11-20-07 PTRC Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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PARKS, TRAILS AND RECREATION COMMITTEE MEETING November 20, 2007 Page 2 5. BUCKTHORN CRITERIA DISCUSSION Discussion ensued on how to eradicate the buckthorn and possibly applying a herbicide or using Garlon 4 which can be painted on the buckthorn. Chair Henry asked Ms. O’Brien and Ms. Chayka for suggestions on what the PTRC do in terms of eradicating buckthorn from the park and where they should focus their efforts. Ms. O’Brien suggested first getting rid of the females with the berries by cutting them when the sap is falling. She stated they may have to be cut twice to stop the berries. She stated they could look into addressing buckthorn removal on a large scale and get back with the information. Chair Henry asked if possibly residents along the park could learn enough about how to do this and could work on it in an afternoon? Ms. Chayka stated if the residents along the park are interested in doing this they would encourage that. Committee Member Baumann agreed that they needed to get the community involved and get sponsors for each park. Ms. O’Brien also mentioned that residents need to remove it from their own yards and needed to get further education on buckthorn. Ms. Olson said there is an ordinance to remove buckthorn but this is very difficult to enforce. Ms. O’Brien mentioned that Janet Larson talks about taking a micro-managed approach to the removal where one person cuts, one person pulls and one paints. She also gave a handout from the City of Minnetonka on the Natural Resource Stewards Program. 6. TREE PRESERVATION ORDINANCE DISCUSSION – Meagan Beekman Ms. Beekman indicated the City Council had directed staff to look into drafting a Tree Preservation Ordinance and goals have been discussed on what the ordinance should accomplish. She did some research and found that some ordinances are very simple and others more complex whereby they state what trees can be cut, what ones have to be replaced, how large, what species, and so forth. The next step is to draft an actual ordinance and then have another work session where they present that drafted ordinance and move forward from there. She indicated the first yellow packet shows what the city of Arden Hills currently has on requirements for the tree preservation and she also provided a copy of the tree preservation ordinance that the City of Minnetonka is working on. Chair Henry asked if they could specify species that they would like to get rid of. Ms. Beekman confirmed they could specify that. She also indicated that in the current ordinance it states residents should be removing their buckthorn and feels that is something that needs to be strengthened and reworked to make it more enforceable. Discussion continued on who determines what an invasive species is. Chair Henry indicated that the ordinance should not just be a tree preservation ordinance but a tree ordinance stating both what the City wants to encourage and discourage. Ms. Beekman agreed that was true to a certain extent. She indicated there are two ordinances that encompass trees - the landscaping ordinance and tree preservation ordinance. She stated they work very closely together and the way the tree preservation ordinance is enforced is through the landscaping requirements. She stated a developer is required to plant certain types and amounts of trees and shrubbery. She indicated this was only for new projects and would encompass all new developments that require a building permit. She stated in any