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I®CITY OF SOUTH BEND I OFFICE OF THE CLERK species list as a do not plant and highly invasive tree. Fifty-seven percent(57%) of the species we were recommending be planted in South Bend are not native to North America. That is troubling from an ecological standpoint. Mr. Sass went on, This (referencing a slide in the presentation) is an example of one (1) of the ones in the red category. These are planted every time, it seems, a dollar store is constructed. They make a decent street tree as they have nice form and flowers, but the weakness of these trees is a big deal. These are Asian trees from China and Vietnam. They are very weak and could break during any storm. So the nursery industry decided to create stronger varieties. The original one (1) was considered a sterile tree so it wasn't making fruit or spreading. But when they starting tinkering around with creating new varieties of these it started getting out of control. It is so bad that the DNR has asked for these trees to stop being planted. It is not illegal but they are pleading people to stop planting them. We took our concerns to Brent Thompson,the City Forester, and we had a very nice meeting. Brent identified the fact that he is not planting these trees but they are still being planted through Public Works and other independent contractors. He had mentioned he spoke with people from Public Works to stop planting but it still continued. He cited a couple different ordinances. Ordinance 1913 and 1914 which are the prohibited tree and shrub species list. He mentioned that and that is where it gets tricky from an EAC standpoint. Mr. Sass continued, EAC is an advisory council to the Park Board but this is larger than the Park Board. The Park Board apparently has authority to administer this ordinance but it is on the Council, of course, to write and update these ordinances. So we actually made a formal recommendation and it was sent to the Park Board.I think,also,the PARC Committee should have gotten this letter and formal recommendation. There were three (3) major things. One (1) was to update Ordinances 1913 and 1914 to represent more contemporary means. The Park Board exercises their authority to administer the ordinance so,according to City Code,all of the tree lawn plantings are under the jurisdiction of Park Board. The third (3rd) recommendation was to initiate a public education program to inform people why we shouldn't be planting these things. Even though you can buy them at Lowe's, it is not a good idea to plant these trees. Mr. Sass went on,Specifically we are looking at these two(2)ordinances. Section 19-13 references the Prohibited Species of Trees. Really, looking at the list,the list is there primarily to keep trees which drop things away from sidewalks and things like that. Maples were planted very frequently along streets and sidewalks and they don't make particularly good street trees.They were put there because people didn't like them. They didn't like having nuts or fruits all over the place. But they weren't really done from an ecological standpoint. Some of these are actually native trees such as the soft maple. These trees were also incredibly vague. Willow would pertain to thirty different species of things in Indiana now. I think this Ordinance only pertains to tree and lawn area or along any street. I would ask for clarification on what they mean by tree and lawn area. That would be another reason to look at rewriting this Ordinance. Then 1914 is the Prohibited Species of Shrubs and that is really interesting. The only shrub prohibiting is barberry and the reason for that goes back to before many of us could remember. Those plants were an alternate host to wheat rust and that was a really big deal seventy-five (75) years ago. So much so that they thought to put it into ordinance. Rust-resistant wheat plants have been available since the 1950s so that is no longer an issue. EXCELLENCE I ACCOUNTABILITY I INNOVATION I INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 227 W.Jefferson Bvld!South Bend,Indiana 466011p574.235.9221If574.235.91731 574.235.5567Iwww.southbendin.gov 3