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Lexington Town Tree Committee Lexington, Massachusetts March 11, 2004 Minutes of the Meeting Meeting opened at 7:30 a.m. Attendance: John Frey, Dave Pinsonneault, Jim Jones, Anne Senning, Nell Walker, and Karen Longeteig. In the scheduled absence of Susan Solomon, Secretary, Karen Longeteig volunteered to take the minutes. 1. Minutes of the previous meeting of February 12, 2004, were approved with following change: The bareroot planting project took place between Cornell University and the Town of Ithaca, NY (not Albany). 2. Applications for tree removals: Dave reported that under the By-Law, to date there have been 166 cases, from which 224 trees were approved for removal, 489 trees required for re-planting, and 80 of the cases closed. In a follow-up to February minutes, he noted that the Town and NSTAR together had removed 29 trees throughout the Town in January and February, and are monitoring 10 others in poor health. th 3. Tree City USA: Lexington will be especially honored at the ceremony in Plymouth, for its 15 year of participation. Dave will go to the ceremony; Anne will plan to go, but if she cannot, then John will go. It is on th April 16 from 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. 4. Article 34, corrections: The intent of bringing up Article 34 in Town Meeting is to correct minor Tree By- law inconsistencies, and to add language to allow funds from fines, “funding-in-lieu-of-planting”, and donations to go into the Selectmen’s Tree Gift Account. Fines were defined more specifically as to how much they will be th and when they will be applicable. John will go to the March 25 meeting with the Moderator to answer any possible questions and smooth the way for passage. It was recommended that we give a short Tree Committee publicity report to Town Meeting, and display and sell copies of the Tree Manual. The report should emphasize how the Tree By-law has changed things, in forcing contractors to re-plant systematically, and in making homeowners think more carefully about their actions regarding trees. We should mention the Tree Manual, and grants received for education and for tree planting. Future projects will include the Memorial Tree Gift Program. 5. Memorial Tree Fund: Karen distributed drafts of a brochure, and the committee members made suggestions on text and photos. Nell recommended that we tag the trees only, not attach formal signs or plaques. The Memorial Book should be kept in Cary Library, not Town Hall. Anne will research some information about a possible program through Funeral Home directors to funnel in memoriam gifts to a Memorial Tree donation. Nell will send Karen some pictures of trees for possible use. We will do at least one more round of draft correction, and then present it to the Selectmen for approval. 6. Brookhaven and Raytheon hearings: John, as well as some other Committee members, attended hearings on proposed developments at Brookhaven, Raytheon, and Met State. 7. Protecting trees: At the Brookhaven meeting, John spoke on the need for mature tree specimens to be protected. At the former Raytheon site, the Town stands to benefit by the developers’ (Patriot Partners) intention to cede development rights on 35 acres of forested land with a pond. The building site has some specimen trees that need to be saved. John proposed sending to each of the three developers a Tree Manual along with a letter summarizing our concern for tree preservation requirements (similar to the one sent to the Board of Appeals regarding the 40B housing proposal for Lowell Street). Copies would be sent to the Planning Board and Board of Appeals. 8. & 9: These agenda articles were postponed until the next meeting. 10: Other Business: The newly-renovated Cary Memorial Library is a possible site for memorial trees. Nell will research the planting plan and try to find out what they propose to restore or plant new. The meeting was adjourned at 9:20 am. Respectfully submitted, Karen Longeteig, Secretary pro-tem Next regular meeting on April 8, 2004, at 7:30 a.m. in Room 111, Town Office Building.