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UH, WE'LL START THE COMMUNITY HEALTH AND EQUITY COMMITTEE MEETING.
COUNCIL MEMBER ANDREW SULLIVAN.
[1. 21-2405 A briefing on the Request for Proposal (RFP) for a recycling processing contract. [David W. McCary, CPM, Assistant City Manager; David Newman, Director, Solid Waste Management Department]]
UH, MR. MCCAREY, WOULD YOU LIKE TO INTRODUCE OUR FIRST ITEM? YES, MA'AM.WE HAVE, UH, BEFORE YOU OUR SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR, DAVID NEWMAN.
HE WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH AN UPDATE ON THE REQUEST FOR A PROPOSAL OR A M R FACILITY.
AND, UH, I'LL TURN IT ON OVER TO DAVID NEWMAN.
UH, THIS IS A FOLLOW UP TO A PRESENTATION THAT WE GAVE ABOUT FIVE MONTHS AGO.
AT THAT TIME, WE DISCUSSED, UH, COMING BACK TO YOU, UH, WITH A DELIVERY METHOD FOR CONTINUING RECYCLING AFTER OUR CURRENT CONTRACT EXPIRES.
AT THAT TIME, WE TALKED ABOUT OUR RECYCLING GOALS, LIKE OUR 30 THAT WE'RE CURRENTLY AT 36%.
WE INTRODUCED OUR CAPTURE RATE.
WE ALSO TALKED ABOUT CHANGES IN THE RECYCLING INDUSTRY.
WE TALKED ABOUT, UH, NEWSPAPERS USED TO DOMINATE OUR RECYCLING, AND TODAY THEY'RE NON-EXISTENT AS WELL AS A DOWNTURN IN THE MARKET.
AND WHAT THAT HAS DONE IS IT'S CHANGED REVENUE CONTRACTS FOR CITIES, UH, NOW INTO EXPENDITURE TYPES OF CONTRACTS.
LASTLY, WE TALKED ABOUT OUR CURRENT CONTRACT EXPIRING IN A LITTLE OVER THREE YEARS, AND WE OUTLINED OPTIONS TO CONTINUE RECYCLING.
THAT'S THE PRIMARY FOCUS OF TODAY'S MEETING.
UH, BUT FIRST I WANNA MENTION THAT OUR CONTRACT FOR RECYCLING WAS AWARDED TO RE COMMUNITY IN 2014.
RE COMMUNITY WAS SOLD TO REPUBLIC SERVICES.
AND JUST, UH, JUST TO POINT OUT, REPUBLIC SERVICES DOES OWN A LANDFILL IN SAN ANTONIO ON THE EAST SIDE.
WE DO HAVE A SEPARATE CONTRACT FOR THAT, BUT THAT IS NOT ASSOCIATED WITH THIS CONTRACT AT ALL.
WE DELIVER TO THEM ABOUT 80,000 TONS A YEAR AT A COST TO THE CITY OF ABOUT 1.1 MILLION OR $13 A TON.
SO THIS IS THE MAIN PART OF OUR, OUR CONVERSATION HERE.
WE LOOKED AT A CONTRACT EXTENSION.
WE HAVE A GOOD CONTRACT WITH REPUBLIC SERVICES AT $13 A TON.
WE REACHED OUT TO THEM AND ASKED THEM IF THEY WOULD LIKE TO, UH, CONTINUE THIS CONTRACTUAL RELATIONSHIP, AND THEY DID EXPRESS INTEREST.
HOWEVER, WHAT THEY DID SAY IS THAT, UH, THEY WANTED TO INCREASE THE, THE PAYMENT.
UH, THEY WANTED TO CHANGE THE REVENUE, UH, UH, SPLIT THAT WE HAVE WITH THEM.
AND SINCE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT CHANGING TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THE CONTRACT, UH, BECAUSE THEY VIEW IT AS, AS NOT VERY FAVORABLE FOR THEM.
SO IT'S A GOOD CONTRACT FOR US, BUT THEY VIEW IT AS NOT FAVORABLE FOR THEM.
UH, SO THIS IS NOT A, A OPTION THAT WE WOULD RECOMMEND TO YOU.
THE NEXT OPTION IS THE CONCEPT OF A CITY OWNED, CITY OPERATED FACILITY.
IN OTHER WORDS, WE WOULD BUILD A FACILITY AND THE CITY WOULD OPERATE THAT FACILITY.
IT GIVES US A LOT OF FLEXIBILITY.
UH, AFTER THE CAPITAL IS, IS PAID, UH, IT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE AT A LOWER COST IN THE FUTURE.
HOWEVER, IT COMES WITH SOME RISK, SIGNIFICANT RISK ACTUALLY.
UM, FOR ONE, WE WOULD BE ENTERING A VERY TIGHT MARKET, UH, AS A VIRTUAL UNKNOWN.
AND I THINK THAT WOULD BE VERY DIFFICULT FOR US TO DO.
AND THE OTHER THING, QUITE FRANKLY, IS WE DON'T KNOW WHAT WE DON'T KNOW.
SO LOOKING AT THIS OPTION TODAY, IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT I WOULD RECOMMEND TO YOU AT THIS TIME.
THE NEXT TWO OPTIONS, HOWEVER, ARE VERY GOOD OPTIONS.
UM, THE NEXT ONE, THE CONTRACTOR OWNED.
THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT WE DO TODAY WITH REPUBLIC SERVICES.
THEY PROVIDE THE SERVICE AT THEIR LOCATION.
WE'VE BEEN DOING IT FOR, FOR OVER A DECADE.
AND, AND SO WE WOULD RECOMMEND THIS COMBINED WITH THE NEXT OPTION, WHICH IS THE CONCEPT OF A CITY OWNED BUT CONTRACTOR OPERATED FACILITY.
WE COULD PROVIDE SOME LAND THAT THE CONTRACTOR COULD COME IN AND BUILD THE FACILITY AND OPERATE THAT FACILITY.
AND THEN AT THE END OF THE TERM,
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THOSE ASSETS WOULD BECOME THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO'S.AT THAT TIME, WE COULD DECIDE WHETHER WE WANTED TO CONTINUE CONTRACTING THAT OUT OR, UH, IF WE WANTED TO TAKE THAT WORK IN-HOUSE.
AND SO COMBINING THESE TWO OPTIONS IS WHAT WE'RE RECOMMENDING TO YOU.
UH, IF THIS SOUNDS FAMILIAR, IT IS BECAUSE WE DID DO THIS WITH OUR ORGANICS CONTRACT A LITTLE OVER A YEAR AGO.
YOU MIGHT REMEMBER THAT WE TRIED TO GET AN ORGANICS PROCESSOR.
WE DIDN'T HAVE A WHOLE LOT OF SUCCESS.
WE ONLY HAD, UH, UH, ONE RESPONSE.
WE OFFERED UP OUR OLD NELSON GARDENS LANDFILL TO BUILD ON, AND THAT WAS THE WINNING PROPOSAL.
UH, AND IT'S, UH, THEY, ATLAS WAS AWARDED THE CONTRACT.
THEY'VE ACTUALLY PUT IN THE IMPROVEMENTS.
THEY ASSUMED THE CONTRACT IN JANUARY.
IT'S ACTUALLY GOING VERY WELL.
SO COMBINING THESE TWO OPTIONS IS WHAT WE, WE HAVE MOVING FORWARD AND, AND HOW WE GOT THERE.
WE USED OUR CONSULTANT BURNS AND MCDONALD TO HELP US, UH, EVALUATE THE FEASIBILITY OF THESE DIFFERENT OPTIONS.
WE ALSO ISSUED A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION.
WE HAD VERY GOOD RESPONSE, PARTICULARLY WITH FOUR, UH, RESPONDENTS, UH, THAT ARE VERY LARGE COMPANIES THAT ARE VERY INTERESTED IN BOTH OF THE OPTIONS THAT WE PRESENTED TO THEM BASED ON THE R F I AND BASED ON CONTRACTS THAT WE SEE ACROSS TEXAS.
WE DO BELIEVE THAT THE COST OF RECYCLING WILL GO UP.
AS I SAID EARLIER, WE'RE CURRENTLY AT ABOUT $13 A TON.
WE THINK THAT IT'S PROBABLY GONNA BE CLOSER TO $25 A TON.
UH, AND THAT FULL AMOUNT, WE WOULD PROBABLY SEE THAT IN FISCAL YEAR 2025.
WE'LL SEE A LITTLE BIT OF IT IN 2024.
WE HAVE PLUGGED THAT INTO OUR FIVE YEAR FINANCIAL FORECAST MODEL, SO WE ARE PREPARED FOR THAT AT THAT POINT IN TIME IN THE FUTURE.
UH, BUT THAT WOULD BE AN INCREASE.
IF THE OPTION TO BUILD ON CITY PROPERTY IS THE, IS IS THE SUBMITTAL THAT WE GO WITH.
WE ARE PROPOSING TO UTILIZE THE SOLID WASTE PROPERTY THAT'S LOCATED ON COLLIBRA ROAD.
THIS IS THE FORMER LOCATION OF THE NORTHWEST SERVICE CENTER.
WE MOVED THE FACILITY, WHICH HOUSED OUR SOLID WASTE TRUCKS AND THE MAINTENANCE YARD, ET CETERA, OUT TO 1604 NEAR SHANE FIELD AND COLLIBRA.
AND TODAY WE UTILIZE THIS, THIS SPACE AS OUR WAREHOUSE OPERATIONS FOR SOLID WASTE.
IT'S RIGHT NEXT DOOR TO PUBLIC WORKS TO SS A P D, UH, WEST PATROL, UH, OUR HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE AND OUR DROP-OFF FACILITY.
THIS IS GENERALLY WHAT IT WOULD LOOK LIKE IF IT'S BUILT THERE.
UH, IT'S, IT'S A, A WAREHOUSE TYPE OF STRUCTURE.
SO IN CONCLUSION, WHAT WE'RE RECOMMENDING IS MOVING FORWARD IS AN R F P WITH TWO OPTIONS.
THE RESPONDENT CAN EITHER BUILD ON OUR COLLAB ROAD PROPERTY OR THEY CAN PROVIDE THE SURFACE AT THEIR FACILITY.
AND THOSE TWO OPTIONS WOULD BE EVALUATED SIDE BY SIDE.
WE THINK THIS IS THE BEST OPPORTUNITY TO COMPARE COSTS, EVALUATE THE BENEFITS, AND, UH, GIVES US THE BEST FLEXIBILITY DUE TO THE VALUE DUE TO THE INTEREST.
UH, THIS IS A HIGH PROFILE CONTRACT, SO WE ARE PREPARED TO GO TO, UH, A V SESSION FOR A PRES SOLICITATION BRIEFING.
AND I THINK WE'VE ALREADY CONGRATULATED YOU ON YOUR ROLE, BUT CONGRATULATIONS, UH, AGAIN, THANK YOU
WHAT I RECALL FROM OUR LAST DISCUSSION HAD TO DO WITH, UH, PLASTIC BAGS AND THAT CREATING AN ISSUE THAT THEY WEREN'T GOING TO BE ACCEPTED AT SOME POINT.
SO CAN, CAN YOU TELL ME, IS THAT SOMETHING YOU CAN WORK INTO ONE OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF THIS R F P OR THE NEW FACILITY? WE CAN, AND I AT, WHAT WE WILL DO IS WE WILL STRUCTURE THE, THE SOLICITATION SO THAT THERE ARE MANDATORY ITEMS THAT THEY WILL COLLECT AND THAT THEY WILL PROCESS AND SELL.
AND WE CAN PUT INTO THAT OPTIONAL ITEMS THAT WE WOULD GIVE THEM MORE, UH, POINTS IN THE PROPOSAL IF THEY CAN DO THAT.
I THINK THAT PLASTIC BAGS, I DO HAVE TO, TO TELL YOU THAT, IN MY OPINION, I THINK THAT WILL BE DIFFICULT FOR THEM TO PROCESS.
UH, THAT'S ACTUALLY ONE OF THE THINGS THAT REPUBLIC SERVICES SAID, THAT IF THEY MOVE FORWARD, THEY WOULD WANT THAT OUT.
SO I, I THINK THAT'S FAIRLY COMMON WITH, WITH PROCESSORS.
YEAH, I THINK THAT'S WHY WE DISCUSSED, UH, TRYING TO ADVOCATE FOR SOMETHING AT THE, AT THE STATE LEVEL.
'CAUSE IT DIDN'T SEEM LIKE ANYONE WAS GOING TO, TO TAKE IT.
MY MY OTHER QUESTION HAS TO DO WITH THE FIRST OPTION THAT YOU SAID YOU DIDN'T REALLY RECOMMEND AT THIS POINT IN TIME.
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BUT I AM INTERESTED IN EXPLORING, UH, BRINGING THAT IN-HOUSE.AND I'LL, I'LL TELL YOU A COUPLE OF THE REASONS IS, UH, THE RISK NOTWITHSTANDING, I DO, I DO THINK WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT THAT, IS THAT, YOU KNOW, WE WANNA MAKE SURE THE JOBS THAT PEOPLE HAVE AT THE RECYCLING FACILITY ARE, ARE GOOD JOBS, UH, GOOD PAYING THAT THEY, THAT THEY HAVE BENEFITS.
AND I KNOW THAT ONCE WE ISSUE AN, UH, A CONTRACT, THERE'S A LOT OF LIMITATIONS ON, ON THE CITY FOR THAT.
SO I'D LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU A LITTLE BIT IF, IF YOU'RE FAMILIAR, UH, WITH OUR CURRENT CONTRACT AND WHAT TYPE OF SALARIES, BENEFITS, UH, ARE, ARE CURRENTLY OFFERED.
ACTUALLY, MAYBE IF YOU CAN PROVIDE THAT TO ME, UH, OFFLINE, UH, BUT I'LL, I'LL LEAVE IT THERE AND I WILL, UH, TURN IT OVER TO COUNCIL MEMBERS FOR, FOR COMMENTS.
UH, ANY COUNCIL MEMBERS HAVE COMMENTS? UH, COUNCILMAN TRIVINIA.
UM, I, I DON'T HAVE MANY QUESTIONS, BUT, UH, I, I, A COUPLE OF THEM ARE, DOES GIVING THE RESPONDENTS THE OPTION TO USE THE NORTHWEST SERVICE CENTER PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR, UH, MORE SMALLER COMPANIES TO APPLY? I'M NOT SURE ABOUT THAT.
I, I DO BELIEVE THAT THE, THE PRIME ON THIS WILL CERTAINLY BE A LARGE COMPANY.
THIS IS VERY SPECIALIZED WORK.
UH, THEY MAY OUTSOURCE SOME OF IT.
UM, I'M GONNA ASK JOSEPHINE VALENCIA, SHE IS, UH, SHE IS OUR RECYCLING GURU.
JOSEPHINE, DO YOU HAVE A RESPONSE FOR THAT? I THINK MY RESPONSE WOULD BE VERY SIMILAR TO WHAT MR. NEWMAN JUST SAID.
THE, THE CAPITAL REQUIRED TO BUILD THIS TYPE OF FACILITY IS GONNA BE EXTENSIVE.
I DON'T BELIEVE A SMALL WOULD BE ABLE TO DO THAT, WHETHER IT'S ON OUR PROPERTY OR IN ANOTHER, ON A DIFFERENT PROPERTY.
BUT I THINK THERE MAY BE SOME INCREASED OPPORTUNITIES FOR SUBCONTRACTING ON OUR PROPERTY.
WELL, IT SEEMED LIKE THERE WAS SOME SIMILAR CONSIDERATIONS, UH, THAT WERE GIVEN WHEN TAKE, WHEN WE TOOK UP THE MULCH CONTRACT.
UH, AND THAT WAS A BIG PROPONENT OF THAT.
SO I, I JUST, I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE BEING CONSISTENT.
MAY MAYBE WE CAN AT LEAST LOOK AT THAT.
UH, AND I DO AGREE WITH, WITH, UH, CHAIR SANDOVAL AND, AND WOULD LIKE TO, TO LEARN MORE, UH, TO SEE ABOUT STAFF DETERMINING IF, IF CITY EMPLOYEES FORM THE TASK.
I, I DO APPRECIATE THAT YOU ARE LOOKING AT, AT MINIMUM, TO OWN THE ASSETS.
UM, BUT I'D LIKE FOR US TO, TO REALLY JUST EXPLORE, UH, YOU KNOW, THE, THE FULL ARRAY OF OPTIONS THAT WE HAVE BEFORE US.
COUNCILMAN, ANY ADDITIONAL COMMENTS? SO I THINK, UH, IF THE NEXT STEP, THIS IS ONLY A BRIEFING, IT'S NOT IZED OR, OR YOU DIDN'T SAY THAT YOU REQUIRED ANY ACTION, BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE THE NEXT STEP IS TO GO TO A B SESSION.
IS THAT RIGHT? THAT IS CORRECT.
COULD, COULD WE MAKE A REQUEST THAT WHEN IT DOES GO TO THE B SESSION, YOU ALSO PRESENT ON THE, UH, THE IN-HOUSE OPTION, WHAT THAT WOULD BE, WHAT THAT WOULD BE LIKE.
AND, UM, AND I'D ALSO LIKE TO KNOW WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO ABOUT PLASTIC BAGS,
IF Y'ALL CAN MARK YOUR CALENDARS.
IT IS SCHEDULED FOR THE 31ST OF THIS MONTH, I THINK NEXT WEDNESDAY.
IS THAT RIGHT, MR. NEWMAN? THINK SO? YES, SIR.
WE HAVE, UH, COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS FROM COUNCILWOMAN
YEAH, I, I THINK I JUST NEED SOME CLARIFICATION ON THE KBRA SITE.
WHAT IS IT CURRENTLY BEING OPERATED AS RIGHT NOW, AND HOW LARGE IS THIS? UH, THE SIZE OF IT, OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD, I'M NOT SURE.
IT IS CER IT IS USED TODAY AS OUR WAREHOUSE FOR OUR CART OPERATIONS.
SO WHEN WE, UH, GET NEW CARTS IN, WE REPAIR CARTS, WE DISTRIBUTE THEM OUT TO OUR, OUR CUSTOMERS.
THAT'S HOW WE ARE CURRENTLY UTILIZING THAT SITE TODAY.
AND SO I, I THINK I ALSO WANT TO KNOW MAYBE SOME OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL, WHAT IS IT CLOSE TO, ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS TO THE NEIGHBORHOODS.
UM, THOSE, THOSE KIND OF ITEMS. I THINK I, I'D LIKE TO KNOW THAT, TO GET SOME BETTER CLARIFICATION ON THAT.
UH, AND, AND JUST, JUST REAL QUICKLY, IT IS, UM, UH, ADJACENT TO CITY PROPERTY ON THE SIDES.
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INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT IS ACROSS FROM US.THEY HAVE A, A BUS DEPOT FOR MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR OF BUSES, WHICH BY THE WAY, THAT'S WHAT WE USED TO DO, UH, IN THIS FACILITY, IS TO MAINTAIN GARBAGE TRUCKS AND, AND OTHER, UH, HEAVY EQUIPMENT BEHIND US IS THE SOUTHWEST RESEARCH.
UH, I BELIEVE CALIENTE HARLEY IS ALSO, UH, IN THAT AREA.
UM, IT, IT, UH, IS CURRENTLY ZONED, I BELIEVE R SIX.
I'M SORRY, DAVID, WHAT DID YOU SAY? WHAT DID YOU SAY WAS BEHIND THAT? UH, SOUTHWEST RESEARCH AND I, AND, AND ALSO A LITTLE BIT IS, UH, CALIENTE HARLEY, WHICH IS LOCATED ON LOOP FOUR 10, BUT I THINK THEY HAVE SOME PROPERTY THAT EXTENDS BACK BEHIND US.
I JUST WANTED YOU TO SAY CALIENTE HARLEY AGAIN, BUT, ALRIGHT.
UH, SO DID HE SAY IT OR DOES HE STILL NEED TO SAY IT BEFORE WE, WE MOVE ON? OKAY.
WELL, UH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH MR. MCCARRY.
MR. NEWMAN, DO YOU NEED ANY CLARIFICATIONS OR YOU THINK YOU'RE YOU'RE GOOD? WE'RE GOOD.
UH, SO AS I UH, MENTIONED EARLIER, WE'LL HEAR THE NEXT, UH, THREE ITEMS, UH, TOGETHER, BUT DON'T WORRY, YOU WILL NOT GET BORED WITH ALL THE TALKING BECAUSE ALL OF THESE ITEMS ARE ABSOLUTELY RIVETING.
UH, I GOT A SNEAK PEEK AT THE NEXT PRESENTATION, UH, WHICH, WHICH YOU SHOULD ALL HAVE NOW.
UM, I WILL TURN OVER TO WHO'S GOING TO INTRODUCE THIS ONE, UH, HOMER.
[2. 21-2143 A briefing on the Urban Forest Inventory and Analysis for San Antonio [David W. McCary, CPM, Assistant City Manager; Homer Garcia III, Director, Parks and Recreation]]
GOOD AFTERNOON, MADAM CHAIR AND, UH, EQUITY COMMITTEE MEMBERS.MY NAME IS HOMER GARCIA, DIRECTOR OF THE PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT, AND WE ARE VERY EXCITED TODAY, UH, TO PRESENT THE CULMINATION OF A YEARS LONG EFFORT, WHICH IS THE SAN ANTONIO URBAN FOREST IN INVENTORY ANALYSIS.
SO, DATING BACK TO 2017, COUNCIL AUTHORIZED THIS PARTNERSHIP WITH THE A AND M FOREST SERVICE FOR THE PURPOSE OF ESTABLISHING A COMPREHENSIVE FIELD-BASED TREE AND FOREST INVENTORY, WHICH THAT'S IMPORTANT BECAUSE PREVIOUSLY ALL WE HAD WAS AERIAL IMAGERY TO RELY ON.
AND SO, AS WHAT WE WILL SEE AND LEARN TODAY IS THIS FOREST INVENTORY ANALYSIS IS MUCH MORE COMPREHENSIVE, VERY ROBUST, ACCURATE, AND WILL GUIDE THE EFFORTS OF HOW WE INVEST OF THE TREAT FUND MONEY IN OUR COMMUNITY.
AND SO I'D LIKE TO INTRODUCE THE PROJECT TEAM, UM, WHICH IS GONNA BE MAKING THE PRESENTATION.
THAT IS GRETCHEN RILEY, UH, SHE'S THE URBAN FORESTRY COORDINATOR, AND THEN REBECCA XANDER, UH, GEOSPATIAL ANALYST WITH THE TEXAS A AND M FOREST SERVICE.
SO I'M GONNA MUTE MYSELF AND TURN IT OVER TO THEM.
AND, UH, I HOPE EVERYONE ENJOYS THE PRESENTATION.
WELL, THANK YOU HOMER FOR, FOR THAT.
AND CHAIRWOMAN SANDOVAL FOR, UH, ANNOUNCING THAT THIS IS GONNA BE RIVETING.
SO I HOPE THAT WE REALLY CAN KEEP THAT UP.
BUT THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING US TIME TO GIVE YOU AN OVERVIEW OF SAN ANTONIO'S URBAN FOREST INVENTORY ANALYSIS.
THE NAME IS PRETTY EXPLANATORY, BUT I WANNA SET THE STAGE OF WHY IT'S VALUABLE.
BACK IN 2011, THE ENTIRE STATE EXPERIENCED EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT AT THE TAIL END OF THAT DROUGHT.
SHORTLY AFTER IT ENDED WHEN THERE WERE STANDING BED TREES EVERYWHERE, PEOPLE WONDERED HOW MANY TREES WERE KILLED, HOW MANY TREES DIED FROM THE DROUGHT.
VERY QUICKLY WE WERE ABLE TO ANSWER THAT FOR RURAL LANDSCAPES BECAUSE WE HAVE BEEN COLLECTING DATA ON TREES FOR DECADES THROUGH THE US FOREST SERVICE, FOREST INVENTORY ANALYSIS PROGRAM.
HOWEVER, WE WERE NOT ABLE TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION QUICKLY NOR EASILY FOR URBAN AREAS AS THE F I A PROGRAM OR THE CENSUS FOR TREES, AS IT IS SOMETIMES CALLED, WAS LIMITED TO RURAL LANDSCAPES.
SO WHEN THE US FOR FOREST SERVICE BEGAN TALKING ABOUT MOVING THE F I A PROGRAM INTO URBAN AREAS, WE JUMPED IN WITH BOTH FEET.
WE KNEW IT WAS IMPORTANT BECAUSE WHAT'S REALLY COOL ABOUT IT IS IT COMBINES THE HISTORY AND REPUTATION OF THE LONG RUNNING US FOREST SERVICE F I A PROGRAM, WHICH HAS BEEN AROUND SINCE THE 1930S WITH THE ROBUST IRE URBAN INVENTORY PROTOCOL.
IT IS THE PERMANENT ESTABLISHMENT OF PLOTS AND ANNUALIZED INVENTORY OF TREES AND COMMUNITY SETTINGS THAT PROVIDES INFORMATION ABOUT THE
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STRUCTURE, THE FUNCTION, AND THE VALUE OF THE COMMUNITY FOREST.SO WITH URBAN F I A ONE CAN UNDERSTAND NOT JUST HOW MUCH COMMUNITY FOREST THERE IS, BUT WHAT IT IS, WHAT SERVICES IT PROVIDES, AT LEAST A PORTION OF THOSE SERVICES.
AND WHAT IS THE VALUE OF THOSE SERVICES? THE STATISTICALLY UNBIASED SAMPLING INVENTORY METHOD ESTABLISHES PERMANENT PLOTS, AS I, AS I MENTIONED, OF WHICH APPROXIMATELY 10% ARE REMEASURED EVERY YEAR.
THIS MEANS THAT A COMPLETE CYCLE OF RE-MEASURE DATA OCCURS EVERY 10 YEARS IN PERPETUITY.
SO IT'S NOT A SINGLE SNAPSHOT IN TIME, BUT AN ONGOING INVENTORY AND ANALYSIS THAT REVEALS STATUS AND TRENDS OF URBAN TREES AND FORESTS, AND ALLOWS PRACTICES TO BE EVALUATED OVER TIME.
THIS MAP IS FROM THE MY CITIES TREES APPLICATION, WHICH REBECCA WILL DEMONSTRATE IN A MOMENT AND SHOWS ALL THE CITIES ACROSS THE US THAT HAVE IMPLEMENTED URBAN F I A.
WHILE URBAN F I A IS A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE US FOREST SERVICE AND THE STATES WHERE IT'S IMPLEMENTED THE MY CITIES TREES APPLICATION IS DEVELOPED AND MAINTAINED BY TEXAS A AND M FOREST SERVICE WITH SOME SUPPORT FROM THE US FOREST SERVICE ON THIS MAP.
RED ICONS MEAN THE FIRST FULL CYCLE OF DATA COLLECTION HAS BEEN COMPLETED.
GRAY ICONS REPRESENT CITIES STILL IN PROGRESS IN MANY CITIES.
DATA IS BEING COLLECTED ON JUST A PORTION OF THE PLOTS EACH YEAR, MEANING IT MIGHT TAKE UP TO 10 YEARS TO ESTABLISH BASELINE DATA.
UNLIKE SAN ANTONIO, WHERE ALL 267 PLOTS THROUGHOUT THE CITY AND THE EXTRATERRITORIAL JURISDICTION WERE COLLECTED OVER A TWO YEAR PERIOD OF TIME, AND THE INITIAL BASELINE DATA IS NOW COMPLETE.
NOW, SAN ANTONIO IS UNIQUE AMONG OTHER PARTICIPATING CITIES IN THAT APPROXIMATELY ONE THIRD OF THE PLOTS WERE PLACED IN THE E T J.
THIS IS VERY FORESIGHTFUL AS TEXAS URBANIZATION IS PREDICTED TO CONTINUE OR EXCEED CURRENT RATES.
NEXT, WE WANTED TO GIVE YOU A QUICK OVERVIEW OF MY CITY'S TREES.
SO, AS GRETCHEN MENTIONED, IT IS THE APPLICATION FOR DELIVERING URBAN F I A DATA.
UM, SO THIS IS HOW THE PUBLIC WILL ACCESS INFORMATION ABOUT SAN ANTONIO'S URBAN FOREST INVENTORY.
SO THAT'S WHY WE WANTED TO START WITH THAT.
I WILL GET INTO SOME MORE INFORMATION ON, UM, RESULTS TREE INFO COMING OUT OF THE INVENTORY AT THE END OF THIS PORTION.
UM, BUT WANTED TO START WITH THE PUBLIC ACCESS.
WHEN YOU GO TO MY CITIES TREES.COM, UM, YOU GREETED WITH WHAT WE WERE JUST LOOKING AT AND THEN YOU OPEN THE APPLICATION AND SELECTED A CITY.
SO HERE WE'VE SELECTED SAN ANTONIO, AND YOU CAN SEE IN THE LEFT PANEL, UM, SOME GENERAL OVERVIEW INFORMATION ABOUT THE SAMPLE AREA, UM, SIZE, POPULATION, NUMBER OF PLOTS, AND THAT IS DYNAMIC AS YOU'LL SEE LATER.
UM, AND THEN IN THE UPPER RIGHT CORNER, THERE'S A SERIES OF MAROON ICONS, UM, WHICH ARE USED FOR VIEWING THE INVENTORY RESULTS.
WE'RE GONNA GO AHEAD AND CLICK THE FIRST ONE OF THOSE NEXT SLIDE.
THE ONE THAT LOOKS LIKE A LITTLE GRAPH, UM, THAT POPS OPEN THE INVENTORY STATISTICS WINDOW.
HERE YOU CAN SEE IT'S ON COUNT, THE NUMBER OF TREES, 137.8 MILLION TREES IN THE AREA.
UM, WE HAVE NINE DIFFERENT INVENTORY STATISTIC CATEGORIES YOU CAN CHOOSE FROM.
AND THERE'S ALSO A SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE STATISTIC, UM, ACCOMPANYING RIGHT UNDER THE RIGHT, UNDER THE HEADING OF THE NAME.
UM, SO YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT.
UH, NEXT SLIDE IN MY CITY'S TREES.
UH, YOU CAN ALSO FILTER THE DATA SPATIALLY USING THEMES.
SO IN SAN ANTONIO, WE HAVE SIX DIFFERENT SPATIAL THEMES.
YOU'LL SEE ON THE LEFT, LAND COVER, CITY GROWTH, WATERSHED, HEAT ISLAND, SOCIAL VULNERABILITY, AND EQUITY.
UM, AND THEN IF YOU GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, IF YOU CLICK THE LITTLE I ICON NEXT TO SELECT THEME, IT PULLS OPEN THIS THEME DESCRIPTION WINDOW, UM, WHERE YOU CAN GET A LITTLE MORE INFORMATION ON WHAT THOSE THEMES ARE, UM, THE DATA THAT'S BEHIND THEM.
SO FOR EXAMPLE, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.
IF WE CHOOSE EQUITY, YOU'LL SEE IT POPULATE ON THE MAP THERE.
UM, THIS IS BASED ON THE EQUITY MATRIX THAT WAS PRODUCED BY THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO'S OFFICE OF EQUITY.
IF YOU NOTICE THE THEME INITIALLY, IT COVERS THE ENTIRE SAMPLE AREA.
SO THOSE NUMBERS UP IN THE LEFT PANEL ARE ALL STAYING THE SAME RIGHT NOW.
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THAT AREA IS BROKEN INTO THESE CLASSES THAT YOU NOW SEE ON THE BOTTOM LEFT CORNER.UM, TO SEE THE CLASS DEFINITION SIMILAR TO THEMES.
UH, NEXT SLIDE, YOU CLICK THE I NEXT TO SELECT CLASSES.
AND HERE YOU HAVE A DESCRIPTION OF OF THOSE.
AND SO THIS, THIS WILL SHOW YOU HOW THESE CLASSES, EXACTLY HOW THEY CORRESPOND TO THE RESULTS PRODUCED BY THE OFFICE OF EQUITY EQUITY.
YOU CAN START DESELECTING CLASSES TO ISOLATE SELECTED AREAS OF THE CITY TO, UM, KIND OF SUBSET WHAT RESULTS YOU'RE SEEING.
AND SO NOTE, WHEN WE DID THIS, WE TURNED OFF, UM, THE E T J AND THE TWO LOWER, UH, SCORE CATEGORIES HERE.
THAT INFORMATION IN THE LEFT PANEL DID UPDATE.
SO YOU SEE, UM, WHAT PERCENT OF THE AREA IS COVERED, WHAT PERCENT OF THE POPULATION, UM, HOW MANY PLOTS.
AND, UH, THE TWO CLASSES THAT WE LEFT SELECTED ARE THE TWO HIGHEST.
UM, WHICH WITH EQUITY, AGAIN, YOU GET THIS INFORMATION FROM CLICKING THAT I, BUT, UM, THOSE TWO CLASSES HAD A COMBINED SCORE ON THE EQUITY MATRIX OF SEVEN OR HIGHER.
UM, SO THEY GENERALLY CORRESPOND TO HIGH CONCENTRATIONS OF PEOPLE OF COLOR AND LOW INCOME HOUSEHOLDS.
LOOKING AT THOSE TWO CLASSES AND ONE MORE NEXT.
UM, YOU SEE WE COVER 42% OF THE POPULATION, UH, BUT WE ONLY HAVE 5% OF THE TREES IN THAT AREA.
ONE THING I DO WANT TO POINT OUT THERE IS THAT THE, THE E T J, WHICH, YOU KNOW, HAS A LOT OF TREES AND NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE, IS BEING INCLUDED IN THE TOTAL.
UM, FOR CALCULATING THESE PERCENTAGES, IF YOU WANTED TO COMPARE JUST THE FOUR EQUITY CLASSES, YOU COULD DO THAT AS WELL, UM, AMONGST THEMSELVES BY HAVING ALL FOUR OF THOSE CLASSES ON THE E T J OFF AND GENERATING A REPORT.
UM, AND THAT'LL COMBINE ALL OF THE INFORMATION FROM THE APPLICATION FOR THOSE FOUR CLASSES IN ONE DOCUMENT.
AND TO DO THAT, YOU, UM, USE THE FOURTH MAROON ICON UP THERE ON THE RIGHT, THE ONE THAT LOOKS LIKE A PIECE OF PAPER.
UM, BUT NOW WE'RE GOING TO GO TO THE SECOND ICON, THE ONE THAT HAS THE TREES.
IF YOU CLICK THAT, IT OPENS A WINDOW WITH MORE DETAILED INFORMATION.
SO HERE WE'RE LOOKING AT SPECIES BY OWNERSHIP.
UM, AND YOU CAN SEE THE VAST MAJORITY OF TREES IN THESE TWO CLASSES ARE PRIVATELY OWNED.
AND AGAIN, YOU CAN SELECT ANY OF THE, UH, NINE STATISTIC CATEGORIES.
IF WE SWITCH OVER AND INSTEAD LOOK AT THE TWO LOWER SCORE, UM, CLASSES WHERE, YOU KNOW, THERE, THERE'S, UM, LESS COMPOSITION OF PEOPLE OF COLOR AND GENERALLY HIGHER INCOME HOUSEHOLDS.
AND NEXT SLIDE, AGAIN, OPEN THAT OWNERSHIP WINDOW.
WE SEE IT LOOKS A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT, UM, MUCH MORE PUBLIC OWNERSHIP IN THIS AREA.
AND IF YOU HAPPENED TO NOTICE THE SPECIES COMPOSITION HAS ALSO CHANGED.
SO IN THIS SPECIES LIST OVER HERE, UH, WITH THE TOP 10 SPECIES, UM, THAT'S ALSO SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT BETWEEN THE TWO GROUPS.
SO THIS WAS A VERY QUICK EXAMPLE, UM, WHIRLWIND TOUR, I KNOW.
BUT THERE ARE, AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, MANY DIFFERENT WAYS OF LOOKING AT THE DATA IN THIS APPLICATION.
SO I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU TO EXPLORE, DIG IN, UM, AND SEE WHAT, WHEN YOU GET INTO SPECIES COMPOSITION, WHEN YOU LOOK AT OWNERSHIP, WHEN YOU LOOK AT DIAMETER CLASS, UM, HOW THINGS BREAK OUT BETWEEN, BETWEEN THE CLASSES AND THE VARIOUS THEMES THAT WE HAVE.
SO NOW WHAT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR, UM, SOME BRIEF HIGHLIGHTS OF RESULTS.
UM, WITH THIS URBAN FOREST INVENTORY, WE FOUND 46 MILLION TREES WITHIN THE CITY, UM, PLUS ANOTHER 92 MILLION IN THE E T J PER GRAND TOTAL OF 138 MILLION.
26% OF THESE ARE PUBLICLY OWNED.
UM, THE TREES IN THE CITY AND E T J COMBINED, UH, STORE THREE AND A HALF MILLION TONS OF CARBON.
AND EVERY YEAR THEY REMOVE OVER 64, 6500 TONS OF AIR POLLUTION, WHICH LEADS TO A SAVINGS TO A SAVINGS OF 63 MILLION IN HEALTH COSTS.
UM, THE TREES ALSO REDUCE STORMWATER RUNOFF BY OVER 380 MILLION CUBIC FEET.
AND THEY SAVE SAN ANTONIO RESIDENTS 17 MILLION IN ENERGY COSTS EVERY YEAR.
UM, IF YOU ADD IN THE E T J THERE, THE TOTAL IS 22 MILLION.
SO ALL OF THIS INFORMATION YOU
[00:30:01]
CAN GET FROM MY CITY'S TREES.UM, YOU'LL NOTICE IN A COUPLE OF PLACES WE SEPARATED THE CITY AND THE E T J, YOU CAN DO THAT, UM, IN MY CITY'S TREES BY USING EITHER THE CITY GROWTH THEME OR THE EQUITY THEME.
BOTH OF THOSE HAVE A CLASS THAT IS THE E T J, SO YOU CAN USE THAT TO SEPARATE THOSE NUMBERS OUT.
SO, AS WE TALK ABOUT HOW THE DATA CAN BE USED, I WANNA CALL BACK TO YOUR MIND THE LEVEL OF INFORMATION THAT CAN BE GLEANED FROM THE DATA AND THE DIFFERENT WAYS IT CAN BE FILTERED THROUGH THE TOOL.
SO WITH URBAN F I A, INSTEAD OF JUST SAYING MORE TREES, PLEASE, ONE CAN NOW PRIORITIZE NOT JUST WHERE TREES WILL BE PLANTED, BUT WHAT ECOSYSTEM SERVICES NEED TO BE ENHANCED, AND WHICH SPECIES MIGHT BE BEST TO PLANT THERE IN ORDER TO FILL THAT NEED.
MY CITY'S TREES IS AN EXCELLENT RESOURCE RESOURCE FOR STAKEHOLDER GROUPS TO HELP DRIVE SUPPORT AND FOR REGIONAL PLANNING ORGANIZATIONS TO ENHANCE COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS.
AND AS WITH ANYTHING, IT'S HELPFUL TO KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE BEFORE, EFFECTIVELY PLANNING HOW TO REACH WHERE YOU WANT TO BE.
URBAN, F I A IS A FOUNDATION FOR ADAPTIVE COMMUNITY FOREST MANAGEMENT AND PLANNING.
AND WITH CLIMATE ISSUES AND, AND OUR INCREASED GLOBAL SOCIETY, WE ARE SEEING MORE AND MORE INVASIVE INSECTS AND DISEASES IN OUR COUNTRY.
AND WE CAN EXPECT THAT TO INCREASE IN FREQUENCY WITH URBAN FI A DATA THAT CAN HELP ASSESS POTENTIAL IMPACTS AND DRIVE DECISION MAKING FROM THESE AND OTHER ISSUES.
THE SAN ANTONIO DATA IS NOT CURRENTLY PUBLICLY ACCESSIBLE ON MY CITIES TREES.COM.
IT IS SCHEDULED TO GO LIVE NEXT WEEK.
WE WILL FOLLOW THAT UP WITH A PRESS RELEASE AND THEN INTRODUCE ON SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS FOR USERS INTERFACING WITH THE SITE.
THERE'S A REALLY NICE LITTLE ONLINE TUTORIAL THAT'S THERE RIGHT NOW.
UH, THAT CONCLUDES THE PRESENTATION OF THE URBAN FORCE AND INVENTORY ANALYSIS.
QUICK THANK YOU TO MIKE SHANNON AND HIS TEAM, DOUG
IT WAS A COLLABORATIVE, COLLABORATIVE EFFORT TO MAKE SURE WE'RE INCLUDING ALL THE NECESSARY FILTERS SO WE CAN, UH, DRIVE FORWARD MULTIPLE STRATEGIES AS WE INVEST OUR, OUR TREES IN OUR COMMUNITY.
AND, AND YOU DO HAVE, UH, OTHER STAFF MEMBERS HERE FOR THE QUESTION AND ANSWER PORTION.
AND I SEE, UH, OUR ARBORIST, OUR CITY ARBORIST AND, UH, MR. HOSEA.
SO HOLD TIE, WE'RE GONNA HAVE QUESTIONS FOR YOU 'CAUSE IT'S VERY EXCITING.
[3. 21-2077 A briefing on the City's Tree Ordinance and processes related to Tree Variances and reporting. [Roderick Sanchez, Assistant City Manager; Michael Shannon, Director, Development Services Department]]
GOING TO MOVE ON TO, UH, MR. SHANNON AND A PRESENTATION ON THE, UH, TREE ORDINANCE.YES, GOOD AFTERNOON, EVERYONE, UH, COUNCIL MEMBERS AND, UH, AND ALL THOSE, UH, ON THE CALL.
UH, SO I'M MIKE SHANNON, UH, DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DIRECTOR, AND I'M GONNA GIVE YOU A, UM, A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF, UH, THE CITY'S TREE ORDINANCE, UH, OUR PROCESS, AND, UH, TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT VARIANCES.
THOSE, UH, UH, A LOT OF DISCUSSION ABOUT THAT A COUPLE MONTHS AGO.
SO, UM, SO LET'S JUST JUMP INTO IT.
SO, UH, JUST STARTING OFF ON, UH, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE A LOT OF REGULATIONS, UH, FOR DEVELOPMENT.
WHEN YOU BUILD SOMETHING, DEVELOP A PIECE OF PROPERTY, RENOVATE A PIECE OF PROPERTY, UH, OUR, OUR TREE ORDINANCE, OUR TREE CODE, UM, LIKE ANYTHING ELSE, HAS A, HAS A GENERAL PURPOSE.
AND THAT PURPOSE IS TO BALANCE, RIGHT IS, IS TO BALANCE, UH, THREE MAJOR THINGS, THE PROTECTION OF EXISTING TREES.
SO, UH, WE JUST HEARD, UH, UM, A PRESENTATION ABOUT HOW IMPORTANT THEY, THAT TREES ARE FOR OUR, OUR, OUR COMMUNITY.
UH, WE ALSO WANT TO PROMOTE THE PLANTING OF NEW TREES.
SO OUR CODE DOES THAT, UM, UH, BY REQUIRING NEW TREES TO BE PLANTED ON MANY PROPERTIES.
UH, AND IT ALSO HAS TO ALLOW DEVELOPMENT TO OCCUR.
YOU KNOW, WE HAVE A LOT OF DEVELOPMENT THAT'S HAPPENED OVER THE YEARS.
WE KNOW MORE DEVELOPMENT IS COMING AND NEEDED, AND THAT BALANCE IS CRITICAL, UH, AS THAT DEVELOPMENT WILL CONTINUE TO PROVIDE NEEDED HOUSING AND JOBS AND ASSOCIATED DEVELOPMENT.
SO, JUST TO GIVE YOU A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY ON OUR TREE CODE, OUR TREE CODE IN SAN ANTONIO HAS BEEN AROUND SINCE 1997.
SO PRIOR TO THAT, WE DIDN'T HAVE A TREE PRESERVATION ORDINANCE.
AND SINCE THAT TIME, WE'VE HAD A FEW ITERATIONS OF IT, BUT, UH, WE HAVE A LITTLE SUMMARY THERE.
I WON'T GO THROUGH ALL OF THAT.
BUT 1997, WE STARTED WITH TREE SURVEYS AND PROTECTING CERTAIN TREES.
WE CALL THEM SIGNIFICANT OR HERITAGE TREES, DEPENDING ON THE SPECIES AND OR
[00:35:01]
SIZE OF THE TREE.UM, OVER THE YEARS, WE ADDED A FEW DIFFERENT ELEMENTS, TWEAKED IT OVER TIME, LIKE WE DO WITH MOST OF OUR CODES.
I HIGHLIGHTED ONE THING IN 2009, UM, WHERE WE WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT VARIANCES.
UH, VARIANCES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN IN THE CODE.
I'LL TALK ABOUT THAT IN A COUPLE SLIDES.
IN 1997, UH, AND THROUGHOUT, WE'RE ALWAYS ABLE TO, IF THERE'S A HARDSHIP, THERE'S A POSSIBILITY OF A VARIANCE.
UH, IN 2009, WE DECIDED AS A COMMUNITY THAT CERTAIN VARIANCES, WHETHER IT WAS IN THE FLOODPLAIN OR ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE AREAS, UH, THOSE COULDN'T BE DONE AT ADMINISTRATIVELY.
THEY WOULD GO, GO THROUGH THE PLANNING COMMISSION PROCESS.
UH, AND I'LL TALK MORE ABOUT THAT IN IN A BIT.
UH, 2010 IS AN IMPORTANT, UH, TIME FOR THE TREE, UH, CODE BECAUSE FOR THE FIRST, UH, 13 YEARS OF ITS EXISTENCE, WE FOCUSED PRIMARILY ON THE EXISTING TREES ON A PARTICULAR SITE.
UH, IN 2010 THROUGH, AFTER A LONG PROCESS, UH, THE CITY DECIDED, WELL, THAT WASN'T ENOUGH.
WE ALSO HAD TO PLANT TREES OR ENSURE TREES, OR PLANTED EVEN ON THOSE SITES THAT DIDN'T START WITH ANY TREES.
UH, THINK OF A FAIRLY, UH, BLANK, UH, A BARE PIECE OF PROPERTY.
UH, THERE'S NO TREES TO, TO PRESERVE NECESSARILY, BUT WE HAVE SOMETHING CALLED THE TREE CANOPY RULES.
SO AT THE END OF A PROJECT OR END OF THE DESIGN, WE LOOK TO SEE THAT THERE'S ENOUGH CANOPY THAT WILL BE PLANTED OR RETAINED TO MEET CERTAIN STANDARDS.
SO THAT WAS A BIG, UH, CHANGE IN 2010 AND IMPORTANT ONE, UH, FOR OBVIOUS REASONS.
SO THIS IS A FAIRLY, UH, SIMPLE SLIDE, HOW IT WORKS.
SO THE FIRST THING WE DO ARE THE DEVELOPER, THE, THE CIVIL ENGINEERS, THE LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS.
UH, THEY WILL IDENTIFY, UH, THE TREES ON THE SITE.
THERE'S A COUPLE DIFFERENT METHODS THEY CAN DO.
THEY PRODUCE A PLAN THAT WE, HERE AT THE CITY.
UH, I THINK YOU SAW MARK BYRD, OUR CITY ARBORIST.
HE HAS A TEAM OF, UH, INSPECTORS AND PLANS EXAMINERS.
UH, WE HAVE SEVERAL LICENSED ARBORISTS ON OUR TEAM.
UH, STEVEN STOKING IS ALSO ON THE CALL WITH MELISSA RAMIREZ.
UH, THEY KIND OF OVERSEE THAT PROCESS WITH MARK.
WE ACTUALLY GO INSPECT, UH, THE, THE SITE TO VERIFY THAT WHAT THEY PROVIDED ON THEIR TREE PLAN IS ACCURATE.
UH, AND THEN WE, UH, DO THE CALCULATIONS.
THE CODE'S GONNA TELL US SOME CALCULATIONS AS TO HOW MANY AND WHAT TYPES OF TREES, WHETHER IT'S SIGNIFICANT OR HERITAGE, UH, WHAT THEY'RE SAVING, WHAT THEY'RE PROPOSING TO SAVE, AND HOW IT FALLS INTO COMPLIANCE.
UH, AND THEN WE ALSO LOOK AT THAT CANOPY REQUIREMENT.
UH, AND AGAIN, THIS IS DONE BEFORE WE ISSUE A PERMIT, UH, TO, TO START CONSTRUCTION.
I DON'T REALLY LOVE THIS SLIDE BECAUSE THERE'S TOO MUCH INFORMATION ON IT, BUT I ACTUALLY PUT IT THERE BECAUSE, UH, MY ENGINEER IN ME LOVES ALL THE DETAILS.
UH, I'LL JUST SAY THIS IS JUST A SNAPSHOT OF, OF SOME OF THE DETAIL REQUIREMENTS THAT WE LOOK AT IN OUR CODE, RIGHT? SO, UM, THE TREE ORDINANCE TODAY.
IF YOU'RE NOT IN A FLOODPLAIN OR ENVIRONMENTAL SENSITIVE AREA, UH, WE HAVE RULES WHETHER YOU'RE RESIDENTIAL OR COMMERCIAL, AND WE HAVE THESE NUMBERS.
WE HAVE, UH, IF YOU PRESERVE 35% OR MORE OF SIGNIFICANT TREES, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO MITIGATE.
UH, IF YOU GO BELOW THAT NUMBER, UH, YOU TAKE DOWN SOME MORE, UH, SIGNIFICANT TREES, YOU'LL HAVE TO MITIGATE.
MITIGATE MEANS YOU'LL HAVE TO PLANT BACK, OR YOU'LL HAVE TO, UH, SUBMIT INTO THE TREE PRESERVATION PRESERVATION FUND.
WE'LL TALK ABOUT THAT IN A LITTLE BIT.
UH, IF YOU GO BELOW THE 20%, YOU PROPOSE THAT YOU HAVE TO, TO GO THROUGH THE ADMINISTRATIVE EXCEPTION VARIANCE PROCESS IN ADDITION TO MITIGATION.
BUT THAT, THAT YOU HAVE TO GET THAT APPROVED BY THE CITY OR THE PLANNING COMMISSION.
UM, SAME THING WITH COMMERCIAL.
THE NUMBERS ARE A LITTLE DIFFERENT.
UH, AND THEN IF YOU'RE IN THE FLOODPLAIN OR E S A, THE NUMBERS, AGAIN, UH, WE USE 80% MINIMUM PRESERVATION OF SIGNIFICANT TREES, A HUNDRED PERCENT OF HERITAGE TREES BEFORE, UM, UH, MITIGATION.
UH, AND IF YOU GO BELOW THOSE NUMBERS OR YOU PROPOSED, DO YOU HAVE TO GET THAT APPROVED BY PLANNING COMMISSION, UM, AND, AND, AND PROVE YOUR HARDSHIP AND ET CETERA.
SO, AGAIN, I I USE THE TERM MITIGATION.
ALL THAT MEANS IS, AGAIN, IF YOU'RE GONNA TAKE DOWN, UH, UH, MORE TREES THAN THESE CERTAIN NUMBERS THAT I JUST ESTABLISHED, UH, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO MITIGATE, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO PLANT BACK.
YOU CAN PAY INTO THE TREE FUND.
UH, YOU CAN PROPOSE ADDITIONAL PRESERVATION AREAS OR OPTIONS.
UM, AND THEN, UH, I, I THREW IN HERE, THERE'S SOME TREE CREDITS, UH, OUT THERE FROM THE INITIAL TREE CODE.
UH, THERE'S A COUPLE OF PROPERTY OWNERS THAT OWN SOME TREE CREDITS.
WE HAD TO GRANT A FEW OF THOSE.
THERE'S ONLY A FEW OF THOSE OUT THERE.
UH, THERE'S STILL A FEW OUT THERE, BUT YOU COULD GIVE UP SOME OF THOSE TREE CREDITS.
THE IMPORTANT THING HERE IS, UH, SINCE 2010, UH, OVER $19 MILLION HAS BEEN PAID INTO THE CITY'S MITIGATION FUND THAT IS HANDED, HANDLED AND MANAGED BY THE PARKS DEPARTMENT, A HOMER.
[00:40:01]
WE ALL WORK TOGETHER ON THIS, BUT IF A DEVELOPER CHOOSES TO PAY INTO THAT FUND, UH, WE COLLECT THAT MONEY AT DEVELOPMENT SERVICES THROUGH THE PERMITTING PROCESS THAT IS THEN TRANSFERRED OVER, ESSENTIALLY, TO HOMER'S CONTROL.I KNOW HOMER AND, AND THE, AND THE TEAM GIVE YOU A PRESENTATION, UH, I THINK ALMOST EVERY YEAR, UH, AT LEAST IN HIS BUDGET, UH, PRESENTATION, UH, IF NOT OTHER TIMES, ABOUT, UH, WHERE ARE THOSE TREES AND WHAT TREES ARE BEING PLANTED WHEN AND HOW MANY, UH, BUT AGAIN, 105,000 TREES, UH, IN THE LAST, UH, A LITTLE OVER A DECADE WITH THAT MONEY.
SO THAT'S THE WHOLE IDEA, IS THAT WE'RE GROWING THAT CANOPY EVEN AS SOME IS, UH, COMING, COMING DOWN, UH, TO OFFSET THAT.
SO, UH, LET'S TALK ABOUT VARIANCES.
AND, AND AGAIN, I THINK IN A COUPLE MONTHS AGO IN THE NEWSPAPER, THERE WERE A FEW ARTICLES, UH, ON VARIANCES.
AND I THINK IT PAINTED, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, A LESS THAN ACCURATE PICTURE OF WHAT THESE VARIANCES ARE.
UH, VARIANCES ARE NOT WAIVERS, THEY'RE NOT EXCEPTIONS.
IT'S SPELLED OUT IN THE CODE THAT IF YOU HAVE A HARDSHIP OR IF YOU HAVE A CONDITION WHERE YOU CAN'T MEET THE EXACT LETTER OF THE CODE, YOU CAN PROPOSE AN ALTERNATIVE WAY TO MEET THE CODE.
THERE'S A PROCESS TO GO THROUGH.
UM, AND AGAIN, BUT IT'S NOT A WAIVER, IT'S AN ALTERNATIVE WAY TO MEET THE INTENT OF THE CODE AND THE SPIRIT OF THE CODE WHEN A HARDSHIP EXISTS.
UH, THE STAFF, CITY STAFF, MY STAFF AND, AND OUR DEVELOPERS AND ENGINEERS, ET CETERA, UH, WE COORDINATE A LOT EVERY DAY, EVERY WEEK, UH, PRELIMINARY MEETINGS, A REVIEW PROCESS, UH, CERTAINLY GOING THROUGH VERY, UH, UH, PLANNING COMMISSION.
AND I'LL, I'LL KIND OF TALK ABOUT THAT ON THE NEXT SLIDE, TOO.
SO THIS IS JUST A, A, A COUPLE OF STEPS.
THERE'S, I HAVE, I HAVE FOUR, ACTUALLY, FIVE STEPS.
AND THE ONE PIECE I THINK THAT, THAT WAS MISSING RECENTLY IS, THAT'S STEP ZERO.
UH, THERE WAS SOME, UH, CONVERSATION ABOUT 200, UH, VARIANCES THAT WERE APPROVED, UH, BY THE, BY CITY STAFF, UH, OR BY THE CITY, UH, IN THE LAST COUPLE YEARS, UH, WHICH IS TRUE.
UH, AND THAT THE QUESTION WAS, WELL, HOW COME YOU'RE APPRO EVERY SINGLE ONE THAT'S A HUNDRED PERCENT APPROVAL RATE? UH, WELL, I THINK WHAT WAS NOT, UH, TALKED ABOUT ENOUGH OR AT ALL WAS THE STEP ZERO.
WE MEET, AS I MENTIONED, WITH DEVELOPERS AND ENGINEERS AND LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS A LOT.
WE DO PRELIMINARY MEETINGS, PHONE CALLS, AND MANY TIMES THERE'S A DISCUSSION THAT, HEY, THEY THINK THERE'S A POTENTIAL HARDSHIP OR A NEED FOR A VARIANCE.
AND, AND THROUGH MARK BUR AND HIS TEAM, UH, WE SHOW THEM, NO, YOU DON'T NEED A VARIANCE.
YOU CAN SAVE THIS TREE, MOVE THIS OVER HERE, DO SOMETHING ELSE.
AND, OR WE MIGHT SAY, UH, THAT'S NOT REALLY A HARDSHIP.
I WOULDN'T EVEN BRING THAT TO THE TABLE 'CAUSE IT'S GONNA PROBABLY BE DENIED.
UH, AND WE DON'T DOCUMENT THAT.
WE DON'T, THAT COULD BE JUST AS SIMPLE AS A PHONE CALL, A CONVERSATION IN A MEETING NECESSARILY.
UH, NOW IF IN FACT WE BELIEVE THERE IS A HARDSHIP AND THE CUSTOMER WANTS TO PROCEED, THEY WOULD REQUEST IT, THEY WOULD SEND IT IN.
UH, THERE, IT HAS TO BE IN WRITING WITH ALL THE RATIONALE, THE BURDEN IS ON THE APPLICANT, UM, AND IN, IN TERMS TO, TO SHOW US WHAT THAT HARDSHIP IS.
IF THERE'S A LEGITIMATE HARDSHIP, UM, THEN WE WILL LOOK AT IT.
WHAT ARE YOU PROPOSING, UH, TO MEET THE INTENT AND SPIRIT OF THE CODE? UH, WE WOULD RESPOND TO THAT, UH, APPROVE IT.
UH, IF IT'S DENIED, THERE'S AN APPEALS PROCESS, ALTHOUGH WE WORK HARD, UH, WITH OUR, UM, COMMUNITY, UH, OUR DESIGN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY TO FIND SOLUTIONS THAT DO MEET, UH, THE INTENT OF THE CODE WHEN THERE ARE ACTUAL HARDSHIPS.
SO, UH, SO THAT'S KIND OF THE PROCESS.
UH, WANTED TO GO THROUGH THAT.
UM, AND THE, THE, THE NUMBER, THE ONE THROUGH SIX IS NOT NECESSARILY IN ANY PARTICULAR ORDER, UM, BUT WE JUST TOOK MAYBE THE, SOME COMMON ONES.
SO MAYBE THERE'S JUST A, A SINGLE HERITAGE TREE OR A SINGLE SIGNIFICANT TREE ON THE SITE, A FEW TREES SCATTERED ABOUT MAYBE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PROPERTY.
UH, THERE'S SOME HARDSHIPS THAT THAT BRINGS TO THE TABLE.
UH, WE HAVE OTHER, UH, UTILITY INFRASTRUCTURE, STORMWATER INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS ON A PARTICULAR PROPERTY THAT MIGHT, YOU KNOW, COINCIDE WITH THE DEVELOPMENT THAT WE HAVE TO WORK AROUND.
UH, THE TOPOGRAPHY ITSELF, UH, AND OR THE MINIMUM MAXIMUM, UH, SLOPING FOR HOUSING OR OTHER RULES, UH, CAUSES SOME ISSUES, UH, ON SOME LOTS.
CERTAINLY INFILL DEVELOPMENT IS A CHALLENGE, UH, FOR A LOT OF OUR RULES AND REGULATIONS JUST BY THE, BY THE UNIQUE NATURE OF SOME OF THOSE PARCELS.
UH, SO WE, WE SEE TYPICAL VARIANCES.
UH, WE'LL HAVE ONE OR A FEW OF THESE THEMES, UH, THAT, THAT DEMONSTRATE SOME SORT OF HARDSHIP THAT WE REVIEW AND HAVE TO AGREE TO.
SO, I THOUGHT IT'D BE A, A GOOD IDEA TO JUST GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE.
I'M GONNA JUST THROW, THIS IS A REAL EXAMPLE THAT CAME TO US, UH, I THINK A MONTH OR TWO AGO.
UH, IT WAS, UH, IT WAS MAYBE IN FEBRUARY, I THINK IT WAS IN FEBRUARY.
[00:45:01]
UH, WE HAD A COMMERCIAL WAREHOUSE PROJECT, 37 ACRE, PRETTY GOOD SIZED COMMERCIAL PROJECT.UH, AND HERE'S SOME OF THE DETAILS.
THEY HAD A THOUSAND INCHES OF SIGNIFICANT TREES ON SITE.
AND, UH, THROUGH, YOU KNOW, A LARGE WAREHOUSE NEEDS A LOT OF PARKING, MORE IMPORTANT NEEDS.
A LOT OF, UH, TRUCK BAYS, YOU KNOW, THINK OF A WAREHOUSE, A LOT OF TRUCK BASE, UH, ON THEIR SITE.
UH, SO THEY WORKED REALLY HARD WITH OUR TEAM TO TRY TO MOVE THE STUFF AROUND QUITE A BIT, UH, TO SEE HOW MANY THEY COULD SAVE.
AND THE MAGIC NUMBER WE TALKED ABOUT, UH, UH, EARLIER WAS 20%.
SO THEY COULD GO TO 20%, WOULDN'T NEED A VARIANCE.
UH, BUT THEY ACTUALLY PROPOSED TO GO DOWN TO 15% PRESERVATION.
UM, AND, UH, WE LOOKED AT IT, AND THEIR HARDSHIP INCLUDED SOME GRADING NEEDS, UH, BUILDING, I TALKED ABOUT THE, THE, THE PARKING WAREHOUSE, TRUCK LOADING, ET CETERA.
UH, SO, BUT THEY ALSO SAID, OKAY, WELL, WITH THE 15%, WE, WE ARE PROPOSING, UH, A HARDSHIP, WE'RE PROPOSING AN ALTERNATIVE METHOD, AND WE WOULD LIKE THIS VARIANCE TO BE APPROVED.
AND WHAT THEY PROPOSED WAS PLANTING 372 NEW TREES.
UH, AND WHAT THAT MEANS IS THEY ACTUALLY WENT ABOVE AND BEYOND WHAT, UH, BY SAVING, THEY COULD HAVE, I THINK IT WAS SAVED FIVE OR SIX ADDITIONAL TREES, UH, TO NOT REQUIRE A VARIANCE.
BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, UH, BECAUSE OF THE HARDSHIP AND CHALLENGES THAT WE, WE THOUGHT WERE VERY REASONABLE, THEY ALSO PROPOSED AN ADDITIONAL 240 TREES ABOVE, UH, WHAT WOULD BE NORMALLY REQUIRED.
AND, AND I THINK THAT WAS LOST IN, IN SOME OF THE, UH, CONVERSATION AS WELL, IS THESE VARIANTS.
A LOT OF TIMES WE END UP GETTING A LOT MORE IN TERMS OF, UH, THE LONG-TERM HEALTH OF THAT SITE, UH, FOR THE CITY.
SO WE, THE CONCLUSION THERE WAS, WE APPROVED IT DUE TO THE HARDSHIP, AND WE FELT IT, IT VERY MUCH MET THE INTENT OF THE, UH, OF THE CODE.
SO, UH, THAT'S JUST AN EXAMPLE, UH, OF THAT PROJECT.
AND, AND WE HAVE, UH, A FEW, FEW OTHERS.
SO, JUST KIND OF GETTING DOWN TO MY LAST COUPLE OF SLIDES HERE, UH, THERE'S A QUESTION.
I MENTIONED THE PLANNING COMMISSION.
THERE ARE CERTAIN THINGS THE PLANNING COMMISSION DOES, SO I JUST THROW THIS HERE.
THEY, UH, THEY ARE THE APPROVAL BODY ON THAT FIRST ONE FOR VARIANCES.
UH, NOT, NOT BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT VARIANCES, BUT, UH, THE FLOODPLAIN ENVIRONMENTAL SENSITIVE AREAS.
UH, AND THEY COULD APPEAL ANYTHING THAT IF SOMEONE DIDN'T LIKE OUR, UH, ADMINISTRATIVE DECISION ON SOME OF THOSE OTHERS, UH, THEY COULD BE THE APPELLATE BODY.
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT HAS BEEN TALKED ABOUT RECENTLY ALSO IS THE CITY MANAGER, UH, BECAUSE OF THIS CONVERSATION RECENTLY HAS ASKED US TO, UH, JUST ADD A NEW LEVEL OF REPORTING.
SO, UH, IT STARTED LAST MONTH.
UM, AND, UH, SO EACH MONTH NOW, I JUST ACTUALLY, UH, GIVE A REPORT.
I GIVE IT TO ROD, AND ROD AND THE CITY MANAGER.
UH, AND WE, WE, WE DOCUMENT AND GIVE A SUMMARY OF, UH, THE, THE, UH, THE TREE VARIANCES THAT COME THROUGH OUR OFFICE.
UH, WHAT YOU'LL SEE THERE IS, UH, AND THE, AND I, I, WE STARTED, UH, THE REPORTING WENT BACK DECEMBER.
UH, YOU'LL SEE THAT THERE WERE 24 VARIANCES IN THE LAST THREE MONTHS.
UM, WE KIND OF SHOW WHAT, WHAT'S CONSIDERED BY PLANNING COMMISSION OR STAFF.
AND WE ALSO, UH, YOU KNOW, WE JUST WANTED TO COMPARE THAT WE ISSUED 1600, UH, A LITTLE OVER 1600 PERMITS.
SO IT, I, I THINK ANOTHER THING THAT WAS MISSED IS THIS IS A VERY SMALL NUMBER.
UH, HARDSHIPS ARE VERY FEW AND FAR BETWEEN, AND THAT'S WHY WE, WE ONLY GET A CERTAIN NUMBER OF THESE, UH, COMPARED TO THE DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY THAT WE SEE.
SO, UH, BUT THIS WILL, UH, AND DOES IMPROVE TRANSPARENCY IN THE DOCUMENTATION OF OUR VARIANCE REQUESTS RECEIVED.
AND LASTLY, BECAUSE WE CAN'T END A, UH, END A, UH, UH, COUNCIL COMMITTEE MEETING WITHOUT TALKING LEGISLATIVE ITEMS, UH, THE LEGISLATIVE CHALLENGES, I JUST PUT THIS OUT THERE.
UH, WE HAVE A FEW THINGS IN OUR STATE LEGISLATOR THAT REALLY, UM, YOU KNOW, CHALLENGE OUR CITY'S, UH, TREE CODE.
WE HAVE A LOT OF PROJECTS THAT COME THROUGH HERE THAT, THAT STILL HAVE GRANDFATHERED RIGHTS.
THEY CAN FOLLOW THE RULES THAT GO BEYOND, BEYOND 1997 OR BACK FURTHER THAN THAT.
SO THERE'S NO TREE ORDINANCE THAT WE CAN APPLY TO THAT AT ALL.
UH, WE DON'T SEE THAT CHANGING ANYTIME SOON.
BUT THERE ARE STILL SEVERAL PROJECTS OR PIECES OF, UH, UH, OF LAND OUT THERE THAT HAVE SOME SORT OF VESTING.
UH, AND, AND THERE'S ALWAYS SOME BILLS THAT ARE FILED TO WEAKEN OR ELIMINATE OUR TREE ORDINANCE.
THERE'S A LITTLE HISTORY OF THEM SO FAR, UH, ON THIS SESSION, WE HAVEN'T SEEN A DIRECT, UH, UH, TARGET OF OUR TREE ORDINANCE, ALTHOUGH WE'RE MONITORING A FEW THAT COULD GROW INTO THAT.
UH, BUT THERE'S ALWAYS SOME, UH, CHALLENGES.
MARK BIRD AND I, AND, AND SOME OF OUR COUNCIL MEMBERS AND MAYOR HAVE GONE UP, UH, EACH CYCLE.
ROD'S BEEN UP SEVERAL TIMES JUST DEFENDING OUR ABILITY TO HAVE A TREE ORDINANCE.
SO WE CERTAINLY HAVE TO KEEP THAT IN MIND.
SO I THINK THAT'S, UH, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
I MIGHT HAVE WENT A COUPLE MINUTES, UH, LONG THERE, BUT, UH, UM, I'LL BE AROUND FOR ANY QUESTIONS AFTER THE NEXT PRESENTATION,
[00:50:01]
SO THANK YOU.UH, MICHAEL, UH, THE, THE HANDS ARE FLYING UP FOR, FOR QUESTIONS, UH, RIGHT NOW.
[4. 21-2383 A briefing on the San Antonio Soil Carbon project, a joint effort between the City of San Antonio through the Parks and Recreation Department and the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service. [Debbie Reid, Technical Director, Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance]]
OUR NEXT ITEM, UH, THIS ONE WILL BE, UH, RELATIVELY BRIEF.I, I SEE PARKS AND REC, UH, ON THE LEAD SLIDE FOR THAT.
HOMER, DID YOU WANNA INTRODUCE THAT OR SHOULD I GO OVER TO, UH, TO GIA? I CAN DO IT.
YOUR NEXT BRIEFING IS ON SAN ANTONIO SOUL PROJECT.
UH, WE WILL HAVE, UH, GIA, WHICH IS, GETS THAT OPPORTUNITY.
UH, DEBORAH REED WILL MAKE THE PRESENTATION, UH, FOR US TODAY AS A PART OF, SHE'S OUR TECHNICAL DIRECTOR FOR THE EDWARDS AQUIFER, UM, UH, ALLIANCE.
SO TURNING OVER TO YOU, DEBBIE.
I REALLY APPRECIATE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK WITH THIS COMMITTEE.
I THINK IT'S, UM, FILLED WITH SOME REALLY EXCITING, INNOVATIVE, AND HOPEFUL INFORMATION.
AND I JUST WANNA HAND IT TO THE DEPARTMENT OF, UH, PARKS AND RECREATION AND HOMER'S LEADERSHIP AND BEING FORWARD THINKING AND BEING ABLE TO SEE THE BENEFIT THAT THE ENTIRE CITY MAY HAVE BY FOLLOWING THROUGH WITH THIS PROJECT.
SO THIS WAS ACTUALLY INITIATED DURING THE, UM, CAP PRO STRATEGIES.
AND THERE WAS ONE PERSON ON THE TECHNICAL COMMITTEE FOR WATER AND NATURAL RESOURCES THAT KIND OF BROUGHT TO THE TABLE MORE INFORMATION ON THE ABILITY TO USE OUR PUBLIC GREEN SPACES TO ACTUALLY MITIGATE CLIMATE CHANGE.
AND IN THE FINAL DOCUMENT, HERE'S SOME OF THE INFORMATION THAT REF REFERENCES USING GREEN SPACES.
AND OF COURSE IT INCLUDES TREES, WHICH WE HAVE SO MUCH GREAT INFORMATION ABOUT.
AND AS WE GO THROUGH, YOU NOTICE THAT THERE'S ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT WETLANDS AND SOIL LANDSCAPE.
AND AGAIN, NOW YOU HAVE BRAND NEW INFORMATION.
I DIDN'T KNOW YOU WERE GONNA HAVE THIS PRESENTATION.
SO THIS IS OLD INFORMATION 'CAUSE THAT'S WHAT WE HAD, SO WE REALLY DON'T HAVE TO DISCUSS IT BECAUSE GRETCHEN'S DONE A GREAT JOB.
BUT WHAT'S REALLY HAS COME TO THE SURFACE.
I MEAN, THERE IS SO MUCH ADDITIONAL RESEARCH OUT THERE.
THERE'S EVERYBODY SCRAMBLING TO UNDERSTAND THIS EMERGING STRATEGY OF USING SOILS TO REMOVE AND STORE C O TWO FROM THE ATMOSPHERE.
AND THAT'S WHAT THIS PROJECT IS ALL ABOUT.
SO THE SAN ANTONIO SOIL CARBON PROJECT PROMOTES THIS STRATEGY AND IT WILL PROVIDE THE CITY WITH BASELINE DATA TO KNOW WHAT OUR SOIL CARBON LEVELS ARE.
AND AGAIN, THIS, UH, WAS INITIATED DURING THE CAP PROCESS.
AND IN 2018, WE ACTUALLY MET WITH THE N R C S, THE NATURAL RESOURCE CONSERVATION SERVICE.
THEY'RE THE ONES THAT WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE NATIONAL SOIL CARBON ASSESSMENT THAT WAS DONE PRIMARILY ON AGRICULTURE LAND.
SO THEY WERE APPROACHED, THEY CAME TO SAN ANTONIO AND WE ASKED THEM TO ASSIST SAN ANTONIO TO DO A SOIL CARBON ANALYSIS, BECAUSE THIS IS WHAT IS NEEDED AND HAS BEEN RECOMMENDED IN THE CAP, IS THAT WE ACTUALLY GET SOME BASELINE DATA.
WHERE ARE WE IN THE LEVELS OF SOIL CARBON THAT WE HAVE CURRENTLY? NEXT SLIDE.
AND HERE WE ARE IN 2019 WHERE IT WAS AGREED TO.
N R C S IS, YES, I'VE GONE ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP.
WE WANNA START REACHING OUT TO URBAN AREAS.
THE LATEST, UH, FARM BILL, THE U SS D A FARM BILL ALLOWS US NOW TO ASSIST URBAN AREAS IN A BETTER WAY.
AND WE WANTED TO BE FIRST ON THAT WAGON AND MEETING KIND.
THEY CAME TO TOWN, THEY MET WITH PUBLIC WORKS WITH PARKS AND REC AND THE OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY.
AND IT WAS DECIDED THAT THE CITY WOULD OPEN UP THEIR PARKED PROPERTIES SO THAT THE N R C S COULD NOT ONLY UPDATE THEIR SOIL SURVEY MAPS, BUT TAKE SOIL CARBON SAMPLES.
ANOTHER EXCITING PART IS PERCOLATION DATA.
AND I'M GONNA TALK MORE ABOUT THAT PERCOLATION DATA IN A MINUTE.
SO IN ORDER TO DO THIS, AND OF COURSE THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF DELAYS, WE'RE PROBABLY SIX TO NINE MONTHS LATE FROM WHERE WE THOUGHT WE WOULD BE.
BUT THE FIRST THING WE GOTTA DO IS CREATE A MAP IN ORDER TO DO THE RANDOM AND EFFECTIVE
[00:55:01]
SITE SELECTION.AND I WANT THE COUNCIL TO KNOW THAT WE ACTUALLY MADE SURE THAT THE CA CITY COUNCIL DISTRICTS WERE INCLUDED SO THAT THERE ARE SAMPLING SITES IN EVERY COUNCIL DISTRICT.
SO WE'RE LOOKING AT BEING ABLE TO INITIATE THE SOIL SAMPLING THIS SUMMER.
WHATEVER COVID PROTOCOLS ARE IN PLACE, THOSE ARE THE ONES THAT WE WILL BE FOLLOWING.
AND AFTER THE SAMPLINGS ARE COMPLETED, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.
WE WILL ACTUALLY BE, UM, THE N R C S WILL DO THE ANALYSIS AND THEN OFFER THE CITY RECOMMENDATIONS ON HOW TO IMPROVE THE SOIL HEALTH.
AND SO, GIVING YOU A LITTLE BIT MORE INFORMATION ABOUT HOW ARE SOILS BEING USED AS A MITIGATION STRATEGY.
YOU'RE FAMILIAR WITH THE PROCESS OF PHOTOSYNTHESIS TREES, TAKING IN CARBON DIOXIDE AND TURNING IT INTO, UM, TREE TRUNK.
ANYWAY, THEY CAN STORE THAT MATERIAL.
BUT WHAT'S LESS KNOWN IS THE WAY THAT SOILS CAN ACTUALLY SEQUESTER CARBON DIOXIDE FROM THE ATMOSPHERE AND STORE THAT IN THIS, IN THE SOIL.
AND THIS GIVES YOU A LITTLE BIT OF IDEA WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING AT A SOIL.
IT'S MADE UP OF A LOT OF DIFFERENT COMPONENTS.
AND THAT STABILIZED ORGANIC MATTER.
THAT'S WHERE THEY CAN, THE SOILS ARE ABLE TO STORE FOR LONG TERM A LOT OF CARBON THAT THEY'VE PULLED FROM THE ATMOSPHERE.
BUT THE AMAZING THING IS, IS THAT IT LOOKS LIKE THAT SOILS CAN ACTUALLY SEQUESTER UP TO THREE TIMES MORE C O TWO FROM THE ATMOSPHERE THAN ABOVE GROUND VEGETATION.
SO THIS IS TREMENDOUS INFORMATION FOR SAN ANTONIO.
AND WHILE WE'RE DOING THESE SOIL IMPROVEMENTS THAT THE N R C S IS REC GONNA RECOMMEND, WE'RE GONNA BE REDUCING STORMWATER RUNOFF, IMPROVING WATER QUALITY, REDUCING THE HEAT IDLING, REDUCING IRRIGATION USE, AND OF COURSE, INCREASING RECREATIONAL USE, WILDLIFE AND BIODIVERSITY.
SO AGAIN, HOW DO SOILS MITIGATE STORMWATER RUNOFF? REMEMBER WE WERE TAKING PERCOLATION DATA.
THAT'S THE AMOUNT OF STORM WATER THAT CAN ACTUALLY INFILTRATE INTO THE SOIL AND BE HELD THERE.
SO A HEALTHY SOIL WILL ALLOW MORE WATER STORMWATER RUNOFF TO GO INTO THE SOIL PROFILE VERSUS JUST RUNNING OFF INTO THE STREET.
AND WITH A SMALL ADDITION, A SMALL ADDITION OF SOIL ORGANIC MATTER, A 1% INCREASE, YOU CAN STORE AN ADDITIONAL 20,000 GALLONS OF STORMWATER PER ACRE.
THAT MEANS THAT OUR SOILS CAN ACTUALLY LI ACT LIKE AN ADDITIONAL STORMWATER DETENTION BASIN.
AND THESE ARE THINGS THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY MEASURE.
SO THIS REDUCTION OF STORMWATER RUNOFF WILL OF COURSE REDUCE PEAK FLOWS, INCREASE RECHARGE IN THE AQUIFER, CREEKS AND RIVERS, IMPROVE WATER QUALITY DUE TO THE FILTERING EFFECT.
AND THE GREAT THING, ONE OF OUR REASONS THAT WE HAVE SO MANY IMPAIRED SEGMENTS IN OUR CREEKS HERE IS DUE TO LOW FLOWS.
SO THIS INCREASED MIGRATION OF THE SOIL WATER INTO OUR CREEKS AND RIVERS WILL ALLOW FOR HEALTHIER ECOSYSTEMS. NEXT SLIDE.
AND WHAT'S GREAT IS THAT WE'RE PRETTY SURE ONE OF THE FIRST RECOMMENDATIONS AND ONE THAT WE'VE BEEN DISCUSSING WITH PARKS AND REC IS THIS IS A FIRST AND NO COST STEP IN USING SOILS FOR MITIGATION IS JUST SIMPLY TO CHANGE SOME OF THE SOIL AND VEGETATION MANAGEMENT PRACTICES.
AND THESE ARE EASY THINGS TO DO.
BUT ONE OF THE THINGS WE'LL BE ASKING COUNCIL TO, UM, ASSIST WITH IS THAT WHEN YOU GET THE CALLS FROM YOUR CONSTITUENTS, CAN WE COUNT ON YOU TO ASSIST YOUR, TO EDUCATE YOUR CONSTITUENTS ON HOW CHANGING SOME OF THESE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES WILL, MAYBE MOVING SOME OF OUR PARK AREAS OR AREAS WITHIN PARKS AWAY FROM THE GOLF COURSE.
LOOK, AND THAT'S KIND OF WHAT I CALL THAT, MOWING IT DOWN REALLY SHORT, WHICH DOES NOT PROVIDE THE SOIL BENEFITS THAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR.
AND I WANNA POINT OUT ON THAT IN THIS SLIDE, THAT THE PRAIRIE AT THE HOUSTON HOSPITAL AND THE MEDICAL CENTER, THIS WAS JUST A, SOMETHING THAT THEY DID IN ORDER TO, UM, TAKE UP OR TO GIVE A LANDSCAPE TO THIS AREA THAT WAS GONNA BE BUILT ON.
AND WHEN IT WAS SLATED TO BE DEVELOPED, THERE WAS SUCH AN OUTCRY FROM THE COMMUNITY AND STAFF THAT IT'S NOW A PERMANENT FEATURE IN DOWNTOWN.
SO LOOKING AT THE PARK AREAS, WE HAVE ABOUT 16,517 ACRES OF CITY PARKS AND GOLF COURSES.
SO EASILY WITH A SMALL INCREASE
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IN, UM, SOIL ORGANIC MATTER, WE CAN EASILY ACCOUNT FOR ONE TON PER ACRE.WE CAN GO BETTER AND FURTHER DEPENDS ON WHAT OUR, UH, STRATEGIES ARE FOR USING THIS, UH, COMPONENT.
AND WITH THAT 1% INCREASE, WE CAN REMOVE AN ADDITIONAL 330 MILLION GALLONS OF STORM WATER.
AND THIS IS AN, AN, TO ME THIS HAS A REALLY IMPORTANT EFFECT IMPACT ON OUR INFRASTRUCTURE, OUR DRAINAGE INFRASTRUCTURE, AND HOW CAN WE USE THIS INFORMATION? AND THAT'S ONE OF THE REASONS WHY PUBLIC WORKS NEPHI'S TEAM HAS REALLY BEEN INTERESTED IN APPLYING THIS MAYBE TO SOME OF THE DETENTION FACILITIES TO MAKE THEM WORK A LITTLE BIT BETTER.
CAN WE REDUCE SOME OF THOSE PEAK FLOOD FLOWS THAT WE EXPERIENCE, ESPECIALLY DURING THESE, UM, UNPREDICTABLE STORMS. AND FOR OUR CONSERVATION, OUR AQUIFER PROTECTION AREAS UNDER CONSERVATION EASEMENT.
ANOTHER ADDITIONAL 170,000 TONS OF CARBON CAN BE REMOVED ANNUALLY FOR AN ADDITIONAL, I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF I CAN SAY THIS NUMBER.
THIS IS A 3 BILLION, 400,000 GALLONS OF WATER THAT WILL RECHARGE OUR AQUIFER.
SO WE WOULD GET DOUBLE BANG FOR NOT ONLY AQUIFER PROTECTION, WE'LL HAVE AN, A BENEFIT FOR AIR QUALITY AND FOR AN INCREASE IN AQUIFER RECHARGE.
SO DEBBIE, I, I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH LONGER YOU HAVE.
I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE WE SAVE TIME FOR, FOR QUESTIONS FOR COUNCIL.
'CAUSE WE HAVE THREE PRESENTATIONS.
YOU KIND OF GET THIS PICTURE THAT'S NO PROBLEM.
AND I JUST WANNA THANK LISA MARTINEZ, WHO WAS AT VOLUNTEER AND THE TRINITY UNIVERSITY STUDENTS THAT HAVE HELPED PUT THIS DATA TOGETHER.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR ATTENTION.
THANK YOU, DEBBIE, FOR, UH, FOR EDUCATING US ABOUT THAT.
I THINK IT WAS A LITTLE TECHNICAL
BUT, UH, WE'LL MOVE ON TO, UH, TO QUESTIONS.
AND WE HAVE THREE GR GREAT PRESENTATIONS, UH, TO ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT.
I'M GONNA START, UM, WITH, UH, COUNCILMAN ANDREW SULLIVAN.
I BELIEVE YOUR HAND WAS RAISED.
AND, UH, JUST ONE, JUST HAVE TO SAY MS. DEBBIE, I'M SO, SO, SO HAPPY YOU ARE A PART OF THIS CONVERSATION.
I KNOW YOU AND I HAVE SPOKEN, AND JUST YOUR WISDOM THAT YOU HAVE ABOUT WATER CONSERVATION AND, AND SOIL CONSERVATION AND HOW WE MAKE THIS WORK.
UM, I'M JUST SO HAPPY TO SEE YOU HERE GIVEN THIS PRESENTATION TODAY.
SO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT.
UH, HOMER, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL OF THE WORK THAT YOU DO WITH PARKS AND REC AND, AND MIKE AND, AND MARK AND MELISSA, JUST ALL OF YOU GUYS, UM, HAVING THIS CONVERSATION SPEAKS TO WHY WE ARE HERE, AND IT'S TO BETTER THE LIVES OF THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO.
AND YOU CAN SEE IT IN ALL OF THESE PRESENTATIONS.
THE ONE QUESTION THAT I DO HAVE IS, UNDER THE URBAN FORESTRY, DOES THE COMPONENT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT DEAD TREES? SHORT ANSWER IS YES.
UM, IN THE ESTIMATES THAT WE SHOWED, DEAD TREES ARE INCLUDED IN CARBON STORAGE.
UH, MOST OF THE OTHER BENEFITS THAT WE WERE LOOKING AT ARE LIVE TREES.
BUT, UM, BUT WE DO COLLECT INFORMATION ON DEAD TREES, JUST LIKE WE DO FOR LIVE, UM, ONE IN ONE INCH IN DIAMETER AND, AND GREATER.
AND THEN, UM, WHEN WE'RE LOOKING AT THIS TREE ORDINANCE AND THE TREE VARIANCE, MIKE, AND, AND WE COME TO THE DEVELOPMENTAL STAGE, UM, DOES THIS VARIANCE WHEN IT COMES TO THE REMOVAL OF TREES, DO WE HAVE AN ACCOUNT OF HOW MANY TREES HAVE BEEN REMOVED BECAUSE THEY'RE JUST NOT VIABLE TREES? AND HOW MANY TREES, UM, ARE LIVING TREES THAT HAVE BEEN REMOVED? WELL, UM, I, I DON'T KNOW IF WE HAVE A COUNT OF HOW MANY, UM, YOU KNOW, VIABLE OR NON-VIABLE.
UH, JUST TO, JUST TO PIGGYBACK A LITTLE BIT ON YOUR PREVIOUS QUESTION, UH, FOR DEAD TREES ARE, ARE, ARE CITY'S TREE CODE, UH, DOES ADDRESS TREES THAT ARE, UH, DEAD OR DECAYING OR A HAZARD, UH,
[01:05:01]
IN THAT CATEGORY.UH, AND THOSE ARE, UH, IDENTIFIED USUALLY BY THE APPLICANT, MEANING THE DEVELOPER, UH, THAT HAS TO BE VERIFIED BY, BY MARK AND, AND HIS STAFF OF INSPECTORS.
UH, YOU KNOW, UH, AND IF WE, IF IT IS CONFIRMED, IT'S A DEAD TREE, UH, FOR THE PURPOSES OF TREE CODE, IT'S GIVEN NO CREDIT NOR, UH, ANY PENALTY.
UH, BECAUSE AGAIN, DEAD TREES, UH, FOR THE, FOR THE PURPOSES OF THE DEVELOPMENT, UM, YOU KNOW, GENERALLY CAN JUST BE TAKEN OUT, UH, AND, AND ADD NO VALUE.
AND IF THEY GO TOO LONG, THEY COULD BE A HAZARD, AND WE WANT TO, WE WANT TO GET RID OF THAT HAZARD.
I HOPE THAT ANSWERS YOUR QUESTION, BUT I DON'T HAVE A NUMBER OF HOW MANY OF THOSE, WE'D HAVE TO TALLY UP PROBABLY ALL THE TREE PERMITS WE'VE EVER SEEN AND, AND FIGURE THAT OUT.
BUT THAT'S NOT A COLUMN ON THE CHART, IF YOU WILL.
UM, AND DO, AND THEN BACK TO THE URBAN, UH, FORESTRY.
DO WE TAKE INTO ACCOUNT OUR MILITARY BASES, OR IS THAT A, A SEPARATE, UM, COUNT? BECAUSE I KNOW WE'RE DOING THE, THE E T J, BUT ARE MILITARY BASES ENCOMPASSED IN THIS, UH, DATA? UM, THEY ARE, IF TWO THINGS, ONE, IF THEY'RE INCLUDED IN THAT BOUNDARY THAT YOU SEE ON THE APPLICATION.
AND TWO, IF WE WERE ABLE TO GAIN ACCESS, AND I DON'T KNOW OFF OF THE, OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD, UM, IF THERE WERE ANY ISSUES WITH, UM, NOT GAINING ACCESS.
BUT I DO SEE, LIKE, UH, CAMP BULLIS IS NOT PART OF THE E T J, SO IT'S NOT INCLUDED.
UM, BUT THAT'S PROBABLY YOUR, YOUR BEST WAY OF LOOKING AT THAT IS TO JUST GO INTO THE APPLICATION AND LOOK AT WHERE THE BOUNDARY FALLS.
UM, AND THEN THE LAST QUESTION THAT I HAVE, IT'S, IT'S ALWAYS ABOUT HOW WE ARE GROWING IN OUR CITY WITH SIDEWALKS AND, AND PUTTING IN SIDEWALKS AND PRESERVING SIDEWALKS, AND HOW MANY AREAS OF OUR CITY ARE WE NOT ABLE TO PUT IN SIDEWALKS BECAUSE, UM, THERE IS A TREE THAT IS IN THAT, THAT PATHWAY? OR HOW MANY SIDEWALKS HAVE WE LOST BECAUSE TREES HAVE GROWN INTO OUR SIDEWALKS? WELL, UM, MAYBE I'LL JUMP IN IF, UH, IF THAT'S ALL RIGHT.
I, UM, I'LL JUST SAY, UH, COUNCILWOMAN, WHEN WE LOOK AT, UH, UH, OUR SIDEWALKS AND TREES, UH, IT COULD BE A COUPLE SCENARIOS.
ONE THAT I COULD THINK OF WOULD BE, UM, YOU KNOW, IF A DEVELOPMENT, UH, IS, IS PUTTING IN SIDEWALKS, UH, BUT THERE MAY BE AN EXISTING TREE THAT THEY WANT TO PRESERVE.
UH, THERE'S A, THERE'S A FEW DIFFERENT WAYS, UH, TO GO AROUND THAT TREE.
UH, THEY CAN BUILD THAT SIDEWALK, UM, POSSIBLY ONTO THE PRIVATE PROPERTY WITH SOME SORT OF LEGAL INSTRUMENT OR EASEMENT.
UH, SO THERE ARE SOME COMMON WAYS TO GET A, TO GET A QUOTE UNQUOTE AROUND THAT.
UH, SO THAT WE, WE PRESERVE THE TREE, YET STILL GET SIDEWALKS THAT WE NEED.
UH, WE DO SEE, UH, SOME TREES, WE'LL HAVE OUR CODE OFFICERS SOMETIMES GET CALLED OUT THAT THERE'S, THERE'S A, A BUSTED UP BROKEN SIDEWALK BECAUSE THE TREE NOW IS, IS GROWING INTO THAT DAMAGING IT.
UH, WE'LL ASSESS THAT SITUATION TO DETERMINE THE SOLUTION.
UH, YOU KNOW, THE ADJACENT PROPERTY OWNER, UH, IS, IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THAT.
BUT, YOU KNOW, DEPENDING ON THE SITUATION, WE'LL FIND A WAY TO, TO KIND OF CORRECT IT.
UH, WE DON'T WANT TO NECESSARILY JUST GO CHOP DOWN A TREE TO SAVE A SIDEWALK, BUT WE ALSO DON'T WANT TO GIVE UP A SIDEWALK TO, TO, TO SAVE A TREE EITHER.
SO THERE'S SOME UNIQUE SOLUTIONS THAT WE LOOK FOR.
AND, UH, BUT IT IS SOMETHING THAT, THAT COMES UP.
I DON'T HAVE A NUMBER OF, UH, CASES OR HOW MANY TIMES THAT COMES, BUT IT IS SOMETHING THAT WE DEAL WITH, UM, AT LEAST ON OUR SIDE.
AND THEN WE'LL BRING IN PUBLIC WORKS AS NEEDED.
UM, AND THEN, MS. DEBBIE, WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE AREAS WITHIN THE DISTRICT THAT ARE GOING TO BE A SAMPLE AREA, DO YOU HAVE A BREAKDOWN FOR US AS THE COUNCIL DISTRICT OF WHERE THAT IS GOING TO TAKE PLACE? GOOD QUESTION.
UM, THAT WILL BE DONE RANDOMLY, AND THOSE SITES HAVE NOT BEEN SELECTED.
BUT ONE OF THE CRITERIA, THE LAYERS IN THE G I S MAP IS BY CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT.
AND SO IN ORDER TO MAKE THIS, UM, SO THAT THEY CAN ACTUALLY OFFER THE CITY GOOD RECOMMENDATIONS, IS THAT THEY WILL NEED TO LOOK AT THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF SOIL THROUGHOUT THE SOIL.
AND THAT WILL BE A BIG PART OF THE BASIS OF THE SITES THAT ARE SELECTED.
BUT THERE'LL BE ABOUT 70, ABOUT 75 SITES THROUGHOUT THE, UM, COUNTY WILL BE SELECTED.
UM, WE HAVE A VISITOR, EXCUSE ME.
UM, AND THEN MY LAST QUESTION THAT I'LL ASK, UM, ABOUT THE, THE SELECTIONS.
WE HAVE A LOT OF AREAS THAT ARE FLOODPLAIN AREAS ARE,
[01:10:01]
UM, WE HAVE AREAS THAT, THAT JUST HAVE KIND OF DEBRIS LEFT FROM, FROM FLOOD OF 98.AND HAVE WE LOOKED AT THE SOIL ATION OR THE TREE PRESERVATION FOR THAT? YES.
ACTUALLY, RIPARIAN AREAS OR THE FLOODPLAINS WILL BE ONE OF THE AREAS SELECTED OUT BY USE.
AND WE KNOW FROM THE DATA THAT THOSE AREAS ARE GONNA BE SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT BECAUSE NOT ONLY DO THEY HAVE THE ABILITY TO SEQUESTER CARBON DIOXIDE AT THREE TIMES MORE THAN THE VEGETATION, BUT BECAUSE OF THEIR PROXIMITY TO WATER SOURCES, THEY WILL ALSO HAVE AN INCREASE OF POTENTIAL FOR ALL OF THE DIFFERENT BENEFITS THAT WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT.
SO THEY'RE VERY IMPORTANT TO US.
SO I GUESS YOU SEE NOW WHY I HAVE SO MUCH INTEREST IN HOW WE'RE GONNA LEAVE OUR FUTURE.
UM, BUT THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT, DEBBIE.
WE'LL MOVE ON TO COUNCILWOMAN VIA, AGAIN, THANK YOU CHAIR.
UM, THANK YOU REBECCA AND GRETCHEN, UH, FOR THE PRESENTATION.
AND DEBBIE, I'LL GET BACK TO YOU.
UM, THANK YOU, MIKE, FOR YOUR PRESENTATION.
IT WAS THE LEAST RIVETING OUT OF ALL OF 'EM, SO I'M GOING TO START WITH YOU.
UM, AND TO BE FAIR, HE ALSO GAVE ME A PRE, UH, UM, YOU KNOW, HE SHARED SOME INFORMATION WITH ME BEFORE.
CAN YOU PLEASE DEFINE OR TELL ME WHAT YOU MEAN EXACTLY WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL SENSITIVE, ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE AREAS? ABSOLUTELY.
UH, COUNCILWOMAN, UH, HOW COULD I NOT ANSWER THAT QUESTION AFTER SUCH A NICE, FUN COMMENT? I, ALTHOUGH I WISH, I WISH, UH, THAT WAS THE FIRST TIME ANYONE SAID I WAS THE LEAST INTERESTING PERSON IN THE ROOM, BUT WE KNOW THAT'S NOT TRUE.
UH, THAT BEING SAID, LEAST RIVETING.
UH, NOW, ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE AREAS.
SO WHAT HAPPENED, AND IT, IT GOES A LITTLE TO, UH, UH, THE CONST WOMAN'S QUESTION ABOUT FLOODPLAINS.
SO IN 2009, UH, WE IDENTIFIED THAT FLOODPLAINS, AND WE CALL IT ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE AREAS, EITHER THE, THE BUFFER, THERE'S A, THERE'S A BUFFER AROUND THE FLOODPLAIN.
SO WE KNOW THE FEMA FLOODPLAIN MAPS, UH, ARE IDENTIFIED GEOGRAPHICALLY.
AND THEN THERE'S AN AREA JUST TO, JUST ON THE EDGE OF THOSE, UM, THAT BUFFER, UH, W W IS PART OF IT, OR IF WE HAVE A STEEP SLOPE, IF WE HAVE A, SOME TOPOGRAPHY THAT HAS STEEP SLOPES, THOSE HAVE SOME, UH, MORE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS.
AND THE TREES IN THERE, WE DECIDED IN 2009, UH, THAT WE WOULD PROTECT THEM AT A HIGHER RATE, MEANING THAT WE PUT MORE, UH, MORE PROTECTIONS ON THOSE AREAS.
UH, SO AGAIN, THE IT KIND OF LOOP, UH, LUMPED INTO ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE AREAS AGAINST DEEP SLOPES OR THE BUFFER JUST UP NEXT TO THE FLOODPLAIN AREA.
IT'S 30 TO 60 FEET GENERALLY ADJACENT TO THE FLOODPLAIN.
DO, DO WE ALSO MEAN LIKE OVER THE AQUIFER, THE A, THE EDWARDS AQUIFER PROTECTION ZONE? IT, IT COULD BE, BUT NOT NECESSARILY.
SO IT'S NOT, IT IT IS NOT EXACTLY, UH, OVER THE AQUIFER.
THE AQUIFER IS IDENTIFIED, UH, A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT ON OUR ZONING, UH, OUR ZONING CATEGORIES AND, UH, G I S CATEGORIES.
UH, BUT THERE ARE, YOU KNOW, THEY, THERE IS SOME OVERLAP THERE.
BUT, UM, I, I DON'T KNOW IF, IF THAT'S ANSWERING YOUR QUESTION MARK, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU WANT TO JUMP IN FOR ME.
SO THE PROTECTIONS, UM, FOR THE, UH, BUFFERS, WE DO HAVE VERY SPECIFIC, UH, 60 FOOT BUFFERS, UH, IN THE RIPARIAN AREAS WHERE WE HAVE RECHARGING, CONTRIBUTING ZONES AND 30 FOOT BUFFERS IN THE NON RECHARGE, NON-CONTRIBUTING ZONES.
AND THEN CONNECTING A LITTLE BIT TO, I GUESS THIS COULD BE ALSO CONNECTED TO PARKS, UM, YOU KNOW, THE, THE U F I PRESENTATION, UM, WHEN WE DO TREE GIVEAWAYS ARE, DO WE TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION ALL OF THOSE SAME ELEMENTS THAT WERE PRESENTED WITH THE URBAN FOREST IN, UH, INVENTORY? DO WE TAKE ALL THAT INTO CONSIDERATION WHEN WE'RE GIVING OUT THE, THE TREES? UH, ONLY IN PART, AND THE REASON FOR THAT IS BECAUSE WE DID NOT HAVE THE TOOL AND THE DATA THAT WE DO TODAY.
UH, SO HISTORICALLY, WHEN I MENTIONED, UH, IT WAS JUST THE AERIAL IMAGERY AND TECHNOLOGY UTILIZED, WE'RE ABLE TO SEE PRIMARILY WHERE THERE'S THE LEASE CANOPY.
AND, UH, SO THEN THAT IN THEORY WOULD DRIVE US TO WHERE WE NEED A FOCUS TREE EFFORT.
BUT SPECIFIC TO YOUR QUESTION, WE WILL NOW HAVE THIS ADDED TOOL THAT WILL ALLOW US, WHETHER IT'S EQUITY TO DRIVE, UH, FORWARD AND MAYBE REDUCE SOME OF THOSE T ISLAND TEMPERATURES OR WHAT HAVE YOU.
[01:15:01]
SOMETHING UTILIZED IN WHAT WE DO IN PARKS GOING FORWARD.UM, GRETCHEN AND REBECCA, UH, WHEN YOU DID THE, THE SURVEY OR THE INVENTORY, DO YOU LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THE TREE WHEN YOU'RE TAKING THIS INVENTORY? OR IS IT, I MEAN, WHAT IS THAT? WHAT IS IT? YES.
UM, A MULTITUDE OF, UM, ATTRIBUTES ARE COLLECTED ON THE PLOT.
SO A FIELD CREW GOES OUT AND VISITS, UM, EACH OF THOSE 267 LOCATIONS THAT WE HAD.
UM, AND THEN EACH OF THOSE IS A 48 FOOT RADIUS PLOT.
SO IF YOU CAN IMAGINE THAT IT'S FAIRLY LARGE, UM, AND THEY'LL MEASURE ALL OF THE TREES ON THAT LOCATION.
SO THEY'LL NOTE THE SPECIES, THEY WILL, UM, MEASURE THE DIAMETER.
THEY MEASURE ACTUALLY THE CROWN AS WELL.
THERE, THERE'S A WHOLE HOST OF INFORMATION THAT THEY, UM, RECORD WHEN THEY'RE OUT THERE IN THE FIELD.
AND THEN IN ON YOUR, UM, PRESENTATION YOU TALKED ABOUT IT SAVES 63 MILLION IN HEALTH COSTS.
HOW DO YOU GET TO THAT NUMBER? YEAH, THAT IS BASED ON THE POLLUTION REMOVAL BENEFIT THAT TREES PROVIDE.
UM, SO THEY PULL, UM, PARTICULATES AND CONTAMINANTS OUT OF THE AIR, UM, AND THAT REDUCES CASES OF, UM, RESPIRATORY ILLNESSES AND OTHER THINGS LIKE THAT.
UM, SO THAT, THAT'S WHERE THAT VALUE COMES FROM, AND IT'S BASED ON THE IRE METHODOLOGY.
AND, UM, JUST FOR MY COLLEAGUES TO KNOW TOO, I'VE ALREADY MET WITH, I, I MEAN, AND THANK YOU ROSS AND MARK AND, AND HOMER.
I'VE MET WITH, UM, ROSS AND HOMER BECAUSE WE WERE TALKING TO THE SAN ANTONIO FOOD POLICY COUNCIL TO DO FOOD FORESTS, HOPEFULLY IN THE DISTRICT AND, UM, WORKING OUT.
SO I THINK THAT WOULD BE GREAT.
BUT I HAVE TO NOW ASK DEBBIE SOME QUESTIONS.
'CAUSE DEBBIE, UM, I, I, I LOVE YOUR PRESENTATION.
I LOVED ALL THE SPECIFICS AND THE DETAIL.
I DID GET MY MINOR IN GEOLOGY, SO ALL OF THE SOIL, CARBON AND STUDY, ET CETERA HAS BEEN FANTASTIC.
UM, AND I'M SO GLAD WE'RE GETTING THIS BECAUSE I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT AS WE'RE LOOKING AT THE DIFFERENT SOIL COMPOSITIONS AND SOIL TYPES THROUGHOUT THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO.
AND AS YOU DO THIS INVENTORY, I THINK I WOULD LIKE TO JUST PUT OUT HERE FOR ROD BEING ON THE CALL, AND WHOMEVER, I THINK AS WE'RE TALKING ABOUT FUTURE BOND PROJECTS OR BUDGET, WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT INFRASTRUCTURE, WE KNOW THAT, UH, INFRASTRUCTURE PUT IN CERTAIN PARTS OF THE AREA WITH CERTAIN SOIL COMPOSITION MAYBE IS STRONGER AND STAYS TOGETHER FOR A LONGER PERIOD OF TIME THAN OTHER PARTS OF THE CITY WITH THE SOIL COMPOSITION THAT IS CLAY, THAT EXPANDS AND, UM, YOU KNOW, SHRINKS.
AND THEN THE STREETS BECOME CRAZY AND OUT OF SORTS.
SO I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE NEED TO YOU COUNCIL MEMBERS WHO WILL BE HERE BEYOND JUNE, NEED TO THINK ABOUT WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE SOIL COMPOSITIONS, UH, AND OUR INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAMS FOR THE COMMUNITY.
UH, I WANTED TO ALSO, I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH TIME I HAVE, I'M SORRY, CHAIR.
UM, THE, THE, UH, WHERE, WHERE WAS THAT? OH, THE NO COSTS.
AND SO YOU, YOU TALKED ABOUT INCREASING THE SOIL ORGANIC MATTER, A 1% INCREASE OF SOIL ORGANIC MATTER.
AND SO ALL OF THOSE ITEMS THAT YOU, YOU SHARED, THOSE ARE WAYS THAT WE CAN INCREASE THE ORGANIC MATTER, CORRECT? ABSOLUTELY.
AND ONE OF THE BIGGEST ONES THAT WE COULD CHANGE RIGHT AWAY IS ENCOURAGING EVERYBODY JUST TO KEEP THEIR TURF GRASS A LITTLE BIT HIGHER AND NOT A, SO THAT IS ONE, NOT ONLY DOES IT ADD MORE ORGANIC MATTER TO THE SOIL, BUT IT PROTECTS THE ORGANIC MATTER THAT'S THERE FROM BREAKING DOWN TO HIGH TEMPERATURES OR, UM, EVAPORATION, MOISTURE, EVAPORATION.
SO IT, IT'S A DOUBLE BENEFIT BY MOWING IT AT A HIGHER LEVEL, FOUR INCHES AT LEAST.
AND WE'RE HOPING TO GO MORE HIGH IN SOME AREAS IN OUR PARKS.
AND, AND I KNOW THAT'S ONE OF THE CONVERSATIONS WE GET A LOT OF CALLS TO OUR OFFICE ABOUT THE LESS MO OR NO MO, BECAUSE WITH THE MISSION REACH AND HOW WE ARE RESTORING THAT ECOSYSTEM OUT IN THE MISSION, REACH MANY OF THE RESIDENTS, UH, SOME RESIDENTS I SHOULD SAY, THINK THAT
[01:20:01]
IT SHOULD LOOK THE EXACT SAME WAY AS IT LOOKS ON THE MUSEUM REACH.AND SO WE HAVE OUR SPEAKING POINTS OF WHY WE DO IT A DIFFERENT WAY IN THE MISSION REACH.
AND THEN FINALLY, I, I WOULD BE, UM, INTERESTED TO LOOKING AT, AS WE CONTINUE TO CAPTURE THIS DATA, UM, ROD, THAT WE LOOK AT HOW WE USE THIS POSSIBLE WAY TO INCREASE OUR SOIL MANAGEMENT, UH, SOIL ORGANIC MATTER IN AND AROUND AREAS LIKE THE ENVIRONMENTAL SENSITIVE AREAS THAT ARE COMING FOR A ZONING CHANGE THAT ARE COMING NEAR THE, UH, OVER THE EDWARDS AQUIFER THAT COME NEAR, UM, OUR CREEKS, ET CETERA.
IS THERE A WAY THAT, AS WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE U D C AS WE'RE TALKING ABOUT DIFFERENT THINGS LIKE THAT, HOW CAN WE INCORPORATE IT TO MAYBE MAKE THESE SMALL CHANGES TO, TO JUST BUILD THAT UP? SO THOSE ARE MY COMMENTS.
AND MIKE, YOU ARE VERY INTERESTING.
UH, DID SOMEONE ON STAFF WANNA RESPOND TO THE QUESTION ABOUT THE UUD C YEAH, I'LL, I MEAN, I'LL JUST, I'LL JUMP IN ON THAT.
I MEAN, I THINK, UH, I WROTE DOWN SOME NOTES THERE.
WE'LL, WE'LL CERTAINLY CIR CIRCLE BACK WITH THE COUNCILWOMAN, BUT YOU KNOW, AS, AS YOU KNOW, THE U D C PROCESS IS ON HOLD FOR RIGHT NOW.
AND, AND WHEN THAT DOES KICK BACK IN, UH, WHEN WE'RE READY TO DO THAT LATER THIS YEAR, HOPEFULLY, UM, YOU KNOW, THAT'LL BE SOMETHING THAT WE, WE WANT TO TAKE A LOOK AT IT.
THERE'S A, THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY FOR A U D C CODE CHANGE THAT SOMEONE WANTS TO, WHETHER IT BE STAFF OR, OR, OR ONE OF OUR PARTNERS WANTS TO, UH, YOU KNOW, PROPOSE, UH, WE'LL RUN THAT THROUGH, UH, THE PROCESS TO SEE IF THERE'S A WAY.
I THINK COUNCILWOMAN, I PROBABLY WANT A LITTLE BIT MORE, BUT THROUGH, YOU SAID SOMETHING THROUGH THE ZONING PROCESS AND, AND WHAT HAVE YOU.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE A PRETTY GOOD PROCESS WHEN WE GO THROUGH THESE UDC.
IF THERE'S AN IDEA, UH, IT GETS VETTED BY A PRETTY GOOD GROUP, UM, OF NOT ONLY CITY STAFF, NOT ONLY DEVELOPMENT SERVICES, BUT OTHER STAFF, YOU KNOW, HOMERS INVOLVED, AND A LOT OF OTHER TEAMS, UH, BUT STAKEHOLDERS, UH, WHETHER IT BE, UH, YOU KNOW, DEBBIE AND, AND HER GROUP AND, AND MANY OTHERS, THE DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY, UH, WE CAN VET THAT AND SEE WHAT WE CAN BRING TO THE TABLE AND, AND BACK TO COUNCIL LATER.
WE'RE GONNA HEAR THAT AGENDA ITEM IN THE FUTURE.
OKAY, WE'RE MOVING ON TO COUNCIL WOMAN GONZALEZ.
UH, SO, UM, THANK YOU, UM, MIKE, AND, YOU KNOW, UM, OF COURSE I'VE, I'VE HEARD ABOUT THE TREE ORDINANCES AND, UM, BUT, BUT I, I, I WANNA GO, I WANNA ASK ABOUT, UH, MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE.
AND WHEN I WAS TRYING TO BUILD MY BUILDING IN 2009, UM, I WAS, I WAS TOLD THAT I HAD TO PLANT TREES IN THE AREA, RIGHT? BUT I WAS, I MEAN, IT WAS JUST A PARKING LOT.
THERE HAD BEEN NOTHING THERE BEFORE.
UM, BUT IN ORDER TO BUILD WHAT I NEEDED TO BUILD, I WAS TOLD THAT I HAD TO PLANT TREES.
WELL, I MEAN, I CAN HARDLY KEEP ANY PLANTS ALIVE.
AND I REMEMBER THINKING AT THE TIME THAT THOSE PLANTS WERE NOT GOING TO SURVIVE A YEAR'S TIME YET.
IT WAS A VERY EXPENSIVE, UM, ALTERNATIVE.
AND I WANNA SAY THAT IT WAS SOMEWHERE IN THE $30,000 RANGE BECAUSE OF ALL OF THE CHANGES THAT WE HAD TO MAKE TO ADD THOSE TREES.
UM, AND, AND, UH, AND I, I, I THINK THAT THREE OF THEM I THINK ARE STILL THERE.
BUT COULD I HAVE HAD THE OPTION TO PAY INTO A TREE MITIGATION FUND THAT MAYBE WOULD HAVE MADE MORE SENSE THAN TRYING TO PLANT ON TOP OF A PARKING LOT THAT MAYBE THOSE TREES COULD HAVE GONE INTO A PUBLIC SPACE, A PARK OR SOMETHING, AND BEEN MORE USEFUL? WELL, THE, THE ANSWER IS, I DON'T KNOW OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD WITH, WITH YOUR SITUATION, BUT LET ME JUST, UH, LET ME JUST SAY, UH, AGAIN, EVEN WITH PROPERTIES THAT DON'T HAVE ANY TREES TODAY, A AS YOU DEVELOP THEM, UH, THERE ARE SOME TRIGGERS THAT SAY YOU HAVE TO PLANT AND BUILD CANOPY.
THE TREE MITIGATION FUND IS IF YOU, IF YOU GENERALLY, IF YOU TAKE DOWN MORE THAN SOME OF THOSE NUMBERS OF EXISTING TREES, UH, YOU ALSO MENTIONED PARKING LOT.
WE ALSO HAVE SOME PARKING LOT SHADING REQUIREMENTS, RIGHT? UH, SO THE TREE PRESERVATION ORDINANCE HAS SOME LANDSCAPING REQUIREMENTS.
WE HAVE THINGS CALLED PARKING LOT SHADING REQUIREMENTS.
SO AS YOU BUILD A NEW OR REDEVELOP A PARKING LOT, YOU'LL HAVE TO BUILD IN SOME TREES THERE.
[01:25:01]
A WHOLE CALCULATION METHOD, THE IDEA BEING THAT YOU COOL OFF THE PARKING LOT A LITTLE BIT.I THINK SOMEONE MENTIONED THE HEAT ISLAND EFFECT EARLIER IN ONE OF THE PRESENTATIONS, SO IT COULD HAVE BEEN SEVERAL OF THOSE.
SO I DON'T KNOW THE EXACT ANSWER FOR YOU, COUNCILMAN, BUT I WOULD, IF I HAD TO GUESS TODAY, YOU PROBABLY HAD TO PLANT SOME OF THOSE TREES AND DIDN'T HAVE THE OPTION OF JUST WRITING A CHECK INTO THE CITY'S FUND.
UH, BUT I COULD LOOK AT IT A LITTLE BIT MORE AND GO BACK.
I, I MEAN, I REMEMBER YOUR PROJECT.
I, I, I REMEMBER I WASN'T OVER THE TREE CODE BACK THEN, BUT, UM, BUT I CAN CERTAINLY LOOK AT IT FOR YOU IF YOU'D LIKE.
WELL, AND, AND OF COURSE, I'M NOT, UH, THIS IS LIKE MANY YEARS AGO, THE BUILDING'S BEEN BUILT, AND AS I SAID, I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE STATUS OF THE, I MEAN, I, I AM, I FEEL LIKE A LOT OF THEM DID NOT SURVIVE.
SO I, I GUESS IT GOES BACK TO MY QUESTION, LIKE, IS IT PRACTICAL TO REQUIRE BUSINESSES THAT ARE NOT, WE KNOW THAT YOU HAVE LIKE ABSOLUTELY ZERO ABILITY TO MAINTAIN THEM, UH, AND THAT THEY'RE LIKELY GOING TO DIE TO PUT THEM SOMEWHERE ELSE.
AND SO, I, I JUST, I MEAN, UM, BECAUSE I, YEAH, WHAT I WAS SPARKED BY THE COUNCILWOMAN, UH, JADA'S QUESTIONS ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT THE TREE SURVIVED.
SO ARE WE REALLY BENEFITING ANYONE IF YOU PLANT THEM SOMEWHERE OR PUT THEM IN THE HANDS OF VERY UNQUALIFIED PEOPLE?
UM, YOU KNOW, IF BY THE GRACE OF GOD THOSE PLANTS ARE STILL ALIVE, SO, OR THOSE TREES, UM, MM-HMM.
BECAUSE THERE IS A MAINTENANCE REQUIREMENT.
I MEAN, IF THERE IS, IF THAT WAS THE CASE, WE WOULDN'T HAVE CITY ARBORISTS.
AND IT WOULDN'T BE A WHOLE TEAM OF PEOPLE WHOSE JOB IT IS TO MAINTAIN THEM.
I, I JUST, IS THAT AT ALL? UM, SO TODAY MIGHT HA UH, YOU'RE SAYING TODAY I MIGHT HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE OPTION, YOU CAN EITHER DO THIS OR YOU CAN PAY INTO THIS TREE MITIGATION FUND, WHICH I JUST FEEL LIKE I WOULD'VE RATHER PAID INTO THE MITIGATION FUND IF I HAD HAD THAT OPTION.
SO, UM, WELL, AGAIN, COUNCILWOMAN, I COULD CERTAINLY LOOK BACK AT, AT YOUR SITUATION.
I THINK THE OVERALL ANSWER IS, I THINK, I THINK IT IS APPROPRIATE TO HAVE THE, THE, THE GENERAL RULE.
BUT, BUT TO YOUR POINT, IF THERE WAS A UNIQUE CIRCUMSTANCE OR A HARDSHIP THAT YOU WANTED TO PRESENT TO US, THAT'S THAT VARIANCE PROCESS.
IF WE COULD FIND AN ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION THAT'S BETTER, NOT ONLY FOR YOU, BUT THE, THE OVERALL COMMUNITY, THAT'S WHAT SOME OF THOSE VARIANCES DO.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, I'D BE HAPPY TO LOOK AT IT A LITTLE BIT FURTHER IF YOU'D LIKE.
BUT THERE, THERE'S, BUT THERE'S NO, I GUESS THERE'S NO INFORMATION THAT SAYS THAT, LIKE, OF THOSE TREES THAT PLANTED X AMOUNT DIDN'T SURVIVE, OR IS THAT JUST SOMETHING THAT IS, YOU KNOW, DONE BY, BASED ON THE CANOPY? UM, I, I'M, I'M TRYING TO GET AWAY FROM MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE.
I'M, I'M JUST SAYING THAT LIKE, I, I DON'T KNOW.
ALL OF A SUDDEN I HAD THIS THOUGHT ABOUT ALL THE REQUIREMENTS THAT WE'VE HAD, AND IF, IF THAT REALLY HAD ANY IMPACT AT ALL BECAUSE THEY DIED, YOU KNOW, COUNCILWOMAN, I'LL, I'LL, I'LL WEIGH IN A LITTLE BIT.
I, I DO KNOW THAT WITH EACH PROJECT, THEY'RE NOT JUST RESPONSIBLE FOR PLANTING, BUT THEY'RE, THEY'RE RESPONSIBLE FOR MAINTAINING THOSE TREES.
AND, AND WE DO FOLLOW UP FROM TIME TO TIME.
AND IF WE DO FIND A TREE HAS DIED, THEY'LL HAVE TO, TO REPLANT THAT TREE, UH, OFTENTIMES.
SO IT, IT'S NOT JUST GO PLANT IT AND WE'RE, AND WE'RE DONE WITH YOU.
THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR MAINTAINING, DON'T, DON'T
I DUNNO WHAT THE STATUS IS, BUT, UM, UH, UH, OKAY.
I JUST WANTED TO SHARE THAT WITH YOU.
UM, AND, AND I, I KNOW THERE'S SITUATIONS WHERE SOMETIMES PEOPLE SAY THEY GET CLOSE TO THE ROOT PROTECTION ZONE, AND WE THINK, UH, THAT'S, WE DON'T KNOW IF THAT TREE'S GONNA SURVIVE.
WELL, THEY HAVE TO WARRANTY THAT TREE, AND WE, YOU KNOW, WE FOLLOW UP TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT TREE DOES SURVIVE.
SO, UH, IT'S NOT JUST PLANT AND FORGET IT, IT'S PLANT AND, AND, AND MAINTAIN IT.
UM, WHICH, WHICH THEN LEADS ME TO, UM, YOU KNOW, THE, EVEN THE QUESTION ABOUT THE WEST SIDE CREEKS AND, AND, AND REACH HAS COME ALONG AT THIS POINT.
BUT, YOU KNOW, WHEN I USED TO RUN, UM, I, I REMEMBER, UM, OFTEN GOING OVER TO HARBERGER BECAUSE THERE, THERE WAS MORE TREES.
UM, AND, AND OUR SYSTEM IS, IS NEWER, UM, OR THAT, I MEAN, IT, WE ALWAYS HAD TRAILS THAT THEY'VE RECENTLY BEEN REDONE.
SO, UM, BUT THERE'S NO SHADE AND IT MAKES FOR QUITE A MISERABLE EXPERIENCE.
SO, UM, I MEAN, HOMER, WHAT IS THE PLAN FOR PLANTING TREES ALONG THE WEST SIDE CREEKS? UM, BECAUSE IT IS, LIKE, IT'S SUCH A STARK ENVIRONMENT, AND WE KNOW THAT WE HAVE A LOT OF CONCRETE, UH, ALONG THOSE SYSTEMS BECAUSE THEY WERE OLD AND BUILT BEFORE WE HAD, UH, ENOUGH INFORMATION ABOUT SOILS AND LETTING THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT BECOME MORE OF A DRAINAGE
[01:30:01]
ISSUE.SO, I MEAN, I, I KNOW THAT I, I THOUGHT I SAW $19 MILLION IN TREE MITIGATION FUNDS.
AND, AND THEN OF COURSE, THE INFORMATION THAT WE NOW HAVE ABOUT LACK OF CANOPY IN CERTAIN AREAS, AREAS, UM, AREAS.
IS THERE A STRATEGY FOR THAT? THERE IS.
AND THAT STRATEGY IS ACTIVELY BEING IMPLEMENTED WITH THE, UH, WHAT I KIND OF REFER TO AS THE PHASE ONE WEST SIDE TRAIL CREEKS, UH, WHICH WERE FUNDED WITH THE 2010 PROP, UM, CELL TAX MONEY.
THERE WAS NOT REALLY THE TREE COMPONENT INCLUDED IN THOSE.
SINCE THEN, WE'VE LEARNED FROM THAT.
AND FOR THE CURRENT TRAILS THAT ARE BEING DEVELOPED AND CONSTRUCTED, TREES ARE BEING PLANTED AS PART OF THOSE PROJECTS.
SO, FOR EXAMPLE, AAN
TREES ARE INCLUDED IN THE DESIGN OF THAT.
UH, AND THOSE, OF COURSE, ARE PROJECTS THAT THE RIVER AUTHORITY IS DELIVERING ON BEHALF OF, UH, THE CITY PARKS DEPARTMENT, UH, WITH THOSE INITIAL SEGMENTS THAT WE DID, UH, WHICH WAS, UH, REALLY MOST ALL OF APACHE, UH, MARTINEZ CREEK, WE DID A RETROFIT, IF YOU WILL.
UH, SO WE WENT BACK, UH, CORRECTING THAT OVERSIGHT AND WHERE WE DIDN'T INCLUDE TREES, DID A TREE DESIGN, UM, AND DID BRING FORWARD TREE INSTALLATION CONTRACTS TO DO RETROFIT PLANTING.
AND I BELIEVE ALL OF THOSE ARE DONE.
I KNOW ROSS, UH, WAS DIRECTLY MANAGING THOSE PROJECTS.
AND I'M GONNA TAG ROSS IN HERE.
UM, ARE THOSE PROJECTS ALL WRAPPED UP FOR THOSE APACHE AND MARTINEZ? TWO, TWO OF THE THREE PROJECTS ARE COMPLETE.
THE MARTINEZ PROJECT IS COMPLETE AS WELL AS THE UPPER APACHE.
BOTH OF THOSE ADDING OVER 700 TREES.
UH, AND THEY'RE VARIOUS SIZE, SOME OF THEM ARE VERY LARGE CALIPER TREES.
UH, THE, THE LAST PHASE, THE LAST PHASE, OR THE LAST PORTION IS LOWER APACHE BETWEEN BRAZOS, UM, AND DOWN TO THE INTERSTATE THERE GOING SOUTH.
UM, THAT HAS ABOUT ANOTHER 175 TREES TO COME IN.
AND THOSE WILL BE IN BY THE END OF THE SPRING.
SO THEN IN TOTAL, WITH THE, FOR THE TWO THAT ARE DONE, WE PLANTED NEARLY, UM, AND I WAS LOOKING AT MY NOTES HERE, NEARLY 700 TREES, UH, THREE 50 ON APACHE, 340 ON MARTINEZ.
AND THEN WE HAVE THE ONES THAT ARE CURRENTLY BEING, UM, INSTALLED AS PART OF THAT RETROFIT.
AND THEN FOR THE OTHER SEGMENTS, AMAZON
I DO NOT HAVE THOSE NUMBERS OF WHAT WILL BE GOING IN, BUT, UH, WE DID MAKE SURE THOSE WERE PART OF THE PROJECT, AND I CAN FOLLOW UP WITH YOUR OFFICE TO GET YOU THOSE OTHER NUMBERS.
WELL, THANK YOU, UH, FOR THE FEEDBACK.
AND, AND JUST TO WRAP UP, UM, I, WE WERE ALL, UH, THIS MORNING, MANY OF THE COUNCIL MEMBERS WERE COUNCIL MEMBERS ON A PANEL, AND THEY SAID, WHAT IS SOMETHING THAT WE DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU AND COUNCILWOMAN? I DIDN'T KNOW YOU WERE A GEOLOGY MAJOR.
UH, SO NOW WE KNOW, UH, THANK YOU CHAIR.
UH, WE HAVE COUNCILMAN TREVINO.
UM, AND THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UH, MY STAFF ACTUALLY FOUND THIS QUOTE.
I HA I HAVE TO ADMIT, I DID NOT KNOW THIS ABOUT FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT, BUT HE, HE CALLED TREES, NOT DOGS MAN'S BEST FRIEND, AS WELL AS ONE OF THE GREATEST RESOURCES ON ON EARTH.
I BELIEVE IT WAS HIM OR SOMEONE ELSE THAT DID CALL ARCHITECTS, UH, THE ORIGINAL ENVIRONMENTALIST.
UM, SO I, I WAS, I, I DID REALLY LOOK FORWARD TO, TO, UH, READING THE FINDINGS SINCE 2017.
AND, UH, WE DON'T NEED TO BELABOR THE POINT ABOUT HOW IMPORTANT TREES ARE TO OUR HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT.
UH, WHAT I DO, UH, WANT TO ENSURE IS THAT WE ARE LOOKING CLOSELY AT OUR OLDEST POOREST AND MORE, MOST VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES.
IF THESE AREAS ARE OFTEN, UH, OFTEN HAVE LITTLE TO NO TREES OR TREE CANOPY, WHICH MEANS HOMES OR SIDEWALKS GET EVEN HOTTER DURING THE SUMMER, IT MEANS PROPERTY VALUES AREN'T WHERE THEY SHOULD BE AS TREES, UH, LIKE HERITAGE TREES, UH, ADD VALUE TO, TO A HOME.
HOW CAN WE USE THIS STUDY TO INFORM US MORE ABOUT HOW WE CAN INCREASE TREES IN THE TREE CANOPY IN DISADVANTAGED NEIGHBORHOODS? UH, YOU KNOW, I KNOW WE'RE, WE'RE, UH, WE'VE BEEN DOING THE UNDER ONE ROOF PROGRAM FOR A FEW YEARS NOW, AND MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT WE PLANT TREES EVERY TIME WE, WE DO ONE OF THESE ROOFS IN THE PROGRAM.
UH, YOU KNOW, HOW, HOW ARE WE LOOKING AT THIS IN TERMS OF, UH, THESE, THIS DISADVANTAGED NEIGHBORHOODS THAT WE KNOW HAS, HAS THE LEAST TREE CANOPY?
[01:35:02]
UM, COUNCILMAN THE, THIS TOOL NOW WILL CONTINUE TO FOLD INTO HOW WE CONNECT RESIDENTS TO TREES.SO, UM, PREVIOUSLY, IN PRIOR YEARS, SUBSEQUENT TO THE TORNADOES THAT CAME THROUGH, I BELIEVE IT WAS IN 2017, UM, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE THINGS YOU CHAMPIONED WAS HOW CAN WE HELP RESTORE THOSE NEIGHBORHOODS? AND, UH, THAT WAS A VERY TARGETED RECOVERY EFFORT.
WELL, THAT SAME DELIVERY MODEL, UH, THAT WAS REALLY THE GENESIS AND, AND THE, AND THE BRAINCHILD, IF YOU WILL, FOR WHAT WAS THE NEIGHBORHOOD TREE PROGRAM.
AND YET THEN THEY JUSTIFIED THAT FURTHER SO THAT IT IS A CITYWIDE TREE PROGRAM.
SO, UNDER THE NEIGHBORHOOD TREE PROGRAM MODELED THAT STORM RECOVERY EFFORT, UM, NEIGHBORHOODS WITHIN THAT FOOTPRINT, WHICH IT WAS LOWEST TREE CANOPY, IS WHAT DROVE WHERE WE WENT TO RESIDENCES CANVAS.
THE NEIGHBORHOOD CAN LEAVE DOOR HANGERS WITH ALREADY METERED MAIL OR CONTACT INFORMATION TO RETURN TO THE CHIEF SAN ANTONIO PARKS DEPARTMENT TO IDENTIFY, I WANT TO PARTICIPATE AND RECEIVE A TREE ON MY PROPERTY IN THAT, AS PART OF THAT SERVICE DELIVERY MODEL, IT IS TURNKEY.
WE DO UTILITY LOCATE, UH, WE INSTALL THE TREE, THE CITIZEN, THE HOMEOWNER GETS TO CHOOSE, UH, A TREE THAT IS LARGE NATIVE SHADE TREE SO THAT, UM, THEY CAN HAVE ON THEIR PROPERTY WHAT WE'VE DONE TO MODIFY AND EXTEND IT, UH, UTILIZING THE EQUITY ATLAS.
THIS IS THE FIRST YEAR WE HAVE TAKEN THAT PROGRAM AND EXPANDED IT CITYWIDE.
SO USING THE EQUITY ATLAS, A COMBINED SCORE, WE DID LOOK AT CENSUS TRACKS IN EACH COUNCIL DISTRICT, CENSUS TRACKS BASED ON THE HIGHEST NEED, AND WENT AND CANVASED THOSE SPECIFIC AREAS.
THAT WILL STILL BE AN EVOLUTION THAT WE WILL REFINE AS WE LOOK FORWARD INTO 22 AND BEYOND.
UH, IT WILL SAY THE CITYWIDE TREE PROGRAM, AND NOW WE HAVE AN ADDED TOOL WHERE WE MAY BE ABLE TO EXTEND IT FURTHER LOOKING AT OTHER LAYERS SUCH AS HEAT ISLAND.
SO, UM, IT'S BEEN AN EVOLUTION OF THINGS.
WE'RE EXCITED THAT WE NOW HAVE THIS MORE ROBUST TOOL TO HELP GUIDE OUR EFFORTS.
I'M GLAD YOU BROUGHT UP, UH, THE TORNADO EVENT BECAUSE IT WAS THE AMAZING HOW, HOW THE, THE, THE, THE RESIDENTS IN THAT NEIGHBORHOOD.
UH, THAT WAS ONE OF THE FIRST, UH, REQUESTS FROM US AS A CITY.
UH, MY ONLY REQUEST IS THAT, UH, IF YOU HAVEN'T DONE IT, MAKE SURE THAT THE, THE SOFTWARE DOES PROVIDE THE SPANISH TRANSLATION FOR FOLKS AS, AS THEY WANT, YOU KNOW, WANNA, MAY POTENTIALLY WANNA UTILIZE IT.
UM, I'LL TRANSITION TO, TO ROD OR MIKE, UM, THESE, THESE THREE VARIANCES.
CAN YOU TELL ME, DO WE KNOW WHERE THEY'RE CONCENTRATED GEOGRAPHICALLY IN, IN ANY ONE DISTRICT OR DISTRICTS OR AREAS? UH, YOU KNOW, KIND OF RELATED TO WHAT I JUST ASKED? SURE.
UH, SO COUNCILMAN THERE, THE, I THINK I WAS ASKED THIS QUESTION A LITTLE WHILE AGO, UM, WHERE THEY ARE AND WHAT TYPES THEY ARE, THEY'RE ALL OVER.
UH, THERE'S NOT A PROPENSITY IN ONE AREA VERSUS THE OTHER, UH, ONE DISTRICT OR THE OTHER.
UM, CERTAINLY IT'S WHERE, YOU KNOW, DEVELOPMENT IS OCCURRING, YOU KNOW, AT ANY PARTICULAR TIME.
AND, AND IN OUR CITY OVER THE LAST DECADE, UH, WE'VE SEEN, WE'VE SEEN GROWTH PRETTY MUCH CITYWIDE.
UM, SO AGAIN, UH, WE, WE, IT'S NOT IN ONE SPACE MORE THAN OTHERS, NECESSARILY.
WELL, CAN WE LOOK AT THINGS LIKE, I'M SORRY, GO AHEAD.
NO, I WAS GONNA SAY, COUNCILMAN, IF YOU'D LIKE, MIKE AND I COULD SIT DOWN WITH YOU AND GO OVER ALL THE VARIANCES FOR THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS.
I MEAN, HE HASN'T BEEN A PRETTY GOOD SPREADSHEET.
YOU CAN IDENTIFY WHERE THEY'RE AT AND WHAT THE SPECIFIC REASON FOR THE VARIANCE WAS AND WHAT WE GOT IN RETURN FOR IT.
CAN YOU, UH, CAN YOU, YEAH, I'D, I'D LOVE TO DO THAT.
AND CAN YOU TIE, UH, ANY RESIDENTIAL DEMOLITION THAT, THAT WAS REQUESTED AND, AND IF THERE WAS A, UH, UH, UH, UH, ANY OF THESE TREE VARIANCES TIED TO THAT? I, YOU KNOW, THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION BECAUSE THE TREE ORDINANCE DOES NOT APPLY WHEN YOU ALREADY HAVE AN EXISTING RESIDENCE.
SO I, WE, WE'LL HAVE TO CHECK TO SEE IF WE HAVE THAT, THAT INFO.
BUT YOU SEE WHAT I'M GETTING AT IT.
I THINK THAT, UH, IF WE'RE GONNA BE, UH, MOVING THESE, THESE DEMOLITIONS RESIDENTIAL DEMOLITIONS, UH, I, I'D LIKE TO UNDERSTAND OR TRACK, ARE THEY ALSO CUTTING DOWN, UH, THESE TREES OR WHAT TREES MAYBE, UH, FALLING SUBJECT TO, TO A, A DEMOLITION PROCESS AS WELL.
UM, SO IF WE CAN LOOK INTO THAT, UM, AND A SMALL COMMENT ABOUT, YOU KNOW, GETTING TREES IN, IN AREAS WHERE, WHERE
[01:40:01]
THEY'RE NOT, UH, WHERE THERE'S JUST NOT A WHOLE LOT OF TREES.WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THERE'S JUST A WHOLE LOT, NOT A WHOLE LOT OF TREES.
THEY'RE USUALLY REPLACED WITH A WHOLE LOT OF ASPHALT AND CONCRETE.
AND, UM, I'D LIKE FOR US TO EXPLORE, UH, A WAY TO, TO ADDRESS, UH, THINGS LIKE, YOU KNOW, COUPLING THINGS LIKE ROAD DIETS WITH TREE PLANTINGS.
AND, UH, THERE'S MANY EXAMPLES OF HOW A LOT OF OUR STREETS, UH, ARE, ARE IN SOME CASES, UH, ARE, ARE, ARE MUCH WIDER THAN THEY HAVE TO BE.
AND SO IF WE'RE, IF WE COME BACK WITH A ROAD DIET, WE ARE ABLE TO PUT IN THE SIDEWALKS THAT WE NEED AND ALLOW FOR, UH, ENOUGH OF AN OFFSET OR SPACE, UH, WITHIN THAT SPACE, UH, CREATE A GREEN SPACE TO PLANT MORE AND MORE TREES ALONG THE SIDEWALK.
SO I, I THINK WE SHOULD, WE SHOULD TAKE LOOK AT THAT AS WELL, BECAUSE I, I JUST WANT TO KEEP AN EYE ON, ON HOW WE PLAN, UH, PLAN OUT, UH, THESE AREAS.
WE, WE JUST HAD A HUGE DISCUSSION, UM, OF, OF
UH, I'D LIKE FOR US TO, TO LOOK AT, YOU KNOW, INFRASTRUCTURE AND, AND, AND INCLUDING THAT CONVERSATION IN THE 2022 BONDS, UH, BECAUSE I THINK, YOU KNOW, THIS PROGRAM I, I THINK, CAN REALLY, REALLY FEED, UH, NICELY INTO THE 2022 BOND.
UM, AND THEN LASTLY, YOU KNOW, I APPRECIATE, UH, THE, THE, THE PRESENTATION ON SOILS.
UH, I TOO CAN NERD OUT ON, ON SOILS.
AND, UH, YOU KNOW, MY, MY TYING IT BACK TO HOW WE DO INFRASTRUCTURE, UM, YOU KNOW, IT WAS DISCUSSED HOW WE, WE COULD GO AROUND TREES, WE COULD DO MANY THINGS, BUT, YOU KNOW, WE CAN ALSO, UH, BUILD IN INFRASTRUCTURE THAT, THAT ALLOWS US TO, TO DEAL WITH WITH THE DIFFERENT SOIL CONDITIONS AND, UM, AND PRACTICE, UH, YOU KNOW, GOOD PROPER PLANNING SO THAT BOTH OUR SOILS AND INFRASTRUCTURE, UH, YOU KNOW, WORK, UH, HAND IN HAND TO, TO AVOID THINGS LIKE EROSION AND, UM, YOU KNOW, THE, THE, THE DEMISE OF, OF, OF, UH, AREAS THAT, THAT THEN REQUIRE ALL KINDS OF MITIGATION, UH, AFTER THE FACT.
BECAUSE NOBODY EVER KIND OF CONSIDERED THE IMPORTANCE OF THE GE THE GEOLOGY, UH, AS WE WERE PUTTING IN THAT INFRASTRUCTURE.
SO I, I THINK WE REALLY, AND MY SUGGESTION, AND, AND, AND, AND JUST, YOU KNOW, I WANNA SAY THANK YOU FOR, FOR THE PRESENTATION IS I REALLY WANT TO HEAR MORE ABOUT HOW, YOU KNOW, WHAT YOU PRESENTED DEBBIE, UH, IN TERMS OF SOIL, HOW THAT CAN DOVETAIL INTO THE WAY WE DO INFRASTRUCTURE.
UH, YOU KNOW, THAT IS A BIG DEAL.
AND AGAIN, TALKING ABOUT THIS IN OUR 2022 BOND, WE CAN SET SOME GOOD EXAMPLES.
AND THIS IS WHERE I, I'LL, I'LL MAKE MY PLUG FOR THINGS, UH, LIKE THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF SIDEWALK MATERIAL THAT WE'VE CREATED, UH, LIKE PRECAST SIDEWALKS, THAT, THAT REALLY HELP TO, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, WORK WITH DIFFERENT SOIL CONDITIONS, UH, AND, AND THINK ABOUT HOW WE CAN BE MORE ADAPTIVE AND INNOVATIVE IN THE WAY WE BUILD OUT OUR CITY.
UH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH, COUNCILMAN.
UH, AND THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR PRESENTERS AND, AND FOR YOUR PATIENCE IN, UH, BEING HERE FOR OUR LONG DISCUSSION SESSION, UH, AT THE END.
I THINK IT'S JUST A TREMENDOUS OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE SYNERGIES AMONG THESE THREE TOPICS.
UH, SO THANK YOU FOR, FOR INDULGING US WITH THAT.
UH, FIRST I'D SAY I COULD NOT AGREE MORE WITH COUNCILMAN TRIVIO ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY ALONG RA ROAD FOR A ROAD DIET.
WE KNOW, UH, IT DOESN'T NEED TO BE AS WIDE AS IT IS, AND THAT ALLOWS CARS TO GO, UH, A LOT FASTER, BUT WE ALSO HAVE A LOT OF PEDESTRIANS ON THERE, AND IT'S A DEADLY ROAD.
AND HAVING TREES AND WIDER SIDEWALKS WOULD, UH, WOULD MAKE THAT A BETTER EXPERIENCE FOR THE PEOPLE WHO USE IT AND WOULD HELP US IN ALL THE OTHER WAYS THAT, THAT OUR SPEAKERS HAVE, HAVE MENTIONED.
SO I'D BE WHOLEHEARTEDLY IN SUPPORT OF, UH, COMPLIMENTING THE BOND PROJECT, IF, IF THIS MAKES IT TO OUR BOND WITH SOME TREE MITIGATION FUNDING ALONG THAT, UH, ALONG THAT ROAD, AND THAT, THAT'S JUST ONE PROJECT, RIGHT? BUT, UM, SO WE SHOULD ALSO EXPLORE, UH, OTHER POSSIBILITIES FOR THAT.
AND IF WE COULD DO SOME CARVING CAPTURE WITH THE SOIL THAT'S ALONG THERE, UH, SO MUCH, THE, THE BETTER THAT WOULD BE.
UM, I ALSO, JUST, JUST ONE SMALL COMMENT.
I, I KNOW WE TALK ABOUT TREES IN NUMBERS, BUT NOT ALL TREES ARE THE SAME, RIGHT? UH, WE TALK ABOUT DIFFERENT SPECIES AND WHICH ONES ARE MORE LONG LIVED, UH, BUT
[01:45:01]
ALSO HOW BIG THE TREES ARE WHEN WE PLANT THEM.WE KNOW THAT, UH, AT NEAR MY HOUSE, AT CEILING PARK, THAT LITTLE TRIANGLE, WE HAVE OUR, OUR NEW TREES, AND THEY'RE, THEY'RE GROWING, THEY'RE BLOSSOMING.
UH, BUT THERE ARE SOME OTHER PARKS THAT HAVE GOTTEN SOME BIGGER TREES
SO I, I, HOW DOES THAT DECISIONING GET MADE? SO FOR, I'LL GIVE AN OVERARCHING THEME, AND THEN I'M GONNA LET ROSS MAYBE CHIME IN OR, UH, ANYONE ELSE ON THE TEAM.
SO, PARKS AND PUBLIC WORKS, WE DO WORK VERY CLOSELY TO EXTEND, UH, BOND PROJECTS THROUGH THE TREE MITIGATION FUND WHERE IT MAKES SENSE.
UH, AND THAT, THAT'S, WHETHER IT'S ON A ROAD PROJECT OR IN A PARK PROJECT IN, UM, SPECIFICALLY CEILING, UM, ROSS, WAS THAT DONE AS PART OF A, UH, STORMWATER PROJECT? DO WE KNOW THAT'S CORRECT.
THAT WAS PART OF THAT, UH, THAT CHANNEL PROJECT.
AND WHAT, I DON'T KNOW, AND THIS MAY BE A TECHNICAL QUESTION, I DON'T KNOW IF, BECAUSE OF THE PROJECT AND WHAT IT'S INTENDED TO DO, IF IT HAS LIMITATIONS ON THE TYPE OF SIZE OF TREES THAT WE CAN PUT IN THERE VERSUS SOMETHING THAT'S JUST IN PASSIVE GREEN SPACE.
SO I DON'T WANT TO SPECULATE, BUT WE DO LOOK AT ALL OF THOSE THINGS.
AND SO BASED ON INFORMATION FROM THE TECHNICAL EXPERT, WHETHER IN THIS CASE IT'S STORMWATER, UM, WE TAKE THOSE THINGS INTO ACCOUNT.
I KNOW IT'S SO HARD FOR US NOT TO SAY, WELL, WHEN I WENT THROUGH THIS, THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED, AND I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND IT.
UM, BUT THERE'S SOMETHING REALLY STRIKING THAT, UH, OUR, THAT THE, MY CITY TREE TOOLS, UH, SHOWED ME WHEN, UH, WHEN I SAW THE LITTLE DEMONSTRATION, UH, YESTERDAY, AND, AND I WANTED TO SHARE THAT, UH, IT, WITH, WITH OUR GROUP TODAY, IS THAT WE SAW 5% OF THE TREE COVER WAS, UH, OVER 42% OF THE POPULATION, AND THAT WAS IN OUR HIGHEST, UH, EQUITY ZIP CODES, WHICH WE KNOW MEANS HIGHEST INEQUITY, UH, ZIP CODES, RIGHT? THE ONES WITH, UM, THAT, THAT HAVE HIGHER, UM, PEOPLE OF COLOR AND, AND LOWER INCOMES.
AND THEN, UH, ROSS SHOWED ME THE REVERSE.
HE LOOKED AT THE LOWEST EQUITY SCORES, UH, THE ONES IN THE TWOS.
AND WHAT WE NOTICED, OR WHAT, WHAT THE DATA SHOW IS THAT THERE ARE A WHOLE LOT MORE TREES IN THOSE AREAS.
AND THAT WASN'T THE, THE ONLY PART I, I THOUGHT, WELL, SURE PEOPLE HAVE MORE TREES ON THEIR LOTS.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE HAD, WE HAD DIFFERENT CODE WHEN A LOT OF THOSE AREAS WERE DEVELOPED.
BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT PART, AND I THINK THIS IS WHERE, WHERE, WHERE IT REALLY FALLS INTO OUR HANDS AS ELECTED LEADERS, IS THAT A LOT OF THOSE TREES WERE ON PUBLIC LANDS.
WHEREAS IN THE OTHER ANALYSIS, WHEN WE LOOKED AT THE HIGH EQUITY SCORES, UH, THERE WERE NOT THAT MANY TREES ON PUBLIC LANDS, OR IN OTHER WORDS, ON OUR PARKS, RIGHT? AND OUR FACILITIES IN THE AREAS, UH, OF HIGH, UH, EQUITY SCORES, LET'S REMEMBER, THOSE AREAS OF HIGH EQUITY SCORES ARE NOT JUST, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT, INCOME AND ETHNICITIES.
THEY'RE ALSO WHERE WE HAVE SOME OF THE WORST HEALTH OUTCOMES, AND WE SAW IT PLAY OUT IN COVID AND OR SEEING IT PLAY OUT IN COVID.
AND WE KNOW THAT THE WORST HEALTH OUTCOMES OF COVID ARE LINKED TO PREEXISTING CONDITIONS.
AND THAT IS WHERE YOU SEE THE PREEXISTING CONDITIONS OF HIGH LEVELS OF OBESITY AND DIABETES.
AND, UH, I THINK COUNCILWOMAN GONZALEZ WAS SPOT ON WHEN SHE SAID, IT IS TOO HOT TO RUN
SO I JUST WANT US TO, TO KEEP THAT IN MIND AS WE MOVE FORWARD THROUGH THIS BOND PROCESS, THROUGH OUR NEXT, UH, BUDGET PROCESS.
AND I'M REALLY GLAD, UH, THAT THIS TOOL IS AVAILABLE.
UM, THE TRUTH ISN'T ALWAYS PRETTY.
UM, BUT YOU CAN DO MORE IF YOU KNOW THE FACTS RIGHT, THAN IF, THAN IF WE'RE IGNORANT OF THEM.
SO, I, I REALLY WANNA THANK THE PARKS DEPARTMENT AND THE FORESTRY, UH, THE A AND M FORESTRY, UH, TEAM FOR, FOR BRINGING THAT TO LIGHT FOR US, AND, AND GIVING US THE TOOLS TO DO OUR JOBS BETTER.
UM, LASTLY, I AM, UH, GOING TO MOVE TO, UH, THE TREE ORDINANCE, UH, DISCUSSION.
SO, UH, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, MIKE, UH, FOR BRINGING THIS TO US.
UH, YOU KNOW, WE'VE BEEN WANTING TO TALK ABOUT IT SINCE, UH, SINCE THAT ARTICLE, AND TO HAVE YOU TO GIVE YOU AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE WHAT YOU GUYS DO ON, ON
[01:50:01]
THAT SIDE.UM, MAYBE, YOU KNOW, MAYBE THE, THE STORIES DIDN'T COVER EVERYTHING, SO THANK YOU FOR, FOR DOING THAT.
AND, AND YOU MENTIONED A VERY IMPORTANT WORD, WHICH WAS TRANSPARENCY.
AND WITHOUT THAT, IT'S VERY EASY FOR, FOR THOSE OF US WHO MAY BE CRITICS
SO I, I APPRECIATE YOU BRINGING THAT INFORMATION FORWARD.
I, I THINK AT THE END OF THE DAY, WHAT THE PUBLIC WANTS TO KNOW IS THAT WE'RE DOING OUR JOB, RIGHT? AND IF WE JUST TELL THEM, DON'T WORRY, IT'S RIGHT.
AND THAT'S WHAT I THINK THE, THE SPREADSHEET THAT YOU TALKED ABOUT IN THE REPORT THAT YOU TALKED ABOUT, AIMS, AIMS TO DO.
UH, AT THIS POINT IN TIME, THAT'S A REPORT THAT I BELIEVE YOU SENT TO ERIC AND THAT YOU'VE OFFERED TO SHOW US.
UH, BUT WE ARE NOT THE ONLY, UH, THE ONLY PEOPLE TAKING A, A MAGNIFYING GLASS TO THIS, RIGHT? THERE IS THE BROADER PUBLIC.
THERE IS, UH, THE REPORTERS WHO MAY BE WATCHING, UH, THIS MEETING.
SO, UH, I ASKED YOU, UH, THIS EARLIER, AND I JUST WANNA CONFIRM THE, THE RESPONSE TO THIS QUESTION.
UH, WHEN WILL THAT REPORT BE AVAILABLE REGULARLY ONLINE FOR MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC TO SEE? SURE.
AND, AND THANK YOU COUNCILWOMAN.
AND, AND YEAH, THAT, THAT WAS A, THAT WAS PART OF THE OVERALL DISCUSSION.
I MEAN, ALL THE PERMIT DATA THAT WE HAVE, UM, WE'VE WORKED OVER THE YEARS TO PUT, I KNOW I WORKED WITH COUNCILMAN TREVINO A COUPLE YEARS AGO ON, ON GETTING PERMIT DATA AND PERMIT APPLICATIONS ON ONLINE REGULARLY.
UH, WITH OUR NEW SYSTEM, WERE WORKING TO ENHANCE THAT, AND THAT'LL BE, THAT ACTUALLY IS PART OF THAT.
UH, I'M WORKING WITH CRAIG HOPKINS IN OUR IT DEPARTMENT.
WE'RE PROBABLY A MONTH AWAY FROM HAVING THAT REPORT.
UM, AS, AS PART OF THAT, IT, IT'S PART OF THE OPEN DATA, UM, UH, SYSTEM THAT WE HAVE FOR A LOT OF OUR, UM, I KNOW OUR PERMITS DATA IS OUT THERE.
UH, SO YES, THAT'S AN IMPORTANT PIECE.
YOU'RE RIGHT, ALL THAT INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE.
BUT I THINK TO YOUR POINT, AND SOME OTHERS, IT'S, UM, IT SHOULD BE REGULARLY AVAILABLE.
AND, AND I THINK, AS I'VE DESCRIBED, AND OUR TEAM HAS, UH, WE THINK THAT THE TREE ORDINANCE WORKS, THE PROCESS IS WORKING.
UM, IT, IT IS THE RIGHT BALANCE, THE VARIANCE PROCESS IS WORKING, AND, AND THAT INFORMATION, UH, WILL BE PART OF THAT.
SO I THINK, UH, THE LATEST I TALKED ABOUT, UM, JUST THE LAST COUPLE DAYS WAS IT'S PROBABLY, UH, END OF APRIL OR A LITTLE BIT BEFORE.
UM, BUT IN THE MEANTIME, AS, AS, AS ROD MENTIONED, WE CAN, UH, SHARE WITH, LIKE WE DID WITH YOU, WE CAN SHARE WITH THE OTHER COUNCIL MEMBERS, UH, SOME DETAILED INFORMATION THAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR, UH, BEFORE THAT'S READY.
AND, AND, UM, JUST TO REITERATE, I, I THINK PART OF THE REALLY IMPORTANT INFORMATION IS WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS WHEN THERE'S A VARIANCE.
WHAT YOU'RE TELLING ME IS THAT THERE ARE STILL TREES BEING PLANTED AND TREES BEING SAVED, EVEN IF A VARIANCE IS, IS APPROVED.
SO I THINK THAT'S WHAT REALLY NEEDS TO BE, UH, DEMONSTRATED.
UH, AND, AND PART OF THIS, UH, PART OF THIS OPENGOV, UH, POSTING, UH, THE OTHER, THE OTHER THING I, I WANTED TO, TO MENTION BRIEFLY IS THE QUESTION OF HARDSHIP.
UM, AND I KNOW YOU GUYS ARE, ARE CAPTURING WHAT THAT HARDSHIP IS.
AND MIKE, THANK YOU FOR, FOR WALKING US THROUGH THAT EXAMPLE.
I KNOW THAT WE HAVE ONE ON THIS COMMITTEE.
I'M NOT AN ARCHITECT, BUT I, YOU KNOW, YOU TALKED, YOU GAVE US THIS EXAMPLE OF A FACILITY WITH SEVERAL HUNDRED ACRES, AND LIKE, IT STRUCK ME, REALLY, THEY COULDN'T FIND ANOTHER PLACE TO PUT THE TREES IN SUCH A BIG, UH, SUCH A BIG FACILITY.
I, I DON'T KNOW HOW THAT WORKS, BUT IT, IT SEEMS TO ME, IF, IF YOU WERE, UM, I DON'T KNOW, MAYBE IF YOU JUST REDID THE DESIGN, THAT THERE WOULD BE AN OPPORTUNITY NOT, NOT TO HAVE TO GO TO THE VARIANCE.
SO HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHETHER YOU ASK THEM TO GO BACK AND REDO THE DESIGN? UM, OR YOU GO AHEAD AND GO TO THE VARIANCE.
UH, WELL, UH, UH, JUST TO GO BACK TO THAT EXAMPLE, IT WAS A 37 ACRE PROPERTY, WHICH IS A GOOD SIZED PROPERTY.
BUT FOR THIS PARTICULAR WAREHOUSE, THIS WAS A FAIRLY SIZABLE, UH, I THINK YOU ALL HAVE SEEN SOME FAIRLY SIZABLE, UH, WAREHOUSE, UH, FACILITIES, UH, YOU KNOW, IN TOWN OVER THE YEARS.
UM, SO THAT 37 ACRES, UH, WAS TAKEN UP PRETTY QUICKLY WHEN YOU TAKE THE BUILDING, UH, THE SITE DEVELOPMENT WORK THAT IS NEEDED, WHETHER IT BE THE PARKING ISSUES THAT WE TALKED ABOUT, SOME OF THE GRADING, TOPOGRAPHY, FIRE LANE RULES, EASEMENT, ET CETERA, ET ET CETERA.
SO, BUT DURING THE PROCESS, UH, MARK BIRD AND HIS TEAM, AS THEY'RE HAVING THOSE INITIAL CONVERSATIONS, PART OF THE QUESTION AND THE ASK AND THE THINKING CAP THAT WE HAVE IS, HEY, YOU, YOU DON'T REALLY NEED THIS VARIANCE.
YOU CAN JUST MOVE OR, OR SHAPE OR DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT.
[01:55:01]
AND I THINK THAT'S, I THINK THAT'S TRUE.I, I THINK THAT'S VERY TRUE BECAUSE AGAIN, WE ONLY SEE A VERY SMALL NUMBER OF OUR PROJECTS THAT COME THROUGH THE DOOR THAT, THAT REQUIRE THAT VARIANCE, UH, OR THAT VARIANCE REQUEST.
IT'S, IT'S IN THE, IT'S IN THE TWO 3% OF THE PERMITS THAT WE ISSUE.
AND I THINK THAT'S HOW IT'S SUPPOSED TO WORK.
SO WHEN I DEAL WITH, AND I KNOW MARK AND OUR OTHER DESIGN TEAM MEMBERS, WHEN WE TALK WITH THE ENGINEERS, WE TALK WITH THE LANDSCAPE DESIGN PROFESSIONALS, ET CETERA, THAT ARE, THAT ARE WORKING THIS, THEY ARE DOING A TON OF WORK TO JUST FOLLOW THE BLACK AND WHITE LETTER OF THE CODE AND NOT NEED THE, IT'S ONLY THOSE SMALL NUMBER OF TIMES WE START THAT CONVERSATION.
BUT I WILL ASSURE, UM, YOU KNOW, I LOOK AT MARK AND OUR, AND OUR OTHER TEAM MEMBERS.
UH, WE HAVE THE RIGHT PEOPLE ON THE JOB BECAUSE THEY ARE, THEY'RE FIGHTING FOR EVERY TREE, BUT THEY'RE DOING IT IN A WAY THAT'S BALANCED, UNDERSTANDING THAT, UH, THERE ARE SOMETIMES WE NEED TO FIND AN ALTERNATE WAY.
SO THAT, MAYBE THAT'S A LONG ANSWER TO YOUR SHORT QUESTION.
UH, MY TEAM SAYS THAT'S THE MIKE SHANNON SPECIAL.
UH, BUT, UH, UH, ROD SAYS THAT SOMETIMES, UH, BUT, UH, THAT'S KIND OF HOW IT WORKS.
SO I, I THINK THEY SAY THAT BECAUSE YOU HAVE SOMETHING SPECIAL, MIKE.
THEY DON'T SAY THAT ABOUT EVERYBODY.
IS, IS COUNCILMAN DACRON STILL ON THE CALL? I HOPE SHE HEARD THAT.
NO, WELL, THANK YOU FOR, FOR ANSWERING THAT, THAT QUESTION FOR ME.
AND, AND AGAIN, I JUST THINK BEING TRANSPARENT WITH THAT INFORMATION IS CRITICALLY IMPORTANT.
UH, OTHERWISE WE WILL CONTINUE TO RECEIVE, UH, CRITIQUES ON, ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THAT ONE WHEN PEOPLE ONLY SEE PART OF, OF THE INFORMATION.
AND THEN, UH, I JUST WANNA WRAP IT UP THANKING, UH, DEBBIE AND ANALISA PEACE FOR, FOR JOINING US.
I KNOW WE'VE, UH, BEEN TALKING ABOUT HAVING THIS PRESENTATION FOR A WHILE AND JUST THE PHENOMENON THAT YOU'RE EXPLAINING TO US ABOUT THIS, THIS POTENTIAL CARBON SINK.
SO THANK YOU FOR, FOR TAKING THE LEAD ON THAT AND FOR BRINGING THIS DISCUSSION FORWARD AND FOR OPENING THE CONVERSATION ABOUT CHANGES TO THE DEVELOPMENT CODE SO THAT IT'S SUPPORTIVE OF THIS EFFORT.
I REALLY DO LOOK FORWARD TO HAVING THAT CONVERSATION HERE IN, IN THE FUTURE.
THANK YOU COUNCILWOMAN VRAN FOR, FOR ADVOCATING, UH, FOR THAT.
SO, UM, THAT SAID, I THINK, UH, WE'RE, WE'RE ADJOURNED UNLESS THERE'S ANY, ANY BURNING COMMENTS THAT ANY, OH, COUNCILWOMAN, SORRY.
I DIDN'T MEAN TO CUT YOU OFF THERE, BUT, UH, MADAM CHAIR, I JUST HAD, UH, ONE MORE QUESTION.
WHEN IT COMES TO, TO PARKS, I KNOW THAT WHEN WE ARE DEVELOPING NEW PARKS OR WE'RE LOOKING TO INVEST IN UPGRADING OUR NEW PARKS, UM, ONE THING I WANTED TO SAY TO HOMER WAS, THANK YOU FOR ADDING THE TREE CANOPY AND THE SHADE, UM, INTO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THOSE NEW PARKS.
WE'RE GONNA SEE WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE BECAUSE WE'RE GONNA BE DOING CARDONE PARK HERE IN DISTRICT TWO WITH THAT TREE SHAPED CANOPY.
AND SO, UM, TO COUNCILMAN INTRAVENOUS POINT, WE DEFINITELY NEED TO LOOK AT THAT TREE MITIGATION PROCESS AND WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE? BUT THEN ALSO, UH, THE SOIL MITIGATION PROCESS, WHEN WE'RE LOOKING AT NEW HOME DEVELOPMENT, I CAN HONESTLY SAY THAT THE SOIL OVER HERE HAS BEEN TRULY DISTURBED, AND WE DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH IT HAS BEEN DISTURBED.
UM, AND SO IT, IT LEADS ME TO QUESTION WHERE WE ARE NOW WHEN WE'RE LOOKING AT NEW DEVELOPMENT.
AND SO, UM, MIKE, I WILL GET IN TOUCH WITH YOU OFFLINE TO JUST ASK ABOUT THIS AREA THAT I'M REFERENCING, UM, TO FIND OUT WHAT ARE WE DOING TO TRULY START TACKLING THE ISSUE NOW, AND NOT JUST WAITING.
UM, BUT THAT'S ALL I HAVE, COUNCILWOMAN.
THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH FOR JOINING US TODAY AND FOR YOUR GREAT CONVERSATION.