The county had originally relegated the tree group’s request under tier 2 without any further comment, but the staff report for Tuesday’s Board of Commissioners meeting where they will decide the fate of the request now has an update:
Joint CPO Tree Code Group of Washington County
Elizabeth Bowers, on behalf of the CPO Tree Code Group, asks that the group’s request to develop an urban forest management policy for urban unincorporated Washington County be moved to Tier 1. This would be a time-extensive task estimated to require two to three FTE. Currently there aren’t sufficient staff resources to take on a project of this size due to the Division’s other projects. Therefore, staff recommends maintaining this request as a Tier 2 task.A limited aspect of this issue may be addressed as part of the Aloha-Reedville Study. An inventory of trees in the town center and corridors will be conducted and that information will be provided to the Citizen Advisory Committee for review.
http://www.co.washington.or.us/LUT/Divisions/LongRangePlanning/PlanningPrograms/upload/2011_WrkPgm_stf_rpt_05-17-11_final.pdf)
We are thankful that the county has changed it’s tone somewhat on this important topic. The group will continue to promote a phased implementation approach to an urban forest management policy and supporting code at this Tuesday’s Board of Commissioners hearing where the Board will be deciding on the 2011 Work Plan.
