City of Genoa Tree Board met April 8

Christopher Pulley, Ward 1 Alderman | City of Genoa

By Philip Gonzales

May 1, 2025

City of Genoa Tree Board met April 8.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

Agenda accepted

Old business reviewed and accepted

New Business

1. Tree City USA review:

a. CIty of Genoa has been recognized as a Tree City USA recipient of the Growth award for our 2024 forestry efforts, yippie!

i. Tree City USA award is given by the Arbor Day Foundation for meeting specific standards

ii. The Growth award recognizes communities going above and beyond– exceptional tree care and community engagement. Our management activities to get this award include:

1. 40+ parkway tree installs

a. Downtown tree box design and 20+ installs

2. Achieved a 2:1 planting to removal ratio

3. Mulch pile available for public use

4. Active land stewardship:

a. 110 acres of naturalized prairie, forest, woodlands, savannah, and wetland

2. Discussed newly awarded 2024-2026 Urban and Community Forestry Grant for invasive species removal agreement

a. This award was given through the Morton Arboretum’s Chicago Regional Tree Initiative

i. Funds are given by the Federal Gov., then given to states, state of IL then gives funds to the Morton Arboretum and funds are allocated in this way.

1. Grant summary:

a. $15K reimbursement for the removal of 10-20 acres of Honeysuckle and Buckthorn invasives in our prarie and woodland, and Callery Pear in our parkways.

i. Removal process includes herbicidal appl. To foliage, and/or physical removal via chainsaws, brush hog, and herbicidal application to stump

b. Replanting occurs at a 2:1 ratio

c. Trees planted will be split between naturalized areas and parkways.

3. Spring planting list discussed

a. Woodland reforestation species include Swamp White Oak, Shagbark Hickory, Tupelo and Sugar Maple

i. 40 woodland sites TBD

b. Parkway replanting, diverse selection

4. Landscape plan for downtown tree boxes discussed

a. Members discussed whether the groundcovers would be in competition with tree roots, Board President advised that there would be enough room for ground cover shallow rooted species, but not larger evergreen shrubs such as boxwoods.

b. All members are in favor of the design that the City Forester provided/designed:)

5. Plan to celebrate Arbor Day (Friday, April 25th, 2025) was discussed

a. location and time still TBA.

6. City of Genoa website development discussed

a. Proposed is that the current Public Works page leads to Forestry

b. Director Smith needed for updates (not present)

i. Content would include:

1. Announcements of City-wide brush pickups

2. Trimming zones and forestry metrics count to date

3. Members proposed providing info for residents on how to deal with water shoots at the base of their trees.

4. Social media forestry content could also be posted on the website, still waiting on approval for an official Genoa Forestry social media account.

Meeting Adjourned