2022-09-15-TREE-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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Town of Lexington Tree Committee Minutes 9.15.22 1. The meeting came to order at 7:32 AM 2. Present: Gerry Paul (chair), Nancy Sofen, Gloria Bloom, Mark Connor (co-chair), Barbara Tarrh, James Wood, Pat Moyer, Joe Pato (Select Board liaison); Sustainable Lexington Liaisons: Rick Reibstein, Charlie Wyman; Guests: Dan Miller, Marty Kvaal. No one from DPW was present, though Dave Pinsonneault later emailed to say issues needing his prompt attention had arisen. 3. Minutes of August 11 were accepted and approved without change. 4. Lexington Friends of Trees website: We decided against the idea of having the Lexington Friends of Trees web presence be simply a tab on the Lexington Living Landscapes website. 5. Meeting Guidelines. After discussion, we decided that we were already following proper meeting guidelines and there was no need to pursue this. 6. The Tree Committee submission to the Town Annual report, drafted by Gerry Paul, was read, discussed, amended slightly, and approved (see attached). 7. Upcoming events inviting our participation: Lexington Farmers’ Market Sustainability Day 9/20/22, E. Lexington Fair 10/1/22, Discovery Day in Lexington Center 10/8/22. Invitations and signup will be sent to our emails. 8. Review of Open Meeting Law: We continued our discussion begun at our August meeting about the operation of this law as regards our business. Except in an open meeting, members cannot conduct policy deliberations or express written or oral opinions on matters under our jurisdiction to a quorum or larger of the committee. 9. Resident issues: Gerry reported that emails recently sent by residents to the Tree Committee email that he forwarded to the Tree Warden have been addressed promptly. Gratitude was expressed. 10. 20 Welch Rd tree removals Gerry reported that upon further analysis the DPW determined that the 2 large trees removed in the front of the house were in the right - of-way, had an appraisal done, and assessed the developer about $49,000. Since only stumps remained, the appraisal was performed using photos from Google Streetview and Google Earth (see attached). 11. 2 Wheeler Road tree removals (see attached) Gerry presented the plot plan submitted on March 24, 2022 by the developer for this property. The plan did not show as many as 50 trees that were actually present on the site as evidenced by their stumps. Many of these were large and in the setback area. The Tree Permit for this property was granted by the Tree Warden on Mach 31, 2022. This raised the following questions: a. How did the tree warden reconcile the plot plan with the reality on the ground? b. What actions can be taken against the developer and/or surveyor for submitting false information?