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Commission outlines volunteer-led tree maintenance program and explores 3-D smart inventory
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Summary
Commissioners discussed a volunteer maintenance program to tend young street and setback trees (targeting 1–3 year-old plantings), and reviewed vendor quotes for a 3-D smart-tree inventory to update the 2016 inventory; staff will return with detailed costs and scope at the April meeting.
Commissioners spent substantial time on Feb. 4 detailing a volunteer-led maintenance program and weighing options for a new tree inventory.
Commissioner Rich reported crews had addressed more than 400 trees this season before a heavy snow and said that volunteers are needed to maintain younger trees between the planting and establishment periods. Rich said he sent an outreach email to roughly 45 past volunteers and received about 13 positive responses; he proposed assigning volunteers to small city zones, supplying each group with a map of planted-tree addresses and a simple tracking sheet listing trees and approximate volunteer hours.
The chair described three inventory approaches under consideration after receiving quotes from Mariah Day (David Soarscribe group): a traditional walk-through inventory, a 3-D “smart” inventory (which creates imagery and measurements of height, crown spread and visible trunk defects), and a hybrid that combines field measurements (DBH and risk ratings) with 3-D imagery. The chair noted the city’s 2016 inventory is outdated; the last local inventory was a level-2 risk assessment and the commission will need a current baseline to guide maintenance and planting priorities.
Commissioners discussed task boundaries between volunteers and city crews, safety steps (vests, avoiding flower beds, not performing tasks volunteers are uncomfortable with), storage and mulch drop-off logistics (Spring Grove Cemetery and the Locust Street transfer station were named as possible staging sites), and simple data-capture methods (number of trees worked and ballpark hours per tree rather than onerous time sheets).
Next steps: the chair will follow up with the vendor contact for written quotes and a demonstration, and Rich will produce a draft checklist and zoning plan for volunteer assignments. Both items are expected to be on the agenda at the commission’s April meeting.
