2010-08-12-TREE-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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Town of Lexington Tree Committee, Thursday, August 12, 2010 A meeting of the Tree Committee was held on Thursday, August 12, 2010 at 7:30 AM at Samuel J. Hadley Building, Room 125. Members Present: John Frey, Jewel Kuljian, Gerry Paul, Nell Walker. Also, present: David Pinsonneault (Tree Warden), Jane Beswick (Friends of Trees), Barbara Kent (Friends of Trees). Susan Solomon (Emerita, Friends of Trees). Members Absent: Karen Longeteig, Deborah Mauger (Selectman Liaison), Anne Senning, Jim Wood. The meeting acted on the following items: Approved minutes of July 8, 2010 with corrections. Appointed Jewel Kuljian as scribe. Tree Warden items: a. Statistics: 710 total sites, 586 closed; trees to remove 884, 701 removed; trees to plant 2,130, 1,387 planted. Fees of $23,880 have been collected for the 2, 388 inches of trees removed. b. Gerry and John received positive feedback from the Selectmen and the Conservation Commission regarding the expansion of the Tree ByLaw. He met with Maryann McCall- Taylor in the Planning Department to discuss plans to proceed. Two proposed changes were discussed: (i) remove exclusion of sites where other Boards have jurisdiction; Planning Board autonomy --”applicants cannot be referred to other boards” -- is probably not an issue, and (ii) can we apply by-law to the whole site (not just set-back area) for large subdivided sites, commercial sites and multifamily building sites. The next steps are to talk with the Board of Appeals and Planning Board to get input, write up the proposed Bylaw changes, and get feedback from Town Counsel regarding removal of section regarding exclusions as well as requiring a greater percentage of the area of a site to be covered. c . Nursery/Tree Planting Progress: i)Scarlet Oaks and one elm have been planted on Fletcher Avenue. One Elm and one Scarlet Oak are doing well. Two Scarlet Oaks show all leaves brown. Dave spoke with the homeowners and those two trees have been overwatered. Dave will replace the dead trees. ii)Scarlet Oak planted in Tower Park to honor Jeanne Krieger has been watered by John, Jeanne and DPW and now shows no further browning of leaves. iii) Two commemorative tulip trees have replaced the two red maples (Mayo family) as originally requested. Some mis-communication ensued regarding the trees. Jane will send out information,updating the spread sheet she designed, about any new commemorative trees to the Tree Committee and communicate with Dave as necessary. iv)Maintenance watering of street trees after planting is particularly difficult this summer season. Dave reported a pump repair is being made on the water truck today. Watering will resume tomorrow as scheduled. Jewel is continuing to volunteer watering the Sourwoods on Meriam Street. One of the Yellowwoods on Clarke Street is not looking good and Dave will check on the status of this tree. A letter drafted by Jewel to help supplement the watering of newly planted trees was approved. Dave suggested two changes and he will distribute this letter whenever a new tree is planted. The edited letter is attached as a document. v)Three Basswood trees are planted at the School Administration Building. No word has been received since the planting. Trees need to be checked.