HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-04-07-TREE-min Lexington Tree Committee RECEIVED
Meeting minutes of April 7, 2022 Special Meeting 2022 27 Apir, 4 11 1piirn
TOWN CLERK
7:30 am on Zoom LEXINGTON MA
Members present: Gerry Paul (chair), Pat Moyer, Nancy Sofen, Jim Wood, Gloria Bloom and Mark
Sandeen (Select Board Liaison)
Guests: Marty Kvaal, Marcia Gens, Dan Miller, Barbara Tarrh, Shannon Murtagh
Scribe: Gerry Paul was appointed
1. We discussed the planned removal of 37 white pine trees and took the position in the attached
letter.
2. We changed the time of our next meeting on April 14 to 10 AM because of a conflict with the
Lincoln St. sidewalk tree hearing scheduled for 8 AM.
Town Manager, Select Board, DPW Director April 7, 2022
Town Of Lexington
Lexington Town Office Building,
1625 Massachusetts Avenue,
Lexington, MA 02420
Dear Town Officials,
We understand that the Town is planning the removal of 37 white pine trees on the path behind
the swimming pools and tennis courts in the Center Recreation Complex.
The Lexington Tree Committee met on April 7, 2022 and, by a vote of 5-0, voted in favor of the
following statement:
• The Tree Committee recommends that no tree be removed until the following issues are
resolved.
• We recommend that the Town work constructively with an arborist employed by the
neighborhood to determine methods to mitigate risk presented by any weaknesses in the
trees. Removal should be a last resort.
• The 2-page report by A & B Tree and Landscape, March 3, 2022 is an inadequate basis
for making decisions. This report is not a risk assessment for individual trees. Rather it
is a summary of observations concerning the 37 trees in general.
Before any given tree is declared a hazard an individual assessment should be performed
for that tree consistent with such a standard as that of the International Society ofArbor
Culture:
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These trees are too valuable and provide too many benefits to be declared informally as
hazards without appropriate documentation.
• Finally, we respectfully request that the Town Manager commit to developing,
documenting, and putting in place, by September 1, 2022, a process (for non-emergency
situations) for hazard tree determination that provides visibility, transparency, and
accountability. A commitment was made to such a process in October 2020 when the tree
at 5 Fulton Rd was under consideration; the process does not yet exist.
We look forward to the Town Manager's response to our recommendation and request.
Sincerely,
Gerry Paul, Chair Lexington Tree Committee