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Severance council repeals tree board; Public Works to retain Tree City USA duties
Summary
Council voted to repeal the town’s tree-board ordinance after finding limited volunteer participation; the Public Works department will assume duties required to maintain the town’s Tree City USA designation.
The Severance Town Council voted Aug. 12 to repeal the municipal ordinance that created the town’s volunteer Tree Board, citing lack of agenda items and limited resident interest in serving on the panel.
Town staff said the town’s ability to maintain its Tree City USA designation will not be affected: Tree City USA rules now allow towns to satisfy the program’s requirements with a municipal forester or by delegating responsibilities to Public Works. Town staff said Parks supervisor Brad Davidson and contracted landscape consultants will provide the technical review previously expected from a volunteer board.
Councilmembers said several outreach attempts had not yielded the volunteers needed to keep the Tree Board active and that the board had been canceled multiple times because no items were on the agenda. The town will continue to use volunteer input when needed and said previous volunteers may be asked to serve informally in advisory roles.
The ordinance repealing the tree-board creation passed unanimously by roll call.
