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<br />9. Follow up to the May presentation of the TSOC. Pat reported that the 3 people who had responded to <br />Charlie Wyman’s call for a working group to educate the public spent an hour with a retired biologist from U. <br />of Louisville, who was part of a citizen’s group there who, in response to inequitable tree planting in the town <br />and to drastic cutting, succeeded in getting the City to get a tree canopy study and to act on it. Charlie spoke of <br />a Wellesley initiative called “Tree Tags”, in which Scout groups labelled trees, their carbon catching abilities, <br />and their monetary value to the Town. <br />10. Barbara Tarrh took over as scribe at 9:10 AM as Pat had to leave. <br />11. Nancy Sofen suggested that the Tree Committee draft a list of questions for UVM, which did our canopy <br />study, requesting additional data to better understand areas where canopy has been or will be lost. Street and <br />setback trees might be prioritized. She will send us all an email asking for suggestions to be discussed at our <br />August meeting. <br />12. Charlie Wyman suggested that the Bylaw Working group use the many organizations that signed the <br />TSOC to help make residents aware of proposed bylaw changes. <br />13. The meeting adjourned at 9:20 AM. <br /> <br />Respectfully submitted, <br />Pat Moyer and Barbara Tarrh <br /> <br />ATTACHMENT <br />Preliminary Proposal for Tree Bylaw Change <br /> <br />Introduc?on <br />The Tree Bylaw Working Group has researched bylaws and trends in other ci?es and towns <br />both in Massachuse?s and across the country. We have discussed our values and priori?es, <br />what works and doesn’t work with Lexington’s current bylaw, and what we think is poli?cally <br />possible at this ?me. <br />The values that a Tree Bylaw should advance include suppor?ng residents’ quality of life now <br />and in the future, climate resiliency, and shared responsibility by all residents. That trees <br />provide ecosystem services and public health benefits beyond the borders of the land where <br />they grow jus?fies regula?on of trees on private land. It is best if there is a distribu?on of <br />different aged trees in an urban forest, yet current research shows that the newly planted trees <br />will likely have a short lifespan. These factors led us to propose 4 main new policies that <br />priori?ze: <br /> <br />