Mission Trail Nature Preserve: Implementation of a Proactive Tree Management Plan Required for Public Health and Safety Purposes

ABSTRACT: Due to the City's lack of maintenance of Mission Trail Nature Preserve, public health and safety hazards exist which require proactive actions to ameliorate. An example of a public health and safety hazard is presented accompanied by photographic views of the Monterey Pine tree leaning dangerously over Flanders Trail in Mission Trail Nature Preserve.

In general, the City’s lack of maintenance of Mission Trail Nature Preserve, the City’s largest park, has led not only to the lack of implementation of the City’s General Plan/Coastal Land Use Plan and Mission Trail Nature Preserve Master Plan, but to the existence of public health and safety hazards which require proactive actions to ameliorate.

Case in Point: On Flanders Trail, a significant Monterey Pine tree is angled dangerously over the Trail and leaning into two other Monterey Pine trees, as the following photos depict. This represents a potential public health and safety issue and should be addressed by the City expeditiously, as the General Plan/Coastal Land Use Plan Coastal Resource Management Element and the Municipal Code dictate, as follows:

Mission Trail Nature Preserve

P5-155 Remove dead/hazardous trees only as needed. Leave dead trunks in place when not hazardous to provide habitat for woodpeckers and other fauna. (LUP)

Moreover, for public health and safety purposes, the City’s Municipal Code requires the removal of trees.

Four Views of the Monterey Pine tree over Flanders Trail, as follows:
View of Caution Tape around trunk of Monterey Pine tree leaning over Flanders Trail with roots uprooted; Caution Tape placed there by a concerned resident.

View of Monterey Pine tree leaning into other Monterey Pine trees over Flanders Trail.

View of Monterey Pine tree lending into and against two other Monterey Pine trees over Flanders Trail.

View of Monterey Pine tree against another Monterey Pine tree over Flanders Trail.

In addition, during the last storm, a dead tree trunk fell over Serra Trail (center); notice the tree is in a grove of trees with their trunks covered with ivy, adversely impacting the health of the trees.
Ivy-Covered Tree Trunk (center) cracked during storm and fell onto Serra Trail.

Section of Fallen Tree Trunk with Embedded Acorns on Serra Trail.

Forest, Parks & Beach Budget Only 3.5% of Total Budget

Iverson Tree Service
Tree Removal
Santa Fe St. between 5th Av. & 6th Av.
April 2007
Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA.

City Outsourced Tree Services (January 2007 – April 2007)

TOTAL (January 2007 – April 2007): $ 45,525

Carmel-by-the-Sea
April 2007 Check Register
(Includes Checks Dated 3/27/07)

112737 4/3/07 GATES TREE SERVICE, INC. $ 1,600.00 TREE REMOVAL - JUNIPERO & 9TH

112740 4/3/07 IVERSON TREE SERVICE $ 6,050.00 TREE REMOVAL SERVICES

112706 3/27/07 JOHN LEY'S TREE SERVICE $ 8,615.00 TREE REMOVAL SERVICES
112741 4/3/07 JOHN LEY'S TREE SERVICE $ 1,800.00 TREE REMOVAL SERVICES
112857 4/20/07 JOHN LEY'S TREE SERVICE $ 1,650.00 TREE REMOVAL SERVICES
----Vendor Total---- $ 12,065.00

TOTAL: $19,715.00

Carmel-by-the-Sea
March 2007 Check Register
(Includes Checks Dated 2/27/07)

112521 3/6/07 JOHN LEY'S TREE SERVICE $ 485.00 OUTSIDE LABOR

TOTAL: $485.00

Carmel-by-the-Sea
February 2007 Check Register
Includes Checks Dated 1/30/07)

112271 1/30/07 IVERSON TREE SERVICE $1,100.00 OUTSIDE LABOR

112272 1/30/07 JOHN LEY'S TREE SERVICE $3,045.00 OUTSIDE LABOR
112368 2/13/07 JOHN LEY'S TREE SERVICE $1,735.00 OUTSIDE LABOR
----Vendor Total---- $4,780.00

112385 2/13/07 SPENCERS TREE SERVICE $1,500.00 OUTSIDE LABOR

112303 1/30/07 WEST COAST ARBORISTS INC $15,120.00 TREE GRID PRUNING

TOTAL: $22,500

Carmel-by-the-Sea
January 2007 Check Register
Includes Checks Dated 12/22/06 - 12/31/06)

112061 12/22/06 IVERSON TREE SERVICE $ 2,000.00 OUTSIDE LABOR

112062 12/22/06 JOHN LEY'S TREE SERVICE $ 675.00 REMOVAL OF TWO OAK TREES NEAR SUNSET CTR

112080 12/22/06 TOPE'S TREE SERVICE $ 150.00 FORESTRY OUTSIDE LABOR

TOTAL: $2,825


COMMENTS:

From the current CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA CALIFORNIA DRAFT BUDGET, as follows:

FOREST, PARKS AND BEACH

The Forest, Parks and Beach Department manages and maintains the City's urban forest, parks and beach in order to preserve the windbreak protection, abate soil erosion, enhance the natural beauty, and maintain the outdoor recreational facilities of the community.

Revised 06/07

$ 284,137 Salaries / Benefits
$ 160,854 Materials / Services (includes $104,431 Outside Labor)
$ 444,991 Total

TOTAL FY 2006/07 Expenditures: $ 12,536,960

Note: For Fiscal Year 2006/07, the Total Forest, Parks and Beach Department Budget represents only 3.5% of the Total 2006/07 Budget. For comparison purposes, the City’s Enabling Grant to Sunset Cultural Center for the management of the Sunset Center is proposed to be $750,000 in FY 2007/08, representing 6% of the FY 2007/08 Budget.

Over the three year period, Fiscal Years 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08, as follows:

Forest, Parks and Beach $ 393,759 $ 444,991 $ 457,661
Total: $1,296,411
3.5% of 3-Year Total

Community and Cultural (SCC Enabling Grant) $ 772,000 $ 713,000 $ 750,000
Total: $2,235,000
6.0% of 3-Year Total

Total City Expenditures $ 11,585,933 $ 12,536,960 $ 12,875,794
3-Year Total: $36,998,687

(Source: CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA CALIFORNIA DRAFT BUDGET FISCAL YEARS 2007/08 THROUGH 2009/10)

QUESTIONS:

1. For the current fiscal year, FY 2006/07, specifically January 2007 – April 2007, and given the state of Carmel-by-the-Sea’s forest and all the expenditures for “TREE REMOVAL” AND “PRUNING,” where are the commensurate expenditures for tree planting and care? For example, the most recent check register entry for “TREE REPLANTINGS” was a December 2006 check, as follows:

112030 12/19/06 JOHN LEY'S TREE SERVICE $ 4,025.00 STUMP GRINDING AND TREE REPLANTINGS

2. Is it equitable city policy to subsidy a non-profit organization for the management of the Sunset Center, only one arts and entertainment venue in Carmel-by-the-Sea, at a rate of 6% of the annual city budget, while only funding the city’s forest, parks and beach department at a rate 3.5%?