Resident asks committee for update on vacant urban-forester position

At the start of the public-comment period, resident Eve O'Rourke asked the committee, "Where is this person? Trees are still getting hacked and murdered, and the canopies that we are developing . . . are going into the chipper." O'Rourke urged that a guardian or urban-forester position be filled to better protect the city's canopy.

City staff responded that planning staff are implementing tree-preservation ordinance changes enacted by the City Council and that the city is working closely on that code and administrative update. Staff committed to a follow-up and said a more detailed update to the Tree Advisory Committee would be scheduled.