We good to go.

You ready?

Okay, uh good evening.

Welcome everyone to the regular uh meeting, or regularly scheduled meeting uh for the parks recreation and trees advisory commission, uh February 18th, 2026.

Um may I have roll call, please?

Bordono.

Here.

Stoltz.

Here.

Richard is absent strength.

Here.

Wallace.

Katz O'Neal.

Here.

Um apologies.

Uh how do you say your last name, Darren?

Uh Grafius.

Graphulis.

Yeah, here.

And Binum.

Here.

Great.

Um, thank you.

Um item number two, agenda review and supplemental reports.

Um we will have public comment um next.

This is an opportunity for members of the public to comment on items that are not listed on the agenda.

Following that, we'll have approval of minutes.

Um, looks like we have no presentations today.

Um, we do have uh four administrative reports.

Item 6a is to welcome our new commissioners.

Um B is a nomination and appointment of a chair and vice chair, as well as the bicycle and pedestrian advisory commission representative.

Um item 6C is the 26 PRTAC work plan, and item six D is the urban forestry management plan um and a review of the full draft.

Um, and then we will have comments by commissioners and staff followed by adjournment.

Um with that, do we have any members of the public present that wish to speak on any items that aren't on the agenda?

Seeing none, um, we will move to item four, which is the approval of minutes.

Does anyone have a motion?

I'll move to approve the minutes.

All in favor say aye.

I'll need to uh abstain.

I wasn't at the meeting.

And I was gonna say the same I'd abstain.

I was not at the meeting either.

As are the two other new commissioners.

So I'm sure Elijah's got that captured.

Um, okay.

Um we are now on to item six A.

We're gonna welcome three new commissioners.

How do you want to do this, Director Brandt?

Um, have introduce themselves.

I can introduce them.

Typically uh we have the commissioners take them just a minute or two to introduce themselves, kind of their background, their history with Napa, why they wanted to um join this commission.

I think they're all prepared to maybe say uh quick thing or two, and then it's up to you if you would like the um veteran commissioners to take a moment and introduce themselves.

Uh that's up to you.

Sounds great.

Who wants to go first?

I'll go first.

Um good evening, everyone.

My name is Simone Katz O'Neill, and I'm excited to join the Parks and Rec Commission.

Um I've been in Napa since 2014.

We actually moved six weeks before the Napa earthquake.

Um so that was a nice welcome to Napa after having been in San Francisco for 11 years.

And when I left San Francisco, I said we dodged the earthquake bullet and then ended up here.

Um and we live in Browns Valley and we had a uh part of the earthquake run literally through our pool in our backyard.

Um I have two kids and would consider myself a pretty heavy user of the parks in Napa.

Um I have a 15-year-old daughter and an eight-year-old son, and I also have an almost an 11-year-old dog, and we are just recently at Alston Park, and appreciating that that is also one of our parks in the city of Napa.

Great, thank you.

All right.

Uh good evening.

My name's Darren Graffius.

Um, really pleased to be here.

Um, really appreciate the opportunity.

Um I've been in Napa for uh about three and a half years now.

Um uh from the Bay Area and kind of jumped around uh, you know, in school and lived in San Francisco for a while.

Um I'm a landscape architect uh by training, and so um I work here in Napa.

Um really enjoy living in Napa, great mix of people.

Um really appreciate all the work that you all do in the parks and kind of bring people out and has that real small town feel, and it's something that uh really hope to kind of preserve and enhance.

Um I'm really passionate about public space and kind of um environmental issues, um trees, that sort of thing, and uh just hope that I can contribute positively to Napa.

So I'm really happy to be here.

Great.

Welcome.

Uh I'm Trajan Vinum.

I'm the student representative.

I go to New Tech and I use the parks on a pretty much daily basis on my commute to school uh walking.

So I love spending time in the parks, very interested in ecology in general and specifically entomology, and I think that's at least kind of relevant.

So and I think I just offer a good perspective as um student.

So great.

Well welcome.

Any commissioner comments or questions?

Uh no, not a comment or question, but uh just briefly I guess if we just introduce ourselves for those who are new to the commission.

Um, Joe Strang, I've lived in Napa now for coming up on four years.

Uh just started my second two-year term as a member of this commission, uh, relocated here from Pleasanton where I served on the parking rec commission uh for nearly ten years, and um love living here in Napa and love contributing and love serving.

Great.

Thank you, Joe.

My name's Brian Bordona.

I've worked uh lived here for since 2000.

Um a user of the parks, as are my two kids and wife and and dog.

Um professionally I work for the county and the planning department, so we get involved in a lot of environmental related items, um land use related items, then in the unincorporated area.

Um but on the commission for six-ish pre-COVID.

I don't know.

Um six or so years.

Um it's great.

Um you'll find that Director Brett and her team are wonderful and and uh you'll see that and um happy to happy have happy to have you guys on the team now.

Uh good evening, I'm Rex Stoltz.

Uh on my fourth uh year on uh the commission.

I've been in Napa for 34 years.

I know you're looking at me and saying, ah, he must have moved here when he's a baby, but um I and I've only been on the commission for four years, but I've have been very involved in the parks and rec for almost the entire time I've been here.

I coached uh basketball, uh often boys and girls, two teams for more than twenty years uh as a volunteer uh with the parks and rec uh department and now like Simone.

Uh I use the parks regularly, walking dogs and and whatnot through Browns Valley as well.

And um my day job is I work at the Napa Valley Venters, it's the trade association for the Napa wine industry.

Welcome.

Look forward to working with you guys.

This is my sorry, my second year as a commission, and uh I have to say my first year was uh really exciting and everything I expected.

So I I'm glad to be back with the second year.

Um my background's in education, spent uh over fifty years teaching and as administrator here a little bit in Napa.

Um I used the parks a lot with the dogs earlier, bikes and um uh you know, yeah, have a I don't have a background in entomology, but I do have an botany.

So um they go together.

Bugs love trees, okay.

So we know we kind of get together.

Uh I also volunteer at the hospital in the ER, which I find quite exciting.

So that's it.

Great.

Thank you.

Um okay, on to item six B.

This is a nomination and appointment of chair and vice chair as well as the bicycle pedestrian advisory commission representative.

As in years past, I'm happy to step aside if others want a chance.

I'm also happy to continue my role as the chair.

Um if anybody wants to make a want to do the chair first and then we'll do vice chair.

If anybody wants to make a motion on chair.

I think you've done a great job.

And if you're willing to continue serving, I'd I'd uh be happy to nominate you.

Is there a second?

I'll second that.

All in favor, say aye.

Aye.

I think okay.

Aye.

Okay.

That passes unanimously.

Um vice chair.

Um Rex, I'm happy to nominate you.

Um I'll let you speak for yourself as far as that's something you want to continue to do.

I'd be happy to continue doing it, but the same as you, Brian.

If if somebody else has a desire to do it, um, I'm also happy to step aside.

Rex, you've done an amazing job.

I will nominate you as vice chair.

Okay.

Second.

All in favor.

Aye.

That also passes unanimously.

Okay.

Who um would like to serve as the bicycle and pedestrian advisory commission representative?

Probably want to explain what that is.

Please.

Mr.

Chair, if I may, just a little bit about uh what the bicycle um advisory bicycle pedestrian advisory commission is.

The commitment is uh to meet every other month.

They meet Thursdays at four o'clock.

Um this is a liaison position, so it's a not a voting member, but um there are a lot of relevant topics and a lot of overlap between the BPAC commission and this commission, and so the liaison um is instrumental in reporting back to this commission kind of what what they're working on and keeping us apprised of current projects.

Is this what our friend Reiner did for a while for us?

It is good to see you out there.

Are you still interested, Rainer?

It's a challenge for me because it's during the work day.

I don't I don't know if any of our new commissioners might have an interest in this.

Yeah, and unfortunately I would not consider myself to be uh applicant for it based on my work with the foundation, which is a good chunk of time.

Yeah, it's kind of tough for me too because I got their obligations.

Uh uh, possibly one of the new commissioners, some no.

Um, I guess it's something that I would be interested in.

Um what what time do they meet during the day?

They meet at the only issue.

Four o'clock.

Um, so it is, you know, at least later in the afternoon.

It's only every other month.

Yeah.

So typically five to six meetings a year.

Um it's gonna be tough for me to commit to that, right now, just given the work schedule.

We understand.

But um, is that something we can think about?

Or I mean, it is.

We've struggled filling this position in the past.

This is actually an an item that we tabled waiting for our new commissioners to get on board because we kind of knew the existing ones had a challenge, but again, no pressure.

We understand uh the commitment.

Um I'll let the other I can nominate Jeff.

He's not here to defend himself.

Um it is certainly challenging with work commitments, but with it being every other month, I'm obviously interested in the space um with both the pedestrian and the bike piece.

I've done some other things in Browns Valley tied to that.

So I'd be happy to be that um appointed.

Is it a it's a representative?

Um, I'd be happy to be the representative if no one else is able to do it.

I'd like to nominate Simone Katz O'Neill to be our uh representative on that committee.

Commissioner, I'll second that.

All in favor, say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

That also passes unanimously.

All right.

Thank you.

Thank you.

If you ever came to community, just let me know.

Okay, uh, next up is item 6C.

This is the 2026 work plan.

Commissioners were bringing back to you uh this evening an updated version of the 2026 uh work plan.

If you recall at last month's meeting, we reviewed the 2025 work plan and all the work that you accomplished.

We had a group discussion on some changes and modifications to the 2026 work plan.

So the uh draft you see before you should reflect uh most of those changes.

One of the items we switched the NAPA park and Rec Foundation.

We switched them from a partner presentation to a standing ongoing uh update on the agenda.

So that change has been made.

Uh based on your feedback.

Uh we are still aiming to do two park tours in 2026.

I know we've had some discussion on that item, and those seem to be uh impactful and relevant for you all to get out and actually see things in the park, especially given uh the significant work that we have going on with capital projects.

So you'll see two placeholders in there as well.

I will say, especially for the sake of the new commissioners, these are all placeholders.

This is essentially all the stuff we want to get done this year.

Oftentimes things move to different months.

There are times that we cancel due to lack of quorum or whatever the issue is.

So there is there definitely will be movement on this calendar.

For example, if you look at February, our regional partner was the golf course.

Um they weren't available, so they asked to come next month.

So here we are already making uh slight modifications, but this is a good representation, I think, of the the work that we anticipate uh bringing before you in the coming year.

Um Brianna, I think during the last meeting we talked about getting some sort of update on data from Placer AI.

That is correct.

I'm trying to see where we have that.

Is that park usage?

Park usage, yes.

Yep.

So June.

We typically cancel in July and December to align when council goes dark as well.

Looks good to me.

Yeah, this seems to reflect the input that we provided during last meeting.

Great.

Um, our suggestions not maybe not necessarily now, but maybe at the next meeting on park tour locations.

Welcome.

I open that for discussion now.

Some of the things that staff have brainstormed is obviously trying to get you guys out to the harvest property, whether we do that pre-demo, during demo, we'd like to get you out there just to have eyes on that site.

Lost Flores Community Center is under renovation, anticipating completion in October.

So that's a three million dollar renovation.

We'd like to get eyes on that sometime this year.

We have the three new playground sites that we'll be going in as well.

But uh Jeff and I were actually brainstorming before the meeting, those were kind of some of the ideas that we have tossed around as staff, but we would love to hear if you have um specific ideas of mind.

Yeah, but April tour for harvest may pair well with the discussion that's gonna follow in May.

Yep.

Yep.

There's a chance that Fuller will be close to done in April.

So we might be able to hit fuller and harvest together.

Yep.

Just a question, since this is our first meeting for a couple of us for the park tours.

So is that in place of the commission meeting or what is the plan there?

Correct.

Uh, we take that as an opportunity to get you out into the field.

We agendize them as a typical meeting so that we can all go together.

That means the public is uh invited to attend.

We don't typically get many members of the public, but uh we'll generally stop at um several or at least a handful of locations with a specific goal of something we're trying to highlight for you, whether that's work we need to complete, work we have scheduled to complete or looking at completed work or in alignment with like our urban forestry management plan.

We went out and looked at um some various um trees related to that topic as well.

So it could be a host of things, and it replaces this meeting, which is why we typically try to do them in months where we have sunlight.

Sometimes we'll do like a 5 30 start if folks can, but it is in lieu of this meeting.

Technically, it is this meeting, right?

It's just not here.

It's just more fun and outside.

That sounds really valuable.

Okay.

Any other comments or questions on this item?

Okay, 6D urban forestry management plan.

Mr.

Giddings.

Do we need a motion to approve the work plan?

I'll ask I move to approve the work plan.

Second, anybody?

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Motion passes unanimously.

It didn't have that correction on here.

So what would you do if we didn't approve it?

I do it anyways.

Okay.

Mr.

Gaines, sorry.

Thank you, Chair.

So for the new commissioners, good evening.

Thank you.

Welcome.

My name's Jeff Giddings.

I am the Parks and Urban Forestry Manager.

So I oversee the operations for maintenance of parks, a good portion of downtown, and then obviously urban forestry.

So gonna give us some background.

A lot of this is information.

Some commissioners have heard before.

Very exciting.

So over five years have gone into the work that's before you tonight.

Our urban forestry management plan.

I know we all got that in front of you.

Um really exciting 40-year guiding document, so much effort and work.

I know the commission's seen a lot of these things.

Um the grant period ends March 30th of this year, so we're we're getting close to to wrapping this this project up.

Um so tonight before you is the full completed draft three.

It's got the images, got the tables, incorporated comments from our last meeting and so it's it's it's the whole the whole package tonight.

Um the action that we're requesting tonight is for the commissioners to review, comment, and consider a motion to approve the draft version of the urban forestry management plan recommending the draft move forward to city council.

We tentatively have a date for city council of March 17th, as of right now.

Um so to provide some some history on the plan uh again, five years in development.

We have brought uh part or portions of this development of this plan to the commission um seven times over the course of those five years.

Um that started back in 2021 when we presented to the commission the uh grant application uh and reviewed kind of some goals and high-level project ideas, and then in 2022 we brought it back as we we received that grant and then we had more detail about that those plans in 2023.

We brought an update uh through a lot of that process.

We were contracting with our consultant Debbie Resource Group.

And then 2024, we had a stakeholder interview with the commission as well as discussions with internal uh stakeholders as well again in 2024.

Uh we brought forward to the commission the tree inventory.

So that was the tree keeper software that we use to collect the 34,000 and change trees that are under our jurisdiction.

Uh we also showed imagery of the canopy coverage throughout the city, just for the new commissioners.

The tree inventory was done on street trees, so trees between the planter area as well as trees and parks and at our facilities, while the canopy cover data was done for the entire city.

Um, and then in 2025, we brought back to the commission, some items, a priority planting area, and an engagement with property owners for review and comments, and then again in 2025.

Um, part of some of the items that we've already completed in the project was an update to our master street tree list that updates um updates our department on the types of trees we'll plant in those planter areas.

And then finally, in our last meeting, we brought forth some of the real key components of the plan.

That was the executive summary, the vision statement, and the goals and recommendations for comments.

So if you remember that section from our last meeting, you will notice a few little tweaks and changes based on comments from staff and you as well.

So tonight before you again is the full 85-page urban forestry management plan.

It is made up of four sections.

Section one is the what do we have?

And so that is a lot of information about where is the current state of the city.

This is that 21 and a half percent canopy cover number that I've said so many times, which is again two and a half percent above Sacramento.

Um section two is what do we want?

And so that's information about the community and stakeholders engagement process that we took during this plan, as well as issues, opportunities, and themes that were developed through internal meetings and external input from the community.

Section three is how do we get there?

That is the goals and recommendations section that was brought to the commission last time, and that's really the meat and the potatoes of this plan.

Um that that's the information that really helps guide the department over the next 40 years.

Uh section four is how are we doing, and this is measuring our progress, and also includes our conclusion statement, and then finally to wrap up the plan is the appendices with the references, budgeting documents, ordinance matrix, sustainable uh indicators, and then the community survey results as well.

So, with that, I will bring this back to the commission for their review comments and motion if they so choose, as well as public comment if we have some.

I'm happy to answer any questions anyone might have.

On the public comment, have we received any written comments?

Um you prefer to open public comment now, or do you have a preference?

I do not.

Up to you guys if you'd like to ask your questions and comments.

It may be helpful for those questions if you have some to get answered prior to public comment, but I could.

Yeah, I just had one question.

Uh, it's about the grant.

Is that a is that it's at the end now?

Is it renewable at some time when you want to come back and get some more money in case you want to do more further research?

How's that work?

Uh typically Cal Fire does offer an annual grant program.

There is lots and lots of other grants.

Um this cycle does end in March.

I'm not familiar if there's a new cycle, they usually come out in the fall.

Um, we also are currently working with one of our partners, NAPA RCD, on a federal grant that they acquired as well.

So we're kind of utilizing these grant funds to support that grant as well.

So there is some degree of funding other than general fund that will continue to support this effort.

I have a couple questions.

Um, obviously being new to the commission this evening, so my first question would be obviously with the 85-page report, which I've reviewed.

What would be sort of your since it sounds like it's taken years to put this together and it's a very impressive document?

What is the high level elevator pitch essentially on this 85-page report?

That's my first question.

I will try to make that as concise as I can.

Um so the goals and recommendations section again, like I said, kind of the meat and the potatoes of the plan.

As you look through that, you'll start to see we put a section in there that def that tries to estimate a timeline for those.

So you will see a lot of them call out as in progress.

Um, that's probably the most impactful part as of right now that to really go through that and realize just how many items we are either working on or have worked on.

Um, and then probably one of the most impactful pieces of information well, too, I guess would be having the canopy data is really so important because what it what it brought to us as information that we really didn't know is that of that 21% of canopy that NAPA has, about three-quarters of that canopy is located all on private property, which we have very little jurisdiction over.

Um so that's a really helpful piece of information, knowing that the canopy is important to all, you know, how how can we best put our efforts forward for preservation or enhancement of that, knowing that it may be outside of our scope um or reach, I should say.

And then lastly is is the tree inventory, which is a GIS GIS-based tree inventory has been just absolutely instrumental in in how we do our work.

Uh we're we're able to really plan and know that our efforts are being put forth in the in the best way that they can.

That that inventory also included a full condition assessment of of each individual tree, so we know which ones need to be pruned, we know which ones are in poor condition, etc.

etc.

Thank you.

And then the second question ties into as we're talking about the um canopy concept broader than just the parks, right?

If I understand it correctly, we're also looking at the canopy um city streets and also private property.

Um, so how does it play in?

For example, I live in Browns Valley and in the Twin Oaks area, there was a large um sidewalk replacement project that took place last year, and I think 20 to 30 large trees were taken out.

Um, and the understanding of the neighborhood was that more new trees would come in to replace that canopy, and we're now what is it, you know, at least a year later, and really not a single tree has been planted.

So, how does that sort of factor into this canopy analysis?

Is that still are you looking at that more broadly or just focused on the parks when you're considering you know this canopy enhancement over the next number of years?

Yeah.

Um, so a lot of aspects there.

The canopy study was done in 2022, and there was also a study done for 2012.

So we were able to see our change in canopy over those 10 years.

Uh what we noticed was an 18% increase in canopy.

Uh a lot of that was directed towards the planting work that the city does.

So city staff plants anywhere from two to four hundred trees annually.

So um kind of uh what came out of that from our consultant was that your your efforts are are supporting the maintenance of the canopy that that you oversee that you have control of.

Um the canopy data layer helps direct us and show us to areas that have lower canopy.

So Browns Valley, for example, has some of the highest in in the city, so does the east side.

Um, but we're able to kind of drill down into those areas and see where the priority planting should be.

And then third of that is the inventory.

We inventoried opportunity sites as well.

So we have trees, but we also have an inventory of sites that could have a tree but may not.

Great, thank you.

So Jeff, related to that, I mean, by the way, just continue to be blown away by the work here and and the level of detail, um, specifically the sections on wildfire risk and tree canopy as it pertains to equity.

We've talked a fair amount about you know uh how those relate tree canopy and equity, and I'm thrilled to see that it has a dedicated section.

Um, but it looks like the the the key takeaway here is you know, a focus on maintaining and enhancing the canopy.

So I maybe just answered this, but can you help me understand what would some of the first steps look like for implementing this?

Because it's very obviously it's wonderful to have the document, but this is going to then be put into action through budgeting and prioritization.

So I'm just curious um what would what would the first year look like with this incredible new plan.

I mean the the kind of the great part is that all this information is is new to you, it's been fed to staff over the last five years.

So we've been able to in we we are doing a lot of those quote unquote early actions.

We have six urban forestry staff members.

So we we have you know and we're lucky to have that not every agency has that but it's it's not enough to to do work on 35,000 trees.

Uh it's far too many.

So some of the very very earliest actions are, you know, how can we as a department be more proactive and less reactive um and so not so much the canopy data but the inventory and understanding the conditions all the trees.

So for example one really early action that came out while we were doing the inventory in 2023 was there's a a priority rating for removals one being a hazard two being less and then three on down the line uh any time they came across a priority one removal they notified us immediately we went out and addressed that.

So to kind of sum up what what we can do in our early actions a part one of the biggest ones is really trying to be more proactive um is is in in our work that we currently do and then second to that is you know how and something we're still kind of working through is how can the city be most effective in in knowing that we have a m the majority of these trees on private property like where where can we be effective um and where can we promote plantings and not only just planting but care of the trees so that we get that long term growth.

Um another area that we've spent you know tremendous effort on obviously master street tree list um updating our our pruning standards creating flyers I'm probably missing like 10 things here but um you know that that has really been an effort and then we've made really really tremendous strides working with our both operations of public works and capital improvements to incorporate trees into the projects that we do um you know oftentimes uh and kind of back to Simone's point is you know we're able to get in and do the tree work and get the paving work and the sidewalk work done but getting back to getting the planting um you know a lot of a lot of the work in the past was working off of memory and now we now we have a database that we can really plan and work through cool love it we're already putting it in place.

Great hey um yeah I just I I was able to read through the the document this weekend and um I can't say like how valuable this this document is I mean it's pretty incredible how much data and information that you guys have been able to put in here um not just you know hard facts but also like qualitative data I think too from the residents I think a lot of their opinions were kind of spot on on a lot of these things so I think kind of hearing that and taking that into account was really interesting and um yeah I just really appreciate all the time and energy that's gone into this document.

I can't imagine how much has gone into it.

It's a lot of blood sweat and tears in there I'm sure um there are a few things that jumped out to me and I'm you know coming into this late and so I'm just it's mostly out of curiosity and just trying to kind of understand things so if this isn't within the realm of this discussion then let me know but um I was seeing that we're at the the the tree planting is point four total expenditures of the the whole fiscal budget I think for the city something like that.

And spending in NAPA is one point two to one point three times less than comparable cities I think on trees so I guess I was just curious you know to help your team out like is there is there any plans in place or any work going on now to kind of help boost the budget in any way.

Yeah.

No val valid question I think um you know and this information is is new to us too newish to us.

Um and so having just having the raw data to say what your needs are is is huge and instrumental in in starting to understand where you may go and ask for funds.

So I mean, just from a grant perspective, not even looking internally for funding.

Having having that qualitative data opens the door for us to to go pursue funds uh elsewhere to further some of this work.

And then of course, internally as well, it uh it creates the opportunity to understand, you know, rather than the we need more money, you can you can quantify that into you know the more money can create this this particular outcome.

Makes a lot of sense.

Yeah.

Um I was I was wondering too on um just on the on the mapping exercise, you have obvious your team has obviously done a ton of work on the GIS front.

I sounds like on the inventory of the tree keeper, I think is the software.

Have the trees been mapped in any way?

X, Y, yeah.

Everyone.

They have.

Yeah.

And um is the are there any plans to do like a tree, um, more of like a tree master plan that can kind of tag into the general plan to help like planning and uh the in the Yeah, great question.

In in the goals and recommendations, and you if you'll see in there we've got some kind of in progress one to three years, four plus years.

There are some some planning efforts and some opportunities to incorporate this information and these goals in into some of those requirements as well.

Um have already been we're we're already working through some of that already currently, um, but just as simple as updating our master street tree list, which defines kind of what tree should go in the right place.

Um that's a lot of what we suffer from here in Napa is the wrong tree and the in the wrong place.

Um so that that even that helps not only diversify our forests so help it be less susceptible to pests, but it also gives us the opportunity to kind of open that up as well for the public and for developments when they do plant.

Just have one more question about that.

Um on the right place in the right uh tree, I think uh um it sounded like there was a little some study on kind of understanding like soil volume and the amount of space that a tree actually has to grow in the public right-of-way.

Um I think I saw that it's only like we only have about 16, I shouldn't say only, but we have about 16% um canopy coverage in the public space, I think.

So are there any efforts or um, you know, kind of um thought into trying to create larger planting areas for trees for a larger canopy for future plantings.

Yeah, just the question.

Great question.

Um we so yeah, good good catch.

I'm impressed that you could catch that in such a large document.

But um, so yeah, we w one of our known issues is that we have relatively narrow right-aways in Napa.

And so uh oftentimes what you'll see is the road, a four foot planner, and then a five-foot sidewalk, and then your right-of-way ends.

So moving there's in order to have two lanes, parking, you know, your traditional kind of residential street, um, there's really no what no room left for trees.

So what we did was we knew that we would be likely planting smaller stature trees in in many of those areas that we took out really the improper species for that area.

Um sometimes that allows us to plant more, um, but we also recognize that that was just one of our challenges.

And so we had to look to, you know, other places um to try to maintain that canopy that that may have been lost.

Um and so we do have a priority planting that helps us understand where we can be most impactful in the spaces that we own, but then also kind of going back to knowing that we have a limit of where we can be impactful as far as planting trees.

So how can we educate, how can we create programs, those are pieces we're still kind of working through.

Um, but yeah, we're gonna have to um kind of adjust some of those things to to accommodate for that.

Yeah, so great great document though.

So yeah, really great work on that.

There you go.

Yeah, it's a it's an outstanding document.

Really, really as well.

Well, not only a substance but the organization of it.

Yeah, certainly uh us here as commissioners, we can look at this and internalize it and study it and stuff, but I just I'm still trying to find out a way a magic, some magic way that the general public could get this information so they can share another one of that big stakeholder.

That's always a channel a challenge when you have you know just groups trying to get it out to the public.

I understand that.

So I keep wrecking my brain trying to figure out how we can make this more it's pretty pretty big to stuff in a garbage bill.

I don't think we can get that information out there.

But that that's always been a goal of mine to get that that education out to everybody so they can appreciate just what we have here and what your goals are.

And the other one was um in the pre-planning for this you yeah how many other different models or similar like size cities did you visit to see what their plan was and and how is that plan working out now what you know where are they at so some kind of comparison.

Good question.

Unfortunately we didn't I mean as part of what I do I've looked around at other plans but we weren't afforded kind of the time to do that.

Uh at the time we were awarded this grant uh it was right in the heart of COVID and and the state if you remember right that was there was a period where the state was you know negative 29 billion and then positive 29 billion this this grant was awarded when there was excess funds in the state and so they funded this through their general fund which had never been done before um and they gave us a three week window to apply.

So we had kind of we we packaged a lot of it and then the grant went away we assumed it was gone we assumed we had to wait till the next cycle the next year and then they came back out with it sometime in June with a with a three week deadline and so we got it in and then once you kind of put it in you are I wouldn't say you're stuck but you're you're somewhat stuck with your plan.

Prior to putting in our application we met with Davey Resource Group which was one of kind of the largest firms that does this and they had great accolades from many different areas throughout the state and throughout the country um and so we really leaned heavily on on their expertise in here as far as helping us through this process and as as well as developing the application so we could try to be as competitive as we could be and Mike I will add as we kind of navigated that process Jeff and his team um looked at the management plans of dozens of other cities comparable to to ours and you know had conversations with their staff about um implementation and what worked and what didn't work so we were able to glean a lot of lessons learned from other agencies um and again working with Davy resource group they've done hundreds if not thousands of these plans so their institutional knowledge was something we could really lean into uh as well.

But it wasn't a one size fits all I mean so we looked at Davis who has a really nice plan but they have plant areas that are twelve feet wide so they're really they're they're really you know they they do dig in and see what are your challenges what are your opportunities.

So I just wanted to add one other piece um really to I think tacking on to what commissioner wallace mentioned and I think that's why I was asking about the elevator pitch honestly is an eighty five page document most people will not read it's just the reality of it and to your point I think if we really want you know the community to know what's going on you can distill this down to something that people can read and process.

So I think it's something just to consider once the the plan is approved by the um council are there ways to communicate this information in smaller sound bites so that people can actually see what's going on because what I've found working on bigger projects in the past is honestly once people have the information really a lot of their questions go away.

It's the lack of information that leads to a lot of sort of concern about what's going on.

But once you provide, you know, frequently asked questions or a little sort of executive summary, I think a lot of those concerns about how you know the city or county is handling something goes away.

Yeah, even the executive summary is lengthy to your point.

So, you know, in we've hit a couple milestones through this project where we've had some really impactful information, whether it's canopy data or tree number, and so just getting that bite size information out to the community, whether it's um, you know, 30 words in a newsletter, you know, modifying that for social media campaigns.

We have already started, I think, putting out some teaser information, and we'll absolutely be getting as many pieces of this plan out to the general public as we can moving forward.

So, yeah, great great point.

We have we have a uh a link website dedicated to this work.

It it has obviously this plan, it has a one-hour presentation from Davey really explaining the data and everything behind it, but to your point, um, definitely on our radar to to try to try to further this, particularly through one of our main partners, R C D, who has some further and different reaches than than we do here at the city.

The good news for the new commissioners is we don't always have 93 page agenda packets.

When I open this on Friday, I was like, oh my goodness, but you know, you go through it's it's tip of the cap.

It's really well laid out.

Um it's not daunting.

I mean, uh I love the vision statement.

I think frames it up nicely.

And then beyond that's like kind of all right, uh an inventory of how we're doing now.

What can we do better?

And recommendations to get there.

And and so that's basically what the well 85 pages of the 93 was this, I think.

Um and so I I just think um, you know, that that was uh really well done.

I'm um also eager, I assume that some of our friends in the in the audience today are here to to listen and and possibly chime in on this.

I'm anxious to hear what they have to say too.

Any other comments at this time?

I'd like to open up for public comment if there's anybody from the public who wishes to speak on this item.

Hi.

Hi.

I'm Linda Brown, and I'm um here with Napa Climate Now.

And I confess that I haven't fully dug in and I haven't seen the 80 page document, but I have seen the uh earlier document that was in the um minutes.

And I just had a couple of quick questions.

First of all, though, let me congratulate you on such a enormous piece of work and all the effort that's gone into this over all the years, and I know it's been a big lift.

So, really appreciative of that.

I have some just really specific questions.

I'm just gonna kind of throw them out and you can answer them, but I know I have a limited time.

One has to do with what constitutes how we came up with whatever the definitions are for what is a significant tree, since those are since so much of the tree cover is on private property and the permitting of of cutting trees and the issues around that only can are only related to significant trees if I understand correctly.

So, how is that determined and how often is that revisited?

What are the criteria?

So that's one question.

Another question has to do with the whole planter size issue as a conundrum.

You know, I live downtown in the old section and small smaller planning strips makes it very likely that in many of the streets it's already happening that I spend time on every day.

The big canopy trees are coming down and smaller size trees are going up, and there's a lot of consternation and concern about that.

It changes the character of the neighborhood completely.

And so I understand the problem, the problem with sidewalks.

I've heard of these permeable tree surrounds that are useful for um minimizing um that problem while still being passable for people who have ADA issues that are ADA compliant.

And I think that there are some solutions out there, and I hope that those are being considered as options, and also bump outs and other ways to um expand planner sizes so we can retain more large tree cover and not have to take down so many mature trees.

The third item I'm going to bring up in my 38 seconds left is I just have a question about in the parks about the use of glyphosate and and around the tree bases, and if there's a since we're speaking about trees specifically, if there are any damaging effects of repeated use of uh pesticide like uh herbicide like glyphosate.

So thank you.

Much appreciated.

Thank you.

Hi, Jim Wilson, a Napa Climate Now member.

I also uh work in the schools.

I teach climate responsibility.

I teach in New Tech for one.

And in New Tech back in 2018, Christy Wolf had a forest section and a group of three boys formed a team, and they uh posited that we are losing faster than we are gaining, and they're talking about these various landscapes and land uses, which are no longer say net carbon sinks but net emitters.

And is that legit?

And so they took that to Earth Day and did a beautiful job, and that became the source of the inspiration for a short three and a half minute film that people that came after those three men put a film together that said deforestation sounding the alarm.

That was uh co-scripted and narrated by Dr.

Amber Manfrey, and that film found that in the eight years that RCD was busy with children planting acorns to grow into oak trees, there were uh over 5,250 acorns planted, 917 survived, and those average four years, and that eight years worth of planting thousands of little trees, did not compensate for the loss of one big old oak.

You might say, so what?

But here we have a climate emergency.

The city of Napa has uh resolved to do something about that, and they have also put into this plan a reference to that, and the general plan now calls for achieving net zero climate pollution by before 2030, because that's the level of ambition that the science requires.

We've known that for a while.

So the city knows this.

I hope the commission knows this.

This plan has come a long ways.

Thank you, Jeff and Brianna, because we see some references to that.

Don't have a whole lot of time here, but I do want to thank you for page 55.

You have a community survey responder, and it says we have an obligation to young people and future generations to restore a safe climate.

Businesses' usual actions, plans like this, if you're not careful, need to be called out.

Urban forests, like other land cover types and land uses, are critical in achieving net zero and net negative emissions and should be managed accordingly.

Thank you very much.

That's my quote.

I don't know how that ended up in there.

Fast forward to page I think 39 or so, and you are trying to uh to say, you know, how we are uh making this plan consistent with our goals, utilize tree planting and preservation as a strategy to meet the city's 2030 net zero emissions goal.

And so this is adaptive planning.

I I appreciate that.

We we do better as we go along.

Uh we understand that we have a 21% canopy cover in the in the in the city of Napa, that's fabulous.

You've inventoried down to the last tree, whether they're young or establishing or mature or old, you know, and you've got 35,000 of those various types of trees in various areas.

But what I want to see, and maybe you can answer this tonight, is beyond canopy, can you say whether this treatment is going to produce an urban forest that can be a near-term net carbon sink?

I'd like to have that discussion.

Thank you.

Thank you, Jim.

Good evening, Commissioners and seasons.

Rhino Honicy.

And I want to congratulate you on almost completion of this planning document.

And it's uh most planning documents, it has a lot of room for details, and the devil's always in those.

Comment earlier about this, because uh one thing I was I was hoping to find in there, especially uh, you know, in the great uh goals section and and uh recommendations the the preservation goal is not won't be possible without having a deep conversation with PGE.

They're in the business of line clearance and and branch removal rather than preservation.

And uh when I looked recently at the ordinance, it their actions seem to actually be inconsistent with some of the ordinance language language uh in there.

So I I'm hoping that when it comes to implementation, that you um you have some heart-to-heart conversations with PGE, and uh they don't seem to use uh certified arborists to do this, they just uh they just contract with anyone with a chainsaw, it seems, for line clearance, and that's not helpful, especially not for uh mature trees that are you know more susceptible to infections when they just do line clearance rather than responsible shaping and trimming.

Uh and and I know you you have a uh uh standing uh conversation with public works, but that's another entity that uh will have some uh input in how the plan gets implemented, and there are lots of areas of improvement, and I'd be happy to chat with you, Simone after after the meeting to share my experiences there, because I think there's a lot of possibility there that uh that we haven't the city hasn't uh taken up yet.

So, with that, thank you again for uh shepherding this project through to completion.

Thank you.

Anybody else wish to comment on this item?

Um I had a couple of comments that to some extent overlap um with those that we just heard, um, and it pertains in large part to true removal in riparian areas, and then just true removal on private property, and I know a lot of that's rooted in the regulations that exist in the municipal code, and I know a lot of what's in this document could be foundational and applicable in the event that the council wish to revise the ordinances to allow for you and your team to have a greater effect on private property development.

Um but that said, kind of curious to I guess understand better what your role is in the review of private development projects.

Are you given an opportunity you or your team to work with the development department to make suggestions or recommendation on tree removal, particularly native trees, and moreover, those that are in close proximity to riparian areas, the biali development comes to mind.

Um they're putting a bike path and whatnot along that Salvador Channel.

Um, seems like there could be some opportunities to make sure that we're preserving that existing riparian canopy and given the river a little bit of room to to move um similarly the hotel project on Napa Creek that will all be re-landscaped um do we have the ability to ensure that the appropriate species get planted along that area um as part of the landscaping um things of that nature and then also kind of looking to understand I suppose some of the comments that we heard and some of the similar to the comments that I'm making here uh relate to the climate action plan how do you anticipate um this document affecting that or you otherwise being involved in climate related actions um or climate related benefits um a lot of this is about maintaining and preserving and to some extent enhancing the existing uh canopy and it's all wonderful work um but it seems like there's an opportunity here to also um for you to play a role in climate related decisions or decisions that have an impact on climate whether it's the placement of trees for strategic reasons whether it's retaining existing trees for strategic reasons um to where ultimately we're kind of getting the biggest bang for our buck if you will when we're managing or altering the forest particularly on private properties.

I know it was kind of a lot um but sometimes I ramble um so just to to start with the developments and maybe cover one of the questions um so our current code for for private trees 12.45 has two two facets protected native and significant trees to answer your question for significant those are trees that were approved through resolution by the council that's how they become a significant tree.

So obviously within within those areas we have jurisdiction over the removal and we have mitigation requirements for the replant which is two trees per six inches of diameter.

So if you take down a mature tree it often equates to quite a few trees being replanted on that property.

As far as developments go, um so those codes I spoke to are for um properties that are not in development.

So properties that are in development we still have the code for the types of trees that trigger the protected native and we still have a mitigation process and so we're able to to carry that forth into developments.

So we're able to use that information to drive some of those developments they also obviously provide arborist reports.

And we're at we're in the kind of the early stages of working with planning to kind of develop um strategic plans around canopy requirements for developments.

Trying to obviously balance a lot of things you know so you have solar and parking lots which would take space for trees you have high density development which obviously doesn't afford so trying to utilize um accommodate those things that are important as well but also try to incorporate canopy as a goal because it really does tie back into all other things rather than just a number of trees so looking at that 21 and a half percent and and looking to make sure that's maintained or enhanced is something that we're already working with in the development with our with our planning department look at that at the m the maturity of the tree as well so obviously not right away.

And then specific to any development that has planting along the street corridor though I'm looking at those to make sure that those trees are are meeting the master street tree requirements that the list that was brought in front of this commission.

As far as climate action goes uh this document allows information that we never knew before.

So we we understand how many tons of carbon this current urban forest sequesters.

Um so kind of to Jim's point and and the net zero goal.

Um, you know, prior to this, we we didn't know the impact exactly we estimated, but we didn't know exactly.

So I think from a climate perspective, I think what this highlights is what you know what could the role of the urban forestry be, knowing that it's maybe not all of the solution but some of it.

So this document could really be valuable in providing what efforts the the urban forest can have in in that front and others as well, but particularly on that front.

Yeah, and I know that jurisdictions are gonna have an opportunity if they choose to do so, adopt a climate action plan once the regional climate action plan is completed by the climate action committee.

Um I guess I would hope that if the city does adopt or doesn't um any climate-related initiatives that involve the forest, the urban forest would involve your shop to help it help advise um any action items um whether they're implemented through a formal climate action plan or otherwise, um, because I know you guys can provide some very valuable insight to them.

Yeah.

Um on a procedural level, will you be um bringing this item to the council?

I can't remember when, in a couple months.

March seventeenth.

Tentatively slated for March 17th, yes.

Will your staff report be conveying or are conveying the public comments that we heard today?

We'll try to summarize some of the themes that we've heard um not just tonight, but the public comments that we've received from, you know, all through this process as well.

Yeah, because a lot of this a lot of what I kind of said and what has been said, I think resides within other policies and other decisions.

This again serves as a tremendous framework for implementing those if the council chooses to to do that, which I think they might, um, and whether it's through a climate action plan or another plan.

Um again, this provides a good foundation for implementing that.

So good job.

And Brian, if I can just say for the benefit of our new commissioners, um we in our last meeting when we reviewed the draft plan, we strongly suggested and recommended that we bring this plan back in its final form to adopt it and put it in front of the city council so that they would essentially you know have to take action on it.

So for those who are interested in this, I I would encourage you to go to that city council meeting on March 17th, because I think that would be an excellent opportunity for you to formally state for the record um how important this is to you.

And um I'm glad we're able to take that step.

Great.

Any other comments on this item?

Happy to make a motion.

I'll move to approve the urban forest management plan and forward to city council for formal review and adoption.

I'll second the motion.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Motion test is unit.

You're a voting member, aren't you?

I'm voting.

That's a short case.

James is like, what?

We gotta fix that.

Yeah.

Anyway, we'll add it.

Unanimously maybe when we update the bylaws or something.

I would have I wouldn't have said I.

Interesting, but I think if they can step in in certain situations, I have to look at the language, but forever short somebody I think they can.

It has to do with the um city ordinance and the municipal code, just the way it's written.

Yeah, okay, moving on to item 7A.

That is vacant.

So I don't think we have an update on the B pack.

Commissioner Bordana.

Sorry, let me just ask a quick question since I think I will be that person.

Yes, going forward.

Um, will someone get in touch with me about next steps for that?

Yes.

Um the liaison, so that commission is staffed directly through the public works department, so that liaison will be reaching out to you.

You'll be re receiving agendas via email as you typically have done before, and the updates here to the commission are relatively informal.

It's just a verbal update on some of the highlights of the meeting.

Perfect.

Thank you.

It's gonna be uh Jennifer Lerma, she'll reach out to you.

Okay, uh next up is item 7B.

This is an update on the app of park and recreation foundation.

Yes.

I shall keep this brief because our board meeting is tomorrow.

Um but for the commissioners uh information.

Um our current plan is to allocate fifteen thousand dollars of our budget to uh youth swim scholarships.

Technically, that's 10,000 of our budget and 5,000 from a PGE grant.

But the board is meeting tomorrow to decide whether we may increase that uh amount based on the state of our finances.

Um I will say we are close to fifty thousand dollars in funds.

Uh the formal report comes tomorrow.

Um a big piece of that was boosted uh by the give guide, which I shared last meeting.

Um I did look it up.

Our original goal was 7500 through Give Guide, and uh we exceeded nine thousand dollars.

So um we are in a stronger financial position than we were six months ago, which we are very pleased to report.

And then also tomorrow I will invite invite the board members to attend our park tours.

Great, thank you.

Um, item seven C park maintenance and recreation division updates.

Uh three really quick things.

Uh if you've been down to Kennedy Park and you've noticed the restroom next to the boat ramp is closed.

We have a uh broken water line working on the contract and hope to get that repaired very shortly and get that back online.

Um staff has been spending.

Um I hope you all enjoyed the lighted art festival staff.

Park staff has been doing a lot of uh really great working with the artists lately to help deinstall those um those great features as well.

And then lastly, um tied back into our grant, we're gonna have our last planting event associated with the uh grant on March 7th at our golf course in Napa.

We're gonna try to plant about 160 trees that day, uh, and serve those volunteers lunch as well.

RCD will be again just like they have for all the other ones, they will be doing the intake process through their website.

Um, I can have Elijah share that with all you commissioners as well.

Um, if you're interested, Saturday, March 7th, uh 9 a.m.

Usually runs to about 11, 11 to noon.

Yeah, that'd be great if you want to send anything you have on that that we can just blast it out there.

Holding it to about 40 volunteers.

Rain or shine.

You expect 40?

You usually max out.

Um don't usually serve lunch.

Yeah, so that might be.

Okay, um, so uh and it a lot of times we'll get you know corporates that will show up with 12, 15 people.

Um the golf is going to the golf course is gonna promote it as well, so um that's we typically don't put a cap, but on this one we thought we might want to do that.

I'll um mention it at the foundation meeting tomorrow for our volunteer efforts.

I will try to get that flyer over first thing in the morning.

So yeah, thank you.

Uh and we're still having people register.

So if you especially if you all are interested in making sure you get a spot register before we reach our cap.

If we don't register but want to come by and just say hi, would that be okay?

I won't need a sandwich or moral support is always appreciated.

Or I can bring it up.

I thought you were just I thought you were just gonna show up for lunch.

No, can I just ask um what do you know what trees you're planting yet and how did that get decided?

I do, yeah.

We have uh part of the grant, part of the action of the grant was to plant 400 trees.

Uh and those were specified and in certain species because there's a really long, arduous calculator that you have to do that you have to send back to the grant.

So um do you know off the top of your head, Woody?

What we're planting.

Thank you.

Is it is it on the golf course or yeah.

So we'll be planting uh all throughout the golf course.

So when volunteers show up that day, what we usually do is kind of say, hey, we're gonna have this planting area, this planting area, pre-dig the trees, um, and then we kind of let people choose, you know, if they're in a group of six and they want to go here.

Um and then we typically add um some other items in case we get it's surprisingly how quickly a hundred and fifty trees can go in the ground.

Um so we'll typically do some other um volunteer effort that day.

So uh we're gonna plan to kind of spruce up and plant some additional trees along the parking lot just to make it look nice and do some mulching as well.

Um if we if we fill up and get a lot of a lot of active volunteers.

Is the course gonna be open at that time?

Uh Bob, the supervisor is taking the appropriate measures to make sure that we're safe.

It's it's mostly in in off play areas.

Well, yeah.

Yeah.

It's mostly to the left, Brian.

So if you stay to the right, you'll we'll be okay.

I'm just envisioning people, you know.

Never mind.

They do these type of things pretty frequently, so they're pretty well versed.

I think it's great though because a l all those trees of course all aged out at the same time, which stands a reason because they're all planted at the same time, and so it would be nice to bring some life back to the golf course aesthetically and otherwise.

Yeah.

I d I don't know the conditions at all, but it would be great to also consider oaks at some point in the future.

Yeah.

There's uh there was about a hundred on the on the plan between Valley and Live.

Okay.

So we already have a lot out there.

We planted a hundred and ten almost mostly oaks at two years ago at our Arbor Day at at Kennedy.

Great.

Thank you.

I just wanted to uh commend the team on the light at our festival.

That's fantastic as always.

And uh not directly relate really related to us, but you know, sometimes we get to crowd in here uh for public comment to talk about pickleball and la lack of pickleball courts and I was at a meeting in what over at off gas or uh this afternoon and drove home past the movie theater and saw the three new pickleball courts right there, which I thought was pretty cool and we'll help uh hopefully address that uh problem a little bit.

Those four public courts should be opening by the end of the month.

Are are they uh owned by the the property owner there and open to the public?

They were constructed by the Gasser Foundation and they are going to be oper maintained and operated by Parks and Recreation on a temporary basis.

Um that's fantastic.

Yeah, like a little uh soccer field there.

There is a soccer pitch as well.

Uh that is being operated by Napa United directly.

So we we don't have a direct affiliation with that that parcel.

Thank you.

Yeah, thank you.

Just add to that uh my second on um how exciting it is to have the pickleball courts I follow clo I I'm a tennis player, but I've played pickleball and follow all of the comments that pickleball players have in the city of Napa, and um there's definitely a desire and a need, so it's great to see those courts going into play.

Um and I think it's also with the Napa United soccer field, which my kids are using as part of Napa United.

I think it's great to draw people down to that area because that area's been really suffering.

Um so I think it they're starting to do a lot of pairings with the businesses there.

Um so I think there's gonna be a lot of great synergies happening, and I will not be here next meeting, and I see we're talking about the Napa Lighted Art Festival, and just really kudos.

Um I've been every year, and this was the best one yet.

So just really excellent.

The quality of the artwork across the board this year was really exceptional.

So great job.

Uh any other comments?

Okay.

With that we will move to adjournment to the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Parks Recreation and Tree Advisory Commission scheduled for March 18th.