City and County of San Francisco

DEpartment of the ENvironment

URBAN FORESTRY COUNCIL 

PLANNING & FUNDING COMMITTEE

 

REGULAR MEETING

APPROVED MINUTES

 

Thursday, September 16, 2010, 4:15 p.m.

 

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:  Chris Buck (Chair), Maria D’Agostino, Terry Milne, Bonnie Ora Sherk

 

Order of Business

 

 

1.      Call to Order and Roll Call.  The Planning and Funding Committee meeting convened at 4:21 p.m. Present:  Chair Buck, Members D’Agostino and Milne; Excused: Member Sherk.

 

2.   Approval of Minutes of the July 15, 2010 Urban Forestry Council Planning and Funding Committee Regular Meeting. (Explanatory Document: July 15, 2010 Meeting Draft Minutes) (Discussion and Action)  Upon Motion by Member D’Agostino, second by Member Milne, the July 15, 2010 Meeting Minutes were approved without objection (AYES:  Chair Buck, Members D’Agostino and Milne; Absent:  Member Sherk)

 

3.   Public Comment:  Members of the public may address the Committee on matters that are within the Committee’s jurisdiction and are not on today’s agenda.  There was no public comment at this time.

 

4.   Planning and Funding Committee Meeting Time and Location. The Committee will discuss alternate meeting times and locations. (Continued from the July 15, 2010 Meeting) (Discussion and Possible Action)

 

Chair Buck suggested retaining the Planning and Funding Committee meeting time and location as it is currently. This agenda item was filed and may be brought up for further discussion at the Call of the Chair.

 

5.   Urban Forestry Council June 2 Strategic Planning Retreat Outcomes and Next Steps. Members will review outcomes and may make recommendations to the Urban Forestry Council on next steps. (Continued from the July 15, 2010 Meeting) (Discussion and Possible Action) 

 

Chair Buck discussed the Department of Public Works “Spruce-Up SF” campaign as a way to be proactive on tree issues before service requests are received.  Committee members discussed the importance of outreach on urban-forestry related issues.  Chair Milne suggested infiltrating good tree care into school curriculum.  Chair Buck discussed tree-based curriculum that Friends of the Urban Forest had created for that purpose.  Council Coordinator Hui suggested consulting with Mr. Nik Kaestner, San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) Sustainability Coordinator on ways to instill urban-forestry related curriculum into various subjects at schools. She discussed the SFUSD partnership with FUF and Green School Yard Alliance on the 2012 by 2012 campaign to plant 2012 trees in and around San Francisco school sites by 2012.  Chair Buck and Council Coordinator Hui would discuss preparation of a Council Resolution recommending that urban forestry curriculum be added to school subjects.  It was suggested that Mr. Kaestner and Friends of the Urban Forest staff be invited to a future Council or Committee meeting to exchange ideas.

   

6.   Urban Forestry Council Budget Review and Planning for Fiscal Year 2010-11. The Committee will discuss the currently allocated budget for 2010-2011 and may make recommendations to the full Council. (Continued from the July 15, 2010 Meeting) (Discussion and Possible Action) 

 

Council Coordinator Hui reported that Deputy Director Assmann had provided a written report on the Urban Forestry Council budget for a previous Council meeting. Chair Buck stated that the Committee would be continuing to discuss the Council budget and next steps as updates are received. Council Coordinator Hui discussed Cal Fire grants for projects that the Department of the Environment, Department of Public Works and the Planning Department may be applying for. She explained that the Cal Fire grants are directly related to funding specific projects, and that she had not yet received feedback from Council members on specific projects that they would be interested in applying for. It was explained that the Council does not work on specific projects, so applying for this type of grant funding may not be feasible.    Committee members held a discussion about other agencies that could apply for grant funding for urban forestry work and types of projects that funding may be applicable to. 

 

Public Comment:  Ms. Victoria Schlesinger, Editor, Way Out West News, described her interest in attending Urban Forestry Council Committee meetings.

 

7.   Urban Forestry Council Meeting Schedule.  The Committee will discuss and may make recommendations to the Council about its current meeting schedule.  (Discussion and Possible Action)

 

Member D’Agostino stated that she is proposing a change to the Council’s meeting schedule as a way to address lack of funding and to reduce staff time allocated to the Council.  She stated that Council Coordinator Hui had indicated that a majority of her time was spent in coordinating Council meetings.  Council Coordinator Hui reported that in recent months there has been a change in how her work time has been allocated due to her participation in work groups to accomplish Council goals. She stated that this has been an effective tool but is taking more time.  Ms. Hui cited examples such as working together with members on proposed amendments to the Landmark Tree Ordinance, Annual Report Survey, Strategic Planning report, etc.  She reported on additional time required to work on planning events such as Arbor Day, the landmark tree tour, pruning guidelines workshops, etc.  A discussion was held on the allocation of the two days a week time that Council Coordinator Hui has to the Council and to do urban-forestry related work and how it coincides with the Department of the Environment’s urban forestry work. Committee members discussed effective ways to reduce the Coordinator’s work time to the Council, e.g. involving Council members with expertise on a particular subject or project to participate in the Work Group instead of the Council Coordinator and reducing the number of meetings.   

 

Committee members discussed alternate schedules to propose to the Council that would take into account Council Member’s participation in seminars and other related activities.  Member D’Agostino discussed a proposal that she would be referring to the Council to consider at their September 24 meeting (see Council Meeting Proposed Schedule explanatory document).  Council Coordinator Hui and Member D’Agostino noted that the Commission on the Environment meets every other month and is extremely effective. This agenda item was forwarded to the Council for discussion at their September 24 meeting. 

 

9.      Annual Urban Forest Report. Staff will provide status updates on this year's report including outreach performed, response to the survey, and survey changes. (Discussion)

 

Council Coordinator Hui stated that the Council was amenable to the idea that the survey interview would not be held in person or by telephone to all agencies depending on agency interest.  She reported on her outreach to various agency Directors in order to identify a contact and responses received to date.  She stated that a Draft Report is being worked on, but not yet available due to the change in venue for the report.  A discussion was held on report content and Chair Buck inquired whether the report would include information on future urban forestry activities as well as a report on past activities.  Council Coordinator Hui reported that the report is intended to address activities already accomplished, but that she would include future activities as well.  Coordinator Hui stated that she would provide an update to the Council at their September 24 meeting. 

 

Public Comment:  Ms. Victoria Schlesinger, Editor, Way Out West News, inquired whether the Annual Report could be found online.  Committee members confirmed that current and previous years’ Annual Reports could be found online on the Urban Forestry Council website.

 

9.   Urban Forestry Council Appointments. The Committee will discuss outreach programming for open Council seats. (Discussion)

 

Council Coordinator Hui reported that the Council has one vacancy for a seat representing a non-profit organization that she hopes would be applied for by the Executive Director of Friends of the Urban Forest.  She announced that Council Member seats are due to term-out in November, and that members appointed by the Board of Supervisors do have holdover rights until they are either reappointed or replaced.  A report on membership updates would be issued in October.  Member D’Agostino proposed that a group discuss potential nominations to the Council. 

 

10. New Business/Future Agenda Items. (Discussion)  Council Coordinator Hui reported that she would be attending the Department of the Environment senior staff retreat on Thursday, October 21 so would not be able to attend the Planning and Funding Committee meeting.  Chair Buck stated that there would still be a meeting. Member D’Agostino asked Council Coordinator Hui to discuss climate work that she has been doing to the Council.

 

11. Public Comment:  Members of the public may address the Committee on matters that are within the Committee’s jurisdiction and are not on today’s agenda. 

 

Public Comment:  Ms. Victoria Schlesinger, Editor, Way Out West News, inquired about the contact person to discuss sidewalk gardens.  Chair Buck stated that he could provide information on this topic.

 

12. Adjournment.  The Planning and Funding Committee meeting adjourned at approximately 6:00 p.m.

 

Copies of explanatory documents are available to the public at the Department of Environment, 11 Grove Street, San Francisco, California between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., by clicking on the attachments with each meeting minutes posted online https://sites.google.com/a/sfenvironment.org/commission/urban-forestry-council/planning-funding-committee, or upon request to the Council Secretary at the address listed above, telephone number 415-355-3709, or via e-mail at [email protected].

Respectfully submitted by,

 

Monica Fish, Council Secretary

 

Approved:  November 18, 2010