After years of going without a tree board, Newport is reforming one.
The Newport Commission approved the reestablishment at its meeting on Monday. The tree board will have five city residents appointed by the mayor and ratified by the board of commissioners.
Newport City Manager Tom Fromme said that tree decisions in the city currently filter through one person, which he said is unfair.
“I really think that we made a mistake; they probably thought it was the right thing to do when we did away with the tree board years ago and put it on staff’s hands,” he said. “It’s not that there’s anything that they did wrong. I think without that open process, it kind of makes everything backward in a way, and so it didn’t work out too well.”
Newport Mayor Tom Guidugli Jr. said the board is still being constituted, and those interested can complete the online form and return it to the city clerk. Board members must be Newport residents.
“That’s important, and we have to have a balanced board, and it also is going to come with some training,” Guidugli said. “So, serving on a board isn’t just serving on a board. It requires the proper training and all the things that go along with that.”
The ordinance recommends that the board consist of at least one horticulture professional, an arborist or landscape professional, and a Newport Planning and Zoning Commission member. Each board member will be appointed for a four-year term or until the appointment of their successor. Three inaugural members will be set to a two-year term, and two shall be assigned to a four-year term.
“I really do have high hopes for the reforming of the tree board,” Fromme said. “I think it’s going to, first of all, make the process more open, and it also makes it straightforward as well. So, I think putting it in the hands of a board—and it used to be that way for those who weren’t here in the past, and it often ran very smoothly.”
The mayor said this ordinance came at the right time, with federal funding coming to the city to plant more trees and grow their urban tree canopy.
Newport announced in October that the city and ReNewport teamed up to receive a $1 million federal grant that will be used to remove concrete to create planting spaces and plant up to 1,000 trees on the city’s west side.
“It seems very timely and good to be doing this now,” Newport Commissioner Julie Smith-Morrow said. “I’m really happy that we’re working on this.”
The board will hold regular meetings as it deems necessary for its business, based upon a schedule on file in the city clerk’s office, but there will be at least one quarterly meeting. All board meetings will be open to the public.
