HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-11-12-TREE-min Town of Lexington
Tree Committee
Minutes of meeting of November 12, 2020
A meeting of the Tree Committee was held on Thursday, November 12, 2020 at 7:30 am
via ZOOM. The meeting was not recorded. A quorum of 6 voting members was
present.
Members present: Gerry Paul (chair), Nancy Sofen (scribe), Pat Moyer, Marty Kvaal,
Gloria Bloom,Jim Wood, Mark Sandeen (Select Board Liaison), Chris Filadoro (Tree
Warden), Marc Valenti (DPW Operations)
Members absent: Mark Connor
Guests: David Ernst, Marcia Gens, Rick Reibstein
The meeting was called to order at 7:32 am.
Minutes of the October 8, 2020 meeting were approved.
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I. Staff updates
A.Fall Planting. There were 5 responses to the RFQ and the contract was awarded
to Matt Foti. A separate RFQ for nursery stock was awarded to Schicktel Nursery,
and Chris was pleased that Amherst Nursery also submitted a good price for bare
root trees. Chris has made contact with 15 residents about setback trees, from a
list of 20-30. He will continue to follow up with others. Planting has begun with
about 30 trees in the ground so far. Chris indicated that the builder of the Grove
St. development has not yet planted the required 30 trees on streets near the
development. He is still in the process of identifying planting locations.
B. Tree Canopy Assessment. Marc has documents from 3 communities: one is in
the process of contracting with a consultant, one just finished their survey and a
third did a canopy survey 11/2 years ago. He has spoken with people from the first
two towns and expects to reach the third in the next day or two. He will ask how
they are using the data and will report on experiences of the 3 municipalities as we
plan the RFQ for our own study.
C. Tree Inventory. The Town is currently awaiting proposals for the final phase of
the inventory and are waiting to see if the same consultant (Davey Tree) will be
used. Town practice is to not release raw data; they first review the data with the
consultant, draft a report, and then issue a final report. They have not yet
officially accepted the data and/or report for the existing inventories precincts, so
cannot but that information online. The Forestry division does have a spreadsheet
of trees removed and planted so that the inventory can be updated once it is
released. Chris indicated that trees planted and removed have not been input to
the inventory. This will be done when the inventory is completed.
D.5 Fulton Rd. Tree Removal. Partial removal of the hazard white pine is taking
place today; Dave Pinsonneault will assess the tree as they remove the hazardous
leader that extends toward the street, and they will stop when they reach stable
wood. The meeting with neighbors was well-attended and productive. Chris and
Dave are discussing ways to increase transparency with the community. One
suggestion is to post a sign on a town tree that is slated for removal.
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II. Annual Report
The Tree Committee 2020 Annual Report, with last year's photo, has been submitted.
III. Draft Town Meeting Spring 2021 Warrant Articles
Draft articles crafted by Gerry from last month's discussion were discussed and
modified as necessary, as follows. Discussion topics that are not part of articles are in
italics. Gerry will investigate whether, for clarity, Article 1 should be further
subdivided.
A.Tree Committee Article 1. To see if the Town will vote to amend the Lexington
Tree Bylaw to
1. require the following: For any Town tree, any applicant requesting its removal
must provide a tree appraisal determining the value of the tree performed
using a standard methodology. If the Select Board takes up the issue due to
objections to the removal of the tree, and the Select Board approves the removal
of the tree, the applicant will pay the appraised value to the Lexington Tree
Fund.
2. require the owner of a property at which major construction or demolition is
planned to submit online detailed information
(a) initially with submission of the building permit for all trees 6 inches DBH
or larger on the property and
(b) at the completion of work at the property for all remaining trees 6 inches
DBH or larger on the property and trees planted as mitigation.
The committee also encourages Chris to enforce the provision of the bylaw that no
work commence until a permit is granted, rather than allowing tree removal to begin
on his sign-off.
3. require a permit for removal of any tree greater than 12 inches DBH for all trees
on private property at which neither major construction nor demolition is
planned (i.e. not currently governed by the Tree Bylaw).
This is analogous to Dig-Safe: a no-cost permit, with no enforcement by the Tree
Warden. Chris supports the concept, particularly when coupled with education, but
wants to get ahead of potential increase in phone calls to department. Might Gerry
take them? How can we get tree companies to honor the system? Also, can
ViezvPoint automatically issue permit and generate reports, or will staff time be
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needed to log information? There should be a sketch or description of the tree(s)'
location and also follow-up from the applicant to say whether the tree was ultimately
removed. Will discuss further with Chris and Marc, and other town staff as
appropriate.
4. Increase the fees and mitigation payments for removal of trees deemed
protected under the bylaw; and to peg these items to inflation.
Our goal is to incentivize contractor planting by making it less expensive to plant
than to pay mitigation fees. Chris notes that replanting is much more difficult on a
small, heavily treed lot.
5. Increase visibility, transparency and accountability when a Town Tree is to be
removed by the Town.
We would like to keep this article as we see new procedures are developed and
implemented. The Forestry Division is more likely to be protected from resident
complaints with greater transparency. It would be helpful to have a list of criteria
(ISA)for hazard status - something simple that doesn't waste arborists' time for
obviously dead trees but explains clearly why an apparently intact tree may be a
hazard.
or act in any other manner in relation thereto.
Description: This article will
• ensure that the Town receives a fair value for a removed Town tree as it
would when the Town relinquishes any other asset.
• allow for the collection of additional information on sites where the tree
bylaw applies and also for sites on which it does not. This additional
information will be used to better understand the effectiveness of the bylaw
and inform decisions about future changes to the bylaw. Additionally, the
requirement for a permit on sites where the bylaw does not currently apply
provides an opportunity for education of the applicant on the benefit of trees
and options other than removal.
• increase the fees and mitigation payments to better reflect the cost associated
with administering the bylaw and the cost of planting trees with mitigation
funds.
• provide for increased information concerning the removal of Town trees
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B.Tree Committee Article 2. To see if the Town will adopt a resolution to ask Town
Management to implement processes for
1. review by Tree Committee of plans to remove Town trees in conjunction with a
capital project.
2. informing the Tree Committee on a regular basis of the financial status of the
Lexington Tree Fund and the Forestry Budget.
or act in any other manner in relation thereto.
Description: This non-binding article will provide for increased information
concerning the removal of Town trees and for tree-related financial data.
IV. New business: 5G as a threat to trees.
Mark Sandeen brought to the committee's attention that the Select Board is
reviewing policies regarding installation of 5G infrastructure in town. Town Meeting
Article 14 Zoning Bylaw must conform to federal law, specifically to FCC regulations
which limit municipalities to imposing only design guidelines - they cannot prevent
or control many other aspects of installation. Because there is a short "shot clock"
governing time from application to approval of a given installation, any rules must
be both defensible against the FCC and suitable for a quick process (60-90 days).
The issue is that trees severely attenuate 5G signals, and that the technology requires
a dense network of antennas (typically on telephone poles, about 100 meters apart).
It is less expensive for the utilities to use 5G than to run wires to individual homes.
So trees on both public and private land are at risk for removal or severe pruning to
optimize signal.
Mark and Doug Lucente have been appointed as a Select Board subcommittee to
draft reasonable guidelines to protect trees. The bylaw currently contains a provision
copied from Burlington, MA, that says tree cutting is prohibited unless the Tree
Warden issues a waiver. Mark requests that Tree Committee members think what
guidelines we might propose and send information to others in the committee.
Nancy to check with Wellesley Natural Resources Commission contact. He would
also like a member to speak at a Select Board meeting.
V. Rick to convey our thanks to the Sustainability Committee for their work.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:37 am.
Respectfully submitted,
Nancy Sofen
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