Forestation Board Meeting
Prospect Forestation Board Virtual Meeting Minutes
December 13, 2022, 2:00 pm via Webex
Present: Mayor Evans, Lee Tucci, Linda Knox, Connie Kuhn, Sylvia Quaye, Herb Schulhafer, John Carter, Ron Cundiff, Don Gibson, Ben Vantankhah
The minutes from the November 8th meeting were approved.
Mayor Evans reflected on his time as a resident since 1975 and events during his tenure as mayor and the ongoing quality of life in Prospect. He said that he feels the City is in good shape and further shared that the City is regularly named one of the top 5 safest cities in Kentucky. The Little Hunting Creek pavilion project continues to move forward with landscaping plans from Greenscapes and a Shakespeare in the Park performance in the spring.
Andrea was unable to join the meeting due to an illness in the family. She has seen images of the damaged tree at River Road and 42 and recommended immediate removal. The City has taken some action. Ron will be addressing further cleanup and contacting the truck company’s insurance company. Connie asked if we would be compensated for the value of the mature tree in addition to removal expenses.
There are two memorial tree plantings pending.
The unauthorized tree removal at 7402 Wycliffe has previously been under board discussion. Owner Ben Vantankhah described that the removal direction had come from his HOA (Sutherland) and patrols made by the community property manager. He was made aware of the canopy program as an option to address his obligation to replant. Subsequent to the meeting, Mr. Vantankhah agreed to plant a canopy tree in the spring. It was suggested that information on street trees and removals be included in the newsletter and communicated to HOAs. The City does have a list of the many HOA key contacts.
The entangled trees at 6806 were again addressed. It was again confirmed that while the area is unsightly, it is not hazardous.
Linda agreed to do an article on the canopy program for the next newsletter with more follow-up once the tree list is finalized.
The Tree City application is in process and the access issue has been resolved. Lee and Linda will work with Ron to complete the work before Christmas.
The 22-23 budget will be addressed by the new council. Forestation had previously submitted revisions for the current year. In particular, tree maintenance has become a significant concern after two major tree removals. Mayor Evans and John Carter recommended that any changes be submitted now rather than wait for the January Council meeting as the new Council is already in budget discussions. With the $20,000 tree maintenance budget depleted, the group will suggest an additional $20,000 due to concerns about the potential impact of the severe 2022 drought.
The next meeting will be on January 10th at 2 p.m. via WebEx.
The meeting was adjourned at 2:45 pm.
Respectfully submitted, Linda Knox