Agenda - Environmental Policy Board - 07/02/2012

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Environmental Policy Board (EPB) 5.2. Meeting Date: 07/02/2012 By: EPB Action: Based on discussion. Chris Anderson, Community Development Title: Consider Website Improvements and Information for Newsletter Background: The newly approved Work Plan includes developing a 'Did You Know' column in the Ramsey Resident newsletter and developing tree disease and pest information for both the website and the newsletter. Staff has discussed this idea with the editor of the newsletter and as long as the information can be provided, there should be no problem with incorporating a 'Did You Know' column. There is some information on the website related to Oak Wilt and Emerald Ash Borer, but there is certainly room to incorporate more common issues that affect properties within the community. Observations: The newsletter is published six (6) times per year, once every other month. The 'Did You Know' column preferably should contain information that corresponds to the time of year (e.g., don't prune oaks in April, May, June and July, look for buckthorn in November when most everything else has dropped its leaves, etc). Essentially all of the information within the 'Did You Know' column could be incorporated into the website. This would provide an opportunity to expand on various details and provide additional links and photos /illustrations. Topics that could possibly be addressed, at least as it relates to tree diseases and pests may include: • Dutch elm disease (spring time, either May /June or July /August issue) • Pine bark beetles (anytime during late spring, summer or early fall) • Drought (probably best in July /August issue during the typically drier months of the year) • European pine sawfly (best for the May /June issue, when larvae are feeding) • Spruce budworm and Yellowheaded Spruce Sawfly (possibly March /April or May /June issue) • Bronze Birch Borer (July /August or possibly September /October issue) • Anthracnose (May /June issue) • Winter Injury (March/April issue) Other topics could relate to recycling (factoids about energy savings, water savings, etc), tree planting (proper planting techniques to improve survivability), invasive species, availability of weed wrenches to remove buckthorn, and others. Recommendation: Based on the discussion at the June 26, 2012 City Council Work Session, as part of the web updates, Staff will also be creating links between the Environmental Services page and the Environmental Policy Board page as well as posting the 2012 -2013 work plan on the EPB page. However, Staff would recommend that Board identify and /or prioritize topics that could be focused on initially for upcoming newsletter issues as well as web updates. Form Review Inbox Reviewed By Date Chris Anderson (Originator) Chris Anderson 06/29/2012 11:59 AM Form Started By: Chris Anderson Started On: 06/26/2012 03:21 PM