Woodlake Residents,

We are sending this information out to you as a courtesy notice to help keep the neighborhood informed. The annual safety inspection of common area trees was performed by a certified Arborist. Common area trees do not belong to residents and these areas include the frontage,green belts, pond and islands that border our homes. This inspection is performed annually and its primary focus is to detect dead, dying, dangerous or diseased trees that are or pose an imminent safety threat for our neighborhood.

We took the Arborist recommendations and filed a report with the City of University Place. The City of University Place met with the Arborist and a board member and walked our common areas to inspect the findings. The good news is overall we have a very healthy stand of trees in our common areas. The safety inspection noted several dead trees in the common areas that will need to be removed for safety and overall health of the urban forest that surrounds our homes. Most of the trees are very small and several do not even meet the standards the city uses for tree removal guidelines ( less than six inches in diameter ). The City of University Place has agreed with the need to remove the dead trees identified in the report. We have followed all procedural guidelines with the city and this work is scheduled to take place October 20th.

We are also receiving information from the city in regard to establishing an Urban Forest Plan. This plan will help maintain our stand of trees and preserve the beauty of our wooded neighborhood while taking the necessary steps for maintenance and safety due to the size and proximity of trees to homes in our development. This was highly recommended by the City of University Place and we are told that the other heavily wooded neighborhoods in our area are also getting on board or have already have this in place. We may be seeking additional volunteers to help with this plan.