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Regular City Council Meeting Monday,June 03, 2013 Page 14 and take advantage of opportunities to protect those natural resources needed to be addressed. Councilmember Laliberte observed that there were functions in the City that fell across departments and roles, and noted the need for natural resource manage- ment, some in the park arena and some in public works; and questioned how that knowledge was being utilized versus having it spread all over in an ineffective manner. Mayor Roe noted the need to consider balancing the rights of individual property owners with the broader natural resource management element; and the entirely different question in what the City does with its public property and parks from a natural resource management perspective. Mayor Roe noted the need to be cog- nizant of rights and impacts, and what was reasonable for the City to ask for in outlining regulations form a realistic and common sense approach versus legislat- ing idealistic best practices. Councilmember Laliberte opined that a broader discussion was needed on effi- ciencies and where the talent pool was being funded, not just touching upon it. Mayor Roe advised that the City Forester's job was to deal with City park land, which was the current focus; and if that role was added to or other areas included, he questioned if that position should continue residing in the Parks & Recreation Department. Councilmember Etten opined that expanding the Forester position made sense from his perspective, especially if the Forester was going to be asked to assess developments. Councilmember Etten noted that a Forester was an expert hired by the City who knew how to take care of trees, and should serve as a consultant for multiple departments: Public Works, Planning, and Parks & Recreation. Coun- cilmember Etten noted that the reason for the current part-time status was based on the amount of funds available. Councilmember Etten noted that the Forester position was busiest during the summer months, performing a comprehensive identification of species when trees were leafed out and when disease was more easily identified, but that this was also when development projects were happen- ing. Councilmember Etten advised that this targeted that position in an intense way; and needed to be considered when determining how that job could and should be expanded to make it useful for all functions city-wide. Councilmember McGehee suggested having a consultant during the summer months. Mayor Roe noted that their expertise was pretty specific.