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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-16-11 Special Common Council Meeting Agenda OFFICIAL NOTICE OF MEETING A Special meeting of Common Council will be held on Wednesday, November 16, 2011 at 6:45 p.m. in Common Council Chambers, City Hall, 108 East Green Street, Ithaca. Your attendance is requested AGENDA 1. SPECIAL ORDER OF BUSINESS: 1.1 Approval of Urban and Community Forestry Grant Program Round 10 Application for Stewart Park Diversification of the Urban Forest Planting Program - Resolution 2. NEW BUSINESS: 3. ADJOURNMENT If you have a disability that will require special arrangements to be made in order for you to fully participate in the meeting, please contact the City Clerk at 274-6570 at least 48 hours before the meeting. ______________________________ Sarah L. Myers Acting City Clerk Dated: November 10, 2011 1. SPECIAL ORDER OF BUSINESS: 1.1 Approval of Urban and Community Forestry Grant Program Round 10 Application for Stewart Park Diversification of the Urban Forest Planting Program - Resolution WHEREAS, Stewart Park is one of the largest and most notable Parks in the City of Ithaca, and hosts many city events and festivals as well as the city sponsored youth day camps, and WHEREAS, the size and facilities in this park means that it serves all citizens of Ithaca and the surrounding townships, has ample free parking, free admission and many facilities, including pavilions, picnic sites, tennis courts, playgrounds, children’s sprinkler park, bird sanctuary, access to fishing and most importantly lakefront access at no charge, and WHEREAS, this park charges no entrance or parking fee, and is heavily utilized by low income residents of Ithaca and the surrounding neighborhoods, and WHEREAS, The park has many large Ash trees, most of which date back to the creation of the park in 1921, and the city’s tree inventory reveals that the average Diameter Breast Height (DBH) of the 61 ash trees in the park is approx 30”, and many of the trees need to be removed because they are in poor condition, and WHEREAS, it is anticipated that impending spread of the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) will result in the death and removal of all the Ash trees in the Park at some point in the future which will be devastating for the park because nearly all the trees surrounding the playground area are Ash trees, and WHEREAS, City staff, in conjunction with the city’s Shade Tree Advisory Committee and Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) specialist, Mark Whitmore from Cornell University, has devised a management plan to prepare for the impact of the inevitable EAB infestation, and WHEREAS, part of the plan is to begin removing and replacing some of the ash trees in poor condition ahead of the EAB infestation, and WHEREAS, the City has removed several trees from Stewart Park, but lacks the funds to replace them all with new trees, and in addition the City would like to remove up to 10 more trees over the next two years and replant 15-20 large caliper (2.5-3” caliper) native/noninvasive trees, and WHEREAS, Stewart Park is a great place to increase diversity in the urban forest by planting large maturing native tree species which do not survive planted on narrow tree lawns as street trees, such as American Larch (Larix laracina), Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua), Tuliptree (Liriodendron tulipifera), Black Gum (Nyssa sylvatica), Bur Oak (Quercus marcrocarpa), American Linden (Tillia Americana) and White pine (Pinus strobus), and WHEREAS, All work will be preformed by City of Ithaca staff in accordance with the city’s established Tree planting and Maintenance specifications, and WHEREAS, The city’s Urban Forestry management goals for Stewart Park are to diversify tree species in specific areas of the park (which are now heavily planted to ash), and to begin to replace the aging over mature and unsafe trees in the park, and WHEREAS, This project will help the City of Ithaca fulfill that goal by allowing the replacement of older unsafe trees with large caliper trees of diverse species, thus improving the diversity of species and age of trees in the park, and will hopefully minimize the devastating impact of EAB when it does reach our area, and WHEREAS, City of Ithaca staff plan to raise awareness about the impact Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) will have on the city’s Urban Forest with an awareness and education campaign, with the hope that the awareness this brings will translate into support for city funding to help combat the impending EAB infestation, possible pesticide treatment on high value city trees, and additional city funding to replant infested ash trees, now therefor be it RESOLVED, That Jean Grace, as Forestry Technician, of the City of Ithaca, is hereby authorized and directed to file for a 50% Matching Funds Urban and Community Forestry Grant in an amount not to exceed $5,600.00, and be it further RESOLVED, That upon approval of said request by the Common Council, the Mayor, or his or her designee, is hereby authorized to enter into and execute a project agreement with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for such financial assistance to the City of Ithaca for the Stewart Park Tree Diversity Planting Project.