2005-10-13-TREE-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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Minutes October 13, 2005 Lexington Tree Committee, Lexington, MA Present: John Frey( Chairman), Karen Longeteig, David Pinsonneault(Superintendent Public Grounds), Anne Senning,Susan Solomon(emeritus), Nell Walker, Jim Wood, Gerry Paul(scribe). 1. Scribe and Minutes: Gerry Paul was named as scribe.The minutes of the August 11, 2005 meeting were accepted as corrected. The minutes of the September 8, 2005 meeting were accepted. 2. Report under the Tree By-Law: David Pinsonneault, Tree Warden. To date, 409 sites have been visited, of which 280 are now closed. A total of 479 trees have been approved for removal of which 206 have been actually removed. A total of 1115 trees are required to be replanted, of which 478 have actually been planted. No trees have been planted on a neighboring property. Three trees will be planted on public property. No money has been collected under the by-law. All sites to date have chosen the replanting option and there have been no penalties imposed under the by-law. Nell questioned the presence of 2 recently planted red maples in poor condition planted in the tree lawn on Mass. Ave in front of a house next to St. Brigids Church. Dave will check into this. He believes these trees were not planted by the town. 3. The School Department is charged with maintenance of trees on school property. They may ask for help from DPW in which case the school department is billed for any contractor costs that DPW incurs. Concerning tree maintenance at the high school it was recommended that a letter be sent informing the Principal of the High School that a hazard tree is present and that the School Department contract directly with a contractor to address the issue. 4. David announced that the amendment to the Tree By-Law establishing the revolving tree fund had been approved by the Attorney General. 5. David announced that we had been awarded a Mass. Department of Conservation and Recreation grant in the amount of $19,660. The grant period is from 10/3/2005 to 6/30/06. The end date can be extended. The grant can be used for software but not hardware; Dave will try to find funding for an additional IPAC. The committee thanked Jim Wood for his work in developing the grant application. The following people volunteered to take the lead on the grant deliverables: -Mailer - Jim Wood. Target date for mailing 2/1/2006. -Lecture Series/Publicity - John Frey/Susan Solomon. -Tree Inventory - Anne Senning. There was a discussion of establishing a public trust fund for collection of donations we receive from the mailing and other sources. Concerning the lecture series, it was suggested that there be 3 in the spring and 3 in the fall; we would ask for an extension of the grant for this. Before involving other towns( Arlington, Cambridge, Waltham) in planning for the lecture series, a subcommittee of John Frey, Susan Solomon, Nell Walker and Jim Wood will meet on Oct. 21 at 9:00 am at Susan's house to flesh out some ideas. 6. There was a discussion of possible use of GIS/pictometry for inventorying trees on Belfry Hill. 7. It was agreed that the Tree Committee should make a presentation to the new Town Manager. John Frey will set this up.