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2. The city's expanded boulevard tree planting program will require determining <br /> what locations to plant first. Staff recommends the following: <br /> 1995 "In- fill" planting. The city budgeted for approximately 17 additional trees <br /> to be planted in 1995. A priority might be to plant trees that are known to <br /> have been removed and not replanted as identified by residents and the <br /> forester. These would include additional planting along Folwell and Hoyt, <br /> where trees have not been replanted. If there are more trees available for <br /> planting beyond these identified sites, staff recommends planting trees in <br /> other "in- fill" locations on city boulevards identified by the forester. These <br /> "in- fill" opportunities would be re- evaluated each year and more plantings done <br /> as opportunities and funds provided for it. <br /> 1995/1996/ 1997... Neighborhood planning and planting. There are two <br /> neighborhoods (subdivisions) in the city that do not have planned boulevard <br /> tree plantings, Falcon Woods III and the Maple KnoII /Garden/ St. Mary's /Fry <br /> neighborhoods (attachment C). Since the city's boulevard trees are not the <br /> result of the city originally planting the trees, staff speculates that these <br /> neighborhoods may not have boulevard trees because the developers did not <br /> plan for boulevard trees when the subdivision was designed and built. <br /> Given this, if the council wants to expand the city's public tree resource, it <br /> would be desirable to plan for plantings in available sites in these <br /> neighborhoods. This will require planning the planting scheme taking possible <br /> infrastructure improvements like sidewalks into account and estimating the <br /> cost of planting the boulevards. Staff suggests that this planning be done in <br /> 1995 and budgeted beginning in 1996. Once a proposed planting scheme is <br /> designed and discussed with the council, the staff can meet with the <br /> neighborhood residents to discuss the plan. <br /> Staff proposes that the neighborhood planting program be funded by the city's <br /> capital funds over time, similar to other capital improvements. Due to the <br /> extensive nature of the work in these neighborhoods, ideally, the city could <br /> apply for matching funds from the Unitree grant or the Small Business <br /> Administration grant to cover some of the costs. <br /> B. Boulevard tree species <br /> The current city policy and practice is to plant the same type of boulevard tree along <br /> a street to create the same scale, density and uniformity that is synonymous with <br /> an urban residential character. For example, Iowa Street is pleasing to the eye <br /> because of the similar type of trees that line the boulevards. The type of tree varies <br /> from street to street to guard against total tree Toss in the city due to a disease <br /> outbreak. However, limiting the plantings to one tree type makes a street more <br /> susceptible to major tree Toss from a tree specific disease. In order to maintain the <br /> same aesthetic character of the city's attractive urban residential neighborhood, yet <br /> make the streetscape Tess vulnerable to losing all of its trees if a quick- moving <br /> disease comes through, staff is recommending that the forester in consultation with <br /> a landscape architect develop a tree planting scheme that includes at least 2 varieties <br /> of trees with similar forms and sizes for each street from a list of trees that are <br /> suitable for boulevard planting. <br />