The city Tree Board said it will prepare an application for Tree City USA once the application window opens in September 2025 and noted recent entryway signage and an educational briefing on the Turkish filbert.

The board’s discussion focused on three items: preparing the Tree City USA application, a newly completed city entryway signage project that includes Tree City USA attachments, and a tree-of-the-month education segment on the Turkish filbert. Board members also approved the minutes from the previous meeting.

Board members said the Tree City USA application typically opens in September and is usually due in early December; one presenter said they plan to submit the application early because they expect to be out of the office in mid-to-late October and November. The presenter named several city Streets Department staff who assisted with application work and with the entryway signage: Brent, Kelly, Chris, Don and Sherry.

The presenter described a recently completed city entryway signage project that comprised 33 signs installed in two phases: an eastern phase completed in June and a western phase completed in July before July 4. The presenter said Corey Jones in the Streets Department designed tree-themed plaques that were bolted onto some of the new entryway signs; the presenter pointed to examples on Stroop Road and on Infirmary Road.

As part of the board’s regular education requirement, the presenter summarized a tree profile provided by the Ohio chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture (OCISA). The presenter said the Turkish filbert (Corylus colurna) is increasingly used as a municipal street and median tree because it tolerates air pollution, compacted soils, high wind, heat, cold and drought, and is adaptable to a range of soil pH. The presenter described the species’ broad simple leaves (about 3 to 6 inches long and wide), corky and furrowed bark with age, and a pyramidal crown shape. The presenter said typical mature height is about 40 to 50 feet with a 25- to 35-foot spread and noted that the Ohio Department of Natural Resources lists a Franklin County specimen at 74 feet tall with a 47-foot crown spread and a 98-inch trunk circumference.

The board recorded approval of the previous meeting’s minutes; the transcript records a member saying to “submit them as approved.” No formal vote tally or mover/second was recorded in the transcript.

Before adjourning, the presenter invited board members and attendees to observe a planning commission meeting scheduled for 6:00 p.m. that evening.

The meeting transcript contains no record of the board approving or submitting the Tree City USA application at this meeting, no formal vote on the signage project, and no staff assignment beyond the presenter’s stated intention to prepare and submit the application early.