HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-09-15-TREE-min
Town of Lexington Tree Committee Minutes
9.15.22
1. The meeting came to order at 7:32 AM
2. Present: Gerry Paul (chair), Nancy Sofen, Gloria Bloom, Mark Connor (co-chair), Barbara
Tarrh, James Wood, Pat Moyer, Joe Pato (Select Board liaison); Sustainable Lexington
Liaisons: Rick Reibstein, Charlie Wyman; Guests: Dan Miller, Marty Kvaal. No one from
DPW was present, though Dave Pinsonneault later emailed to say issues needing his
prompt attention had arisen.
3. Minutes of August 11 were accepted and approved without change.
4. Lexington Friends of Trees website: We decided against the idea of having the
Lexington Friends of Trees web presence be simply a tab on the Lexington Living
Landscapes website.
5. Meeting Guidelines. After discussion, we decided that we were already following
proper meeting guidelines and there was no need to pursue this.
6. The Tree Committee submission to the Town Annual report, drafted by Gerry Paul, was
read, discussed, amended slightly, and approved (see attached).
7. Upcoming events inviting our participation: Lexington Farmers’ Market Sustainability
Day 9/20/22, E. Lexington Fair 10/1/22, Discovery Day in Lexington Center 10/8/22.
Invitations and signup will be sent to our emails.
8. Review of Open Meeting Law: We continued our discussion begun at our August
meeting about the operation of this law as regards our business. Except in an open
meeting, members cannot conduct policy deliberations or express written or oral
opinions on matters under our jurisdiction to a quorum or larger of the committee.
9. Resident issues: Gerry reported that emails recently sent by residents to the Tree
Committee email that he forwarded to the Tree Warden have been addressed promptly.
Gratitude was expressed.
10. 20 Welch Rd tree removals Gerry reported that upon further analysis the DPW
determined that the 2 large trees removed in the front of the house were in the right -
of-way, had an appraisal done, and assessed the developer about $49,000. Since only
stumps remained, the appraisal was performed using photos from Google Streetview
and Google Earth (see attached).
11. 2 Wheeler Road tree removals (see attached) Gerry presented the plot plan submitted
on March 24, 2022 by the developer for this property. The plan did not show as many
as 50 trees that were actually present on the site as evidenced by their stumps. Many of
these were large and in the setback area. The Tree Permit for this property was granted
by the Tree Warden on Mach 31, 2022. This raised the following questions:
a. How did the tree warden reconcile the plot plan with the reality on the ground?
b. What actions can be taken against the developer and/or surveyor for submitting
false information?
12. Proposed meeting with DPW Director: Given the above item and other issues of
concern, it was agreed Gerry, Nancy and Mark should meet with the DPW director to
discuss:
a) The circumstances of the situation at 2 Wheeler Rd. Based on this discussion, a
decision would be made about meeting with the Town Manager.
b) The immediate, full implementation of 2021 ATM Article 33
c) How in Dave’s opinion can we, the Tree Committee, best support the Tree Warden?
d) DPW attendance at our meetings.
13. Issue Tracking. The committee has recognized the importance of orderly records of tree
issues in which we have been involved. Barbara has offered to set up a spreadsheet in
order to accomplish this. Accordingly, Gerry created an exhaustive list of tree issues
dating back to 2017 and presented it. Nancy Sofen offered helpful suggestions about
setting up such a list in order to make it flexible and searchable. She will w ork with
Barbara on this. We debated if we ought to keep tree issues involving the DPW separate
or together with issues and initiatives we do on our own. Decision: keep them all on
one list, but be able to sort them if need be.
14. Regional Tree Advocates: Nancy Sofen updated us on issues being discussed by this
group.
15. Meeting adjourned at 9:50 AM.
Respectfully submitted, Pat Moyer