Mission Woods hears Kansas Forestry Service on draft tree ordinance and Tree City USA steps

Erica Hartley, Mayor of Mission Woods, opened public discussion of a draft tree ordinance and invited input from the Kansas Forestry Service at the April 7 council meeting. Jeff Deane, the city attorney, summarized the draft ordinance and framed it as establishing clear rules for older trees and post-storm responsibilities.

Blaine Stroble, Northeast District Community Forester for the Kansas Forestry Service, told the council the agency can provide free resources and guidance and recommended adopting a city ordinance to qualify for Tree City USA. He outlined the four standard membership requirements: establish a tree board; hold an Arbor Day proclamation and celebration; spend at least $2 per capita on a community forestry program; and adopt a formal tree ordinance. Stroble described a typical street-tree inventory process—walking each street, GPS-locating and marking right-of-way trees, identifying species and size, rating condition (Good/Fair/Poor/Dead), and recommending species diversity and pruning cycles—and said an inventory typically takes two to three hours for a small community.

Councilmembers discussed next steps for creating a tree board, agreeing to review Westwood’s existing board structure as a model and favoring an odd number of members for decision-making, per advice from City Attorney Jeff Deane. No formal votes were taken on the ordinance at this meeting; the discussion was recorded as unfinished business.