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<br />City Council Study Session - 07/17/06 <br />Minutes - Page 3 <br /> <br />Assignment of Issues <br />How can the PWETC get more involved and be more productive <br />in the issues that come before the Council? <br />PWETC Commissioner Willenbring encouraged the City Council to <br />provide more assignments and areas they could assist the City Council <br />to utilize their expertise and alleviate the Public Works Department <br />and City Council's workload. <br /> <br />Councilmember Ihlan sought the Commission's input on the need to <br />promote and stabilize the City's Capital Improvement Program (CIP). <br /> <br />Invasive Species: What role do you see for the PWETC in getting <br />control ofthis problem (i.e., buckthorn and others)? <br />Extensive discussion was led by Commissioner Willenbring related to <br />eradication and control of invasive species within the City, its open <br />space and/or parks - those private areas and those public in nature. <br />Commissioner Willenbring noted the substantial discussion at the <br />"Imagine Roseville 2025" community visioning process related to <br />preserving open space in the City, but opined the need to identify <br />"Open Space," and whether it was simply the absence of buildings, or <br />understory vegetation requiring maintenance and utilization. <br /> <br />Discussion included Buckthorn and Boxelders; the Harriet Alexander <br />Nature Center (HANC) and marshland vistas are now overgrown and <br />hidden due to large trees and lack of maintenance over the years since <br />it was built in the 1990's; education is needed to get more people <br />involved in ongoing maintenance; the changing nature of the City from <br />rural to second-ring suburb; multi-year maintenance and eradication <br />necessary to systematically control invasive species' growth; volunteer <br />commitment versus paid employee assignments for maintenance; and <br />the observation that invasive plants were not unique to the City of <br />Roseville. <br /> <br />Parks and Recreation Director Lonnie Brokke provided his perspective <br />regarding the invasive species in the City's parks and the costs for <br />ongoing eradication; various options for removal on private and public <br />properties; previous identification of invasive species at five park areas <br />and specific discussions determining a systematic approach, similar to <br />the City's diseased tree program, to minimize the cost for levied <br />dollars most effectively, with the program estimated at an annual cost <br />