Forest Station Board flags hazardous trees, delays arborist hire and readies annual tree plan

The Forest Station Board met on April 9 and spent much of the session on neighborhood tree concerns, a pending arborist hire and the board’s annual tree plan.

The board opened by approving its March minutes with two corrections: the recorded spelling of Jacquelyn McGrail’s name and a place name changed from "Outlook" to "Overlook." Members then voted to approve the minutes as corrected.

Chair members announced the recent death of long-serving council person Alan Simon and moved on to personnel business. The board said it had three arborist candidates under consideration but that one, Robert Rollins, told the board he travels about 12 weeks per year and therefore “probably is not going to be a good fit” for the board’s scheduling needs; the board said it would hold a closed executive session at the end of the meeting to discuss the two remaining candidates.

The board reviewed several hazardous-tree reports across Prospect. Members said they will continue reviewing situations already under consideration at "Overlook" and Bridge Point and noted a new report from a homeowner on Star Point Court about a large dead ash at 8309 Star Point Court that may present a hazard. Board members also observed two dead trees connected to the Hunting Green project along Hunting Creek Drive that they plan to add to the inspection list.

The board discussed examples of excessive mulch around trunks (so-called "volcano" mulch). A board member said Greenscapes, the contractor, has been contacted and that Corey (Greenscapes) and Doug have been discussing whether some newer trees were planted too shallowly, which may have led crews to add extra mulch. The board asked members to document and photograph mulch issues in their neighborhoods for follow-up.

A guest, Rob Hutchins, introduced himself: “I am Rob Hutchins. I am running for Judge Executive in Oldham County,” he said. Hutchins said he attended to learn how Prospect manages street- and public-space trees. Board members described two local programs: a 50-tree giveaway for residents in October and a canopy cost-share program for larger trees, where expenses are shared between the city of Prospect and the property owner. The Chair said a copy of Prospect’s tree ordinance is available from Prospect City Hall or the city website and offered to provide the ordinance by email or at his desk.

The Chair reminded members the board’s annual tree plan is due at the end of April; the Chair said they will review the current plan, propose edits and circulate it to members for signature, allowing scanned or electronic returns.

Before closing the public broadcast, the board convened an executive session to discuss the two remaining arborist candidates and clarified that no final hiring decision would be made during the closed session; the Chair said a decision could come as early as the following week. The public portion of the meeting ended with thanks to viewers.

Next steps: the board will investigate the reported hazardous trees (including at 8309 Star Point Court and Hunting Creek Drive), document mulch concerns for Greenscapes to address, complete the annual tree plan by the end of April and follow up on the arborist hiring process after the executive-session review.