Reddy Brown, a member of the tree committee, plants a tree at the Richwood Lake Park Sunday. The committee has their first meeting scheduled for April 13. (Photo by Sherryl Sheets)
The Richwood Village Council is righting a wrong after years of an unfilled committee.
Council recently held a third reading to reestablish a tree committee for the village, something that councilmember Reddy Brown said the village had been operating illegally without.
“By ordinance, we have to have one,” Brown added. “We are supposed to have three committees — board of zoning appeals, planning and a tree committee.”
The trouble has been that in the past the committees were set up to have five members. Brown said it has been difficult to get enough residents to fill the boards.
So council made some changes to ordinances that now allow the tree committee to meet with only three members. Those members are Brown, Donnie Ridgeway and Lauri Shea Elliot.
Brown said the reestablishment of the committee has come at the right time. Several dozen trees had to be removed on Franklin Street to make way for new storm sewers, water and sanitary sewer and electric lines recently installed. Village officials want to keep that infrastructure well preserved. Brown explained that some trees are better for the village than others. He said some trees have deep roots or a wide system that could damage the newly installed lines. By creating the committee, the village can dictate when, how and what kind of trees will be planted.
“We didn’t have to start the committee, but we did it to protect our infrastructure,” Brown said. “We want to protect the money that was spent by the citizens.”
The idea came under the advisement of Craig Mescher, a consulting engineer for the village, according to Brown.
The tree committee has been working with a local nursery owner, Ed Kapraly, to determine what types of trees the committee will offer, something Brown has already done before being on the tree committee.
Brown said he worked with Kapraly and his nursery when the village decided to stone the shores of Richwood Lake, which also required removal of several trees.
“It was something I was already interested in prior to the committee,” Brown said. “I worked with him (Kapraly) on the trees around the lake, so I wanted to be on this committee when the idea was brought up.”
But Brown warns that there are still steps to take before the committee can allow trees to be planted.
“Nothing is on the bylaws yet,” Brown said. “We still have to meet and determine all of that.”
With the committee in its infancy, the members have not yet had an opportunity to hold a formal meeting. They hope to hold their first meeting prior to the start of the village council’s regularly scheduled meeting on April 13, but that time is tentative due to COVID-19 cancelling meeting, according to Brown.
Brown also said the time is now to get the bylaws on the books.
“We have to get something figured out because you are starting to see fruit trees and everything at (box stores).”