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Regular City Council Meeting Monday,June 03, 2013 Page 12 Mayor Roe concurred with Mr. Lloyd; opining that the important thing was to add a requirement for an open house and to identify significant issues at the open house, whether or not they were resolved. On a related note, Councilmember Willmus suggested the need for a different en- vironment as to how those meetings are conducted or facilitated, currently held out in the neighborhood, and questioned whether those meetings are sufficiently documented. Councilmember Willmus suggested that a staff member be desig- nated to attend, and a room provided at City Hall to document those items as a way to track it coming forward at the preliminary plat phase. Mayor Roe expressed concern that this was asking a lot of staff, since many ap- plications didn't actually proceed; and opined that if the open house was added to the application checklist, the public would become involved and future discussion would include identification of those issues, and if the developer hadn't brought them forward, the City Council would be aware of it. Councilmember McGehee opined that the community was competent and further opined that it would be sufficient for the application to include a submitted record of the meeting and items listed, which could be signed by a representative of the neighborhood and by the applicant. Mr. Trudgeon concurred that having both the neighborhood and applicant sign off as part of the application process and packet process; as long as they were only signing off in identifying the issues, as suggested by Mayor Roe, and not neces- sarily agreeing to resolution of all of those issues. Mr. Trudgeon advised that, if this requirement was part of the application checklist itself rather than an amend- ment to the subdivision ordinance, it could be implemented much more quickly. At the request of Mayor Roe, Mr. Trudgeon suggested that staff would attempt to work out the details, and suggested criteria, and after consultation with the City Attorney, report back to the City Council at their next meeting. Tree Preservation Councilmember McGehee opined that she saw the City's current tree preservation ordinance as an unfunded mandate, since the City didn't have current staffing to handle it, with site visits requiring a substantial amount of attention to detail in working with neighbors to identify trees. Also, Councilmember McGehee ex- pressed concern in allowing clear cutting in the middle of nesting seasons for mi- gratory birds; and suggested there were other options available. Councilmember McGehee also addressed past practice by the Public Works De- partment in planting boulevard trees by species in a series of five. Even while be- ing better than the former monoculture plantings, Councilmember McGehee noted the pests and fungi spreading through the root system of a particular species, and