Community Project Update

Vai Campbell Memorial Garden

Community comes together to honor a beloved friend and colleague.

Last year Central Coast CLCA participated in the creation of the Vai Campbell Memorial Garden. The bench was recently installed. The garden is designed to serve as a Monterey Bay-Friendly, water-wise demonstration garden for all of Santa Cruz County, and the community is invited to visit. The Garden is located at the District's offices at 5180 Soquel Drive and the corner of Rosedale Ave.. It was officially planted and landscaped by Vai's friends, family, and colleagues on Earth Day, April 22, 2021

The design for the bench were originally designed by Sherry Bryan of California H2orticulture Services for a meditative and reflection bench.

The redwood slabs were donated by Chris Elliott of Aqua Green Landscape.

The bench supports to which the redwood was attached were donated by Jerry Allison of Jerry Allison Landscaping.

The actual wood sanding, cutting and installation was done by Staff at Soquel Creek Water District.

Follow this link to learn more about Vai Campbell.

CLCA Member Advantage Webinar was Wednesday, October 20

Gas-Powered Equipment Banned?

On October 9, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a new law that orders state regulators to ban the sale of new gas-powered equipment using small off-road engines (SORE), which includes all lawn and landscape equipment, pressure washers and generators, as early as 2024.

This legislation is part of the work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Another piece of this work is Governor Newsom’s stated goal to mandate that 100 percent of in-state sales of new passenger cars and trucks are zero-emission by 2035.

In March 2021, the California Air and Resources Board (CARB) released an updated proposal that would move the date of the ban of the sale of all new SORE from 2026 to 2024. CLCA has been monitoring the developments at CARB, advocating for the industry, and is part of the consortium of industry operations experts that provides information about the realities of how landscape professionals use their equipment.

Sandra Giarde, CAE, Executive Director, California Landscape Contractors Association and Andrew Bray, VP of Government Relations, National Association of Landscape Professionals spoke at a recent CLCA Member Advantage Webinar on this subject.

The California Landscape Contractors Association acknowledges and understands that public opposition to the use of leaf blowers is based upon concerns about noise, air pollution, and exposure to particulate matter. A leaf blower ban is not only a severe and unnecessary remedy, but one that would eliminate its many benefits.

Your Engagement is Critical!

Link to CLCA Leaf Blowers article from 2019.

EDUCATION CORNER

Tree Removal is Serious Business

shared by Bronwyn Mille, eyescapes, San Diego, CA

By Luis Casas, past CLCA SFV Chapter president Luis Casas, Legacy Tree Industry

Having your trees removed is not as simple a task as one might think. Before removing trees, it is important to know whether it is your best option. There are several factors that go into determining whether tree removal is necessary or if the tree can be saved. Furthermore, Los Angeles is filled with protected trees that, if removing, require certain standards be met and permits acquired.

Is removing the tree your best option?
Trees are very robust organisms that usually require multiple stresses to bring them down. Sometimes it is hard to know when removing the tree is your best option. To help make that determination, consider these things:

• Is more than 50 percent of the tree dead or damaged where leaving it may create a safety
  risk for people or property?

• Is the tree trunk or large branches compromised, showing cracks, splits, dead branches, and internal decay?

• Is the tree too close to a structure and posing a hazard?

• Is your tree not growing well? Does it have an extreme lean with poor or abnormal trunk taper.

• Does the tree have fungal bodies growing along the main trunk? Is the tree hollow or rotting in more than 30% of the main trunk?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, your best option might be to remove the tree. Before you do…it’s best to get a professional consultation. Have an arborist see if they can save your trees and save you some costly removal expenses. They should also be able to tell you if it’s a protected tree. If the tree is protected, there are specific steps that need to be taken.

Who can remove your protected tree?
Did you know that La Canada Flintridge—and many more cities all over California—has implemented standards regarding who can remove protected trees? These standards require that a tree removal permit be acquired, and that the contractor:

• have a D49 Tree Service License,

• be an arborist or commercial tree service on the Official City Approved List,

• and have a city business license.

Furthermore, before the tree is removed, as a condition to granting a tree removal permit, the property owner or applicant is required to plant replacement trees on the subject property or pay a designated amount into the city’s tree replacement fund. Rules vary by city so be sure to visit your city’s official website to learn theirs. 

Coming soon…

Central Coast Educational Event: Employee Culture and Recruitment Workshop: Justin White, Central Coast’s favorite president of 2021 and CEO of K&D Landscaping is planning a presentation on “employee culture” and recruitment. Workshop delivered via zoom, date TBA.

The NOR CAL LANDSCAPE & NURSERY SHOW, Thursday, February 3, 2022: Hotel Booking Now Available. Hosted by Hyatt Regency SF Airport (1333 Bayshore Hwy., Burlingame, CA 94010.)

The Nor Cal show has negotiated a $185 rate for a standard king room and a standard queen room. It also includes FREE parking with in and out privileges (regularly $36 per night), FREE WIFI and if needed a FREE shuttle to San Francisco International airport every 30 minutes. 

The cut-off date for registering is January 10, 2022. Reservations can be made by calling Central Reservation (800) 421-1442 or visit the website www.norcaltradeshow.org or contact Margo Cheuvront, show manager, at margoc@frontiernet.net or 530-458-3190. Don’t miss out on this great deal! See you in February! 

recent events

Fundamentals of Irrigation Design Workshop at the Sheriff’s Posse

Santa Cruz, september 23, 2021

CLCA Central Coast held a workshop, at one of our favorite venues, in conjunction with Hunter Industries. The spacious “Sheriff’s Posse” was a perfect location, for its large open room and ample ventilation. Gregg Roesink, one of Hunter’s best instructors, covered many important topics: Design capacity, hydraulics, head layout and product selection. Attendees were not disappointed.

Take advantage of these events when they’re offered. These short workshops are a great way to increase your knowledge, as well as to connect with your peers!

Board Meeting Minutes

Central Coast Chapter CLCA Board Meeting October 14, 2021
In attendance: Justin White, Craig Stenehjem, Katia Velasquez, Cathy Quinn, Ki Bowman

Call to order: 12:06 pm, via Zoom

Minutes
September minutes were not approved at this time. There were not enough voting board members present. Events Schedule:

End of the Year Party - The Sheriff ’s Posse was discussed, but Beer Thirty was ultimately selected as the venue. A date of Dec. 10th, with a backup of Dec. 9th was determined. Goal of 50 contractor attendees from the chapter. Katia will discuss budget after plans are more in place.

Education
Hunter put on a great Irrigation Design class on September 23rd but attendance was low. It was agreed that future educa- tional events should have more lead time to get the word out.

LCIS has offered to lead a training in how to work with contractors’ insurance companies. We will get more information about that.

2022 Educational Events will be handled in a breakout meeting. Justin will talk to Phil (Chapter Education Director).

Membership
Some memberships have gone delinquent since August. Justin has contacted them and hopes to get further details from Jeremy (Chapter Membership Director) on how things are going.

Associate Member Update:
West Coast Turf is a new member and Partner. They will be featured in the next chapter newsletter.

Newsletter, Marketing and Website
October newsletter needs to go out soon and several open board positions should be advertised. Events Director, Education Director and Associate Member Representative positions all have vacancies for 2022. The November/December newsletter will put forward the slate of candidates for all open board positions.

Treasury
Cathy reports that the chapter bank balance looks good, over $30,000. There haven’t been many expenses with so few activ- ities this year.

We need to discuss how to keep paying for Constant Contact when the chapter debit card is cancelled (January, 2022). Cathy has volunteered to pay the bill and get reimbursed by the chapter. The board will vote on this issue when there’s a quorum.

Other Business
2022 Calendar - Justin will build a template calendar to pass on to next year’s board for planning purposes.

Fall Beautification Project - Since no project has been developed as yet, it was decided to reach out to the Sheriff ’s Posse to see if they would like a garden spruce-up. Katia will talk to them.

CLCA State Convention - Justin will be going. No other board members present are able to attend.

November Board Meeting - the usual date conflicts with the State Convention. It was re-scheduled to Nov. 18th. We will meet in person at Seascape Golf Club, outside on the deck.

Adjournment: 12:50 pm