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New Public Works director emphasizes tree replacement, three-year watering and pilot fuel-reduction projects
Summary
The council heard an overview of the new Public Works director's priorities: replacing dead or diseased street trees with prompt replanting and three years of watering, and conducting pilot fuel-reduction projects to reduce wildfire risk while preserving the village’s forested character.
Speaker 1, role not specified, introduced Ken Wysocki as the new Public Works director and said Wysocki's background is in natural resource management and arboriculture.
Speaker 1 said Wysocki is a master arborist and that the city has been using a temporary appointment, Renee Almadaz, as acting assistant city forester while staff work on longer-term assignments. Justin and Tom Ford were also named as staff assisting on tree work.
Speaker 1 described a program to remove dead, dying or diseased trees in idiosyncratic locations—such as trees in the middle of a street or in pocket parks—and to replace them quickly. "Ken's vision is to have dead, dying or diseased trees removed, have this dump ground and then replaced within really short order and then watered for 3 years," Speaker 1 said.
The remarks distinguished replacement work from broader wildfire fuel-reduction work. Speaker 1 said the city plans pilot fuel-reduction projects in areas that include Second Avenue, Pescadero Canyon, and Mission Trails Nature Preserve to reduce ladder fuels and limb up trees while trying to preserve the forested character of the village. The speaker emphasized that the approach "doesn't mean cutting trees down," but rather removing underbrush and ladder fuels and limbing up trees to reduce the chance of canopy fires.
Speaker 1 said staff will use standard public notice procedures, including posting notices and coordinating with private property owners and outside contractors, and that the director is working on a contract to support the program. No specific contract amounts, procurement timelines, or start dates were provided in the remarks.
