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18704 | WCA opinion constitutes conflict of interest as the same company removes trees. Any opinion and recommendations from WCA should be discarded. An independent certified arborist who is not familiar with WCA's recommendations and not associated with the company should provide an opinion on the health and condition of trees. This report should be attached to the staff report. The planting locations between street and pathway were a poor choice because it does not provide enough space for the roots to grow due to the adjacent concrete. See Exhibit 2 which shows that these large trees are within inches of the concrete gutter. This is the case with just about every street tree in Alameda. The situation is not unusual or unique, and the spacing may even be better than many street strips. The sycamores are also not an appropriate species for Alameda because there is too much salt from our shallow water table. The same problem is seen on Bay Farm Island. This discussion should be part the update on the Master Street Tree Plan in July 2020. The Park commissioners should not be asked to accept this as a fact prior to the MSTP update and a thorough analysis. Currently, sycamores are included in the plan and continue to be planted throughout the island. The pruning practice in decades past was done poorly with large branches cut and that practice can create decay in limbs and the trunk during regrowth. This type of pruning of large branches is no longer done unless there is a dead/decaying branch or it is significantly weighing down the tree and the entire tree will benefit from that weight reduction. Amy Wooldridge clarified in an email she is referring to the practice of "pollarding.' The pollarding was done many years ago, possibly decades, as evidenced by the size of the branches above the pollarding cuts. The question is not whether the practice can create decay but whether the trees currently have decay and how decay can be addressed with minimal intervention. Redwood and oak trees are recommended by the arborist to be planted in Jackson Park and they thrive in environments closer to the ocean. ARPD will be considering and consulting on other species as well. ARPD also has a magnolia in stock that it plans to plant in one of the circles near Encinal Avenue that previously had trees. The final location will be dependent upon the approved location for the landscape play area. Two potential locations for the play area are indicated on Exhibit 1. The arborist recommends planting 50 or more trees over the next several years with a minimum of 20 feet between each tree. There is enough space available in open areas as well as declining tree replacement for the next 3-5 years. Since the WCA report identified all sycamores as "declining", does that mean all of them will be removed and replaced in the next 3-5 years? This fiscal year, ARPD will be planting the magnolia tree and additional trees throughout the park. We have also has allocated $10,000 to purchase palm trees. This can fund either three |