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Home My Public Portal About08-18-2021 Minutes Tree Board Regular Meeting 101 E. Orange St., PO Box 429, Hillsborough, NC 27278 www.hillsboroughnc.gov | @HillsboroughGov Tree Board Minutes | 1 of 3 Minutes Tree Board Remote regular meeting 9 a.m. Aug. 18, 2021 Virtual meeting via YouTube Live Town of Hillsborough YouTube channel Present: Chair Andrea Lewis, Sharon Billings, Casey Collins, Tim Logue, Linda Paynter and Liz Waters Absent: Greg Yavelak Staff: Public Space Manager Stephanie Trueblood 1. Call to order, roll call and confirmation of quorum Chair Andrea Lewis called the meeting to order at 9 a.m. Public Space Manager Stephanie Trueblood called the roll and confirmed the presence of a quorum. 2. Agenda changes and approval Trueblood noted the Canopy Growth Proposal would be moved to a future agenda because Will Spoon was unable to attend this meeting. 3. Minutes review and approval Minutes from regular meeting on June 16, 2021 Motion: Member Tim Logue moved approval of the minutes as presented. Member Casey Collins seconded. Vote: 5-0. Ayes: Members Sharon Billings, Collins, Lewis, Logue, Linda Paynter and Liz Waters. Nays: None. 4. Presentation A. New member introductions Trueblood welcomed Paynter and Billings, who are new board members. Paynter and Billings introduced themselves. B. Canopy Growth Proposal To be discussed at a future meeting. 5. Discussion items A. Begin FY22 plantings discussion Trueblood reviewed plantings in recent years. She shared possibilities for future plantings: • Replacing hydrangeas in pots on West King Street. Tree Board Minutes | 2 of 3 • Adding plants to Hillsborough Heights Park and Murray Street Park (maybe Callicarpa). • Planting flowering trees along the Riverwalk greenway. (The town now has a water cart to support young trees.) Trueblood noted the reforestation project for Gold Park, Cates Creek Parkway, Corbin Street and the Town Cemetery is separate from considerations for fall plantings. She is seeking alternative funding for the reforestation project. There was brief discussion of the possibility of planting trees behind the sidewalk in the gravel parking lot at Nash and Calvin streets. Trueblood explained the property is privately leased from the North Carolina Railroad. She said she would reach out to those who lease it to see if there is interest in accessing resources or grants to add shade trees. Board members suggested tree plantings near the parking lot at Mt. Bright Missionary Baptist Church on West Union Street and First Community Baptist Church on Eno Street. Trueblood suggested looking for areas where street trees could be planted along West King and Eno streets. Logue offered to organize a walk with an invasive plants expert along Riverwalk. The board expressed desire to continue to promote and share the English Ivy Removal video. The board requested a sign to place while removing English Ivy. Trueblood said that she would send the board links to the master plans. She will reach out to the group that leases the gravel parking lot on Nash Street. She also will get in touch with the pastor of Mt. Bright Missionary Baptist Church to see if there is interest in street tree plantings. She summarized the areas of focus and asked board members to visit the sites before the September meeting: • New plants in the planters downtown to replace the hydrangeas. • Additional plantings in the Hillsborough Heights Pollinator Garden. • Additional plantings on Riverwalk. B. Video planning: “Leave the Leaves” Collins said she would work on this. C. Ivy removal update Logue reported that the removal team (Logue, Waters and former member Frances Harris) have been working on removing English ivy from the cedars at the Old Town Cemetery. Trueblood said she would work on having a sign made for the removal team to place at the site where they are working as a way to inform the public. 6. Updates A. Hillsborough Garden Club There was no report. B. Bee City Subcommittee There was no report. C. Staff and board updates Tree Board Minutes | 3 of 3 Trueblood gave the following updates: • One pine tree on Barracks Road will be removed from the right of way. • A crew will remove invasive trees and plants in the Old Town Cemetery. • A red oak on South Hillsborough Avenue will be pruned to remove low-hanging dead branches. • One dead tree at Turnip Patch Park will be removed. 7. Adjournment Lewis’s Zoom screen was frozen. There is no vice chair, so Logue adjourned the meeting at 10:09 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Stephanie Trueblood Public Space Manager Staff support to the Tree Board Approved: Sept. 15, 2021