2005-09-22 Arborist Advisory Committee Minutes

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Chair Bisel stated that as far as Exceptional Trees go, we should look at the idea of paying closer attention to the healthof our trees and if theyre not, then its our kuleana to identify them. Corp. Counsel Noda stated that mapping of all the Exceptional Trees and filing the map with Planning and Public Works, Building and the County Clerk should be a primary goal because thats actually a County Code requirement for the Committee. Chair Bisel will check with Roy Takemoto on the status of the mapping. 6.Procedure to remove a tree from the list of Exceptional Trees of the County of Hawaii: Chair Bisel stated that since the Quinine Tree is no longer there, we need to look at removing it from the list. Also, we were asked to comment on the removal of one of the trees from the Mango Grove in Pohoiki thats in conjunction with the new bypass road proposed for that area. R. Siracusa was concerned about the removal of that one tree and about not setting a precedent for the removal of other healthy, Exceptional Trees. She was concerned about the legal wording that goes with it and wanted to include this shall not act as a precedent. Since the Ordinance does allow for removal of trees that are diseased or damaged and pose a threat to the public, she wanted it to be explicit and possibly word the removal recommendation in such a way that it especially refers to the public safety issue - that its being removed in order to create a safe intersection for the general public and that it should not be taken as a precedent for the removal of other Exceptional Trees. Corp. Counsel Noda will prepare the draft to remove the Quinine Tree and have Parks & Recreation Director Engelhard and Chair Bisel review it. In reference to the Pohoiki mango tree, Chair Bisel announced that he was involved in the parkprojectthatsassociatedwiththenewbypassroadsohewasthinkingofnot participating in the vote or the recommendation. Corp. Counsel Noda suggested that he recuse himself. An Environmental Assessment for the by-pass road was submitted by Ron Terry and E. Imamura had forwarded it to M. Kraus to review and prepare a recommendation on behalf of the Committee. M. Kraus stated that he knows the tree and the Grove really well. He noted that most likely some other trees have been removed for driveways by people who didnt know they were Exceptional Trees or werent notified of the Groves status by the subdivider. The removal of this tree makes sense from the point of a safe intersection. It makes sense from the point of view that a lot of boats are going to be coming from Four Corners and are going to have to make that corner down there. If we did an island with the tree in the center of two lanes, that would probably kill the tree anyway. It would lose too much of its root system. The cutting of that road would not impact the other mangoes