Wellsville Tree Board Or Not

Up until May 15, 2009, Wellsville had a very active and energetic all volunteer committee dedicated to the beautification of our fair village. It started out as the Broadway Park Committee which transformed the park from a deteriorating eyesore to a thing of beauty. They raised funds to take on the removal of trees that mostly were over 100 years in age. Many of them had hollow trunks that posed a serious hazard every time we got a stiff wind from a passing storm. They raised more funds to replace the trees and sidewalks around the fountains with attractive pavers. Some of those pavers were paid for by donors that were inscribed with names. The transformation of the Broadway Park was very beneficial to the village. It got others enthusiastic to help out such as the Logan family that sponsored the renovations of the fountains. Still others made efforts to improve the appearance of their own properties.

Then in the fall of 2006 the Tree Board was created by Council passing Ordinance 06-34. That ordinance was passed on October 17 of that year. That proclamation stated that a Village Tree Board shall consist of ten members all of which shall be residents of the Village. Out of those ten members one will be the Village Mayor and another will be a Council liaison. Councilwoman Diane Dinch was the first liaison and was quite helpful introducing legislation to enable the village to apply for grants and such to benefit the mission of the Tree Board.

The newly formed Tree Board originally consisted of the same members that made up the Broadway Park Committee. They got organized with a slate of officers, made plans for future projects and drew up by-laws for the Committee. The Tree Board became members of Tree City USA, a national organization aligned with the Arbor Day Foundation. Much of that foundation's good works is coordinated throughout the state by the Ohio Div. of Natural Resources and the state's Division of Forestry. To become a member of the prestigious Tree City USA, the Tree Board had to annually meet certain criteria which they accomplished with their dedication and enthusiasm. As a result they earned the aspired growth award for three years running winning a flag proclaiming for all to see that the ville was declared a member of the Tree City USA communities. To give that accomplishment a little perspective consider the Village of Lisbon. They have been members of Tree City for 28 years and just last year they won their first growth award.

It's not just a smoke screen when I say that most of the members on the board were enthusiastic and energetic. They were accomplishing things for the village that never would have been with our cash strapped budget. Their plans for this year included rehabilitating the Welcome to Wellsville site at 17th & Main. They were pursuing a possible grant to replace the benches on Riverside. They were working with folks that would have provided free tree cutting. They were lining up a site for a nursery to get new trees started which would be used for replacements of trees that had to be removed. They were making plans for a mulching program. They started a required tree inventory that needed to be done this year. That included mapping, identification of the different trees and targeting trees that need to be cut down. They had plans for a meditation area on the hillside overlooking the scenic Ohio River up in Hammond's Park. The Arbor Day folks each year will donate ten trees for a $10 donation. Our board members each volunteered to cover that donation out of their own pockets. Their Arbor Day ceremony this year was made very meaningful to the village 3rd graders by including their participation. Their web site was used as an example by our ODNR representative for other Tree City communities to use. All in all the work of this committee was putting the ville on the map.

One project that the committee voted to table for this year is called the Gateway Project. There was too much on the plate that needed to get done. The biggest one being the tree inventory that not only covered the trees in town but the ones in Springhill Cemetery and Hammonds Park. It had to be done this year to remain part of Tree City USA.

The Gateway Project is a grant program where the Ohio Dept. of Transportation will provide a $20,000 grant to beautify one of the ramp areas coming into town off of Route 7. That would include purchasing shrubs, landscaping and placing park benches. It was decided to use the area around the kiln at 3rd St. Because of the type of weeds found in that area it would be necessary to remove the top soil to eradicate those weeds and replace it with fresh dirt. I believe they are called milk weed and to get rid of it you have to dig up the roots. One ex-board member estimated that it would cost the village more than the $20,000 grant to accomplish this project. Also there is the fact that there is no water source in that area and all the labor would have to be done by either the village or volunteers. To me it just seems like common sense to put this off for the time being. The village certainly can not afford to take on extra debt.

Dawn Johnson who was one of the original members of the Broadway Park Committee and later became the first Chairwoman of the Tree Committee said she has been working on the Gateway Project since May of 2007. She told me that it is a project between ODOT and the village and claimed it has nothing to do with the Tree Committee. However, there are recorded minutes of meetings for Tree Board where this was discussed and Johnson was quoted in the newspaper that the Tree Board will take on the planting duties. At their meeting of 7/14/08 it was decided by a majority vote to table the Gateway Project. It was brought up again at their October meeting. Again by a majority vote it was decided the Tree Board was not ready to take on this project. Still Johnson persisted.

The crushing blow that brought on the resignation of five Tree Board members came on May 6, when Johnson sent an e-mail advising the other members that she was working on arranging a meeting with the Mayor & ODOT representatives to "move forward with the drawings" for the Gateway Project. Prior to that two members had already resigned.

Johnson was also quoted in the newspaper that she "received several 'nasty' replies to that e-mail. From what the former members told me those several replies consisted of two e-mails. The first inquired about the drawings and stated "You need to discuss what you would like to do on this project & get the boards approval Before you talk to the Mayor or ODOT on behalf of the Tree Board". The second e-mail stated "I am sure we tabled this project by a vote of this board. To date it hasn't been brought back from the table". Johnson told me this past Friday that she is only a member of the board. Apparently Johnson went on and set up the meeting without any more notification to the other board members. One member told me he was out of town and received a call on his cell phone that the meeting was in progress.

That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Johnson has been described to me as being antagonizing, tends to alienate others and is petulant if she doesn't get her way. The Tree Board even had a special meeting last September to sit down with her to work out their differences. She was quoted as saying nothing gets done by this board unless she approves it. She went to a Council meeting without the board's knowledge about a tree on Broadway that had been run over. She demanded that the village make the lady that had the accident to pay for a replacement. As I was told she even called one fellow member an idiot when advised that particular tree would probably survive in spite of having some bark scraped off. It wasn't broken. That tree this spring sprouted leaves and looks just as good as the other newly planted ones. From what I was told there have been at least five good members that were willing to pitch in and even get their hands dirty that have resigned stating they can't work with Johnson. The other five remaining members resigned effective May 15. That only leaves Johnson, the Mayor and one Council member.

According to the board's by-laws that does not constitute a quorum. I attended the monthly "meeting" this past Monday that should have been cancelled due to the lack of a quorum. Besides Johnson and I there was only one other lady and the Div. of Forestry representative in attendance. Even if the Mayor and the Council liaison had been present there would still not have been a quorum. Neither Lola Lewis, the DOF rep, nor I are members of Wellsville's Tree Board.

According to the ordinance the Mayor has to appoint members to that committee with Council's approval. That hasn't been done and probably won't be for some time. From what I have observed and been told it will be a problem getting people "with a heart for Wellsville", as Johnson puts it, to replace the former members. The only other option is to amend the ordinance and that would probably die in committee before it even gets to Council.

It's a sad situation for the ville considering what all has been accomplished.

ole nib