Members of the Sunbury Tree and Landscape Commission presented its annual report to Sunbury Village Council’s parks and safety committee recently.
Members of the commission, an advisory group with no legislative authority, are required to produce a written update annually that includes a written plan for the care, preservation, pruning, planting, replanting, removal of or disposition of trees, shrubs and other landscaping in the parks, along streets, and another public right-of-way areas within the village.
Tree commission chair Dan Shaw said that in addition to maintaining Sunbury’s Tree City USA status with the National Arbor Day Foundation, members of the group have participated in a number of tree- and landscape-related activities throughout the past year.
During 2015, members of the commission performed cleaning and mulching tasks at Evening Park, and planted a tree at the park as an Arbor Day activity.
Plans for 2016 include removing dead wood around Sunbury Village Square, pruning trees on the square, and cleaning brush along the bank of Prairie Run Creek.
“We need to check with whoever is responsible for planting the new trees on the east side of Village Square to make sure we get the proper ones so that we don’t have to replant them in a few years,” Shaw said.
Shaw said Ohio Department of Natural Resources urban forester Lisa Bowers would assist the commission with tree selection.
“We need to get information from the village parks committee about landscaping needed around the village so that we can be more actively involved,” Shaw said. “The other thing we need to do is be involved with the upcoming master plan for Village Square.”
During a recent Village Council meeting, parks committee chair Joe Gochenour said the Tree Commission is seeking an additional member.
Village residents interested in serving on the commission should contact village Administrator Alan Rothermel at 740-965-2684 for more information. Letters of interest may be mailed to Rothermel at: Village of Sunbury, PO Box 508, Sunbury OH 43074.
The Sunbury Tree and Landscape Commission was created in October 2008.
