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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-02-11-TREE-min Lexington Tree Committee Town of Lexington, Massachusetts 201 Bedford St., Samuel Hadley Public Services Building, Room 125 Minutes, Meeting of February 11, 2016 Attendees: John Frey(Chair), Jewel Kuljian(Scribe), Gerry Paul, Nancy Sofen, Jim Wood 1. Minutes of January 14, 2016 meeting approved as corrected. 2. Bylaw Tree removal applications and activity-No action. 3. Review of trees recommended by sub-committee(John Frey, Karen Longeteig, Jewel Kuljian, Anne Senning, Nancy Sofen) for the spring of 2016 and the ordering process. Jim Wood will order bare root trees from Schichtel's Nursery in collaboration with Chris Filadoro. Forty Large trees: 10 Quercus palustris(Pin Oak), Quercus bicolor(Swamp White Oak sold out), 10 Quercus rubra(Red Oak), 10 Tilia americana'Sentry'(American Basswood(all are available), 10 Platanus x acerifolia'Bloodgood'(London Planetree). Twenty Medium trees Ordered: Preferred species, Halesia tetraptera(CarolinaSilverbell) not available. Twenty Ostrya virginiana(American Hophornbeam ordered. Initially 10 Small trees: Able to order 20 Cornus alternafolia(Pagoda Dogwood) from Wagon Wheel Nursery(B&B). Not available from Schichtel Nursery. At the meeting a preference was given to ordering Pagoda Dogwood trees over the Carolina Silverbell species. Eighty trees ordered for Spring 2016. 4. Visit from representative of Davey Tree to explain integration of their system with Town's system with Town IT person present. No action. Suggestion: The Tree Committee would be glad to change the date of the Tree Committee meeting if Chris is not able to attend on the original date. 5. Latest on trees at 90 and 92 Grant Street No action. 6. Arbor Day tree location(Chris recommends Lincoln Park; a Pin Oak was planted there in 2015). John will contact Jane to suggest she meet with Chris and/or John to select the specific site and the species. It is suggested that Matt Foti also be contacted to determine if he would like to donate and plant the tree for Arbor Day. He has offered this many times in the past. Other tree issue: 1)Jim reported the Mason's Board is concerned about the liability of planting trees along Massachusetts Avenue. Jim will meet with the Board at their next meeting to discuss the issue as he is interested in planting more trees at this location. 7. Two Town warrant articles for Tree Bylaw changes: One article is an incentive for builders replanting of large canopy trees when trees have been removed. The second is a proposed new section of the Lexington Tree Bylaw drafted about the cutting of protected trees of 30” or greater in the setback area. Gerry proposed asking for a presentation with the Selectmen to review the articles for Town Meeting. He is waiting for Chris to schedule a Public Hearing. Gerry is willing to do a brief introduction of the two articles with Nancy introducing the Canopy trees and Karen to present the articles with a dry run prior to the Selectmen’s meeting. 8. Tree Committee Web Page update: Nancy Sofen sent several pages to Nancy Santos and will check back with her regarding the status. On the Main Page she wants to update contact information, put in a section about ALB and include more narrative about tree planting over various years. 9. Checking Commemorative Trees for condition and tags. Some not found. Jane has developed a list of some locations. Jewel has a list of some past Arbor Day sites and will forward a copy to Jane and John. 10: DCR Grants. There is a question about whether the date to apply for these grants has passed. Tabled for now. 11. Set date to revisit protecting trees at Farmer’s Market site from tree root damage. To be determined. 12. Center Streetscape: Involvement of Tree Committee in ad hoc Center Streetscape Design Committee to make recommendations as discussed at the Selectmen’s meeting on 2/8/16. The Tree Committee voted to nominate John Frey to represent us for this ad hoc project based on his qualifications, dedication and experience.