2009-01-15-TREE-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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Lexington Tree Committee, Lexington, MA, Minutes of January 15, 2009 1. Attendance: John Frey, Anne Senning, Nell Walker, Karen Longeteig, Jewel Kuljian, Jeanne Krieger, Gerry Paul, Jim Wood. The meeting was called to order at 7:42 a.m. Scribe: Karen Longeteig was appointed as scribe. The minutes of the December 4, 2008 meeting were approved with two minor corrections. 2. Tree Warden’s Report: Dave Pinsonneault could not be present so he reported the following statistics by an email to Chairman Frey: (a) Tree City USA application has been submitted. (b) Tree Bylaw statistics: 624 sites/481 closed, 775 trees to be removed/537 actually removed, and 1862 trees to be planted/1177 planted. 3. Town Engineering Division Report: Dave Cannon from the Engineering Department visited the meeting to ask for input on the Spring Street sidewalk project, and to answer questions about ‘protocols’ for making trees and sidewalks co-exist. (a) Spring Street project: Mr. Cannon presented plans showing three alternatives for the sidewalk placement on Spring Street, along with statistics showing how many existing trees would be impacted under each plan. He judged Alternative #3 to have the least impact on trees and property, while best serving pedestrians. He walked the site with Tree Warden Pinsonneault. Where trees may be impacted, they will approach individual homeowners to try to resolve issues while saving the tree if possible. There nd will be public hearings on the Spring Street project on January 22 , Clarke School Auditorium, 7:30 p.m. The Tree Committee voted unanimously to endorse Alternative 3 as the first priority. (b) The Committee had prepared a long list of tree/sidewalk items to ask Mr. Cannon, but given the time already spent, resolved to limit the questions to two: 1. Is there a policy of systematically paving over tree pits where a tree has been removed? 2. Is there a possibility of re-opening sidewalk areas for tree planting? Taking the items together, Mr. Cannon said there was no policy of paving over; it was on a case-by-case basis. Others having input on a site might be the Highway Department , Water Department, etc. as well as the Tree Warden. However, after a long hiatus the Town now has a new head Engineer, John Livsey, who has just come on the job but who can be expected to address such questions in a systematic way. He agreed that discussion of options is necessary, especially in tree-deprived areas. Jim and Gerry suggested that we could develop a plan for a whole street in East Lexington, including retrofitting the closed-up sidewalk areas. A subcommittee was formed on the spot of Gerry, Jim, John & Anne. They will meet on a date to be decided by email. In answer to another question, Mr. Cannon said that his division has adopted the structural soil system as a standard detail. It is cheaper than a coffered treeway, and is more of a self-sustaining, natural system. 4. Tree Nursery: a. John reported that the response to the Town Manager’s query about the nursery was sent out with copies to all Tree Com members. b. Jim reported that the species selection subcommittee had met and developed a draft list. He searched for nursery sources amongst four nurseries: Baileys, Weston, Bigelow and Sylvan. Bare-root trees are not a common item and Baileys has the most. Jim distributed a list of species and numbers of each, totaling 220 trees. He will continue to look for sources; presumably some trees on the list will not be found, and others will be pared down as necessary until we purchase about 130 trees for spring planting. 5. Tree Budget Meetings: Gerry has been meeting with the Town Manager and the Selectmen as they develop their budget. He noted that, as of the last draft, tree planting was proposed for $14K (out of our request for $24K), as a Program Improvement item. There is still a gap of $2.3 million in the Town budget. Gerry got enough signatures to put a warrant article on the Town Meeting. The Committee’s sense was that the $14K was acceptable, but if we get nothing we will go to the floor of the Town Meeting. Jeanne noted that the $14K