May 13, 2026 Environmental Commission - Urban Forestry Committee

OF BUSINESS, UH, APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE DECEMBER 1ST, 2025 REGULAR MEETING.

VERY GOOD.

SO, FIRST ORDER

[APPROVAL OF MINUTES]

DO I HEAR MOTION TO ACCEPT THE MINUTES? MOTION HEAR SECOND.

WE'RE GONNA, UM, HAVE A STAFF BRIEFING.

WE'RE GONNA MOVE TO ITEM NUMBER THREE ON OUR AGENDA.

UM, COMMISSIONER OR VICE CHAIR LUKI.

UM, CAN WE GET A VOTE FOR THE MEETING MINUTES? OH, YES.

UH, ALL IN FAVOR OF ACCEPTING THE MINUTES.

RAISE YOUR HAND.

ALRIGHT.

NOW MOVING TO OUR STAFF BRIEFING.

[3. Staff briefing regarding the Youth Forestry Council. Presented by Britney Huynh, Program Development Coordinator, Management Services.]

UH, I THINK, UM, BRITTANY HUON IS HERE WITH THE YOUTH FOREST COUNCIL, AND, UM, UH, BRITTANY, WHAT ARE YOU GONNA TALK TO US ABOUT TODAY? YEAH, SO THANK Y'ALL FOR HAVING US.

UM, WE'RE WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN YOUTH FOREST COUNCIL.

UM, WE'RE HOUSED IN AUSTIN, CLIMATE ACTION AND RESILIENCE.

UM, AND WE ARE GOING TO TALK ABOUT OUR PROGRAM TODAY, AND YOU CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.

SO, THE YOUTH FOREST COUNCIL IS A PAID YEAR LONG INTERNSHIP FOR YOUNG PEOPLE, AGES 16 THROUGH 20 LIVING AND GOING TO SCHOOL IN AUSTIN TO USE THEIR UNIQUE SKILLS AND TALENTS TO SUPPORT AUSTIN'S URBAN FOREST, AS WELL AS LEARN ABOUT DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTAL CAREERS AND WORK ALONGSIDE THEIR COMMUNITIES, PEERS AND PROFESSIONALS TO, TO FOSTER A HEALTHY URBAN FOREST FOR ALL.

SO, IN, SO TO INTRODUCE OURSELVES, UM, AGAIN, WE'RE FROM AUSTIN, CLIMATE ACTION AND RESILIENCE.

UM, I'M BRITTANY HUEN.

I COORDINATE YOUTH FOREST COUNCIL HERE WITH ZANE.

UM, AND I WAS ACTUALLY AN INTERN IN THE PROGRAM IN ITS FIRST YEAR IN 2020.

AND MY NAME IS ZANE WILLIAMS. I'M A YOUTH PROGRAM TECHNICIAN WITH THE URBAN FORESTRY DIVISION.

I ALSO HELP BRITTANY COORDINATE THE YOUTH FORESTRY COUNCIL, AND I WAS AN INTERN MYSELF THREE YEARS AGO.

AND WE ALSO HAVE ASHLEY PETTUS ON OUR STAFF WHO CAN'T BE HERE TODAY, BUT SHE FOCUSES ON YOUTH PROGRAMMING AND ALSO HELPS US COORDINATE THE YOUTH FOREST COUNCIL.

SO, WHAT IS A LITTLE BIT OF THE YFC OR YOUTH FOREST COUNCIL PROGRAM STRUCTURE LOOK LIKE? AS WE MENTIONED, IT'S A YEAR LONG PROGRAM THAT RUNS FROM JUNE TO MAY.

EACH COHORT CONSISTS OF ROUGHLY 12 TO 16 INTERNS, AND OUR RECRUITMENT IS FOCUSED ON YOUNG PEOPLE COMING FROM HIGH PRIORITY AREAS WITH LOWER TREE CANOPY WITHIN THE CITY OF AUSTIN.

ADDITIONALLY, OUR INTERNS ARE PAID AS PART-TIME TEMP EMPLOYEES, AND THEY WORK ABOUT 10 TO 15 HOURS A MONTH.

SO, AN OVERVIEW OF OUR PARTICIPANT DEMOGRAPHICS FROM THIS PAST COHORT.

UM, 69% CAME, UH, FROM HIGH PRIORITY AREAS.

SO THIS IS FROM THE COMMUNITY TREE PRIORITY MAP, UM, WHICH, UH, SHOWS WHICH AREAS OF AUSTIN HAS LESS TREE CANOPY, UM, AND SOME OF THE SCHOOLS REPRESENTED IN THIS LAST YEAR'S COHORT INCLUDED A CC AUSTIN HIGH SCHOOL, MCCALLUM, UT AUSTIN, LBJ, EARLY COLLEGE HIGH SCHOOL, GARZA AND WESTWOOD.

SO WHAT IS THE MONTHLY MEETINGS AND DIFFERENT EXCURSIONS THAT YFC INTERNS GO ON ACTUALLY LOOK LIKE A PRI A MAJORITY OF THE INTERNSHIP IS SPLIT INTO OUR PATHWAY TRAININGS.

THESE WOULD BE YOUTH PROGRAMMING OR YOUTH EDUCATION, COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, AND A SD TREE INVENTORY FOR THIS PAST YEAR, WHICH WE'LL TOUCH ON MORE LATER.

ADDITIONALLY, BEYOND THESE PATHWAYS, WE HAVE FUN EXCURSIONS FOR INTERNS TO ENGAGE IN, SUCH AS TREE CLIMBING, KAYAKING, AND TRASH REMOVAL ALONG BARTON SPRINGS RESTORATION WORK DAYS, STRUCTURAL PRUNING SUPER VOLUNTEER TRAINING WITH OUR PARTNER ORGANIZATION, TREE FOLKS, TREE PLANTING AND CARE WORKSHOPS,

[00:05:01]

AND SOME FOREST BATHING.

LIKE ZANE MENTIONED, UM, PATHWAYS ARE A MAJOR COMPONENT OF THE YOUTH FOREST COUNCIL AND ONE OF OUR PATHWAYS IS YOUTH PROGRAMMING.

AND THIS IS WHERE INTERNS WORK WITH ASHLEY, AS WELL AS OUR OTHER STAFF, LIDIAN, TO FACILITATE URBAN FORESTRY EDUCATION ACTIVITIES TO YOUNGER KIDS.

UM, AND SOME OF THIS INCLUDES, UM, HELPING OUT WITH THE SUMMER PLAYGROUNDS PROGRAM FROM PARKS AND REC, UM, WHICH IS THEIR FREE SUMMER CAMP.

THEY'VE ALSO, UM, DONE GO INTO AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAMMING AT EL DIFFERENT ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS FOR THEIR ACE AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAM DOING, UM, LIKE CITY SPROUTS PROGRAMMING, UM, AS WELL AS GOING INTO LIBRARIES, UM, PARTICIPATING IN YMC YMCA'S NATURE WEEK, AS WELL AS PARTICIPATING IN THE A ISD ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP ADVISORY COMMITTEE, ALSO KNOWN AS ASAC.

WITH THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PATHWAY, INTERNS WERE ASSIGNED TO OUR URBAN FOREST STAFF PROFESSIONAL AMELIA DE VIVO, WHERE THEY WERE GIVEN EXPERIENCE IN TABLING AT DIFFERENT EVENTS SUCH AS THE ZERO WASTE RESOURCE FAIR, THE CTX CLIMATE SUMMIT NEIGHBORHOODS EVENTS WHERE WE GAVE AWAY FREE TREES, DIFFERENT COMMUNITY EVENTS, AND HOA MEETINGS BEYOND THESE TABLING OPPORTUNITIES, INTERNS ON THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PATHWAY ALSO COVERED SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT CREATION, PARTICIPATED IN EVENT PLANNING AND LED THEIR OWN TREE ID WALKS.

NEXT SLIDE, LIZ.

AND FINALLY, OUR LAST PATHWAY THIS PAST YEAR HAS BEEN A SD TREE INVENTORY.

THIS IS WHERE INTERNS WORKED WITH THE A SD URBAN FORESTER TO INVENTORY TREE SPECIES, THEIR MEASUREMENTS AND THEIR HEALTH ON CAMPUSES.

UM, AND THIS WAS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THEM TO LEARN HOW TO, TO COLLECT DATA AND PUT THEM INTO, UM, THE GIS TOOL TREE PLOTTER.

UM, AND THEY ALSO GOT TO LEARN TREE IDENTIFICATION SKILLS.

UM, AND THROUGHOUT THIS PAST YEAR, INTERNS INVENTORIED AT LEAST SIX SCHOOLS AND 985 TREES.

UM, GOING INTO THE NEXT YEAR, WE ARE EXPANDING THIS PATHWAY TO, UM, MAKE IT A LITTLE MORE BROAD.

SO STILL WORKING WITH A SD CAMPUSES, UM, DOING TREE INVENTORY, BUT ALSO TRYING TO INTRODUCE MORE TREE CARE AS WELL, LIKE MULCHING, UM, AND OTHER TREE CARE NEEDS ON CAMPUSES.

SO WHAT KIND OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND CAREER OPPORTUNITIES WERE THE INTERNS AWARDED? YFC INTERNS GOT TO WORK WITH VARIOUS PROFESSIONALS AND LEARN ABOUT THEIR CAREERS THROUGH OUR MEETINGS AND WORKSHOPS.

THEY ALSO GOT THE OPPORTUNITY TO EVENT CERTAIN EVENTS SUCH AS NETWORKING EVENTS, ENVIRONMENTAL CAREER PANELS, AND THE GREEN CAREER FEST.

AFTER THEIR TIME IN YFC, 100% OF INTERNS MENTIONED THAT THEY FEEL MORE CONFIDENT IN THEIR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATION SKILLS AS A RESULT OF YFC.

ADDITIONALLY, WE HAD ANOTHER 100% OF INTERNS FEEL THAT THEY'VE CULTIVATED A STRONGER PROFESSIONAL NETWORK THROUGH THIS INTERNSHIP.

ANOTHER COMPONENT OF YOUTH FOREST COUNCIL IS COMMUNITY ACTION PROJECTS.

AND THIS IS WHERE INTERNS CAN GAIN LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE BY PROPOSING THEIR OWN PROJECT TO ENGAGE THEIR COMMUNITY IN THE URBAN FOREST.

UM, WE'LL WORK WITH THEM TO, UM, GIVE THEM A BUDGET AND HELP THEM IMPLEMENT THEIR PROJECT, UM, AND THEY GET TO WORK WITH DIFFERENT PARTNERS AS WELL.

SO IT ALLOWS THEM TO USE THEIR CREATIVITY AND STRENGTHS TO COMPLETE THEIR OWN PROJECT.

UM, AND SOME EXAMPLES HAVE BEEN HERE IN THIS, UH, ON THE LEFT HERE, OUR ALUM, UH, GALILEO, UM, PAINTED A MURAL AT THEIR HIGH SCHOOL ABOUT, UM, NATIVE CENTRAL TEXAS TREES AS WELL AS NATIVE PLANTS.

UM, HERE ON THE RIGHT IS OUR ALUM JAMIE, WHO LED A COMMUNITY TREE VOLUNTEER PLANTING, UM, AT ROY G. GUERRERO PARK.

AND ALSO THIS PAST YEAR, SOME PROJECTS, UM, HAVE BEEN ONE OF OUR INTERNS LED A, UM, A TREE PLANTING AT GO VALLEY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, UM, PARTNERING WITH ANOTHER YFC MEMBER TO HOST THIS EVENT AS WELL AS, UM, TAKE CARE OF THOSE TREES LIKE MULCHING AND STAKING THE TREES.

UM, ANOTHER INTERN DID A GIRL SCOUT WORKSHOP WHERE, UM, SOME GIRL SCOUTS WERE INVITED TO HELP GET SOME OF THEIR BADGES USING URBAN FORESTRY ACTIVITIES.

UM, AND FINALLY, ANOTHER INTERN LED A TREE IDENTIFICATION WALK AND NATIVE PLANT GIVEAWAY, UM, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH WELLS BRANCH WILD CONSERVANCY.

ECO RESTORATION, ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY SERVICE, A CORE PART OF OUR TRAINING PATHWAYS FOR EACH INTERN.

SO, LET'S LOOK A LITTLE BIT AT THE PROGRAM IMPACTS FROM THIS MOST RECENT COHORT.

IN 2025 TO 2026, WE HAD 1,505 COMMUNITY MEMBERS ENGAGED BY YFC INTERNS IN THEIR ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICE.

ENVIRONMENTAL 21 PARTNERSHIPS WERE FORMED WITH A SD CAMPUSES, NONPROFITS, AND OTHER CITY OF AUSTIN DEPARTMENTS.

240 HOURS WERE SPENT PERFORMING

[00:10:01]

AND 365 ADDITIONAL TREES WERE PLANTED IN LOCAL PARKS, GREENWAYS, AND SCHOOL CAMPUSES.

SOMETHING IMPOSSIBLE TO FULLY REPRESENT THROUGH DATA, THOUGH IS THE HUMAN ELEMENT OF THE INTERNSHIP.

FOLLOWING THE INTERNSHIP, WE'VE HAD MANY OF FORMER AND PRIOR INTERNS MENTION HOW THEY WERE UNSURE OF THEMSELVES BEFORE COMING INTO YFC.

THEY WERE UNMOTIVATED, THEY WEREN'T GETTING OUTSIDE AS MUCH, AND THEY JUST FELT DISDAINED TOWARDS THEMSELF.

AND FOLLOWING THE INTERNSHIP, THEY SAID THEY LEFT WITH MUCH MORE PASSION, MOTIVATED, AND A SENSE OF DIRECTION OF THEIR PROFESSIONAL AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT.

SOMETHING THAT I THINK IS INVALUABLE AND SHOULD BE MENTIONED FOR THE INTERNSHIP.

AND FINALLY, I WANT TO END OFF ON A QUOTE WE RECEIVED FROM LAST YEAR'S END OF YEAR FEEDBACK SURVEY.

UM, AND THIS WAS IN RESPONSE TO OUR QUESTION OF WHAT WAS THE MOST IMPACTFUL PART OF YFC.

AND A PARTICIPANT SAID, SEEING THE VISIBLE CHANGE WE'RE ABLE TO MAKE BY CONNECTING COMMUNITIES AND PLANTING TREES WAS THE MOST IMPACTFUL PART OF YFC.

IT GAVE ME A ROLE WHERE I FELT ENCOURAGED AND KNOWLEDGEABLE ENOUGH TO TEACH OTHERS ABOUT SOMETHING I DEARLY CARE ABOUT.

THAT'S THE REST OF OUR PRESENTATION.

DOES ANYONE HAVE QUESTIONS? YES.

UH, LET'S, UH, START WITH, UH, MR. FLUER, YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? SURE.

UM, THANK Y'ALL VERY MUCH.

UH, UH, VERY INFORMATIVE AND I THINK THAT'S PART OF MY ROLE HERE IS TO, UM, YOU KNOW, BECOME EDUCATED AND BE ABLE TO TALK ON GREAT PROGRAMS LIKE, UH, Y'ALL ARE DOING.

UM, UH, I, I THINK I UNDERSTAND, BUT I WANT TO HEAR THE Y'ALL'S KIND OF PER PER PERSPECTIVE TO THIS, UH, QUESTION.

UM, I WAS AN AMERICORPS AMERICAN YOUTH WORKS VOLUNTEER WITH WITH CONSERVATION CORPS.

UM, AND THIS TO ME SEEMS KIND OF LIKE THAT, A NEXT STEP UP WITH A LITTLE BIT OLDER FOLKS, BUT HOW DO Y'ALL DIFFERENTIATE OR, OR WORK WITH PROGRAMS LIKE AMERICAN YOUTH WORKS? WE HAVE, UM, PARTNERED WITH DIFFERENT PROGRAMS LIKE, UM, INTERNS HAVE WORKED WITH LIKE A CC CREWS, UM, THE AUSTIN CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS, UM, AS WELL AS, UM, AMERICAN YOUTH WORKS TEXAS CONSERVATION CORPS THROUGH NETWORKING MEETINGS.

UM, SO ONE THING INTERNS PARTICIPATE IN IS ALSO, UM, THIS GROUP CALLED EMERGING GREEN LEADERS, WHICH ASHLEY ACTUALLY IS ON THE COMMITTEE OF.

UM, AND SO INTERNS GET TO MEET OTHER PEOPLE FROM THESE ORGANIZATIONS.

UM, FOR EXAMPLE, A RECENT EVENT WE DID WAS, UM, DOING COMMUNITY GARDEN VOLUNTEER WORK AT THE ST.

JOHN'S COMMUNITY GARDEN, UM, WHERE THERE WAS AMERICAN YOUTH WORKS CREWS, UM, ALONG WITH LIKE AUSTIN YOUTH RIVER WATCH, A BUNCH OF DIFFERENT ORGANIZATIONS THEY GOT TO WORK WITH.

COOL.

UM, WELL, I'M CURIOUS, UH, IT SOUNDED LIKE Y'ALL HAD DONE INTERNSHIPS A FEW YEARS AGO.

ARE YOUR, THE PROJECTS YOU WORKED ON, ARE THEY STILL, UH, SOMETHING YOU CAN POINT TO AND SURVIVED? SUSTAINED? IS ANYTHING YOU WANNA SHARE? YOURS? YEAH, I CAN CERTAINLY TOUCH ON THIS.

SO MY CAP PROJECT COMMUNITY ACTION PROJECT WAS KIND OF A TWO-PARTER.

IT WAS PART VIRTUAL.

I WANTED TO HAVE A VIRTUAL COMPONENT THAT LIVED, UH, WITHIN THE CITY DATABASE FOREVER.

AND THAT WAS A LONG FORM VIDEO CONDENSED INTO FIVE MINUTES OF PROPAGATING NATIVE PLANTS.

SO I DID THE MEXICAN BUCKEYE AND THE TEXAS EBONY TREE.

UH, AND IF YOU LOOK BACK IN THE CITY, UH, WEBSITE AND ARCHIVES, YOU'LL ACTUALLY BE ABLE TO FIND THE VIDEOS OF ME, UH, IN HIGH SCHOOL PROPAGATING THESE PLANTS AND INFORMING THE PUBLIC ON THE PROCESS OF SCARIFICATION AND OTHER TECHNIQUES.

UH, SO THAT WAS ONE PART OF MY PROJECT THAT IS DEFINITELY SOMETHING I CAN PINPOINT TO AND ACTUALLY HAVE LINKED.

UM, AND LIKE MY LINKEDIN AND OTHER STUFF LIKE THAT.

AND BEYOND THAT, I ALSO DID AN IN-PERSON COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PART OF THE PROJECT, WHICH WAS A MAKE AND TAKE EVENT.

UH, WE, THE CITY HAD AN EVENT WITH A BUNCH OF OTHER PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS, TABLING AND I BROUGHT OUT SOME DIFFERENT CUTTINGS OF PLANTS AND WAS TEACHING COMMUNITY MEMBERS HOW TO PROPAGATE FROM A CUTTING, USING OTHER DIFFERENT NATIVE PLANTS.

AND THEY WERE ACTUALLY ABLE TO TAKE THESE PROPAGATED PLANTS HOME WITH THEM.

SO HOPEFULLY THEY'RE GROWING IN SOMEBODY'S BACKYARD NOW.

WELL, THANK YOU.

ALRIGHT, CHAIR, UM, RECOGNIZES, UH, COMMISSIONER FIERRO HAS, HAS, UH, MADE AN APPEARANCE.

UM, SO, UM, COMMISSIONER, DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION FOR OUR GUESTS? NO, NO QUESTIONS.

I JOINED KIND OF LATE SO I MISSED A LOT OF IT, BUT THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR PRESENTATION AND FOR ALL THESE PROGRAMS. I ALWAYS LIKE, LOVE LEARNING ABOUT THEM 'CAUSE I DIDN'T KNOW, I, I'VE DONE A LOT OF ENVIRONMENTAL WORK WITH A YOUTH SPECIFICALLY, AND I FEEL LIKE EVERY DAY I HEARD, I HEAR ABOUT A NEW THING THAT WE DIDN'T HAVE ON OUR RADAR.

SO, UH, THIS IS VERY GOOD INFORMATION TO KNOW.

YEAH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

UH, COMMISSIONER BRIMER, DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS?

[00:15:01]

I APPRECIATE THE PRESENTATION.

UH, MY QUESTION IS THIS, HOW, HOW DO, UH, YOU ALL GET ENGAGED IN VARIOUS PROJECTS? I MEAN, WHO PROPOSES THESE, HOW THEY GET PUT ON THE LIST? HOW DO YOU SELECT THE PROJECTS, THAT SORT OF THING? FOR THE COMMUNITY ACTION PROJECTS? YES.

SO WE'LL WORK WITH INTERNS, UM, TO DISCUSS LIKE WHAT ARE THEY INTERESTED IN.

UM, SO SOME INTERNS ARE INTERESTED IN WORKING WITH YOUNGER KIDS.

UM, SO THEY MIGHT WANT TO PROPOSE LIKE GOING INTO, UM, AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AND DOING AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAM.

UM, AND THAT, THAT WAS ONE, ONE OF OUR PROJECTS FROM OUR STAFF, LYDIAN, WHO HAS NOW BEEN WITH US FOR MULTIPLE YEARS NOW.

UM, AND SOME INTERNS ARE INTERESTED IN LIKE, LEADING A GROUP OF VOLUNTEERS, LIKE, UM, DOING HANDS-ON WORK, LIKE DOING TREE PLANTINGS.

UM, AND SO WE'LL WORK WITH THEM TO FIGURE OUT, UM, HOW TO PLANT, UH, TREES ON THEIR SCHOOL, LIKE GET PERMISSIONS.

UM, OTHER INTERNS ARE MAYBE MORE INTERESTED IN LIKE A CREATIVE ASPECT OF LIKE PAINTING AND ART.

AND SO, UM, LIKE FOR EXAMPLE, WITH GALILEO, WHICH I, WHO I DESCRIBED, UM, HE WAS REALLY INTERESTED IN, UM, PAINTING A MURAL.

'CAUSE HE'S DONE THAT A LOT BEFORE AT HIS HIGH SCHOOL.

AND SO HE WANTED TO INCORPORATE THAT INTO HIS PROJECT.

SO THE INTERNS DRIVE THE PROJECTS AND THEN YOU FOLKS APPROVE THEM? YES, YES.

SO THE PROJECTS ARE, UM, INTERN LED.

SO THERE'S NOT A LIST OF, UH, PROJECT YOU HAVE AS CANDIDATES AND THEN THEY SELECT FROM ONE OF THE ONES THAT YOU HAVE ON A CANDIDATE LIST.

THEN WE PROVIDE SOME STRUCTURE FOR, UM, IN THE PAST WE'VE HAD, UM, JUST LIKE IDEAS THAT WE GIVE TO THE INTERNS THAT THEY CAN TAKE ON.

SO THE, UM, TREE INVENTORY PROJECT STARTED OFF AS, UM, AN OPTION FOR THEM TO PURSUE AS A COMMUNITY ACTION PROJECT.

UM, AND THEY, IF THEY NEED HELP, LIKE, UM, IN THE PAST, THE COMMUNITY ACTION PROJECTS WERE REQUIRED.

NOW, NOW THEY'RE OPTIONAL.

UM, BUT WHEN THEY WERE REQUIRED, SOME INTERNS MAYBE STRUGGLED TO HAVE AN IDEA FOR A PROJECT.

AND SO WE WOULD HELP THEM, UM, LIKE JUST TALK ABOUT MAYBE WHAT, WHAT THEY'RE INTERESTED IN, WHAT THEY COULD INCORPORATE INTO THEIR COMMUNITY, WHICH MIGHT BE LIKE, UM, TABLING AT LIKE THEIR COLLEGE CAMPUS, FOR EXAMPLE.

ARE THE PROJECTS, UH, DO YOU TRY TO ENCOURAGE THE INTERNS TO WORK IN, UH, AREAS THAT ARE, UH, DISADVANTAGE OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT? OR, I MEAN, HOW, HOW ARE THE, UH, PROJECT LOCATIONS, UH, SELECTED? YEAH, SO, UM, OUR MEETINGS, THEY ENGAGE THEIR COMMUNITY IN THE URBAN FOREST.

SO THAT COULD BE THEIR SCHOOL, UM, OR THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD.

UM, SOME INTERNS ALSO WANT TO, UM, LIKE PURSUE THEIR PROJECT IN A HIGH PRIORITY AREA, UM, WHICH HAS LESS TREE CANOPIES.

SO THAT WAS ONE OF OUR INTERNS THIS YEAR, VJ.

UM, HE WORKED WITH A SD URBAN FORESTER AND GO VALLEY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TO PLANT TREES AT THAT SCHOOL, UM, WHICH IS IN A HIGH PRIORITY NEIGHBORHOOD.

UM, AND, AND THEN WITH THE TREE PLANTING AT ROY G THAT WAS ALSO LIKE TARGETED IN THAT AREA.

UM, BUT GENERALLY WE HAVE INTERNS, UM, TRY TO WORK IN THEIR COMMUNITY.

UM, BUT WE ALSO WILL PRIORITIZE PROJECTS IN HIGH PRIORITY NEIGHBORHOODS.

THANK YOU MA'AM.

THAT'S, UH, ALL I'VE GOT.

UM, I, UH, HAVE ONE QUESTION.

UM, IS IT POSSIBLE THAT, UH, AN ORGANIZATION LIKE OUR OWN COULD, UH, IF WE CAME UP WITH OUR OWN PROJECT, THAT WE COULD RECOMMEND THEM TO, TO YOUR, UM, VOLUNTEERS AND SEE IF ANYBODY'S INTERESTED IN THEM? YEAH, DEFINITELY.

WE'RE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR PARTNERS TO WORK WITH AND, UM, TO PAIR OUR INTERNS, UM, TO DO WORK OUT IN THE COMMUNITY.

UM, SO YEAH, IF YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS OR THINGS YOU NEED HELP WITH, YOU CAN DEFINITELY CONNECT WITH US, UM, AND WE CAN SEE ABOUT LIKE, PROPOSING THE IDEA TO OUR INTERNS.

VERY GOOD.

WE, THAT'S KIND OF THE PURPOSE OF THIS COMMITTEE IS TO FIGURE OUT HOW IT IS TO INCREASE THE CANOPY IN THE CITY.

AND WE RECOGNIZE THAT, UM, EAST AUSTIN, VIRTUALLY ALL OF EAST AUSTIN IS A TARGET AREA.

AND SO, UM, WE ARE CURRENTLY IDENTIFYING SOME OF THESE PLACES THAT COULD USE TREES.

SO IT'S GOOD TO KNOW THAT Y'ALL EXIST SO THAT WE CAN MAYBE GIVE YOU SOMETHING COOL TO DO.

[00:20:01]

ANYBODY HAVE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? OKAY.

ALRIGHT, UH, THANK YOU, UM, ZANE AND BRITTANY AND CONGRATULATIONS ON WHAT YOU'RE DOING WITH THE YOUTH FORESTRY COUNCIL.

IT'S REALLY GOOD STUFF.

UM, NEXT UP ANOTHER STAFF BRIEFING, UH, REGARDING AN UPDATE ON THE URBAN FOREST REPLENISHMENT FUND.

[2. Staff briefing regarding an update on the Urban Forest Replenishment Fund. Presented by Emily King, Urban Forester, Management Services.]

WE HAVE EMILY KING, UM, URBAN FORESTER, UM, MANAGEMENT SERVICES HERE.

I SERVICE THE CITY'S URBAN FORESTER.

I AM IN MANAGEMENT SERVICES, HOWEVER, ARE ARE, YOU KNOW, MORE CLOSE UNIT OF, OF MEASUREMENT IS CLIMATE ACTION AND RESILIENCE.

AND, UM, I HAVE NOT SHARED SCREEN ON WEBEX BEFORE, SO I'M GONNA SEE IF I CAN SHARE MY SCREEN RIGHT THE FIRST TIME.

UM, SEE WHAT DO YOU WANNA SHARE? YES.

LET'S SEE HOW THIS IS GONNA GO.

SO GIMME JUST A SECOND.

UM, AS, AS YOU WOULD PROBABLY EXPECT AND HOPE MOST OF THE FUNDING GROWS IN, GOES INTO GROWING OUR URBAN FOREST.

EXCELLENT.

I THINK I'M SHARING WHAT I INTENDED TO SHARE.

UM, YOU SHOULD BE SEEING, UM, ONE OF MY BROWSERS ON THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S OPEN DATA PORTAL PORTAL.

LET ME KNOW IF THAT'S NOT WHAT YOU'RE SEEING.

I'M GOING HERE TODAY BECAUSE I THINK IT'S USEFUL FOR ME TO GIVE YOU UPDATES, BUT IT'S ALSO PROBABLY MORE USEFUL FOR ME TO SHOW YOU, UM, WHERE SOME OF THIS, UM, INFORMATION LIVES ONLINE, UH, SO THAT WHEN YOU WANT IT, IT'S THERE FOR YOU.

AND, UM, YEAH.

SO THIS IS MY STARTING PLACE.

THE CITY OF AUSTIN REALLY DOES WORK HARD TO HAVE A LOT OF, UM, TRANSPARENCY AND GOVERNMENT.

AND OUR MAIN PLACE ONLINE FOR THIS IS CALLED THE OPEN DATA PORTAL.

SO IF I MANEUVER TO THE SEARCH BAR AND I TYPE IN TREE REPORT AND SEE WHAT IT TURNS UP FOR ME, MY FIRST HIT IS AUSTIN'S TREE REPORT 2025, WHICH IS SUPER CONVENIENT 'CAUSE THAT'S WHAT IT DID WHEN I PRACTICED THIS BEFORE JUMPING ON A SHARED SCREEN WITH YOU GUYS.

UM, WHAT THIS IS, UH, AUSTIN'S TREE REPORT 2025.

OUR OFFICE HAS PUT TOGETHER, UM, AN ANNUAL REPORT ON THE URBAN FOREST REPLENISHMENT FUND.

IT LIVES HERE ON THE OPEN DATA PORTAL.

SO WHEN I CLICK THE EXPAND, I CAN FIND OUT A LITTLE BIT MORE INFORMATION ABOUT WHAT'S CONTAINED IN THE REPORT.

NOT GONNA READ ALL OF THAT RIGHT NOW 'CAUSE I'M JUST GONNA SHOW IT TO YOU.

UM, THE EASIEST WAY TO VIEW IT IS TO SIMPLY DOWNLOAD IT.

WHEN I DOWNLOAD IT AND CLICK IT, I GET A WHOLE NEW BROWSER WINDOW TAB OPEN.

AND I HAVE AN OVERVIEW OF FISCAL YEAR 25 FOR THE URBAN FOREST REPLENISHMENT FUND.

UM, I LIKE SHOWING Y'ALL THIS INFORMATION AND THIS FORMAT BECAUSE THIS IS WELL CURATED AND LOTS OF THOUGHT PUT BEHIND IT IN TERMS OF WHAT ARE THE ESSENTIAL PARTS OF THE URBAN FOREST REPLENISHMENT FUND THAT, THAT I, I THINK FOLKS IN THE COMMUNITY, UM, ARE, SHOULD BE AWARE OF AND THAT I KNOW THEY'RE INTERESTED IN.

UM, WE HAVE THREE PRIMARY WAYS OF SPENDING URBAN FOREST REPLENISHMENT FUNDS FUNDING THROUGH THE URBAN FOREST GRANT THROUGH WHAT'S CALLED THE URBAN FOREST FUNDING PORTAL.

AND THROUGH CONTRACTS, UM, ALL OF THE FUNDING WITHIN THIS REVENUE SOURCE COMES FROM TREE MITIGATION THAT'S TIED DIRECTLY TO OUR TREE PRESERVATION ORDINANCE.

SO THAT, THAT IS REALLY THE BACKBONE OF THIS REPLENISHMENT FUND.

THIS FUNDING IS MEANT TO REPLENISH OUR URBAN FOREST.

THIS, THIS REPRESENTS, UM, TREES THAT HAVE BEEN IMPACTED FROM THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS, AND IT'S, IT'S MY JOB AND MY TEAM'S JOB TO TAKE THAT FUNDING AND TO INVEST IT BACK INTO THE COMMUNITY TO, UH, RESTORE OUR COMMUNITY FOREST.

THESE ARE THE WAYS THAT WE DO THAT.

[00:25:01]

SO THAT IS LITERALLY TREE PLANTING PROJECTS.

SO IN FY 25, WE INVESTED THREE AND A HALF MILLION INTO PROJECTS THAT FIT INTO THIS CATEGORY.

WE ALSO INVEST IN CARING PROJECTS.

SO THIS IS TAKING CARE OF EXISTING, UM, CANOPY COVER AND THERE IS FUNDING INVESTED IN BOTH INFORMING AND INSPIRING.

SO THIS IS IS HOW WE HOPE TO MAKE OUR COMMUNITY, UM, BETTER, BETTER INFORMED ABOUT THE FOREST, BECOME BETTER STEWARDS OF THE TREES IN OUR, IN OUR C COMMUNITY.

AND, UM, JUST A WHOLE, A WHOLE LOT GOES INTO THESE TWO CATEGORIES HERE.

WHEN I SCROLL DOWN, I GET TO THE SECOND PAGE OF THE REPORT AND I HAVE AN OVERVIEW OF THE LAST FIVE YEARS OF FUNDING AND A FORECAST OF THE NEXT FIVE YEARS OF FUNDING.

SO THIS HITS ON BOTH, UM, REVENUES, EXPENSES, AND WHERE THE BALANCE OF THIS FUND IS.

IT'S MY GOAL AS I MANAGE THIS FUND AND MANAGE HOW WE INVEST THIS FUND BACK INTO COMMUNITY FORESTRY PROJECTS TO ATTEMPT TO HAVE A COUPLE OF YEARS WORTH OF OPERATING BUDGET IN THE BALANCE OF THIS FUND.

GENERALLY SPEAKING, THAT'S A GOAL I'M NOT ABLE TO, TO MEET.

BUT I, THAT IS, THAT IS THE GOAL.

AND THE GOAL IS, IS LIKE THAT BECAUSE OUR REVENUES, THE BLACKLINE ARE NOT CONSISTENT, RIGHT? THAT THIS IS NOT A STABLE SOURCE OF REVENUE.

THE REVENUE IS A HUNDRED PERCENT DEPENDENT ON TREE MITIGATION DOLLARS COMING IN FROM TREE IMPACTS CAUSED BY DEVELOPMENT.

UM, SO THAT IS GOING TO FLUCTUATE.

SO IF WE WANT TO HAVE CREATIVE AND THOUGHTFUL AND, UM, STRUCTURALLY SOUND PROGRAMS THAT SUPPORT OUR GOALS TO, UM, ADD MORE TREES TO OUR CANOPY AND TO TAKE CARE OF THE CANOPY THAT WE ALREADY HAVE, WE DO NEED TO HAVE STABLE FENDING BEHIND THOSE.

SO THAT'S REALLY THE REASON BEHIND TRYING TO KEEP A RELATIVELY HEALTHY BALANCE THAT'S GONNA BE THE GREEN OR THE BLUE BAR, IS AGAIN, I WOULD LIKE TO SEE OUR ABILITY TO HAVE A BALANCE THAT COULD SUSTAIN A COUPLE OF YEARS WORTH OF PROGRAMMATIC FUNDING IN THE EVENT THAT WE HAVE DOWNTURNS IN REVENUE, SO THAT I'M NOT FORCED TO DRASTICALLY CUT ANY PROGRAMS, UM, ON A, ON A SHORT NOTICE.

SO THIS, THIS KIND OF PLAN HELPS US, UM, MOVE FORWARD WITH OUR PARTNERS AND WITH OUR PROJECTS IN A WAY THAT IN THEORY, IF WE HAVE ANY, UM, DOWNT TICKS IN REVENUE, WE CAN, WE CAN SEE IT COMING AND WE CAN PLAN FOR THAT AS WE MOVE FORWARD.

SO I'M, AGAIN, I'M GONNA, I'M SHOWING YOU THIS SO THAT YOU CAN REFERENCE BACK TO IT IN THE FUTURE.

BUT WHAT I ALSO WANNA SHOW YOU, I'M GONNA CLICK BACK OVER TO THE OPEN DATA PORTAL.

THESE, THESE PROJECTS THAT WE SUPPORT, I KNOW THIS IS OFTEN A POINT OF INTEREST FROM THE COMMITTEE.

UM, WE HAVE A LOT OF DATA AVAILABLE AS WELL FOR, FOR Y'ALL AND FOR EVERYONE IN THIS OPEN DATA PORTAL.

SO WHAT I DID WAS I CLICKED TIER VIEW, THE DATA USED TO CREATE THIS REPORT.

I'M STILL, I'VE GOT A NEW TAB OPEN WITHIN THE OPEN DATA PORTAL.

AND THIS IS, AGAIN, ALL OF THE DATA ABOUT PROJECTS THAT THE URBAN FOREST REPLENISHMENT FUNDS HAS SUPPORTED FROM 2015 THROUGH 2026.

UM, SO THIS IS A GOB OF PROJECTS.

IT'S REALLY, REALLY GOOD STUFF.

YOU CAN, UM, VISUALIZE THE DATA, YOU CAN QUERY THE DATA, YOU CAN SIMPLY EXPORT IT.

UM, IF I JUST CLICK ON QUERY, IT'S BASICALLY JUST THIS LARGE TABLE THAT OPENS UP AND I CAN SORT THE INFORMATION, I CAN FILTER THE INFORMATION.

IF YOU'RE CURIOUS ABOUT A SPECIFIC, UM, PROJECT, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN FIND OUT MORE INFORMATION ABOUT WHO THE APPLICANT WAS OR WHAT FISCAL YEAR THE PROJECT

[00:30:01]

OCCURRED IN.

UM, HOW MUCH FUNDING WAS APPROVED FOR THE PROJECT, WHAT TYPE OF IN KIND CONTRIBUTIONS WERE REPORTED OUT FOR THE PROJECT.

UM, HOW MANY TREES WERE PLANTED, HOW MANY TREES WERE CARED FOR, HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE TAUGHT, AND HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE INSPIRED BY, BY, UM, BY.

SO IT'S A REALLY ROBUST DATA SET.

UM, IT'S AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD.

AGAIN, THIS SPANS 20 20, 20 15 THROUGH 2026.

THIS IS MEANT TO BE UPDATED ANNUALLY AS WE RECEIVE MORE PROJECT UPDATES FROM ALL OF THESE APPLICANTS.

AND AS WE APPROVE MORE FUNDING FOR NEW PROJECTS, UM, THIS WILL BE, THIS WILL BE UPDATED.

UM, BUT YEAH.

SO I GUESS THEREFORE, IN CONCLUSION, OUR OPEN DATA PORTAL IS A REALLY, REALLY GREAT TOOL.

WE'RE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF IT FOR SHARING OUT THIS INFORMATION THAT WE'RE ALREADY MANAGING AND COLLECTING.

AND, UM, I, I HOPE THAT YOU GUYS CAN FIND IT USEFUL.

WITH THAT, I'M GONNA GO AHEAD AND STOP THE SCREEN SHARE AND, UH, YEAH, SEE IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS.

UM, UH, LET'S START WITH, UH, COMMISSIONER BRIER, DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? YEAH, UH, I DO.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH, EMILY.

I REALLY APPRECIATE THIS.

THIS IS, UH, REALLY USEFUL, UH, KNOWING HOW TO ACCESS THIS INFORMATION GOING FORWARD.

I DO HAVE A QUESTION FOR NICOLE, HOWEVER, UH, THIS IS, UH, BEING RECORDED IN SOME MANNER, THIS, UH, MEETING, IS THAT CORRECT? YES, THAT'S CORRECT.

UH, AUDIO VISUAL, IT'LL BE THE WEBEX RECORDING OF THE THE MEETING.

SO SHOULD BE THE PRESENTATIONS AS WELL.

THE REASON I ASK IS THAT I WASN'T TAKING NOTES ON HOW EMILY WALKED US THROUGH THE ACCESS OF IT, AND I JUST WANTED TO BE ABLE TO GO REFERENCE THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, LATER ON AND EVERYTHING.

SO THAT'S REALLY THE REASON WHY I ASKED THE QUESTION IS IF WE, YOU KNOW, HAD ACCESS TO IT LATER ON.

AND I'M SURE, UH, OTHER COMMISSIONERS ON THE, UH, ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION MAY WANT TO HAVE ACCESS TO THIS TOO.

SO WE MAY WANT TO, UH, HAVE, UH, COMMISSIONER LUKI, UH, YOU KNOW, KIND OF FORWARD THIS ON AT THE NEXT MEETING.

BUT, UH, THIS IS A REALLY USEFUL TOOL TO GET INTO AND, UH, JUST ROOT AROUND AND, AND YOU DO RESEARCH AND, AND THAT SORT OF THING IN A GENERAL SENSE.

SO ANYWAY, THANK YOU VERY MUCH EMILY.

REALLY APPRECIATE IT.

REALLY EXCELLENT, UH, OVERVIEW OF, OF THIS THING AND HOW TO KIND OF START ROOTING AROUND AND YEAH.

AND, AND RICHARD, I MEAN, YOU DON'T HAVE TO EVEN USE THE SAME PROMPTS THAT I, THAT I USED.

IF YOU, IF YOU CAN MAKE YOUR WAY OVER TO OPEN DATA PORTAL AND JUST TYPE IN TREE, YOU'RE GONNA FIND ALL KINDS OF FUN STUFF THAT, UM, YOU, YOU MAY OR MAY NOT WANNA ROOT AROUND IN ALSO.

SO I'VE GOT, I SEE 25 HITS JUST FOR TREE.

UM, YOU'LL BE ABLE TO KIND OF DO THE READ MORE DOWNLOAD INFORMATION.

UM, THE, THE PORTAL ALLOWS YOU TO EXPLORE THE DATA WITHIN THE PORTAL ITSELF SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO DOWNLOAD IT.

UM, SO I, I, YOU KNOW, DON'T, DON'T BE CONSTRAINED TO JUST LOOKING AT R TREE REPORT, WHICH I MEAN, YOU SHOULD LOOK AT IT 'CAUSE IT'S CHOCKFULL OF GOOD STUFF, BUT THERE'S A TON OF OTHER TREE RELATED INFORMATION UP HERE IN THE OPEN DATA PORTAL AS WELL.

OKAY, THANK YOU MA'AM.

APPRECIATE IT.

UH, COMMISSIONER FIRO, DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? ONE ONLY QUESTION, JUST LIKE, SIMILAR TO COMMISSIONER BYMAN, LIKE THIS IS LIKE REALLY GOOD TO KNOW HOW TO USE IT AND THAT IT'S THERE, WHICH I DIDN'T KNOW.

AND I'M LIKE, I'M JUST NOW I'M LIKE, OH, WHAT, WHAT CAN I RESEARCH? UH, WHAT TEA CAN I FIND? UM, SO YEAH, NO, THIS IS VERY USEFUL AND I AGREE WITH BINARY.

IT WOULD BE GOOD TO HAVE THE VIDEO SO LIKE THAT CAN BE SHARED WITH OTHER PEOPLE SO THEY KNOW HOW TO USE IT TOO.

UM, BUT YEAH, BASICALLY.

THANK YOU SO MUCH.

UH, COMMISSIONER FLURY.

YEAH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

UH, I'LL JUST SAY, UH, I'M EXCITED TO SHARE FUTURE DISCUSSIONS WITH YOU.

I MANAGED THE OP, UH, GIS DATA FOR STATE PARKS FOR TEXAS PARKS AND WILDLIFE AND WAS JUST TWO HOURS AGO PROMOTING OUR OPEN DATA PORTAL.

UM, AND WHAT I'VE SAID FOR A FEW YEARS IS MAN CITY OF AUSTIN.

AND I REMEMBER FROM 10 YEARS AGO, I SENT AN EMAIL OUT, UM, TO ELIZABETH FUNK ON THIS, BUT WAS REALLY IMPRESSED WITH THE GIS DATA FROM THE URBAN FOREST PROGRAM AND, AND THE, UH, DATA Y'ALL HAVE.

AND YET YOU CAN DO AMAZING STUFF, UH, WITH IT.

AND, UM, SO I'M EXCITED.

UH, I SEE THAT THE UPDATES, I HADN'T SEEN THAT VISUALIZATION, UH, FUNCTION BEFORE QUERY

[00:35:01]

DATA.

I JUST USUALLY DOWNLOAD AND GO RIGHT TO IT.

BUT, UM, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

UM, I DO HAVE SOME QUESTIONS, UH, AND NOT, I'M CURIOUS, IS THERE A GENERAL SOURCE WHERE TREES THAT ARE PLANTED ARE COMING FROM A PARTICULAR NURSERY OR AREA OF TOWN? OR HOW, HOW DOES THE SOURCING OF TREES WORK? HMM.

I'M GONNA SAY IT'S GONNA BE PROJECT SPECIFIC, UM, IS GONNA BE MY BLANKET ANSWER.

UM, PROJECT AND PROGRAM SPECIFIC.

I MEAN, IF IT'S A, IF IT'S A CITY RUN PROJECT, UM, GOING ALL, ALL THOSE PROJECTS ARE GONNA GO THROUGH A PROCUREMENT PROJECT PROCESS.

UM, I'LL, I'LL, I'LL GIVE AN EXAMPLE THAT I LIKE TO SHARE.

UM, AND WITH OUR PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS, UM, FOR, FOR LARGER PROJECTS WE'LL REQUIRE, UM, THREE QUOTES.

AND SO, SO IT'S, IT'S KIND OF, I DON'T WANNA SAY ALL OVER THE PLACE 'CAUSE THERE'S ONLY A FEW OF THE USUAL SUSPECTS OF WHERE YOU CAN GET WHOLESALE NURSERY TREES AROUND HERE.

UM, SO THERE'S NO CITY TREE NURSERY, UH, LIKE THAT.

UM, NO.

SO THEN I IMAGINE Y'ALL SHARE PLANTING STANDARDS WITH ALL THE DIFFERENT PROJECTS OF HOW Y'ALL ARE HOPING THINGS ARE INSTALLED AND WHERE THEY'RE SOURCING GENERAL SPECIES AND, AND WHATNOT.

UM, HOW THAT GETS CONVEYED TO THE DIFFERENT PROJECTS? OH, SURE, SURE.

YEAH, THERE, THERE'S DEFINITELY EXPECTATIONS COMMUNICATED ABOUT, UM, SPECIES DIVERSITY AND, UM, IRRIGATION REQUIREMENTS, THESE KINDS OF THINGS.

UM, ONE OF THE PROJECTS THAT YOU'LL SEE IF YOU EXPLORE THE DATA IS, UM, OUR NONPROFIT PARTNER TREE FOLKS, UM, HAS RECEIVED A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF GRANT FUNDING TO SUPPORT THEIR NURSERY.

UM, SO WHILE THERE'S NOT A CITY NURSERY PER SE, UM, THERE ARE SOME DIFFERENT CITY DEPARTMENTS THAT HAVE VERY SMALL, UM, YOU KNOW, OPERATIONS FOR THEIR OWN PURPOSES.

THERE, THERE IS THE NONPROFIT PARTNER THAT, UM, THAT, THAT WE ARE, YOU KNOW, SPONSORING THE TREE FARM WITH.

AND A LOT OF THOSE TREES END UP BACK ON CITY PROPERTY JUST BECAUSE OF THAT PARTNERSHIP WITH, WITH THE NONPROFIT.

GREAT, THANK YOU.

UM, ONE OTHER QUESTION.

I LIKE THE DIAGRAM THAT ONE PAGER WAS REAL NICE OR, UH, TWO PAGES POSSIBLY.

UM, IS, IS THAT THE BALANCE IN FUNDING YOU, LIKE, DO YOU WISH THERE WAS MORE FOR MAINTENANCE OR MORE IN GROWING? UH, FOR AS FAR AS LIKE, IF IT WAS IDEAL STRATEGY, THE, THE BALANCE IS, IT'S, IT'S GONNA BE HARD FOR ME TO EVER HAVE THE BALANCE RIGHT WHERE, WHERE I ACTUALLY LIKE IT AGAIN TO, TO SUSTAIN A COUPLE OF YEARS WORTH OF OPERATIONAL COSTS IN.

AND THE REASON BEHIND THAT IS BECAUSE THE BALANCE STARTS BECOMING, YOU KNOW, QUOTE UNQUOTE, UH, TOO HIGH.

AND, UM, PRETTY MUCH ALL OF THE CITY'S, UM, I'M GONNA, I'M GONNA SAY SPECIAL TREE RELATED PROJECTS END UP COMING TO THE REPLENISHMENT FUND AS A FUNDING SOURCE.

UM, THE, THE CITY'S OVERALL BUDGET FOR TREE PLANTING AND MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS, UM, IS THERE, THERE'S A GAP BETWEEN LIKE WHERE THE OPERATIONAL TEAMS WOULD LIKE TO SEE THEIR BUDGETS BE AND WHERE THE CITY FUNDING ACTUALLY IS.

AND SO WHETHER IT'S, UM, I, I DON'T KNOW.

THERE HAVE BEEN A SUB SEVERAL, UM, CITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS THAT TOUCH TREES OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS.

AND WHAT WHAT ENDS UP HAPPENING IS THAT THERE, THERE'S, UM, GOOD INTENTIONS AND THE, THE RESOLUTIONS ARE POSITIVE AND, AND, AND LOOKING FORWARD, BUT THERE'S NOT REALLY FUNDING BEHIND THEM.

AND THE REPLENISHMENT FUND ENDS UP BEING THE, THE, THE SOURCE FOR ENACTING SOME OF THESE COUNCIL, UM, PRIORITIES THAT COME DOWN THROUGH THE RESOLUTIONS.

SO, SO IT DOES TEND TO BE DIFFICULT TO, TO MANAGE THIS FUND STRICTLY FOR THE TYPES OF PROJECTS THAT, THAT WE'RE CHAMPIONING, CHAMPIONING.

'CAUSE THERE'S, THERE'S A LOT OF, UM, THERE'S A LOT OF DIFFERENT PRIORITIES.

UH, GREAT.

AND LAST QUESTION, AND IT MIGHT BE HYPOTHETICAL OR MAYBE WE KNOW HOW MUCH OF OUR GROWTH IN THE URBAN CANOPY IS COMING FROM THIS FUND VERSUS OTHER EFFORTS.

LIKE HOW CRITICAL IS THIS IN THE E EFFORT TO REACH OUR GOALS? UM, OH, RIGHT.

YEAH, I WAS GONNA SAY, IF YOU'RE, IF YOU'RE MORE OF A DATA NERD, THAT'S GONNA BE LIKE, IF I WANNA GIVE YOU LIKE THE ACCURATE ANSWER, I'M GONNA SAY I I DON'T HAVE THAT, THAT DATA DATA, RIGHT? YEAH.

IF WE'RE GONNA SAY HYPOTHETICALLY, UM, THIS IS, THIS FUNDING ABSOLUTELY MAKES A RIPPLE EFFECT IN THE COMMUNITY.

[00:40:01]

WE, WE PARTNER WITH THE AUSTIN PARKS FOUNDATION, UH, THROUGH THE URBAN FOREST GRANTS, AND WE HELP SPONSOR ALL OF THE, IT'S MY PARK DAY EVENTS THAT TOUCH TREES IN THE CITY.

SO THAT'S TWICE A YEAR.

IT'S MY PARK DAY IS HELD AND THERE'S ANYWHERE FROM 75 TO A HUNDRED PARKS THAT HOST.

IT'S MY PARK DAY EVENTS.

AND EACH OF THOSE EVENTS HAVE, YOU KNOW, UH, HOW, HOWEVER MANY VOLUNTEERS SHOW UP TO THOSE EVENTS.

IT MIGHT BE 20 VOLUNTEERS, IT MIGHT BE A HUNDRED VOLUNTEERS, AND A LOT OF THOSE EVENTS TOUCH TREES.

SO THROUGH, YOU KNOW, WHAT, WHAT IS KIND OF SEED FUNDING TO HELP SUPPORT SOME OF THE BASICS WITH AUSTIN PARKS FOUNDATION, UM, THEY'RE ABLE TO TAKE THAT FUNDING AND THEN REALLY AMPLIFY IT OUT AND TOUCH HUNDREDS OF PARKS A YEAR THAT TOUCHES THOUSANDS OF TREES AND IMPARTS STEWARDSHIP INFORMATION TO ALL OF THOSE VOLUNTEERS THAT COME OUT AND LEARN HOW TO PROPERLY MULCH TREES OR WHY TO EVEN MULCH TREES OR MAYBE THEY'RE PLANTING TREES AT THEIR PARK.

UM, SO, SO THERE IS A RIPPLE EFFECT THAT IT, IT'S, IT'S PROBABLY GONNA BE EASIER TO TALK ABOUT IT, UM, QUALITATIVELY MEASURED THAN QUANTITATIVELY MEASURED.

UM, AND THAT'S, WELL, I DID PICK UP THE DATA AND SAW THAT Y'ALL DID HAVE LIKE A PEOPLE TAUGHT OR LEARNED AND WAS REALLY EXCITED FOR THAT, THAT THERE IS A WAY TO TRY TO MEASURE THE RIPPLE EFFECT.

UM, AND SO MM-HMM .

THAT WAS, THAT WAS GREAT.

SORRY TO CUT YOU OFF.

YEAH, YEAH, YEAH.

NO, NO, IT'S, YEAH.

UM, I WAS GONNA GO DOWN THE TECHNICAL RABBIT HOLE, BUT I GUESS I, I WON'T, I'LL JUST SAY WE DO COLLECT TREE CANOPY COVERED DATA, UM, IN, IN OUR TEAM AS WELL.

THAT DATA COLLECTION CURRENTLY HAPPENS EVERY FOUR YEARS.

AND, UM, BASICALLY THE, THE, THE SCALE AND SCOPE AND THE TIMEFRAME OF THAT MAKES IT DIFFICULT TO SAY EXACTLY WHERE GAINS AND LOSSES ARE COMING FROM, UH, YOU KNOW, AT, AT, AT A SMALL SCALE BECAUSE WE'RE REALLY LOOKING AT MEASURING OVERALL CITYWIDE CANOPY COVER.

UM, SO IT'S NOT REALLY THE RIGHT TOOL FOR THE JOB TO TRY TO TRACK INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS IN, IN THAT MANNER.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

MM-HMM .

AND, YOU KNOW, IN, IN TERMS OF DATA MANAGEMENT, DEFINITELY SHOUT OUT TO OUR, OUR DATA ANALYST AND, AND GIS WIZARD ALAN HALTER ON OUR TEAM IS JUST EXCELLENT.

WE WOULD, WE WOULD NOT HAVE ALL OF THIS WITHOUT ALAN'S SUPPORT AND HELP.

BRILLIANT.

UM, I HAVE ONE QUESTION.

THERE'S A PROJECT THAT, UM, I HAVE BEEN SPEARHEADING THROUGH, UH, WINDSOR PARK NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION TO PLANT TREES IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD.

AND, UM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I'M, THAT I'M REALIZING IS THAT WE NEED TO FIND A WAY TO LOCATE PLACES WHERE TREES CAN BE PLANTED THAT ARE OWNED BY THE CITY, CONTROLLED BY WATERSHED PROTECTION OR WHATNOT.

UM, AND I'M WONDERING IF WE CAN USE ANY OF THESE TOOLS TO ACCOMPLISH THAT PARTICULAR GOAL.

I, I, I, I DON'T KNOW.

THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION.

I'M TRYING TO THINK OF WHAT DATA SETS MIGHT BE AVAILABLE THROUGH OPEN DATA PORTAL THAT COULD HELP IN THAT MISSION.

AND I'M NOT CERTAIN Y'ALL ARE MAPPING THE TREE CANOPY.

IS, IS THAT A THING THAT'S JUST DONE BY SATELLITE, OR HOW DO Y'ALL ACTUALLY DO THAT? IT'S, UM, AERIAL IMAGERY AND THEN DATA EXTRACTION FROM THE AERIAL IMAGERY.

SO I MEAN, DEFINITELY, UH, A GIS EXERCISE OF OVERLAYING CITY OF AUSTIN PARCELS WITH TREE CANOPY DATA.

LIKE, THAT'S, THAT'S AN ATTAINABLE THING THAT, THAT A BODY COULD DO.

YOU KNOW, ENOUGH DIRT IN THE AREA TO COMPLIMENT A COUPLE OF TREES OR A TREE IN TWO BUSHES AND THINGS LIKE THAT.

BUT THEN, LIKE THAT ANALYSIS OF PLANTABLE SPACE AS OPPOSED TO, UM, YOU KNOW, THERE'S, JUST BECAUSE THERE'S NOT, CANOPY DOESN'T NECESSARILY EQUATE TO PLANTABLE SPACE.

SO, YOU KNOW, THE OBVIOUS EXAMPLE OF THAT MIGHT BE, UM, SUCKER FIELDS OR ATHLETIC FIELDS OF ANY FLAVOR.

UM, WHEN I'M THINKING ABOUT, UH, CITY OF AUSTIN PARKLAND, RIGHT? NOT ALL THAT OPEN PARKLAND IS ACTUALLY PLANTABLE SPACE.

UM, YEAH, I'VE MADE IT A, A A, A HABIT TO KEEP MY EYES OPEN WHEN I'M DRIVING AROUND AT THIS POINT.

AND THAT'S KIND OF THE ONLY WAY I CAN DO IT.

AND I JUST WRITE NOTES.

BASICALLY IS TO WHERE THESE PLACES EXIST, AND I'M NOTICING A LOT OF BUS STOPS, UH, AND, UH, INTERSECTIONS THAT, UH, HAVE, THAT ARE NEW, THAT HAVE, UH,

[00:45:01]

AND IT JUST SEEMS LIKE TO ME THAT, ESPECIALLY IN EAST AUSTIN WHERE THERE, THERE, THERE REALLY IS A LOT OF THIS SPACE THAT, THAT NEEDS SOME KIND OF SHADE THAT, UH, IT WOULD BE, THERE WOULD BE SOME METHOD FOR IDENTIFYING THAT AND, AND PRIORITIZING, UH, UTILIZING THOSE SPACES.

UH, SO, UM, I GUESS MAYBE IN THE FUTURE WE MIGHT REACH OUT TO YOU AND, AND SEE IF THERE'S A WAY TO WORK TOGETHER ON SOMETHING LIKE THIS, UH, IN AN OFFICIAL CAPACITY.

UH, I, I'M, I'M JUST, YOU KNOW, COMING UP WITH IDEAS AT THIS POINT, BUT EVENTUALLY THEY, THEY'VE GOTTA GO SOMEWHERE AND, UM, UH, WE CAN GET VOLUNTEERS.

UM, THE, THE, THE YOUTH FORESTRY COUNCIL FOR, AS AN EXAMPLE, IS A PLACE WHERE VOLUNTEERS ARE, BUT MY OWN NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION, UH, VOLUNTEERS, UH, THE BOY SCOUTS, THE GIRL SCOUTS SAYS THERE'S PLACES WHERE WE CAN GET KIND OF MANPOWER TO, TO DO, TO DO SOME OF THIS WORK.

BUT GETTING PERMISSION IS THE OTHER ELEMENT THAT, UM, WELL, I'VE ONLY TRIED ON ONE ON ONE PIECE OF LAND AND IT WAS THROUGH, UM, WATERSHED PROTECTION, AND THAT WAS ACTUALLY PRETTY EASY TO DO.

UM, AND THAT HAS COME TO REALLY, REALLY GOOD FRUITION.

UM, UH, AND SO I SEE THAT AS A, A THING WE CAN JUST DUPLICATE AND, AND, UH, IN ALL OF THESE NEIGHBORHOODS IN THE E IN EAST AUSTIN, I THINK IT'S, YOU KNOW, INCUMBENT UPON US TO ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT, UH, AND, UH, NOT JUST TALK ABOUT IT, BUT ACTUALLY FIGURE OUT A PLAN.

UM, SO, UM, I, I, I THINK IN THE FUTURE WE WILL BE WORKING ON THAT PLAN AND, UH, I'LL APPRECIATE YOUR, YOUR HELP IN, UH, WHATEVER WAY YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO ADD SOMETHING INTO IT.

UM, UM, SO, UH, NOT THAT I'M ASKING FOR ANYTHING AT THE MOMENT, JUST, UM, JUST AS, AS I'M SITTING HERE THINKING ABOUT THIS, UH, THAT, THAT, UH, WE HAVE A LOT OF RESOURCES AND, AND I FEEL LIKE MAYBE WE COULD UTILIZE THEM AND, UM, THIS, UH, DATA PORTAL IS, IS, UH, KIND OF A OPENING THE DOOR FOR US IN A CERTAIN REGARD.

SO I REALLY APPRECIATE Y'ALL PRESENTING THIS AND, AND, UH, UH, PUTTING ALL THIS TOGETHER SO THAT, UH, WE CAN KIND OF PUT OUR FINGER ON THINGS A LITTLE BETTER.

AND, UM, UH, ARE THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? OKAY.

ALRIGHT.

I THANK YOU MS. KING.

I APPRECIATE THE, THE TIME AND, AND, UH, THE EFFORT.

YOU BET.

NEXT ON THE LIST, UM, DISCUSSION OF WINDSOR PARK NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION, SHADE, THE STREETS INITIATIVE PRESENTED BY COMMISSIONER LUKI.

SO, DISCUSSION ITEMS

[4. Discussion of Windsor Park Neighborhood Association's Shade the Streets initiative. Presented by Commissioner Luecke.]

THAT WOULD BE ME.

UM, I'D LIKE TO THANK COMMISSIONER BRIMER FOR PUTTING THAT ON THE LIST.

UH, SO, UH, WE COULD, UH, KIND OF TAKE, TAKE THE NEXT STEP ON, ON THIS IDEA THAT WE HAVE IN WINDSOR PARK, WHICH IF IT'LL PERMIT ME A MOMENT.

UM, UH, SHADE THE STREETS INITIATIVE WAS STARTED A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO.

UM, I AM THE CHAIR OF THE WINDSOR PARK CLIMATE COMMITTEE, WHICH IS AN INVENTION FROM 2018, UH, WHEN I REALIZED THAT NOBODY WAS REALLY TALKING ABOUT CLIMATE ANYMORE IN THE NEWS.

AND I FELT LIKE HAVING BEEN PRESIDENT OF THE, OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION, THAT I WAS IN THE POSITION OF ACTUALLY UTILIZING SOME OF THE POWER OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD, UM, TO BRING THIS SUBJECT BACK UP INTO A DISCUSSION, UH, AT SOME, AT SOME, IN SOME WAY OR ANOTHER.

AND SO THE, THE CLIMATE COMMITTEE, UM, FIRST OF ALL PUT TOGETHER THE VERY FIRST, UH, CLIMATE RESOLUTION THAT A NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION EVER DID.

I'VE NEVER FOUND ANYBODY ELSE WHO EVER DID ONE.

AND WE TOOK ABOUT THREE MEETINGS TO PUT IT TOGETHER.

AND IT WAS BASICALLY A, A MAP FOR HOW IT IS WE APPROACH OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS ON THE SUBJECT OF CLIMATE AND THE THINGS THAT WE WERE ASKING FOR, FOR AT EACH LEVEL.

YOU KNOW, CITY, STATE, FEDERAL COUNTY.

UM, THERE'S DIFFERENT THINGS THAT DIFFERENT, UM, ENTITIES, UM, GOVERNMENT, UH, AGENCIES DO, GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATION DOES.

AND SO WE JUST TOOK IT UPON OURSELVES TO GO TALK TO THE ALL OF THEM WITH AND SHOW THEM OUR RESOLUTION AND POINT OUT THE PARTS THAT WERE PREVALENT TO, TO THEIR OFFICE, AND THEN START A DIALOGUE WITH THEM, WHICH IS, UM, BORN A LOT OF FRUIT OVER, OVER, OVER TIME.

UM, BECAUSE, UH, WE'VE GOTTEN OTHER NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS FOLLOW SUIT WITH THEIR OWN COMMITTEES AND THEIR OWN RESOLUTIONS.

AND, UM, WE JUST HAD, JUST GOT A CONVERSATION STARTED.

WE ACTUALLY EVEN HAD A YOUTUBE CHANNEL, UH, FOR A WHILE THERE CALLED THE WINS PARK CLIMATE CONVERSATION THAT, UH, WE WOULD BRING SCIENTISTS IN AND,

[00:50:01]

AND, UM, AND POLICYMAKERS AND, AND, UH, HAVE AN, AN OPEN-ENDED KIND OF APPROACH TO, UH, SHARING THIS IDEA ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENING AND WHAT WE CAN DO WITH IT, UH, WHAT WE CAN DO IN OUR OWN NEIGHBORHOODS.

AND SO EVENTUALLY WE CAME UPON THIS REALIZATION FROM AN INTERVIEW WITH THE, UM, THE, UH, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS PROFESSOR WHO RUNS THEIR EXTREME WEATHER LAB.

AND, AND HE WAS TALKING ABOUT THIS, UM, CANOPY THAT, UH, UM, Y'ALL HAVE PUT TOGETHER, UH, UH, THROUGH THE CITY THAT, UM, SHOWED THAT THERE WAS ONLY 20% CANOPY IN EAST AUSTIN WHERE I LIVE.

AND, UM, HE SAID IN ONE OF OUR SHOWS, HE SAID, WE HAVE A PROBLEM IN EAST AUSTIN.

IT'S CALLED THE HEAT ISLAND EFFECT.

AND, UH, TO WHICH POINT I AGREED IMMEDIATELY BECAUSE YES, IT REALLY DOES GET HOT OVER THERE.

UH, AND, AND BASICALLY THE, THE CONCRETE AND THE ASPHALT IS RETAINING THAT HEAT.

AND ON A, ON A REAL SUMMER STAY, IT'S THREE IN THE MORNING, IT'S STILL RADIATING HEAT.

SO IT WAS ONE OF THESE THINGS WHERE WE FELT LIKE WE WERE IN AN OVEN.

AND, AND, UH, PRETTY QUICKLY WE CAME TO THE CONCLUSION AS A COMMITTEE, UH, THAT MAYBE WE SHOULD START PLANTING TREES, BUT THAT SEEMED LIKE THE ANSWER FOR OUR NEIGHBORHOOD.

AND SO WE INVENTED THE SHADE THE STREETS INITIATIVE, UM, WHICH WAS DESIGNED TO IDENTIFY PLACES IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD THAT COULD USE A SHADE TREE.

THE MAJORITY OF THOSE PLACES ARE IN PEOPLE'S FRONT YARDS BECAUSE, UM, OVER THE DECADES, A WHOLE LOT OF PEOPLE HAD TREES THAT DIED AND THEY DID NOT REPLACE THEM.

AND SO WE PUT TOGETHER A VOLUNTEER GROUP CALLED THE SHADE BRIGADE.

AND WITH THE HELP OF TREE FOLKS, WE TRAINED OUR VOLUNTEERS TO BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY, UM, THE BEST PLACES TO PLANT TREES IN PEOPLE'S YARDS.

AND, AND THERE'S A, THERE'S A CERTAIN LIST OF IT, BUT ONE OF 'EM IS DON'T PLANT A SHADE TREE UNDERNEATH THE POWER LINE.

THAT'S LIKE A REALLY OBVIOUS, UH, RULE.

AND, UH, SOMETHING THAT, UM, UH, IS, IS PRETTY EASY TO, TO, UH, TO WRAP YOUR ARMS AROUND THAT.

THE OTHER, THE OTHER, UM, PARTS WERE ABOUT WHAT TYPES OF TREES, ET CETERA.

AND SO WE, WE CAME UPON THIS, THIS TEAM THAT WE PUT TOGETHER, AND THEN WE, UM, INVENTED THIS THING CALLED ECO FEST, UH, WHERE WE HAD AN EVENT WHERE WE WOULD BRING EVERYBODY TOGETHER.

UM, I WAS TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO SHARE PHOTOS, 'CAUSE I HAVE PHOTOS FROM OUR LAST ECO FEST, BUT I AM ONLINE HERE.

IS THERE A WAY FOR ME TO DO THAT? SO YOU'LL JUST NEED TO JOIN THE WEBEX.

UM, UH, I'M IN THE LIAISON.

CONTINUE THE WEBEX LINK IF YOU WANNA DO THAT.

I, I'M IN IT RIGHT NOW.

OH, ONE MOMENT.

YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO SHARE PHOTOS NOW.

OKAY, GREAT.

UM, LET'S SEE.

HOLD ON A SECOND.

HOW DO I DO THIS? CLICK SHARE TO CONTENT.

IT'S, IT'S NOT THAT BIG DEAL HERE.

LET ME, UM, GIVE YOU PRESENTER PRIVILEGES.

YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO DO IT NOW.

TRY IT AGAIN.

WHICH ONE SHOULD I CHOOSE? ALLOW TO SHARE WINDOW OR ALLOWED TO SHARE SCREEN? UH, I WOULD RECOMMEND SHARE SCREEN.

THAT'S PROBABLY THE EASIEST.

IS IT DOING IT NOW? SHARE SCREEN FAILED.

WHAT HAPPENED IS THAT WE BUILT A KIND OF, UM, CULTURE.

NEVERMIND.

UM, NOT IMPORTANT.

UM, JUST THE, THE POINT BEING THAT, UM, WE PUT TOGETHER THESE EVENTS SO THAT WE COULD DO A LOT OF PROMOTION.

UM, WE HAD, UH, A, A BIG GRANT FROM ROOTS AND WINGS, UH, WHICH ALLOWED US TO BUY A BUNCH OF, UH, SIGNS THAT WE PUT UP AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD, UH, ESSENTIALLY TO, UM, MARKET THE ECO FEST, BUT IT ALSO JUST GAVE SOMEBO EVERYBODY THIS, YOU KNOW, THIS KIND OF INFORMATION THAT SOMETHING WAS HAPPENING.

AND, AND IN, IN, IN THE ECO FEST EVENT, UM, WE, WE HAD A BUNCH OF, UM, TABLING OF ORGANIZATIONS LIKE YOUTH RIVER WATCH, AND, UH, ALL THESE, ALL THE, A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO COME TO OUR MEETINGS, UH, UH, ARE ARE IN THOSE, IN THOSE PLACES.

AND SO, UM,

[00:55:01]

AND NOW THAT WE MENTIONED SHADE, THE STREETS, THE SHADE BRIGADE OR, OR ECO FEST, EVERYBODY KNOWS WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.

SO WE'VE SET THIS THING UP TO GIVE AWAY TREES, THANK GOODNESS FOR TREE FOLKS AND THEIR ORGANIZING CAPABILITY, BECAUSE THEY MAKE IT ACTUALLY VERY EASY TO DO.

WE THROW THE EVENT, THEY BRING THE TREES, WE GIVE AWAY THE TREES.

NOW THE, THE WAY THE TREES ARE GIVEN AWAY IS WITH THE ECO FEST.

I MEAN, WITH THE SHAPE BRIGADE VOLUNTEERS, THEY'RE GOING DOOR TO DOOR TO EVERY HOUSE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD THAT COULD, THAT HAS A BLANK SPOT IN THEIR FRONT YARD WHERE A TREE, A SHADE TREE COULD GO.

AND THEN WE PUT A FLYER ON THE DOOR THAT SAYS YOU QUALIFY FOR A FREE TREE.

AND THEN INSTRUCTIONS ON, ON HOW TO CONTACT, UM, THE TREE FOLKS, UH, WEBSITE SO THAT THEY CAN, UH, SHOW THEIR INTEREST IN A TREE.

AND THEN WE HAVE A HEADCOUNT OF HOW MANY PEOPLE REALLY NEED TREES GOING INTO THE, INTO ECO FEST.

AND THEN THEY BRING, THE LAST TWO TIMES WE'VE DONE IT, IT'S 800 TREES BOTH TIMES THAT THEY'VE GIVEN AWAY.

AND SO THE MAJORITY OF THOSE ARE GOING INTO, INTO WINDSOR PARK, BUT OF COURSE, ANYBODY CAN COME GET A TREE.

SO, AND YOU GET TWO TREES.

SO ANYBODY CAN COME GET TWO TREES AND, AND PUT THEM WHEREVER YOU WANT.

BUT WE, AS, UM, AS AN ORGANIZATION, WE DO SUGGEST TO OUR, UM, RESIDENTS, UH, THAT THERE'S THIS SPOT IN YOUR YARD RIGHT HERE, AND WE SAY 15 FEET FROM THE CURB.

AND, UH, THEN WE SUGGEST, YOU KNOW, ALL THESE DIFFERENT TYPES OF TREES, ALL OF 'EM, NATIVE DROUGHT TOLERANT, UM, UH, SPECIES, AND THEN THEY GET A SECOND TREE TO PUT ANYWHERE THEY WANT IN THEIR YARD.

AND SO WHAT TREE FOLKS DOES IS THEY BRING SHADE TREES, UH, MEDIUM SIZED TREES, LIKE, UM, UM, MOUNTAIN LAUREL AND DESERT WILLOW, AND THEN THEY BRING SMALLER TREES.

USUALLY FIG TREES IS WHAT THEY HAVE AVAILABLE.

UH, AND SO, UM, IT'S A HUGELY SUCCESSFUL EVENT.

UM, WE HAVE DONE OUTREACH TO THE NEIGHBORHOODS AROUND US IN EAST AUSTIN, UH, LAST YEAR TO GET OTHER NEIGHBORHOODS INVOLVED.

UM, AND, UM, UH, THAT IS BUILDING, AND WE'RE GONNA DO THAT AGAIN THIS YEAR, UH, SO THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY HAVE MORE VOLUNTEERS ACTUALLY GO DOOR TO DOOR IN MORE NEIGHBORHOODS.

SO WE HAVE FOUND THAT THERE'S A BOY SCOUT TROOP THAT'S INTERESTED IN PUTTING FLYERS ON DOORS.

UM, AND, UM, AND, UH, THERE'S A, I THINK THAT THE, THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD IS ALSO INTERESTED IN MAKING THAT A VOLUNTEER THING FOR THEM.

SO WE'RE, WE'RE GETTING SOME TRACTION ON GOING DOOR TO DOOR, WHICH WE HAVE FOUND IS THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY TO GET THE WORD OUT, THAT YOU, YOU CAN'T DO ENOUGH MARKETING TO GET PEOPLE TO JUST SIGN UP, BUT WHEN YOU PUT THE FLYER ON THEIR DOOR AND YOU SHOW THEM IN, IN REALLY SIMPLE DIALOGUE, AND WE HAVE A SPANISH VERSION OF, OF THIS AS WELL.

UM, AND, UH, IT'S ENGLISH ON THE FRONT SIDE AND SPANISH ON THE BACK.

SO NO MATTER WHAT DOOR WE PUT IT ON, UH, IT WILL, IT'LL BE, BE USEFUL.

AND, AND BASICALLY WHAT WE FOUND IS THAT PEOPLE ARE VERY EXCITED ABOUT THIS, AND THEY'VE BEEN WANTING TREES AND WOW, WE GET THE FREE ONE.

AND THEN WE EDUCATE THEM IN THE PROCESS OF, YOU KNOW, IF YOU'RE GONNA PLANT THIS TREE IN YOUR FRONT YARD, HERE'S HOW YOU PLANT IT, AND THEN YOU NEED WATER IT ONCE A WEEK FOR THE NEXT THREE YEARS.

AND SO WE GET THEM TO SIGN OFF ON THIS IDEA THAT THEY'RE ACTUALLY IN CHARGE OF THIS TREE.

THIS IS NOT SOMETHING YOU JUST STICK IN THE GROUND AND WALK AWAY FROM.

AND SO THAT EDUCATION PROCESS HAS, HAS PROVEN IN IT IN AND OF ITSELF TO BE REALLY HELPFUL TO A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO, I GUESS, YOU KNOW, WHEN, WHEN THE, WHEN, UH, BRITTANY WAS TALKING ABOUT THE YOUTH FORESTRY COUNCIL AND SHE SAID THESE VOLUNTEERS FELT LIKE THEY WEREN'T GETTING OUT ENOUGH, THAT THEY WEREN'T INVOLVED ENOUGH.

IT SOUNDS LIKE THE EXACT SAME THING IS HAPPENING TO US WITH OUR VOLUNTEERS, UH, WITH OUR SHADE BRIGADE PEOPLE, THAT THEY'RE, THEY'RE ACTUALLY WALKING THE NEIGHBORHOOD.

THEY'RE ACTUALLY MEETING NEIGHBORS.

THEY'RE ACTUALLY THINKING ABOUT THIS THING.

THEY'RE ACTUALLY LOOKING AT IT DIFFERENTLY NOW.

SO IT, IT, IT HAS THIS, UH, MULTIPLYING EFFECT THAT, UM, I'M, I'M FINDING TO BE ACTUALLY KIND OF, UH, AN UNINTENDED , UH, POSITIVE CONSEQUENCE.

AND, UM, IT'S, UM, IT'S CONTAGIOUS REALLY, ONCE YOU START DOWN THAT PATH.

AND SO, UM, I THINK, UH, COMMISSIONER BRIMER WAS LOOKING AT, AT, UH, WHAT WE WERE DOING AND SEEING, WOW, MAYBE WE SHOULD FIGURE OUT A, A WAY TO DO THIS ON A LARGER SCALE.

AND SO, UM, AT THIS POINT, UH, I'M LITERALLY TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW, HOW DO WE SCALE IT UP AND, YOU KNOW, WHERE DOES THE MONEY COME FROM

[01:00:01]

TO, YOU KNOW, TO PAY CERTAIN PEOPLE TO DO CERTAIN THINGS? AND, AND, AND IS IT ALL VOLUNTEER? HOW, HOW DO WE DO THIS FROM HERE? AND, UM, SO I, I LEAVE IT TO Y'ALL WITH ANY, ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE.

UM, UH, COMMISSIONER FLURY, UH, WHAT YOU GOT? NO, YOU GOT ANY PROBLEMS GETTING TREES? IS THAT NOT, IS THE ISSUE MORE ABOUT GETTING THE WORD OUT AS YOU'RE SAYING? WE HAVE NO PROBLEMS WITH TREES.

TREE FOLKS IS KIND ENOUGH TO DO THAT PART FOR US.

AND THERE'S A, THERE'S AN INTERESTING EXTRA THING THAT THEY DO SINCE, UH, PEOPLE RESPOND TO THE FLYER.

UM, UH, DIGITALLY IT GOES TO TREE FOLKS AND THEY GIVE TREE FOLKS THEIR DATA, YOU KNOW, NAME, ADDRESS, CONTACT INFO.

AND SO AT THE TREE GIVEAWAY EVENT ECO FEST, UM, WHEN THE VOLUNTEER, WHEN WHEN THE PEOPLE GO, GO TO GET THEIR TREE, THEY HAVE TO AGAIN, GIVE INFORMATION.

AND SO AFTER THE GIVEAWAY, THEN THEY COMBINE THOSE TWO DATABASES AND SEE WHO DID NOT COME GET A TREE WHO WAS INTERESTED IN A TREE.

AND THEN THEY REACH OUT TO THOSE INDIVIDUALS DIRECTLY AND SAY, WOULD YOU LIKE A TREE DELIVERED TO YOUR HOUSE? AND SO THEN THEY, THEY PICK THE TREE THEY WANT AND THEN IT SHOWS UP ON THEIR DOOR.

AND SO THAT'S KIND OF LIKE THE WIN-WIN WIN SCENARIO, UM, WHERE NOBODY GETS LEFT OUT.

'CAUSE SOME PEOPLE CAN'T, YOU KNOW, CAN'T GO THAT DAY TO GO GET THE TREE.

SOME PEOPLE CAN'T PUT THE TREE IN THE GROUND, SO THEY ASK FOR HELP WITH THAT.

AND SO TREE FOLKS HAS BEEN EXTREMELY HELPFUL IN MAKING ALL THAT STUFF WORK OUT REALLY WELL.

SO, UH, I DON'T KNOW HOW TO SAY THIS WITHOUT JUST BEING DIRECT.

UH, WHY DON'T Y'ALL WORK WITH MORE TREE FOLKS MORE? THAT SEEMS LIKE THEY'D BE THE A, A A A SOURCE AND THEY'RE, THEY'RE LIMITED IN HOW MANY EVENTS THAT THEY CAN COVER IN A YEAR.

THEY'RE ONLY GIVEN A CERTAIN NUMBER OF TREES AND THEY HAVE A MANDATE TO SPREAD THEM AROUND.

NOW THE TARGET AREAS ARE WHERE THE CANOPY NEEDS TO GO.

SO WE HAPPEN TO LIVE IN A TARGET AREA.

AND SO THAT'S, THAT, THAT'S A NO BRAINER FOR THEM TO HAVE OUR EVENT AND DO THAT.

BUT WHAT WE NEED IS ONE OF THOSE EVENTS IN SIX NEIGHBORHOODS IN THE YEAR AND HAVE THEM DO 800 TREES PER NEIGHBORHOOD KIND OF THING.

I THINK THAT'S WHAT I SEE IN THE FUTURE.

UM, AND THEY NEED MORE TREES FROM THE CITY.

I GUESS IT'S ALL THE, UH, APPROACHING THROUGH THE NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION.

UM, I DON'T QUITE KNOW THE NEIGHBORHOODS APPROACH, BUT NEIGHBORHOODS IS THIS PROGRAM, IS THIS PROGRAM THAT IS THE, THAT'S WHAT THEY CALL IT.

THANKS FOR, OH, IF I, IF I MAY MAKE A SUGGESTION, UH, ONE, ONE WAY TO DO THIS, AND THIS IS NOT THE ONLY WAY, BUT ONE WAY TO DO THIS.

EVERY COUNCIL MEMBER HAS A, UH, WEEKLY OR BIWEEKLY, UH, EMAIL LETTER, WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL IT, OUT TO THEIR AREA, UH, TO ALERT THEM TO STUFF GOING ON.

AND THIS CAN, AND THEN OF COURSE, UH, THE MAYOR HAS A THING THAT GOES OUT EVERY WEEK, UM, TOUTING VARIOUS THINGS THAT ARE GOING ON.

AND THESE REPRESENT, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, METHODS BY WHICH WE CAN CONTACT MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY ON A COUNCIL MEMBER DISTRICT, AS WELL AS CITYWIDE BASIS.

UH, CERTAINLY I THINK GETTING THE WORD OUT IS THE KEY ON ALL THIS, BUT IF WE, YOU KNOW, AND THERE IS A DATABASE ONLINE THAT SHOWS, UM, NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS, HOAS, WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL THEM, UH, THAT'S ONLINE.

I'VE USED IT BEFORE IN ORDER TO REACH OUT TO, UH, VARIOUS, YOU KNOW, PARTS OF THE COMMUNITY IN ORDER TO WORRY THEM ABOUT STUFF THAT HAD COME BEFORE THE, UH, ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION.

SOME OF THEM ARE ACTIVE AND RESPONSIVE, OTHERS ARE MORBID, UH, FOR WHATEVER THE REASON IS OR THE DATA IS NOT UP TO DATE.

BUT THERE IS, YOU KNOW, AN ACTIVE LIST OF THIS STUFF THAT'S OUT THERE.

UM, HOW TO COORDINATE IT, I THINK WILL REQUIRE SOME THOUGHT ON OUR PART ON HOW TO, HOW TO DO THAT.

UM, OR THE THOUGHT OF OTHERS.

YOU KNOW, I THINK WE NEED TO, UH, YOU KNOW, PONDER THIS, UH, YOU KNOW, AT SOME POINT, MAYBE INFORMALLY, UH, YOU KNOW, MAYBE NOT IN A FORMAL MEETING SUCH AS THIS, BUT MAYBE IN A INFORMAL WAY VIA EMAIL, BECAUSE WE'RE NOT BOUND BY, UH, QUORUM ISSUES LIKE THE COMMISSION IS.

SO WE CAN EXCHANGE EMAILS FREELY AND, UH, COME UP WITH SUGGESTIONS, OR

[01:05:01]

WE CAN HAVE AN INFORMAL MEETING.

DOESN'T HAVE TO BE ALL OF US.

IT CAN BE, YOU KNOW, A, A SMALLER NUMBER, WHATEVER IT IS.

BUT WE CAN ACT, UH, YOU KNOW, INDEPENDENTLY OF THE FORMAL MEETINGS SO WE DON'T HAVE TO BE CONSTRAINED BY THE FACT, WELL, WE'RE MEETING QUARTERLY OR, YOU KNOW, WHATEVER THE DEAL IS.

SO WE HAVE A LOT MORE, UH, FLEXIBILITY THAN THE FULL COMMISSION DOES IN THIS.

AND OF COURSE, THERE'S EMILY'S, UH, UH, BUCKET OF MONEY THAT IS, UH, HAS AN ENDLESS BOTTOM ON IT TO, UH, FUND THIS ACTIVITY.

UH, WE JUST HEARD HER PRESENT THAT, UH, SO THAT REP, YOU KNOW, CAN REP, UH, REPRESENT A FUNDING SOURCE, NOT TO STEAL ALL OF HER MONEY, BUT, UH, ANYWAY.

COMMISSIONER BRIMER? UH, COMMISSIONER FIRO.

YES, I HAVE SOME IDEAS.

UM, I KNOW LIKE FOR EXAMPLE, MR. LUKI MENTIONED LIKE BOY SCOUTS AND LIKE NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS, BUT ANOTHER OTHER WORDS AND LIKE, FOR EXAMPLE, SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN PARTICIPATING IN SUNRISE.

I THINK WE WOULD SAY YES IN HELPING AN EFFORT LIKE THIS, IT WOULD JUST GET LIKE THE COMPLETE ASKING OR EMAIL OF LIKE, ARE Y'ALL WILLING TO LIKE CO-HOST THIS EVENT? UM, AND I KNOW THERE'S LIKE SUNRISE, THERE'S, UH, WE HAD THE FOLKS FROM SIERRA CLUB, THE COMMUNITY, THE, THE FOREST BY DOWN THE DOWNTOWN AREA.

LIKE THERE'S OTHER PLACES THAT I FEEL LIKE WOULD ALSO BE DOWN.

SO THEY CO-HOST AND AT LEAST BY CO-HOSTING IT, UM, THEY COULD LIKE DO SOME OF THE OUTREACH WITH THEIR OWN NETWORKS.

UM, THAT'S JUST ONE WAY THAT I WAS THINKING.

AND LIKE SOMETIMES EVEN LIKE ORGANIZATIONS THAT HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH ENVIRONMENT, I KNOW THAT I, I WAS WORKING AT WORKER'S DEFENSE AND LIKE THAT WE'RE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR LIKE EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE MEMBERSHIP.

SO I FEEL LIKE THERE ARE OTHER PLACES THAT WOULD ALSO BE LIKE INTO, UM, OTHER NONPROFITS I WOULD BE INTO JUST GETTING LIKE REACHED OUT AND BE LIKE, THIS IS LIKE NOT JUST PLANET TREE, BUT YOU GETTING A LOT OF KNOWLEDGE OUT OF THAT EXPERIENCE AS WELL.

UH, AND IT'S JUST LIKE ANOTHER ACTIVITY FOR YOUR MEMBERSHIP.

LIKE JUST SOME THOUGHTS THAT I WAS HAVING.

UM, AND I FEEL LIKE DOOR TO DOOR, DOOR KNOCKING IS LIKE ALWAYS VERY SUCCESSFUL.

UM, AND LIKE THE GOOD TIME IN ADVANCE, I FEEL LIKE WHEN I HAVE EVENTS I LIKE TO GO LIKE TWO WEEKS OUT, THEN A WEEKEND AND THEN LIKE THE DAY BEFORE IF I AM ABLE TO, SO THAT I GIVE PEOPLE THEIR REMINDER.

'CAUSE LIKE, LIKE WE, EVEN OURSELVES, WE GET LIKE SO MANY REMINDERS OF MEETINGS AND STILL SOMETIMES WE FORGET ABOUT THEM 'CAUSE WE HAVE SO MANY THINGS GOING ON.

SO I FEEL LIKE JUST LIKE HAVING LIKE A CONSISTENT LIKE RECRUITING SCHEDULE.

UM, AND EVEN IF IT'S JUST LIKE, OH, WE'RE GONNA KNOCK 10 DOORS OF THESE NEIGHBORHOODS, THEN WE HAVE SOMEONE WHO'S GONNA DO THEM.

I FEEL LIKE THAT ALWAYS, THAT ALWAYS HELPS A LOT.

UH, MAKING SURE YOU GATHER PHONE NUMBERS SO THAT YOU CAN CALL THEM IN CASE YOU CAN'T, DON'T HAVE THE DOOR LOCKED OR WHATEVER, OR TEXT THEM LIKE WE'RE ABOUT TO START.

UM, AND THEN ANOTHER QUESTION THAT I HAVE KNOW, YOU MENTIONED LIKE SOME THERE ARE OTHER NEIGHBORHOODS THAT ARE INTERESTED.

UM, ARE THERE ANY LIKE HAVING LIKE MORE LIKE ALREADY WORKING ON IT? AND IF SO, LIKE WHICH, OKAY.

UM, THANK YOU.

YOU KNOW, WE HAVE TO JUST DO THIS OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

UH, GOOD IDEAS THERE.

UM, THE, UM, YEAH, THE, THE GETTING OF THE PEOPLE TO, TO DO GO DOOR TO DOORS IS LITERALLY THE, I THINK THE, THE HARDEST PART.

LOTS OF THESE EAST SIDE NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS ARE VERY SMALL.

THEY HAVE VERY FEW MEMBERS AND THEY CAN'T, THEY CAN BARELY WRAP THEIR ARMS AROUND BEING ORGANIZED AS A NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION, MUCH LESS TAKE ON SOMETHING LIKE THIS.

IT IS A, WE HAVE A A, A WEALTH OF, OF VOLUNTEERS IN WINDSOR PARK, UM, BECAUSE WE'VE HAD AN ORGANIZATION THAT'S BEEN GOING STRONG FOR A LONG TIME IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION.

SO WE JUST ARE FORTUNATE IN THAT WE'RE ORGANIZED.

WE HAVE A NEWSLETTER THAT'S MONTHLY AND THERE'S A LOT OF OUTREACH GOING ON.

AND UH, WE HAVE A BIG NEIGHBORHOOD ALSO.

THERE'S 16,000 PEOPLE IN THAT NEIGHBORHOOD.

SO YOU HAVE A LOT TO, TO DRAW ON.

AND, AND THE THING I'M, I'M THINKING IS, YEAH, IF YOU COULD GET WORKER'S DEFENSE AND SIERRA CLUB AND SUNRISE ALL IN THE SAME ROOM AND SAY, HOW MANY PEOPLE CAN WE GET TO VOLUNTEER FOR, YOU KNOW, A WEEKEND, TWO WEEKENDS IN, YOU KNOW, SEPTEMBER AND, UH, YOU KNOW, HERE'S YOUR MAP AND HERE'S YOUR TRAINING.

UH, THEN, UH, YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT WOULD BE A REALLY GREAT WAY TO APPROACH EXPANDING THIS.

UM, I JUST WANT IT TO BE MUCH BIGGER THAN, THAN THAN MAYBE THREE OR FOUR NEIGHBORHOODS.

THAT'S, THAT'S KIND OF WHAT WHAT WE'RE GOING FOR.

AND WHAT I'VE FOUND IS THAT, UM, WE'VE DONE THIS TWICE IN WINDSOR PARK AND AS I GO THROUGH THE NEIGHBORHOOD, THERE ARE STILL LOTS AND LOTS OF YARDS THAT NEED TREES.

SO,

[01:10:01]

THIS IS NOT A HIT AT ONE TIME AND THEN WE'RE DONE.

IT'S MORE LIKE A PROJECT WHERE, YOU KNOW, IT, IT'S, IT'S, UH, AN ANNUAL EVENT FOR EVERYONE IN MULTIPLE PLACES.

THAT'S, THAT'S WHAT I SEE.

WHAT WOULD BE REALLY NICE IS TO HAVE A REALLY LARGE ONE THAT'S, UM, UH, KIND OF CITYWIDE.

I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S EVEN POSSIBLE, BUT TO HAVE, YOU KNOW, A MAJOR UNDERTAKING TAKEN WITH, UM, UM, HAVING, YOU KNOW, RADIO STATIONS AND TV STATIONS AND THE NEWSPAPER ALL SUPPORTING IT AND PUTTING A LOT OF, A LOT OF, OF, UM, OUTREACH THAT WAY AND REALLY REACH A LOT OF PEOPLE IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME.

THAT'S KIND OF A TARGET THAT I FEEL, UM, IS, IS IS GOING TO SPEED UP THIS PROCESS BECAUSE, UH, CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, WHAT IS THE, UH, TIMEFRAME FOR COMPLETING THE CANOPY OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN? DO, DO WE, IS DOES URBAN FORESTRY HAVE LIKE A TARGET? IS IT 2040 OR 2050? DOES 2050.

2050, YEAH, THAT'S A LONG WAY OFF.

AND THEN THAT TREE HAS TO GROW FOR 23 YEARS, 20 OR FOUR 30 YEARS.

SO WE'RE TALKING ABOUT 2070 FOR E EFFECT TO BE ON, ON ALL THAT.

SO I WAS TRYING TO FIGURE OUT A WAY TO SPEED IT UP MYSELF.

UM, SO ANY SUGGESTIONS? I'LL JUST, UH, GO ON A THOUGHT, UH, FOR WHAT, UM, COMMISSIONER FIRO SAID, UM, WE RECENTLY GOT GRANTS FOR A PROJECT THAT, UH, CAME THROUGH HEALTH FUNDING FOR IDENTIFYING WHERE, UM, WAS A STRATEGIC AREAS FOR PARKS.

AND THE 0.1 POINT MAKE IS IT CAME THROUGH HEALTH FUNDING, BUT, UH, YOU KNOW, WE WORK IN AN ECO, YOU KNOW, AGENCY AND ECO FEST, YOU KNOW, THE, AND FOLKS SIERRA CLUB GOING DOOR TO DOOR IN THE AREAS MOST NEEDED, MIGHT JUST LOOK WRONG, MIGHT, UH, AND, AND, AND THERE'S A DIFFERENT WAYS TO DIVERSIFY WHY WE NEED TREES, NOT JUST THE, THE, UM, I GUESS CLIMATE MESSAGE.

UM, BUT, YOU KNOW, TREES MAKE US HEALTHIER.

UM, UH, YOU KNOW, SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOLS, UH, PLAYGROUNDS, THE JUST HEALTHIER ENVIRONMENTS.

UM, AND SO THERE MAY BE FUNDING SOURCES, THERE MAY BE FOLKS WHO CAN HELP, UH, THAT ARE REALLY UNLIKE FROM, FROM, FROM THE, THE HEALTH PERSPECTIVE.

THAT'S A REALLY GOOD POINT.

UM, ANYBODY WHO, WHO IS IN A LEADERSHIP POSITION CAN SEE HOW IMPORTANT THIS IS.

AND THAT'S TRUE.

PART OF THE, OUR APPROACH NOW IS NOT SO MUCH ABOUT, UM, CLIMATE.

IN FACT, WE DON'T EVEN TALK ABOUT CLIMATE THESE DAYS.

WE TALK ABOUT, UM, UH, BEAUTIFICATION AND, UH, INCREASING THE VALUE OF, OF YOUR PROPERTY.

AND UH, UH, THE SHADE OF COURSE IS OBVIOUS.

YOU TALK ABOUT WHEN YOU HAVE SHADE, IT'S JUST NICER.

SO, SO IN THAT REGARD, WE'VE COMPLETELY ABANDONED CLIMATE AS THE REASON FOR, FOR DOING THIS BECAUSE PEOPLE DON'T REALLY RESPOND TO THAT VERY POSITIVELY SOMETIMES 'CAUSE IT'S SUCH A OVERWROUGHT SUBJECT.

SO YEAH, WE, WE'VE COME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT BEAUTIFICATION IS KIND OF MORE WHAT THIS IS ABOUT.

AND, AND ANY TIME YOU'VE BEEN IN A NEIGHBORHOOD WHERE THERE'S BIG TREES HANGING OVER THE STREET ALL THE WAY DOWN THE STREET, THAT'S PROBABLY ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL STREETS YOU COULD EVER BE ON.

UH, SO, UM, UH, YOU'RE RIGHT.

HEALTH IS, IS A GOOD WAY OF APPROACHING THAT.

UM, SO I THINK THAT'S IT FOR, FOR NOW.

I, I, I SEE THAT I HAVE A JOB IN FRONT OF ME TO ORGANIZE AN APPROACH TO COMMUNICATING WITH COUNCIL, UH, AND, UM, OUTREACH TO, UM, THESE OTHER ORGANIZATIONS THAT MIGHT, MIGHT SHOW AN INTEREST.

AND HOPEFULLY AT OUR NEXT COMMITTEE MEETING, I'LL HAVE, I WILL HAVE AN UPDATE FOR YOU ON WHERE, WHERE WE GO WITH THAT.

AND I'LL BE HAPPY TO HELP YOU WITH THAT.

MARTIN, YOU KNOW, YOU NEED IT, JUST GIVE ME A CALL AND WE CAN, YOU KNOW, DO WHATEVER'S NECESSARY.

SO COUNT ME IN TO, UH, YOU KNOW, KNOCK HEADS WITH YOU AND SEE IF WE CAN'T GET ANYTHING PUT TOGETHER.

BRILLIANT.

AND I, AND I, I WILL ASK Y'ALL, ALL OF Y'ALL NOW THAT, UH, IF, IF WE, IF I COME TO YOU WITH AN EMAIL THAT SAYS, HEY, CAN YOU REACH OUT TO YOUR COUNCIL MEMBER AND FORWARD THIS? UM, THEN THAT WOULD BE SOMETHING I WOULD POTENTIALLY ASK FOR.

SO WE CAN, AS, AS COMMISSIONER BRIMER SAID, YOU KNOW, GET, GET THE COUNCIL MEMBERS IN, UH, INVOLVED IN SOME WAY.

AND I THINK, UH, THE MORE WHAT I FOUND IS THAT WHEN YOU GIVE AWAY TREES, YOU BECOME VERY POPULAR.

AND, UM, EVERYBODY LOVES THAT.

AND, AND I'M PERSONALLY, I'M ON A FIRST NAME BASIS WITH, WITH CONGRESSMAN DOGGETT AT THIS POINT BECAUSE HE LOVES THIS IDEA AND HE COMES TO ALL OF OUR EVENTS AND HE SPEAKS, YOU KNOW, ELOQUENTLY ABOUT WHAT WE'RE DOING.

AND, AND SO I KNOW THAT, THAT, UM,

[01:15:01]

AND SO I THINK WE NEED TO PRESS THEM ON IT.

AND, UH, I APPRECIATE COMMISSIONER BRIMER.

UM, AGAIN, PUTTING THIS ON ON OUR, ON OUR LIST OF THINGS TO TALK ABOUT.

UM, NEXT UP

[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS]

FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. ANYBODY HAVE ANY FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS? WELL, I DO NOT, BUT, BUT I WILL SEND OUT AN EMAIL PRIOR TO THE NEXT MEETING GIVING EVERYONE AN OPPORTUNITY TO, UH, MAKE SUGGESTIONS AND EVERYTHING.

SO PUT ON YOUR THINKING CAPS AND UH, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING OCCURS TO YOU.

UH, KINDA LIKE EMILY FOR EXAMPLE, IF THERE'S A OPERATIONAL PART OF, UH, FORESTRY THAT YOU WANT TO HEAR ABOUT, UH, YOU KNOW, DATA SETS AND ALL THAT OTHER KIND OF FUN STUFF THAT'S BEEN A BIT OBSCURE.

AND YOU ALWAYS WONDER HOW THIS PART OF THE CITY WORKS AND WHERE THIS DATA IS.

UH, THIS IS A PERFECT OPPORTUNITY TO, UH, QUERY, UH, PEOPLE FOR THAT.

AND IT'S NOT ONLY OF USE TO US, BUT IT MAY BE OF GENERAL INTEREST TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION, UH, AS A WHOLE, AS A COMPLETE BODY AND PERHAPS TO THE PUBLIC, UH, YOU KNOW, IN GENERAL AS WELL.

SO, UH, THINK ABOUT STUFF YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT IN A BROAD SENSE.

AND THAT'S SOMETHING WE CAN, UM, ARRANGE FOR SOMEONE TO PRESENT.

I HAVE NOTHING, YOU KNOW, RIGHT.

THIS SECOND TO THINK OF, BUT WE DO HAVE PLENTY OF TIME.