HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-04-12-TREE-min Lexington Tree Committee Meeting
Thursday, April 12, 2018 7:30 am
201 Bedford Street Room 125
Present: Chris Filadoro (Tree Warden), John Frey, Jewel Kuljian, Pat Moyer, Gerry
Paul, Dave Pinsonneault (DPW Director), Anne Senning, Nancy Sofen, Jim Wood.
Nancy Sofen was appointed scribe. Minutes (second edition) of the March 8, 2018
meeting were approved.
Discussion of DPW funding of tree planting that began last month was resumed. Dave
reiterated that the DPW has committed for FYI to plant 70 trees in the fall and 70 in the
spring, with fall planting paid from the Forestry budget up to $45K. Any of that $45K
that is left will be used for spring planting, before using the Tree Mitigation Fund for any
remaining tree planting related expenses for the year. Dave will look at the details of the
Mitigation Fund expenses to answer Jim's questions about what recent spending
covered. If in the future the Mitigation Fund is trending toward lower levels, the DPW
will request supplemental operating budget funds from Town Meeting. The Tree
Committee's role in that case would be to educate TM members of the need for such
funding.
Both Dave and Chris emphasized that the Forestry Division's first responsibility is
safety, including removals and pruning. This has been a particularly bad winter and
there is a lot of work still to be done. Kudos were given to the Forestry crew for prompt
removal of storm damage.
The Tree Inventory, when complete, will provide information about ash trees so that
plans can be made for treatment and removals. On Monday, April 23 there will be
training on injections for Emerald Ash Borer.
Chris has solicited RFQs for spring planting from 4 companies for responses by the
April 20 deadline, and expects to award the contract the first or second week in May.
Because the anticipated total is less than the cutoff for a major bid, Chris has some
discretion in who he sends the RFQ to. Chris does make some calls to check tree
availability; Schicktel reports that they have minimal stock because of the late winter, so
trees planted this spring will likely be balled-and-burlap. Forestry will choose and stake
locations —some from the old list, some in public areas —next week.
Chris has forwarded to John Livsey the following list of suggested trees for planting
along the refurbished earth dam at The Old Res: Sassafras albidum (Sassafras),
Nyssa sylvatica (Tupelo or Black Gum), Liriodendron tulipiferia (Tulip Tree), Cornus
alternifolia(Pagoda dogwood),Acer pensylvanicum (Striped maple), Quercus, any (pin
oak, or swamp white oak?), Populus tremuloides (Quaking aspen). The criterion for
choosing was that these are trees that don't do well as street trees, and so there is little
opportunity to plant them elsewhere in town. They should all thrive near water.
There will be a tree planted at the Community Center on Arbor Day, April 27th.
Chris reports that he and Joel are taking, and enjoying, the state's first Tree Warden
Certification class. He mentioned that the class has discussed that setback trees have a
longer lifespan than street trees, and also how tree wardens grapple with the perfect being
the enemy of the good when choosing planting sites.
Chris had no updates on tree bylaw applications, and will send an update when he has it.
Davey Resource Group was awarded the contract for the Tree Inventory. They
proposed a flat fee for the first 10,300 trees with a per-tree fee after that, for a total of
$49,500 (for around 15,000 trees). They will start at leaf-out and with 4 people working
should complete all street trees within about a month. They will work with GIS engineer
Meghana Shah and IT head Judy Baldasero to integrate the inventory into Lexington's
online GIS map, and Davey will give a training on how to use the system to the Forestry
crew. It was also noted that new members of the crew have a lot of experience with GIS
systems. This tree inventory will be paid from the FY18 budget, so within a few months
Chris will issue a RFQ for trees in park, bikeway and other public lands from the FYI
budget.
Changes to the Tree Management Manual page 34 (current page 26)were approved as
presented. Page 40 was approved with instruction to Anne to edit quotations and
definitions for clarity. Page 42 will be presented at a future meeting, after some
formatting changes and addition of Phragmites australis (Common reedgrass) and
Fallopia japonica (Japanese knotweed)to the list of invasive plant species. Page 44 was
approved as written.
Next meeting is Thursday, May 10, 2018 at 7:30 am, Room 125, 201 Bedford St.
Respectfully submitted,
Nancy Sofen