2012-02-09-TREE-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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Town of Lexington, Massachusetts Lexington Tree Committee Minutes of February 9, 2012 A meeting of the Lexington Tree Committee was held February 9, 2012, 7:30-9:45 a.m. at the Samuel Hadley Public Services Building, Room 125. A quorum of seven was present. Members Present: John Frey (chair), Jewel Kuljian, Gerry Paul, Anne Senning, Karen Longeteig, Nell Walker, James Wood. Also the Public Grounds Supt. Chris Filadoro, Friends of Trees Jane Beswick. Absent: Deb Mauger, Selectman Liaison The Committee acted on the following items: 1.Scribe/Minutes: Karen Longeteig was appointed as scribe. Minutes of the three immediate past meetings – 1/12/12, 1/24/12 and 1/26/12 – were approved with minor corrections. 2. Tree Warden items Chris met with the Building Inspector, Gary Rhodes, and obtained agreement that the Tree Warden will be included on the sign-off sheet for occupancy permits. This will happen in about two months, when the present stock of forms is exhausted and re-printed. The Tree Com members received this news with great enthusiasm, as it will further facilitate compliance with the bylaw. 2a.Bylaw report : Chris has negotiated an agreement for re-planting and mitigation for the tree removals at 15 Slocum Road. The ten Webb Street site is closed; they have accepted to replant four trees. Hazel Road is still open, but they at the moment are cutting no more trees. Bylaw Activity to 2/9/12: Cases closed 687, Trees Removed 852, Trees to be Planted 2551, and Trees Planted, 1810. 2b.Tree bylaw proposed changes: The subcommittee members, Gerry and Jim, have not met yet. They will do so and circulate a draft to the rest of the TC by email. 2c. Tree Management Manual updates : Anne volunteered to be lead person, and John and Nell will help. There are only 8 copies left of 2 nd edition. Nursery 2d. : Jewel has reserved/yellow-tagged those trees with setback agreements completed to date, for spring 2012 planting out. Chris will schedule start of street-side planting for just after Patriots’ Day. He wants to purchase 25 to 35 Treegator bags to test their efficacy. April 23 was set as possible date for take-out from nursery, with April 28 as date for in-planting. Chris noted that he may have to contract labor for one of the street tree plantings this season. Work date for nursery: February 14 th. Jim spoke of an alternative planting process for the nursery. He thinks that girdling in the bags is a problem serious enough to warrant discontinuing bags, and would instead directly plant bare-root whips into the soil. To avoid taking out a lot of soil with each tree harvested, he recommended getting a compressed air gun to blow all the soil off the roots. The roots would then be dipped in hydrogel, then planted out. Chris pointed out that it is easier to harvest trees in the bags. We reviewed our learning process since the nursery began in 2007: 1