗ and who else melissa

1:43:53 ↗ um and then we have julian middle hold

1:43:55 ↗ on one moment

1:43:59 ↗ okay julian i've moved you up if you'd

1:44:01 ↗ like to make comment

1:44:04 ↗ i guess i'll make a brief comment uh my

1:44:07 ↗ name is julian i'm a resident of uh

1:44:10 ↗ issaquah um up in squawk mountain

1:44:13 ↗ and uh from the transportation side i'm

1:44:16 ↗ the transfer i'm on the transportation

1:44:17 ↗ advisory board

1:44:20 ↗ i am

1:44:24 ↗ i would like to say that

1:44:26 ↗ we can do a lot better in terms of

1:44:29 ↗ doing more

1:44:30 ↗ on trans on

1:44:32 ↗ roads and on materials

1:44:34 ↗ um and i think it would be nice to have

1:44:36 ↗ a arborist as well

1:44:38 ↗ um

1:44:42 ↗ ours snoqualmie has one um so i think we

1:44:45 ↗ could find the budget resources to get

1:44:48 ↗ that

1:44:49 ↗ um

1:44:50 ↗ and i think in terms of tree protection

1:44:52 ↗ i think we need to

1:44:54 ↗ weigh like local development uh versus

1:44:57 ↗ you know pre-canopy

1:44:59 ↗ and i think infill development is

1:45:00 ↗ something that we really need to promote

1:45:04 ↗ and so

1:45:06 ↗ trying to find that balance is very

1:45:08 ↗ crucial anyways that's all thank you

1:45:11 ↗ thank you julian

1:45:16 ↗ well i've uh successfully bent the rules

1:45:18 ↗ tonight but uh i think it's all good to

1:45:20 ↗ have as many comments uh as possible

1:45:22 ↗ when we have uh important topics like

1:45:25 ↗ trees

1:45:27 ↗ and we're still reasonably within time

1:45:29 ↗ so

1:45:30 ↗ any event that puts us on to jeff it's

1:45:32 ↗ time for you to

1:45:34 ↗ put together a little

1:45:37 ↗ comments uh about um your director's

1:45:40 ↗ report

1:45:42 ↗ all right well thank you everybody for

1:45:45 ↗ that that discussion uh i appreciate

1:45:47 ↗ hearing those public comments as well um

1:45:50 ↗ a couple items under director's report

1:45:52 ↗ uh two related to hillside park um thank

1:45:55 ↗ you a number of you attended either the

1:45:57 ↗ the virtual meeting we hosted last

1:46:00 ↗ tuesday

1:46:01 ↗ um

1:46:02 ↗ also appreciate tim seeing you out there

1:46:04 ↗ at uh on site on thursday we hosted um

1:46:08 ↗ neighbors to come take a look at

1:46:10 ↗ hillside park

1:46:12 ↗ the last week we basically opened up

1:46:16 ↗ sort of public feedback neighborhood

1:46:17 ↗ feedback around some concepts

1:46:20 ↗ for hillside park

1:46:22 ↗ were accepting those comments until the

1:46:25 ↗ 31st of may till the end of the month

1:46:28 ↗ those comments are really going to help

1:46:31 ↗ shape

1:46:32 ↗ feedback

1:46:33 ↗ and shape

1:46:35 ↗ sort of a

1:46:37 ↗ concept preferred concept that we want

1:46:39 ↗ to take back out to the to the community

1:46:42 ↗ um in july

1:46:44 ↗ and meet our work plan goal of

1:46:47 ↗ having a sort of some consensus around a

1:46:49 ↗ preferred concept and how we want to

1:46:51 ↗ proceed with hillside park by the end of

1:46:53 ↗ august

1:46:54 ↗ another hillside park item

1:46:57 ↗ a little bit of a tease i suppose i'll

1:47:00 ↗ have more information in june

1:47:02 ↗ not only on that hillside park

1:47:04 ↗ concepts and feedback for phase one

1:47:07 ↗ but i'd also plan on coming back to you

1:47:09 ↗ at the park board meeting in june and

1:47:11 ↗ sharing a little bit more about an

1:47:12 ↗ acquisition that we're pursuing

1:47:14 ↗ um

1:47:15 ↗ we are looking at um a little over an

1:47:18 ↗ acre

1:47:19 ↗ on the

1:47:21 ↗ would that be the south east corner of

1:47:24 ↗ hillside park

1:47:25 ↗ um

1:47:26 ↗ to

1:47:27 ↗ add some assemblage to that 40 acres uh

1:47:30 ↗ that really creates an opportunity for

1:47:33 ↗ another

1:47:34 ↗ um sort of walk-in entrance into the

1:47:36 ↗ park it's also

1:47:37 ↗ uh

1:47:38 ↗ giving us um

1:47:41 ↗ the ability to really start thinking

1:47:43 ↗ more seriously about what it would look

1:47:45 ↗ like to create a loop trail

1:47:47 ↗ around

1:47:50 ↗ hillside park so more to come on that

1:47:52 ↗ acquisition council has given us the the

1:47:55 ↗ authorization to proceed with a purchase

1:47:58 ↗ and sale agreement we're working out the

1:48:00 ↗ details with the owner right now so

1:48:03 ↗ exciting and and certainly more to come

1:48:06 ↗ on that one

1:48:09 ↗ i mentioned earlier board recruitment

1:48:10 ↗ i'll mention again really fast uh board

1:48:13 ↗ recruitment is up until the end of the

1:48:15 ↗ the month

1:48:17 ↗ as we're looking to fill that regular

1:48:19 ↗ position in the two alternate positions

1:48:22 ↗ thank you all for your feedback earlier

1:48:23 ↗ tonight on that

1:48:26 ↗ third and really quickly another

1:48:28 ↗ acquisition

1:48:29 ↗ update the 20-acre

1:48:31 ↗ piece on squawk mountain that i had

1:48:34 ↗ updated you on

1:48:35 ↗ in terms of

1:48:37 ↗ getting a purchase and sale agreement

1:48:40 ↗ signed

1:48:41 ↗ we are going to be closing on that 20

1:48:43 ↗ acres this thursday the 26th of may so

1:48:48 ↗ mission accomplished in that regard we

1:48:50 ↗ really see this 20 acres as being a

1:48:54 ↗ great addition to acquisitions that the

1:48:56 ↗ city's already done over the years

1:48:58 ↗ it adjoins the state park

1:49:01 ↗ on squawk mountain and really creates

1:49:03 ↗ opportunity for a

1:49:05 ↗ wider corridor both for recreational use

1:49:08 ↗ and a gateway but also a wildlife

1:49:10 ↗ corridor

1:49:12 ↗ so multiple benefits with that

1:49:14 ↗ acquisition um

1:49:16 ↗ last bit of director's report i have um

1:49:20 ↗ i don't necessarily want to share this

1:49:22 ↗ news but i'm going to pass the baton

1:49:24 ↗ over to melissa

1:49:27 ↗ she'd like to share some news with with

1:49:29 ↗ all of you

1:49:31 ↗ oh thank you

1:49:32 ↗ um so

1:49:34 ↗ exciting also bittersweet um i've

1:49:38 ↗ accepted a new position

1:49:40 ↗ with a

1:49:41 ↗ startup

1:49:42 ↗ organization i can share more details

1:49:44 ↗ with you guys offline if you'd like but

1:49:46 ↗ this

1:49:47 ↗ sadly is going to be my last official

1:49:50 ↗ park board meeting as your liaison

1:49:53 ↗ doesn't mean that i won't come and

1:49:55 ↗ sneak up on your attendee list in the

1:49:57 ↗ future

1:49:58 ↗ to check in and see what's going on with

1:50:00 ↗ this group but it's been

1:50:02 ↗ truly an honor and a pleasure to

1:50:05 ↗ work with all of you for

1:50:08 ↗ the duration of eight plus years all the

1:50:10 ↗ way to um several weeks um time here tim

1:50:14 ↗ and katie so i just want to thank you

1:50:16 ↗ all for um your support and our

1:50:19 ↗ professional relationships over the

1:50:21 ↗ years and

1:50:22 ↗ i will miss seeing you guys dearly so

1:50:25 ↗ thank you

1:50:29 ↗ sorry to to share such bummer news but

1:50:32 ↗ um

1:50:33 ↗ melissa has been such a key part of this

1:50:35 ↗ department um and and

1:50:38 ↗ um

1:50:39 ↗ very very sad to see her go excited for

1:50:42 ↗ the opportunity

1:50:43 ↗ um uh wish

1:50:46 ↗ uh wish it wasn't the case um i'm i'm

1:50:49 ↗ going through my own grief process here

1:50:51 ↗ as we went through this week but thank

1:50:53 ↗ you for sharing that melissa we

1:50:55 ↗ just knowing the relationships she's

1:50:56 ↗ she's had with all of you the terrific

1:50:58 ↗ work she's done as

1:51:00 ↗ liaison

1:51:01 ↗ um i know just at least being able to

1:51:03 ↗ share that news with you in person

1:51:06 ↗ virtually in person

1:51:08 ↗ was really important so

1:51:11 ↗ that's the director's report

1:51:13 ↗ well what a way to conclude a director's

1:51:15 ↗ report goodness

1:51:17 ↗ that's uh that's a really sad news there

1:51:19 ↗ melissa goodness i feel i feel bad that

1:51:22 ↗ we're not going to see you anymore but

1:51:25 ↗ but i wish the best for you and i knew

1:51:27 ↗ you'd do it spectacular and whatever you

1:51:29 ↗ do and um they're they're fortunate to

1:51:32 ↗ have you and very sad to see you

1:51:35 ↗ leave issaquah

1:51:38 ↗ [Music]

1:51:40 ↗ kind of speechless it's kind of a

1:51:42 ↗ surprise to hear that one

1:51:44 ↗ we'll miss you but i'm so uh

1:51:46 ↗ glad that you found something that

1:51:48 ↗ you're excited about too so

1:51:50 ↗ congratulations

1:51:53 ↗ so

1:51:54 ↗ on to my chair report i just have a

1:51:57 ↗ couple things um

1:52:00 ↗ i mentioned before about the bouncing

1:52:02 ↗ ball of covid and here we still go um

1:52:05 ↗ you know we were going to open up

1:52:07 ↗ in-person meetings in july and as i

1:52:09 ↗ assume you've read your emails that

1:52:12 ↗ that's now been bounced forward to

1:52:15 ↗ september and um

1:52:17 ↗ who knows the way the world keeps

1:52:19 ↗ evolving uh that is potentially

1:52:22 ↗ tentative but we'll see but any event

1:52:24 ↗ looks like virtual is with us for a few

1:52:27 ↗ more months and so that's a good thing

1:52:30 ↗ we've mastered that type of

1:52:32 ↗ communication at least

1:52:34 ↗ um

1:52:37 ↗ i was able to attend the iatc public

1:52:40 ↗ lands forum held on may 16th

1:52:44 ↗ it was very educational very well done

1:52:47 ↗ jeff was there did a nice presentation

1:52:50 ↗ also had someone from king county

1:52:53 ↗ and washington department of

1:52:54 ↗ transportation and washington department

1:52:56 ↗ of fish and wildlife and so it was very

1:52:58 ↗ informative

1:53:00 ↗ if you didn't have an opportunity to

1:53:02 ↗ attend it or see it it is posted

1:53:07 ↗ now online

1:53:09 ↗ and you can locate that through the is

1:53:11 ↗ called alps trails club

1:53:14 ↗ website

1:53:16 ↗ or if you want something more simple you

1:53:18 ↗ can just send me an email and i'll send

1:53:20 ↗ you a link to watch it it's it's i've

1:53:22 ↗ actually seen it again it was so good i

1:53:24 ↗ really liked it it was a focus on

1:53:26 ↗ wildlife

1:53:28 ↗ uh and so it was very informative a lot

1:53:30 ↗ of good graphics a lot of good maps um i

1:53:33 ↗ just thought everybody did a great job

1:53:35 ↗ in presenting it and um

1:53:38 ↗ a lot of good news with that

1:53:40 ↗ my last little bit is uh just something

1:53:43 ↗ to be aware of on as i understand it and

1:53:46 ↗ then there'll be a november ballot on

1:53:47 ↗ this but king county conservation

1:53:49 ↗ futures is

1:53:51 ↗ trying to re-up some funding again to

1:53:54 ↗ acquire some additional

1:53:57 ↗ land they've already

1:53:59 ↗ as i understand it protected 100 000

1:54:02 ↗ acres and they're trying to do another

1:54:04 ↗ 65 000 acres in king county so be on the

1:54:08 ↗ lookout for that

1:54:11 ↗ that initiative and that ballot in

1:54:12 ↗ november

1:54:14 ↗ i think the support we give king county

1:54:16 ↗ to

1:54:17 ↗ to save crucial land is is very

1:54:20 ↗ important especially

1:54:23 ↗ especially now so any event

1:54:26 ↗ those are my three items

1:54:28 ↗ and i always hate to make

1:54:32 ↗ ryan wait but

1:54:34 ↗ he's always so patient and so let's have

1:54:36 ↗ a little insight from there from the

1:54:38 ↗ youth's perspective

1:54:41 ↗ well thank you brad um i'll start off

1:54:43 ↗ with saying congratulations melissa i

1:54:44 ↗ know i'll definitely malicious miss you

1:54:47 ↗ i've always appreciated just how

1:54:49 ↗ friendly and welcoming you've been even

1:54:50 ↗ just from my start of my time on the

1:54:52 ↗ parks board so i wish you the best have

1:54:54 ↗ fun

1:54:55 ↗ um in terms of what the youth advisory

1:54:57 ↗ board has going on sort of two main

1:54:59 ↗ things right now uh the big one in terms

1:55:01 ↗ of events uh is our icy kids triathlon

1:55:03 ↗ we are on to the fifth annual triathlon

1:55:05 ↗ um on june 5th this year

1:55:08 ↗ um we've got kids registering we are

1:55:10 ↗ sort of in the

1:55:11 ↗ final stretch before that event um and

1:55:13 ↗ it's really exciting it's really a whole

1:55:15 ↗ parks community services department

1:55:17 ↗ effort and so it should be great to

1:55:19 ↗ have that back after i think two or

1:55:21 ↗ three or two years of

1:55:23 ↗ not having a triathlon so

1:55:25 ↗ i'm really excited to see it back before

1:55:28 ↗ i finish my time up on the board um and

1:55:30 ↗ then the other thing we're going through

1:55:31 ↗ right now is picking members um for our

1:55:33 ↗ next year so i believe we have 14 open

1:55:35 ↗ spaces since we have a lot of seniors on

1:55:37 ↗ the board this year graduating um so we

1:55:40 ↗ had about 44 applicants and this week

1:55:42 ↗ we're interviewing i believe 32 of them

1:55:44 ↗ and so hopefully by the end of the week

1:55:45 ↗ we will have picked some new board

1:55:47 ↗ members

1:55:49 ↗ and ryan if i can just add what a great

1:55:51 ↗ partnership the youth advisory board and

1:55:53 ↗ the department if if you want to see

1:55:55 ↗ community having a great time come by

1:55:58 ↗ the community center june 5th of the the

1:56:00 ↗ kids triathlon it's just it's just fun

1:56:03 ↗ fun energy so

1:56:05 ↗ i invite you to to please swing by

1:56:08 ↗ it's good confirmation of why we do what

1:56:10 ↗ we do

1:56:12 ↗ so thanks ryan for all your your great

1:56:14 ↗ work with that

1:56:16 ↗ thanks brian for all your huskies right

1:56:19 ↗ thanks for all your engagement with the

1:56:21 ↗ park board here this past year too

1:56:23 ↗ you've been outstanding and appreciated

1:56:26 ↗ i'm looking forward i'm going to save

1:56:27 ↗ her these next two months i've got i've

1:56:28 ↗ got two more meetings before i head out

1:56:33 ↗ so

1:56:33 ↗ uh winding up any other announcements or

1:56:37 ↗ uh new business they might want to make

1:56:38 ↗ a comment about

1:56:42 ↗ thank you zach and marlene

1:56:45 ↗ yes thank you zach and marlene

1:56:48 ↗ and uh and uh if it just hadn't been for

1:56:51 ↗ the bummer news for melissa this would

1:56:53 ↗ have been a nice meeting

1:56:56 ↗ but i guess you know everything

1:56:58 ↗ everything requires a little balance you

1:56:59 ↗ know you'll even things out here with it

1:57:01 ↗ you know the good and the bad so anyways

1:57:05 ↗ uh any of that i guess uh 859 that's a

1:57:09 ↗ wrap so meeting is adjourned have

1:57:11 ↗ yourself a great uh memorial day weekend

1:57:14 ↗ good night everyone

1:57:16 ↗ thank you

1:57:17 ↗ thank you melissa

1:57:19 ↗ thank you

1:57:24 ↗ luck melissa thank you

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