2015-04-09-TREE-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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Town of Lexington Lexington Tree Committee Minutes A meeting of the Lexington Tree Committee was held at 7:30 am on April 9, 2015 in the Reed Room of the Lexington Town Office Building. Members present: John Frey (Chair), Jewel Kuljian, Karen Longeteig, Gerry Paul, Anne Senning, Nancy Sofen, Jim Wood, Chris Filadoro (Public Grounds Superintendent, Tree Warden). Members absent: Suzie Barry (Selectman Liaison). Guests: Ann Webster and David Williams (Minuteman Cane Award Selection Committee), Dave Pinsonneault (DPW Manager of Operations), Bill Hadley (Director of Public Works), Nell Walker (former Tree Committee member). 1.Nancy Sofen was appointed as scribe. Minutes of March 12 meeting were approved as presented. 2.Bylaw tree removal applications and activity. Chris will email the log of trees removed, planted, etc. 3.Arbor Day. Liz Haines will be planning the ceremony for the Garden Club. Matt Foti has offered to donate a tree (or 2) but hasn’t been to his nursery yet; if necessary, Chris can purchase one from Shemin. The committee agreed that a good site would be in the setback along Lincoln Street at Lincoln Park, where several red maples had died from poor planting. Chris will set up site meeting for Tuesday, April 14 at 8:30 am in the Lincoln Park parking lot and will invite Garden Club representatives. It was agreed that the replacement tree need not be a maple but should be a shade tree, not an ornamental. 4.Completion of Tree Inventory. The person Chris has talked to at Sav-a-Tree has not communicated back. Chris is still working with Bartlett Tree and will ask Davy Tree, who is doing a tree inventory in Needham. Foti Tree was too expensive. The hope is to finish precincts 7, 8 & 9 to complete the first inventory, then update the entire town within 1 year. The cost is expected to be $55-65K, which Chris thinks can come from his budget. He would ask bidders to present their proposals, including software, to the department and the tree committee for September’s budget cycle and next spring’s town meeting approval. Goal is for a “continuous complete” inventory whose use is to identify public trees and to manage their preventive maintenance. Current inventory was begun on paper and continued with hand-held computers. The new inventory will add technical links that can be used in the field. Jim suggested that pcts. 7-9 be completed first under new contract as a way to work out process. A completed inventory is necessary to maintain accreditation and to qualify for some grants, so there may be an advantage to finishing the current inventory before beginning the revision of the earlier precincts. Chapter 132 of state forestry legislation provides for partial reimbursement for preventive maintenance if a town has a public shade tree inventory and management plan, but we don’t know if money has been allocated. 5.Decision on proposed tree removal at 16/18 Homestead St. Homeowner has not appealed tree committee decision, so this item will be removed from future agendas. 6.Final order of trees for Spring 2015 planting. Chris will follow up to confirm that order has been rdth approved. Delivery is expected the 3 or 4 week of April, as soon as a truck is filled for an east coast delivery. Jewel will give planting log pages to Julie at DPW.