HomeMy WebLinkAboutCommittee of the Whole - 14 Sep 2020 - Agenda - Pdf
CITY OF RENTON
AGENDA Committee of the Whole Meeting
6:15 PM - Monday, September 14, 2020
Video-conference
1. Urban Forestry - Tree Topping Update
a) Presentation
Currently, due to the spread of COVID-19, all regularly-scheduled council and committee meetings will be held as
necessary via video-conference. City hall is closed to the public and, therefore, no in-person comments will be
accepted. Residents are encouraged to participate in a variety of ways.
1) Residents may submit comments in advance to cityclerk@rentonwa.gov.
2) Residents may view the meeting live on Renton Channel 21.
3) Residents may view the proceedings streaming live at http://rentonwa.gov/streaming.
4) If you would like to attend this week's meeting remotely, you can do so by going to https://us02web.zoom.us/j/
Zoom Meeting ID
5) You can call through Zoom at 253.215.8782 and use the Meeting ID (Note: to raise your hand in this format, you
will need to press *9)
Parks Planning and Natural Resources
FORESTRY PROGRAM UPDATE:
‘No Tree Topping’ initiative
Committee of the Whole
September 14, 2020
1 AGENDA ITEM #1. a)
Tree Topping
•Renton has a ‘No Tree Topping’ ordinance
•City and private trees have been topped
•Jeopardizes Tree City USA status
•Increases maintenance costs
•Not an accepted ISA practice
•Detracts from the landscape
•Damages tree health
•Creates future risk
AGENDA ITEM #1. a)
Reasons why tree topping is bad
AGENDA ITEM #1. a)
Primary objectives:
•Relay critical information
•Explain existing tree care policies
•Engage with residents & business
owners
•Shift understanding of rules and
regulations
Overview
AGENDA ITEM #1. a)
Approach
Messaging will be multi-pronged:
•Mailings
•Website
•Displays
•Virtual meetings
•In-person meetings
(when that is feasible)
•Cultivate direct relationships
•Leverage existing relationships AGENDA ITEM #1. a)
Messaging
All content will be reviewed an approved in advance
AGENDA ITEM #1. a)
Mailers
General Mailers
Mailers aimed at residents would include a variety of
information about tree trimming and removals in
Renton. This is a great opportunity to remind people of
some of the rules, not just those about no tree topping
Specific Mailers
More targeted mailers could be sent directly to
business or property owners specifically
addressing the no-tree-topping rules in Renton. In
many cases these would be related to addresses
where tree topping has been observed recently.AGENDA ITEM #1. a)
Additional Resources
AGENDA ITEM #1. a)
AGENDA ITEM #1. a)
AGENDA ITEM #1. a)
Objectives
•Better public safety
•Healthier urban forest
•Adhere to existing city code
•Preserve ‘Tree City USA’ status
•Exemplify best management practice
AGENDA ITEM #1. a)
Future action required
•Effective application of rules will
mean repeated outreach
•By late Winter / Spring 2021
egregious offenders may
necessitate involvement of Code
Compliance
•If necessary, some revision of city
code may be needed to look at
schedule of fines and related tree
protection ordinances AGENDA ITEM #1. a)
Thank You!
“I speak for the trees
for the trees have no
tongues.”
‘The Lorax’, Dr. Seuss
Ian Gray
Urban Forestry & Natural Resources Manager
Ext. 6601 email: igray@rentonwa.gov
AGENDA ITEM #1. a)