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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-10-13-TREE-min Minutes October 13, 2005 Lexington Tree Committee, Lexington, MA Present: John Frey( Chairman), Karen Longeteig, David Pinsonneault(Superintendent Public Grounds), Anne Senning,Susan Solomon(emeritus), Nell Walker, Jim Wood, Gerry Paul(scribe). 1. Scribe and Minutes: Gerry Paul was named as scribe.The minutes of the August 11, 2005 meeting were accepted as corrected. The minutes of the September 8, 2005 meeting were accepted. 2. Report under the Tree By-Law: David Pinsonneault, Tree Warden. To date, 409 sites have been visited, of which 280 are now closed. A total of 479 trees have been approved for removal of which 206 have been actually removed. A total of 1115 trees are required to be replanted, of which 478 have actually been planted. No trees have been planted on a neighboring property. Three trees will be planted on public property. No money has been collected under the by-law. All sites to date have chosen the replanting option and there have been no penalties imposed under the by-law. Nell questioned the presence of 2 recently planted red maples in poor condition planted in the tree lawn on Mass. Ave in front of a house next to St. Brigids Church. Dave will check into this. He believes these trees were not planted by the town. 3. The School Department is charged with maintenance of trees on school property. They may ask for help from DPW in which case the school department is billed for any contractor costs that DPW incurs. Concerning tree maintenance at the high school it was recommended that a letter be sent informing the Principal of the High School that a hazard tree is present and that the School Department contract directly with a contractor to address the issue. 4. David announced that the amendment to the Tree By-Law establishing the revolving tree fund had been approved by the Attorney General. 5. David announced that we had been awarded a Mass. Department of Conservation and Recreation grant in the amount of $19,660. The grant period is from 10/3/2005 to 6/30/06. The end date can be extended. The grant can be used for software but not hardware; Dave will try to find funding for an additional IPAC. The committee thanked Jim Wood for his work in developing the grant application. The following people volunteered to take the lead on the grant deliverables: -Mailer - Jim Wood. Target date for mailing 2/1/2006. -Lecture Series/Publicity - John Frey/Susan Solomon. -Tree Inventory - Anne Senning. There was a discussion of establishing a public trust fund for collection of donations we receive from the mailing and other sources. Concerning the lecture series, it was suggested that there be 3 in the spring and 3 in the fall; we would ask for an extension of the grant for this. Before involving other towns( Arlington, Cambridge, Waltham) in planning for the lecture series, a subcommittee of John Frey, Susan Solomon, Nell Walker and Jim Wood will meet on Oct. 21 at 9:00 am at Susan's house to flesh out some ideas. 6. There was a discussion of possible use of GIS/pictometry for inventorying trees on Belfry Hill. 7. It was agreed that the Tree Committee should make a presentation to the new Town Manager. John Frey will set this up. 8. There was discussion about applying for a Heritage Tree Grant due 12/9/05. Trees to be supported under this grant must be at least 32'' in diameter, be on public land and have documented historical significance. Karen, Nell and Anne will initially identify candidate trees and take color pictures hopefully before the leaves fall. Jim Wood volunteered to take the lead on the actual proposal generation. 9. There is a Design Advisory Committee meeting tonight(10/13) which John will attend. The meeting will address the issue of trees on Waltham Street for the Battle Green Inn conversion. 10. Anne will email sheets, which explain all symbols on the IPAC hand-held. Anne estimates that Phases I & II of the tree inventory are about 2/3 complete. 709 trees have been inventoried. Anne will talk to MIS to try to have the missing entries in the list of tree types restored. Karen reported on her investigation concerning the possibility of using ``free'' software from Davey Tree Company. She found that the software was only free for the first 3 years and could be charged for after that time. No estimate of the cost was available. There was agreement that we would continue to use the software currently loaded on the IPAC and laptop. 11. Karen reported that we are on track with the PR campaign of monthly articles in the Lexington Minuteman. The articles for October and November are prepared and John will write his article by Nov. 15. 12. All agreed that we should capture the presentation made by Karen at last year's Town Meeting on video/DVD. Gerry will contact the video dept. at Lexington High and see if they can produce a video of Karen doing the presentation. 13. It was agreed that the Tree Committee should present again at this years Town Meeting probably under Article 1(report of committees). 14. There was a discussion of possible sponsorship for attendance of some committee members at the Tree Stewards Training workshop at the Harvard Forest in Petersham Mass. on Nov. 4 and 5. Karen and Jim will explore possible sources of funding. 15. Memorial Tree Fund - The Lexington Garden Club will fund a tree in honor of Kathleen Yates. The Tree Committee will select the location. A number of possible locations were discussed. It was agreed that it was important to provide some type of plaque for trees planted under the program. A motion to use arboretum style tags was passed. 16. Nell Walker reported on a story in the Elm Research Institute newsletter which raised concern about the resistance of the Princeton Elm to Dutch Elm Disease. Some skepticism to the article was expressed. 17. Gerry Paul will make a presentation on October 26 at 7:45 to the Planning Board to explore ways in which trees can be considered in the Planning Board process. All Tree Committee members are invited. The meeting will be held in the Selectmen's Meeting Room in the Town Office Building.