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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-02-11-TREE-min Lexington Tree Committee Minutes – February 11, 2010 Members Present: John Frey, Chair; Jeanne Krieger, Selectman liaison; David Pinsonneault, Supt. Of Public Grounds. Members: Jewel Kuljian, Karen Longeteig, Gerry Paul, Anne Senning, Nell Walker, Jim Woods, and Jane Beswick(FOT). Guest: Deb Mauger, candidate for Selectman. Tree Committee members thanked Jeanne Krieger for her participation and support. 1. Jewel Kuljian was appointed as scribe and the minutes of the January 14, 2010 were approved as amended. Members welcomed Deb Mauger and introduced themselves. 2. Tree Warden's agenda items: a) Tree removal applications and activity. David reported 672 sites, 547 closed; 825 to remove, 651 removed; 1,995 to plant, 1,318 planted; 1, 559 total inches removed. Since the by-law change $15,590 has been collected and deposited into the General Fund. b) Tree Inventory/Nursery. John inserted an agenda item here about tree pruning. Many members at the East Lexington Community Meeting are upset about the tree pruning done by the utility companies on Massachusetts Avenue. Dave informed the Tree Committee about a pruning standard change based on the “goal of no outages”. The underwire change is to cut from 8' below, 8' to the side, 12' above to 10' below, 10' to the side, and 25' above. Both Dave and Carl Valente have spoken to legal counsel about this matter. The companies (N-Star and Tree-Tech) have the right to keep the wires clear. They know where there have been previous outages and have met their standards. Dave left it with Tree Tech that if there is a major pruning to be done they should contact him, tag the specific tree and proceed with the other pruning. Each time the companies prune they give Dave their plan and he gives them a permit. Writing a letter to the State Utility Commission was suggested. In the spring there may be a tree hearing regarding tree removal vs pruning whereby new trees would be planted offset, not under the wires. In this instance trees would not be a cost to the town. bi) Budget sufficient to plant trees from the Tree Nursery? Dave will plant the trees from the Tree Nursery to the streets in-house. The budget this year is level funded and is predicted to be so for next year. Dave is looking to hire a fourth person prior to the end of this fiscal year. Gerry raised the issue about the allocation of money for trees. Dave responded by saying that if a Contractor has to be hired to plant then there is less money for the purchase of trees. He will have a better idea about time and material costs for his budget once we have gone through the planting of street trees from the Tree Nursery for the first time. Anne pointed out that we do not know how much time it will take to plant the 18 B&B trees and the 52 bagged trees from the Tree Nursery. th bii) Refer to Special Tree Committee Meeting held on February 9 regarding selection of 54 trees from the Tree Nursery to “out-plant” during the first week of May after all locations are marked with stakes and “dig safe” has given their approval. The dates for planting new stock at the Tree Nursery are Saturday April 24, 2010 with a rain date of Sunday, April 25, 2010. Nell Walker presented a “brand new” list of native trees available from New England Wild Flower Society at Nasami Farm which includes American Hornbeam, American Smoke Tree, and even Osage Orange. A group will meet at the conclusion of this meeting to select the native species to order. biii) Crabapples. Karen is pleased with the response she is getting from the schools. Diamond Middle School is interested. John will offer up to six crabapples to the Garden Club President. Jewel suggested the President confer with the Civic Improvement Committee about where trees could be planted. She also suggested the possibility of planting one of the trees on the traffic island(town property) at Hancock & Revere Streets. To do so would require an additional decision to remove the ailing crabapple in the center of this island by the Tree Committee and Tree Warden. biv) Revisiting the issue of planting street trees under wires. Dave said it can be an option “where appropriate” and the Tree Manual does cover this topic. The Committee re-affirmed last month's vote, with reference to our updated Tree Manual Section V. A. 3 “Appropriateness to site” and Figure 1 “Select trees according to the site”. c)Belfry Hill: Anne reported that $1830 in funds remains from the CPA grant. Below is a statement that was sent to the CPA Committee this January. “In the spring 2010 the remaining funds of $1830 will be used to purchase and plant restoration seed mixes, ground covers and related materials. These materials will be installed by the Tree Committee and volunteers to forestall re-establishment of removed invasive species.” Nell reported on the various vines and other invasive plant material that needs to be removed prior to doing the above planting, also before the end of the fiscal year. Dave suggested calling Matt Foti about this. Work dates need to be scheduled. d)Native Species Initiative. Native seedlings and seeds will be used when doing the planting this spring at Belfry Hill. e) The next meeting of the Battle Green Master Plan is to be held on Thursday, February 25 at 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall. A sub-committee chaired by Ginna Johnson will focus on the design aspects including trees. John encouraged attendance at this meeting. Jeanne again reiterated that the Tree Committee wait to put in a report regarding the Master Plan until a later date. f) The Garden Club would like to have a black tupelo planted at Hastings Park for Arbor Day if one can be located. Matt Foti will be contacted. More on this next month. g)Commemorative Tree Status. Some inquiries have been made about receiving a tax deductible receipt for a donation. This can be done “on request” but is not automatic. John will ask the town offices to send a letter automatically to each donor stating the amount of the donation. h&i) Dave reported that the off-berm planting contract with homeowners will come before the Selectman on March 15, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. in the Selectman's Office. The Warrant Article to amend the bylaw and alter the Tree Manual will also come before the Selectman at the same meeting. Two by law changes are needed. 1) Section 120- 8.C.Mitigation.(3). Strike out “enhance landscape issue”. 2) Section 120-9.Emergencies and Exemptions. C. Remove “Invasive tree species”. 3.Friends of Trees Distinctive Tree Project. The Katsura Tree article submitted to the Lexington Minuteman should go in today. 4.Web site update. Inventory. Next month. Meeting was adjourned because another meeting was scheduled to be held in the room. Pending: Nell's presentation on Lincoln Park planting and innovations. Next regular meeting: March 11,2010, at 7:30AM at Samuel Hadley PSB, 201 Bedford Street, Room 125 .