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Environmental Board <br />October 27, 2021 <br />Page 2 <br />APPROVED MINUTES <br />Mr. Nelson presented the approved annual work plan to the Environmental Board. <br />The annual work plan includes initiatives concerning current environmental issues in the <br />major areas of focus of the Environmental Board, including environmental stewardship, <br />forestry, natural resources, water, and solid waste management. <br />Mr. Nelson provided an update that residents were using the Rainbow EAB treatment <br />discount and the city hired Rainbow to treat 100 city-managed ash trees this year. <br />Mr. Sullivan wanted to confirm Rainbow Tree Care company is offering discounts on <br />injections, but not tree removals for residents. <br />Mr. Nelson confirmed, while the company does provide tree removal services, Rainbow <br />Tree Care is only providing discounts on the emerald ash borer injection treatment. <br />Mr. Parsons inquired about the City’s annual tree sale and wanted to know what species <br />of trees would be included and if the goal was to not have all one species in an area. <br />Mr. Nelson responded the City is trying to increase the diversity of the local forest <br />canopy and we select species for boulevards to that end, but we do not put limitations on <br />which trees residents can purchase from the tree sale for planting on private property. <br />The city sells roughly 100 trees per year in the tree sale. <br />Mr. Sullivan asked when the City’s Winter 2021 newsletter would be sent out. Mr. <br />Nelson responded the newsletter was being printed and should be sent out within the next <br />two weeks in early November. <br />Mr. Schwartz inquired about the dates for the tree sale. Mr. Nelson responded the cut off <br />date for sales is usually in February. Residents will pick their trees up at Public Works. <br />Mr. Nelson provied a brief background on wetland banks and used Wollan Park wetland <br />bank as an example. A property under consideration as a potential wetland bank is the <br />Winters property, which is close to an area that has a lot of development going on in the <br />east part of the city. This potential bank is currently in the draft prospectus phase, which <br />is a preliminary review of the site. A more in-depth study would be conducted if the <br />intial evaluations return with positive results. This property would be an opportunity for <br />the City to obtain more wetland credits. <br />Mr. Sullivan mentioned the City also has a wetland bank near Otter Lake and Main <br />Street, which should be inspected in the spring for potential maintenance needs such as <br />burning or thatch removal. <br />Mr. Nelson mentioned an update to MLCCS data would be evaluated in the future with <br />the DNR.