I wanted to comment on the decision to use Chinese Palms to replace the trees on the alley discussed.
The suggested trees are only referred to as Chinese Palms so the palm that I found when I put in Chinese Palms is Chinese Fan Palms.
I found this information regarding the Chinese Fan Palm which in my mind indicates that it would not be a good choice in this case as follows:
Chinese Fan Palm (Livistona chinensis)
Native range: southern China, southern Japan
How it got here: Introduced as an ornamental tree for gardens.
How it spreads: Fruit fall to the ground and sprout below the parent tree. Some fruit are spread by birds. Trees are also moved about by people.
Chinese Fan Palms look very much like our Bermuda Palmetto, but have a number of undesirable characteristics. Fan Palms produce more berries, germinate more successfully and grow faster than Bermuda Palmetto. Fallen berries germinate at the base of the parent tree, eventually forming thickets of palms of various sizes. These thickets can be seen along the road side, where other plants have been overshadowed and crowded out by Fan Palms.
Chinese Fan Palms can be distinguished from Bermuda Palmettos by the thorns found on the leaf stem of most Fan Palms. Palmettos never have thorns. Also the Fan Palm has a uniformly green leaf, hard oval grey-blue berries and the leaf meets the stem in a ‘C’ shape when viewed from above. Remember C is for Chinese Fan Palm. Distinguishing a young Fan Palm from a Palmetto is difficult, unless the parent tree is nearby.
Removal: Removing a Fan Palm of any size requires gloves to protect against their thorns. Seedlings can be pulled by hand. Larger saplings are more difficult to pull as there is no trunk to get hold of. They can be dug out with a fork, but will re-grow if you break them.
Mature Fan Palms can be cut back to ground level using a machete and bow saw. Fan Palms are fibrous so if using a chainsaw it will need to be unclogged regularly. Palms grow from a central heart, so using a machete or saw to chop up the center of the stump should prevent the tree from re-sprouting. ‘Roundup’ herbicide can also be brushed onto the stump to prevent re-growth.
I hope I am providing some helpful information to you so you can better make the correct decision.
It is very concerning to me that Barbra Ellman has hosted secrete “THRIVE” meetings at her house evidently with other council member and that these meetings are closed to the public. I have a grave concern that as a member of this secret group that she is involved with along with all 5 council members is conducting city business in secrete. It is disturbing, to say the least. I would support any of the other 3 applicants. I trust that the 5 members of the council, all THRIVE members would agree that this is an obvious conflict of interest and that Barbra Elman should not be reappointed due to the obvious conflict of interest. I also believe that Haney Fangay and Stacy Armato should recuse themselves from this vote given their involvement with this secret group.
I would support any of the other thee applicants. I believe that the city council should show that they are for an open and honest government and will not stand for secrete meetings and denounce their membership in the secret THRIVE group that was apparently founded by a planning commissioner. This is just wrong.
I wanted to comment on the decision to use Chinese Palms to replace the trees on the alley discussed.
The suggested trees are only referred to as Chinese Palms so the palm that I found when I put in Chinese Palms is Chinese Fan Palms.
I found this information regarding the Chinese Fan Palm which in my mind indicates that it would not be a good choice in this case as follows:
Chinese Fan Palm (Livistona chinensis)
Native range: southern China, southern Japan
How it got here: Introduced as an ornamental tree for gardens.
How it spreads: Fruit fall to the ground and sprout below the parent tree. Some fruit are spread by birds. Trees are also moved about by people.
Chinese Fan Palms look very much like our Bermuda Palmetto, but have a number of undesirable characteristics. Fan Palms produce more berries, germinate more successfully and grow faster than Bermuda Palmetto. Fallen berries germinate at the base of the parent tree, eventually forming thickets of palms of various sizes. These thickets can be seen along the road side, where other plants have been overshadowed and crowded out by Fan Palms.
Chinese Fan Palms can be distinguished from Bermuda Palmettos by the thorns found on the leaf stem of most Fan Palms. Palmettos never have thorns. Also the Fan Palm has a uniformly green leaf, hard oval grey-blue berries and the leaf meets the stem in a ‘C’ shape when viewed from above. Remember C is for Chinese Fan Palm. Distinguishing a young Fan Palm from a Palmetto is difficult, unless the parent tree is nearby.
Removal: Removing a Fan Palm of any size requires gloves to protect against their thorns. Seedlings can be pulled by hand. Larger saplings are more difficult to pull as there is no trunk to get hold of. They can be dug out with a fork, but will re-grow if you break them.
Mature Fan Palms can be cut back to ground level using a machete and bow saw. Fan Palms are fibrous so if using a chainsaw it will need to be unclogged regularly. Palms grow from a central heart, so using a machete or saw to chop up the center of the stump should prevent the tree from re-sprouting. ‘Roundup’ herbicide can also be brushed onto the stump to prevent re-growth.
I hope I am providing some helpful information to you so you can better make the correct decision.
It is very concerning to me that Barbra Ellman has hosted secrete “THRIVE” meetings at her house evidently with other council member and that these meetings are closed to the public. I have a grave concern that as a member of this secret group that she is involved with along with all 5 council members is conducting city business in secrete. It is disturbing, to say the least. I would support any of the other 3 applicants. I trust that the 5 members of the council, all THRIVE members would agree that this is an obvious conflict of interest and that Barbra Elman should not be reappointed due to the obvious conflict of interest. I also believe that Haney Fangay and Stacy Armato should recuse themselves from this vote given their involvement with this secret group.
I would support any of the other thee applicants. I believe that the city council should show that they are for an open and honest government and will not stand for secrete meetings and denounce their membership in the secret THRIVE group that was apparently founded by a planning commissioner. This is just wrong.