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Home My WebLink About01/11/2022 - MinutesMINUTES Wheelchair Accessible. American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter available upon request. For this or other assistance, please call 48 hours in advance: 711 (TDD) or 425-430-6600 (voice). City of Renton Board of Park Commissioners Meeting Tuesday, January 11, 2022, 4:30 pm Virtual Meeting on Zoom 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Shun Takano called the meeting to order at 4:34pm. 2. ROLL CALL Members Present: Cynthia Burns, Al Dieckman, Larry Reymann, Tim Searing, Shun Takano, Troy Wigestrand, and Marlene Winter Members Absent: none City Staff Present: Cailín Hunsaker, Parks and Trails Director; Erica Schmitz , Parks Planning and Natural Resources Director; Carrie Nass, Recreation Director, Interim, and Roberta Graver Administrative Assistant 3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Larry Reymann motioned to approve the agenda as presented, motioned seconded, all in favor, motion carried. 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Tim Searing motioned to approve the December 7, 2021 minutes as presented, motion seconded, all in favor, motion carried. 5. BOARD COMMUNICATION Shun presented information provided by Roberta Graver that best practices of boards and commissions are for the recording secretary to sign the approved meeting minutes. Larry Reymann motioned to designate Roberta Graver or recording secretary to sign the meeting minutes once they have been approved by the board., motion seconded, all in favor, motion carried. Cailín Hunsaker introduced Farmers Market Coordinator and Sophie Dewitt, Farmers Market VISTA Volunteer. 6. DISCUSSION / ACTION ITEMS a. Urban Forestry Management Plan, Ian Gray, Urban Forestry & Natural Resources Manager (with Chris Peiffer, Plan It GEO and John Bornsworth Peninsula Environmental). Chris shared an update on the Urban Forestry Management Plan process and current status (see PowerPoint presentation) and took questions. i. Board members requested they receive a hard copy of the plan. Ian will follow up after it’s approved by council. ii. Board member question: Will the plan include causes of possible pest infestation in the Cedar River area. Ian said the Community and Economic Development (CED) is working on another ordinance for the Cedar River Planning Area, which is not addressed in this forestry management plan. iii. Will Cottonwoods be planted? Ian: No, the plan is to diversify the types of trees planted. iv. Are there ways you can incentivize the public to plant native species? Ian: There are two issues, “restrictions” and “landmark status” of planting that could be shared to educate the public, but primary is to encourage keeping a healthy canopy. Ian says that CED is working on a Tree Ordinance, and he will forward this information to Larry, via Roberta. v. Larry would like to be in the conversations about the large debris runoff in the May Creek area. Ian responded that trail maintenance is a balance of keeping the natural areas intact, maintaining trail safety and follow best practices. There will be more opportunities for more conversation as the May Creek area will be expanded. Parks Commission Meeting January 11, 2022 Page 2 of 2 Wheelchair Accessible. American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter available upon request. For this or other assistance, please call 48 hours in advance: 711 (TDD) or 425-430-6600 (voice). vi. Discussion about more time to review the plan before forwarding a recommendation. Board members were reminded that the management plan was presented to them in the fall of 2021, prepared by industry experts, using industry best practices, presented to the Planning Committee twice, and it has been reviewed by a nine-city staff from multiple-department committee with extensive experience with forestry elements/issues. This is not a solo project but involves lots of consultation. vii. The Urban Forestry Management Plan is budget neutral and funding for an in-house arborist crew was already in the 2009 plan and to afford it now would just involve budget adjustments. Ian is looking at other funding sources to purchase vehicles and even with a crew limited contracted services would continue. Having an in-house arborist crew is overall cost effective, maintaining consistency of service, while it’s time consuming and costly to go out for RFP contractors and maintaining them. viii. Tree maintenance involves an ideal 7-year pruning cycle and with the current Renton canopy and staffing, it would take 35 years for a complete cycle. ix. The differences in this plan from the previous one is the addition of the tree inventory, new tree initiatives and a Tree Risk Management Program. x. Roughly 30% of the current tree inventory are street and park trees. This plan will qualify the city for the Tree City USA and other awards as well. xi. The Parks Commission will receive periodic updates on this plan and activities of the Urban Forestry and Natural Resources program. xii. Al Dieckman motions that the Parks Commission concur with the staff recommendation to adopt the Urban Forest Management Plan and that the recommendation be forwarded to the City Council. Motion was seconded, all in favor, motion carried. b. Pickleball Discussion– Erica Schmitz, Parks Planning and Natural Resources Director The Parks and Recreation department has been contacted multiple times recently about the growing popularity of Pickleball and requests to provide courts in city parks. Erica provided a presentation about possible design options to provide Pickleball courts (conversion, temporary or permanent) in parks. Talbot Hill Reservoir Park currently has a pickleball court. Staff are in initial research, discussion, and design options for providing temporary or permanent conversion at Liberty Park tennis courts. A bill has been brought to the Washington State legislature to designate Pickleball as the official state sport. c. Coulon Projects Update – Erica Schmitz, Parks Planning and Natural Resources Director. Update is postponed to the February 8th meeting due to time constraints. d. Family First Community Center Update – Russ Woodruff, Capital Project Coordinator provided the history of the project and that he just went through the RFP process to select the construction contractor. It will take 10-12 months for construction. The facility will be owned by the city, but run completely by tenants and leases. 7. ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT Due to time constraints the Administrator’s Report will be forwarded to the February 8th agenda. 8. ADJOURNMENT Al Dieckman motioned to adjourn; motion seconded, all in favor, motion carried, adjourned at 6:05pm. Recorded by: Roberta Graver, Parks and Recreation Administrative Assistant, January 11, 2022 Minutes approved by: ____________________________________________ NEXT MTG: February 8, 2022 Roberta Graver 2/8/2022 URBAN FOREST MANAGEMENT PLAN PRESENTATION FOR PARKS COMMISSION JANUARY 11, 2022 RENTON, WA URBAN FOREST MANAGEMENT PLAN WELCOME & INTROS Ian Gray, Urban Forestry & Natural Resources Manager 9-Member Collaborative Team: Executive Services Public Works Community and Economic Development Parks and Recreation Chris Peiffer, Project Manager, Presenter John Bornsworth, Principal, Community Forester Micki McNaughton, Urban Forestry Planner 2 AGENDA 3 Welcome & Intros UFMP Approach UFMP Highlights Goal Framework Timeline & Milestones Discussion &Next Steps APPROACH: PLANNING PROCESS 4 RESEARCH DEEP DIVE CITY CONSULTATIONS EXISTING CONDITIONS BENCHMARKING COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT URBAN FOREST AUDIT 5 PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT HIGHLIGHTS 6 PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT HIGHLIGHTS (2) 3% (3) 5% (4) 6% (5) 8% (22) 34% (28) 44% 0%10%20%30%40%50% No, additional funding should not be secured for increasing canopy cover No, additional funding should be based on securing grants and donations I neither support nor object to securing additional funding for the purpose of increasing Renton’s tree canopy Yes, but it should be redistributed from within existing Urban Forestry Program funding Yes, and additional funding should be used in neighborhoods with low urban forest coverage Yes, and it should be in addition to what is currently provided Q3a: Do you feel Renton’s Urban Forestry Program should increase funds that support tree planting and tree planting maintenance initiatives throughout the City? 7 UFMP HIGHLIGHTS TREE CANOPY STUDIES Tree Canopy Cover Tree Equity Scores -0.9% -1.9% +2.1% -2.4% +2.0% +1.6% -0.9%+4.2% -0.2% 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1,000 Benson Cedar River City Center East Plateau Highlands Kennydale Talbot Valley West HillAcres UTC 2010 (Acres)UTC 2017 (Acres) 31% 47% 13% 29% 25% 34% 39% 29%31% 8 UFMP HIGHLIGHTS TREE CANOPY STUDIES Canopy Change by Planning Area 2017 Canopy % + 0.6% 4,220 4,240 4,260 4,280 4,300 4,320 4,340 4,360 4,380 4,400 AcresUTC 2010 (Acres)UTC 2017 (Acres) Citywide Canopy Cover Change (2010 –2017) 9 UFMP HIGHLIGHTS TREE EQUITY STUDIES Count of Census Blocks by Tree Equity Score Tree Equity Score Comparisons 91 88 86 84 83 83 80 78 76 73 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Seattle Issaquah Sammamish Des Moines Renton Mercer Island Bellevue Kent Auburn Burien 9 23 16 19 6 0 5 10 15 20 25 100 90-99 80-89 64-79 0-63Count of Census Block GroupsTree Equity Score Ranges 10 UFMP HIGHLIGHTS Bigleaf maple Douglas-fir Black cottonwood Red alder Red maple Western red cedar Callery pear Norway maple Pacific willow Purple leaf plum BASELINE CONDITIONS Most Common Species 19% 30% 24% 11% 7%8% 40% 25% 15% 10% 6%4% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 0-6in 7-12in 13-18in 19-24in 25-30in >30in City Distribution Ideal Distribution (Richards, 1993) 11 UFMP HIGHLIGHTS BASELINE CONDITIONS Public Tree Size Distribution and Relative Age YOUNG ESTABLISHED MATURING MATURE 12 UFMP HIGHLIGHTS BASELINE CONDITIONS Public Tree Condition (0), Dead, 3% (10-40), Poor, 15% (50-60), Fair, 48% (70-90), Good, 33% (100), Excellent, 0.3% Street (3,578 Trees) Clearance Prune 22% Structural Prune 19% Thinning Prune 18% Other Maintenance 40% Park (2,777 Trees) Crown Cleaning 28% Thinning Prune 18% Add Mulch 16% Other Maintenance 38% Primary Maintenance Needs 13 UFMP HIGHLIGHTS IN-HOUSE ARBORIST CREW Program Costs Proposed Priority Maintenance Corridors 14 UFMP HIGHLIGHTS PROACTIVE PUBLIC TREE MAINTENANCE Public Street, Park, and Golf Course Trees (2021) Total Tree Count 27,456 trees (2021) Annual Budget Annual Tree Count Current Cycle (~37 Years)$134,000 750 trees 20-Year Cycle $247,104 1,373 trees 10-Year Cycle $494,208 2,746 trees 7-Year Cycle $706,011 3,922 trees 2 FTE In-House Arborist Crew (7.5-Year Cycle) 4,176 hours (2,088 each) per year 3,654 trees per year Cycle Gap between 37-Year & 7-Year Cycle $572,011 3,172 more per year more trees Cost Comparison for Proactive Pruning Cycles and Arborist Crew 15 UFMP HIGHLIGHTS TREE PLANTINGS TO ADDRESS: Low Tree Cover Areas Stormwater Runoff Underserved Areas 29%27% 30% 33% 5,250 trees 19,000 trees 16 UFMP HIGHLIGHTS PROACTIVE PUBLIC TREE MAINTENANCE Tree Canopy Goals and Planting Targets Goal Metric Current Canopy (2017) Short-Term Canopy Goal Long-Term Canopy Goal Canopy %29%30%33% Goal Year --2032 2042 Total Trees to Reach GoalCity-Led --3,150 11,400 Public-Led --2,100 7,600 Total Trees --5,250 19,000 Total Trees per Year to Reach GoalCity-Led --315 570 Public-Led --210 380 Total Trees per Year --525 950 Future Added Benefits --$60,000 $215,000 17 APPROACH: GOAL & ACTION FRAMEWORK GOAL Objective Strategy Action DRAFT GOALS:ManagementGOAL 1:Proactively manage public trees, continue to grow and expand a healthy canopy, maintain public safety, and optimize urban forest benefits.CommunityGOAL 2:Achieve environmental justice through a partnership with the City and its residents to improve well- being, human health, local economies, and urban forest sustainability.PolicyGOAL 3:Strengthen policies for preserving the environmental benefits, management, and the character of Renton's urban forest. 18 DRAFT GOAL FRAMEWORK DRAFT OBJECTIVES:Management1.1 Make data-driven management decisions. 1.2 Sustainably manage the public tree population. 1.3 Establish a strategy for increasing tree canopy through City & public efforts. 1.4 Effectively manage tree risk.Community2.1 Create an urban forestry outreach program that addresses all communities. 2.2 Increase capacity through trained citizens.Policy3.1 Strengthen policies for protecting the urban forest. 3.2 Improve workflows & operations for sustainable urban forest management. 19 DRAFT GOAL FRAMEWORK KEY STRATEGIES:ManagementEstablish and implement a 7-year pruning cycle program for street trees. Formally establish the Tree Planting Initiative.CommunityCreate a volunteer corps or tree stewards program.PolicyApply a no-net-loss approach to tree canopy cover. Enforce tree regulations. 20 DRAFT GOAL FRAMEWORK 21 DRAFT GOAL FRAMEWORK Strategies and Actions YR2022 YR2023 YR2024 YR2025 YR2026 YR2027 YR2028 YR2029 YR2030 YR2031 1.2B Establish and implement a 7-year pruning cycle program Action 1.2B.1 Finalize the annual costs for a 7-year pruning cycle Action 1.2B.2 Finalize the annual costs for the in-house arborist crew Action 1.2B.3 Finalize the framework for the pruning program (City grids, priority areas, in-house vs. contracted) Action 1.2B.4 Submit budget request for pruning program Action 1.2B.5 Submit budget request for in-house arborist crew Annual staff cost $168,000 $168,000 $168,000 $168,000 $168,000 $168,000 $168,000 $168,000 $168,000 Vehicle and equipment purchase $410,000 Annual operating costs $102,698 $102,698 $102,698 $102,698 $102,698 $102,698 $102,698 $102,698 $102,698 Annual training, certifications, and membership costs $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 Action 1.2B.6 Prune 3,654 public trees annually and adjust as the population grows $134,000 OBJECTIVE 1.2) Sustainably manage the public tree population. STRATEGY 1.2B)Establish and implement a 7-year pruning cycle program ACTIONS TIMELINE & MILESTONES 22 Task A. Research Deep Dive May –June 2021 Task B. City Operations and Workflows June –September 2021 Task C. Existing Conditions June –September 2021 Task D. Benchmarking Research August –September 2021 Task E. Community Engagement May –December 2021 Survey #1 July 2021 Survey #2 September 2021 Task F. Urban Forest Audit System September 2021 Task G. Goals & Actions September –October 2021 Task H. Monitoring Plan September –October 2021 Task I. UFMP Drafting September –November 2021 Task J. Presentations September 2021 –February 2022 Task K. Final UFMP February 2022 May 2021 –February 2022 Agenda submitted 11/1/2021 for council to consider on 11/8/2021 and refer to P&D Committee Planning & Development Committee,11/22/2021,kick off and initiate public Process. Planning Commission, 12/01/2021, consolidated briefing and public hearing Planning & Development Committee, 12/13/2021, follow up from Commission meeting Planning Commission, 01/05/2022, deliberation and recommendation Parks Commission 01/11/2022, review and recommendation (moved from November…) Planning & Development Committee, 01/24/2022, follow up from Parks and Commission meetings and refer to Council Council, 01/24/2022 or 02/07/2022 TIMELINE & MILESTONES 23 PLANNING COMMISSION AND SEPA PLAN REVIEW PROCESS/TIMELINE OPEN DISCUSSION & NEXT STEPS 24 …… STAFF RECOMMENDATION 25 Staff recommends: The Parks Commission concur with the staff recommendation to adopt the Urban Forest Management Plan and that the recommendation be forwarded to the City Council THANK YOU! 26 Ian Gray, Urban Forestry & Natural Resources Manager igray@rentonwa.gov Chris Peiffer, Project Manager, PlanIT Geo (717) 579-9890 │chrispeiffer@planitgeo.com www.planitgeo.com │www.treeplotter.com Stay informed at RentonForestryPlan.com Pickleball and Coulon Updates Parks Commission January 11, 2022 Increasing Pickleball demand •Multiple contacts in the last two months •Growing in popularity regionally and nationally •Being considered as the State’s official sport •Requested as park of the 2020 Parks Recreation and Natural Areas Plan update public input process: Pickleball: existing courts •Talbot Hill Reservoir Park: 3 dedicated pickleball courts •In need of repair, engineering and refurbishment planned for 2023-2024 •Configuration problematic •North Highlands Park: tennis courts have pickleball lines •Renton Community Center: indoor pickleball programmed currently •Renton Senior Activity Center: indoor pickleball programmed in the past Pickleball: Liberty Park Proposal •Considering either: •Temporary conversion of two courts (set hours, removable nets) or •Permanent conversion of one court