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78 Member Cicha asked regarding the buddy trees, what species of tree did the Parks <br />79 Department like planting underneath the Ash Trees. <br />80 <br />81 Mr. Taylor indicated the Parks Department has a street tree masterplan that is <br />82 followed which has twelve or thirteen different species. They are dead set on not <br />83 putting the City in the same situation as other cities have done twice now by using <br />84 anywhere from twelve to fourteen species. The reason it started at eleven or twelve <br />85 was because the State said the City could only use grant funds for certain species. <br />86 The City will plant, with City dollars, outside of those eleven or twelve species that <br />87 the State allows. The City is being as diverse as possible in the replanting. <br />88 <br />89 Mr. Johnson indicated another thing is that they are going to use the best value <br />90 approach where the City is going to work with a vendor that has a strong amount <br />91 of expertise and they have already listed a potential expansion of the existing tree <br />92 inventory and the tree species list for a vendor. <br />93 <br />94 Member Joyce asked regarding water of the new plantings, who is responsible to <br />95 do that, and he wondered if that is something in the RFP. <br />96 <br />97 Mr. Taylor explained in the RFP there is the watering and planting included as a <br />98 part of it. Boulevard trees have been watered by the contractor; the park trees have <br />99 been watered by the City. <br />100 <br />101 Member Joyce asked if there is any anticipated tree loss due to the draught from <br />102 this year. <br />103 <br />104 Mr. Taylor indicated they are not seeing a lot right now. Their normal disease and <br />105 hazard year has been right on par to what the City is usually at. Obviously, the Ash <br />106 decline may have accelerated a little bit because of the draught but he did not think <br />107 that of the trees planted there has not been a lot of loss because they have been <br />108 watered right away. <br />109 <br />110 Member Misra thought the Parks Department had a good plan and it is good to hear <br />111 they are focusing on the diversity of species being replanted. It occurred to her as <br />112 she looked at the death curve that over the next three years the City will see almost <br />113 double the number of trees going out that has already been seen. She thought it <br />114 will be very dramatic in the next couple of years. She wondered if there is any kind <br />115 of encouragement for private homeowners to also take a look at their own trees and <br />116 start to replant, sort of like a buddy system. <br />117 <br />118 Mr. Johnson indicated that is a great question and has been listed in the current draft <br />119 of their RFP as a value add. Sort of putting this to the vendors on whether it is an <br />120 educational component, whether there is some sort of component to potentially <br />121 discount. Staff does not know exactly how that would look but ideally, they can <br />122 help the City with that piece, with the awareness piece of the private trees. The <br />123 other piece that staff has tried to do to the extent that they are able is to do the green <br />Page 3 of 6 <br />