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Lexington Tree Committee ROLE: To promote the preservation and protection of both public shade trees pursuant to General Law Chapter 87 and certain trees on portions of private property; to work in con- junction with the Tree Warden to regulate the removal and replacement of trees in certain circumstances; to promote the planting and protection of trees throughout the Town; to develop rules, regulations, tree inventory, manuals, and other data as stated in the Lexington Tree Bylaw for approval and promulgation by the Selectmen. APPOINTED by the Board of Selectmen: Chair John Frey, Karen Longeteig, Gerald Paul, Markus Pinney, Anne Senning, Nell Walker, James Wood; Selectmen liaison Jeanne Krieger; Tree Warden David Pinsonneault. Susan Solomon, though no longer a member, is continuing to contribute her time and effort for Tree Committee initiatives. HIGHLIGHTS: • Tree planting: 60 new trees planted on public land in Town this year: — 6 trees planted by contractor at the new town parking lot west of Grant Street between NSTAR and the Minuteman Bikeway; Red Maple, Linden, Sweet Gum and two Oaks in structural soil 3 -feet deep under the traffic island; one Sugar Maple in lawn area. 26 colum- nar arborvitaes planted as screen along Grant Street. — 5 trees planted at the newly constructed brick sidewalk on Massachusetts Avenue from Waltham Street to Michelson's shoe store in structural soil 3 -feet deep with surface and underground drain system. This planting method, if successful, may serve as a model for future sidewalk planting in our urban areas. — 1 large Zelkova tree donated and planted in front of the school administration building (the white house) by Matt Foti. — 10 trees planted at the High School (7 October Glory Red Maples in north parking lot, one Scarlet Oak at the Field House and 2 Tulip Trees in the Senior Quad). The latter three were funded by gifts from Selectman Peter Kelley and others via private fund - raising efforts of the PTSA Landscaping Subcommittee. — 1 Heritage Birch tree planted by the DPW Forestry Division at Belfry Park along Clarke Street as part of the annual Arbor Day Ceremony, staged by the Civic Improvement Committee of the Lexington Field and Garden Club, who bought and distributed 500 White Spruce tree seedlings to participants, nursery school children and all kindergarteners in town. — 1 Commemorative Tree, a Tulip Tree donated by Sandra Mayo, was planted in Lincoln Park to com- memorate Leon Mayo. — 10 trees planted at various public grounds and right - of -way locations throughout Town. The DPW Forestry Division removed 134 trees and pruned 58 trees in 2007. PEW .� Jw- :- From left to right: Nell Walker, Gerry Paul, Anne Senning, John Frey, Jim Woods, Jean Krieger ( Selectman liaison), David Pinsonneault (Tree Warden), Markus Pinney, Karen Longeteig. Tree Bylaw: Continues to be very successful under David Pinsonneault's lead. Reviewed permit applications for tree removal on private land. Since 2001, a total of 539 sites have been visited: 428 sites have been closed out. 647 trees were approved for removal, of which 488 have been removed to date. As mitigation: 1542 new trees required to be planted; 1103 now planted. New Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) Grant: Developed and submitted a $44,500 grant propos- al to DCR to fund summer interns with the goal to com- plete Lexington's tree inventory in 2007 and to develop software which would speed data collecting and integrate it with the Town's GIS and CarteGraphe work order sys- tem. Amount cut back to $10,000 because federal pass - through funds had been reduced. This provided enough money for two summer interns and coordination with Urban Ecology Institute, who loaned us several hand -held computers. Tree Inventory: This year, the Committee, the two talent- ed interns, David Hattis and Max Horn, and volunteers inventoried 1,306 more trees with hand -held computers, bringing the total to 2717 trees inventoried since 2004, roughly 20% of Lexington's public trees. Interns also assisted the Engineering Dept. by flagging houses whose footprint had changed from those shown on original GIS maps. Instructions written to document use of the hand - helds and selecting data and making a map. Document written on synchronizing data from the hand -held into the laptop and process taught to two Tree Committee mem- bers. Tree Nursery: The town tree nursery near Lower Vine Brook south of East Street broke ground April 28. To min- imize planting time and disturbance to the area, no culti- vation was done, a DPW auger dug the holes, and 120 ordered saplings were planted in special tree planting bags Page 42 2007 Annual Report, Town of Lexington O r+ 0 z rD I