2018-04-12-TREE-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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trees planted this spring will likely be balled-and-burlap. Forestry will choose and stake locations —some from the old list, some in public areas —next week. Chris has forwarded to John Livsey the following list of suggested trees for planting along the refurbished earth dam at The Old Res: Sassafras albidum (Sassafras), Nyssa sylvatica (Tupelo or Black Gum), Liriodendron tulipiferia (Tulip Tree), Cornus alternifolia(Pagoda dogwood),Acer pensylvanicum (Striped maple), Quercus, any (pin oak, or swamp white oak?), Populus tremuloides (Quaking aspen). The criterion for choosing was that these are trees that don't do well as street trees, and so there is little opportunity to plant them elsewhere in town. They should all thrive near water. There will be a tree planted at the Community Center on Arbor Day, April 27th. Chris reports that he and Joel are taking, and enjoying, the state's first Tree Warden Certification class. He mentioned that the class has discussed that setback trees have a longer lifespan than street trees, and also how tree wardens grapple with the perfect being the enemy of the good when choosing planting sites. Chris had no updates on tree bylaw applications, and will send an update when he has it. Davey Resource Group was awarded the contract for the Tree Inventory. They proposed a flat fee for the first 10,300 trees with a per-tree fee after that, for a total of $49,500 (for around 15,000 trees). They will start at leaf-out and with 4 people working should complete all street trees within about a month. They will work with GIS engineer Meghana Shah and IT head Judy Baldasero to integrate the inventory into Lexington's online GIS map, and Davey will give a training on how to use the system to the Forestry crew. It was also noted that new members of the crew have a lot of experience with GIS systems. This tree inventory will be paid from the FY18 budget, so within a few months Chris will issue a RFQ for trees in park, bikeway and other public lands from the FYI budget. Changes to the Tree Management Manual page 34 (current page 26)were approved as presented. Page 40 was approved with instruction to Anne to edit quotations and definitions for clarity. Page 42 will be presented at a future meeting, after some formatting changes and addition of Phragmites australis (Common reedgrass) and Fallopia japonica (Japanese knotweed)to the list of invasive plant species. Page 44 was approved as written.