COVINGTON — Denny Bowman says there's more to an urban forest than just trees.

        Mr. Bowman, Covington's parks and recreation director, is looking for others to help him as the first meeting of the new Urban Forestry Board approaches. The meeting will be 10 a.m. Saturday at City Commission chambers at Madison Avenue and East Seventh Street.

        “I'm learning this urban forestry,” Mr. Bowman said Tuesday. “It's landscaping, flowers and trees.”

        Mr. Bowman said the first things the new board will do are mostly administrative: appointing members, adopting bylaws, determining meeting dates.

        After that comes the real work, which Commissioner J.T. Spence said has been neglected.

        “In the past, we have planted the wrong trees, and we haven't done a good job of maintaining our urban forest,” Mr. Spence said.

        Mr. Bowman said an inventory of Covington's trees completed last fall revealed that there are 8,400 in public right-of-ways. He said about 100 are dead, and others, such as maples, should not have been planted because they have grown too tall and have become tangled with overhead utility wires.

        “Utilities do a bad job (of pruning),” Mr. Bowman said. “They top trees off. They shouldn't do that.” Mr. Bowman also said the city is working with Cincinnati Bell and Cinergy Corp. to solve the problem.

        Another item on the agenda is paying for removing problem trees. Mr. Bowman said there are federal grants available to remove those tangled in power lines.

        In other action, commissioners:

        • Agreed to spend up to $250,000 on the expansion of the Behringer-Crawford Museum. City Solicitor Jay Fossett said the money would be used for construction of a sanitary sewer, site stabilization and construction of retaining and foundation walls.

        • Presented updates on the search for a new assistant city manager, city planner and housing director.

        Mayor Butch Callery said finalists for the assistant city manager job are being interviewed. He said Economic Development Director Ella Brown-Frye would recommend a city planner candidate within two weeks, and that appointing a housing director would take at least another 30 days.

        Resident Greg Paeth said there's a perception that there has been no progress on dealing with blighted buildings since former Housing Director Howard Hodge retired in December. But Commissioner Craig Bohman disagreed, citing the work the 4-month-old Code Enforcement Board has done.

        “I think we have a great story to tell, and I'm looking forward to telling it,” Mr. Bohman said. “I think this commission has worked very hard on blighted housing.”

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