HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-09-08-TREE-minTown of Lexington, Massachusetts
Lexington Tree Committee
Minutes of September 8, 2011
A meeting of the Lexington Tree Committee was held on September 8, 2011, 7:30 -9:10 a.m. at the Samuel
Hadley Public Services Building, Room 125. A quorum of five was present.
Members Present: John Frey (chair), Jewel Kulj ian, Deborah Mauger (Selectman Liaison), Gerry Paul, Anne
Senning, Karen Longeteig. Friends of Trees: Jane Beswick. Members Absent: Nell Walker, James Wood.
Tree Warden Chris Filadora was on vacation, and Operations Supervisor Dave Pinsonneault was caught in
the press of DPW business, filling in for other absent employees, and was unable to attend.
The meeting acted on the following items:
1. Scribe /Minutes: Karen Longeteig was appointed as scribe, and the minutes of August 11, 2011, were
approved with two minor corrections.
2. Tree Warden items
2a. Bylaw report: postponed.
2b. Nursery: Brush cutter status: postponed.
Work days: Anne Senning reported that we need to finish tagging and assigning addresses to trees, ASAP,
as the DPW crew wants to plant next week. She has made a notebook of the trees to be outplanted including
trees delayed from the spring. [She will review with Dave /Chris the omission of tree #27 on that list, to be
planted at Waltham/Bushnell, as the committee has been anticipating seeing a tree there for about four
years.] The potential planting areas are mostly east of Lowell Street.
Two major tasks were scheduled:
• Hang tags on 70 to 80 nursery trees (tags are ready; waiting for the wire).
• Assign these trees to specific street addresses.
• Saturday, 9/10/11, 2:00 pm at Nursery, John, Jewel, Karen & Anne, tag trees
• Monday, 9/12/11, 9:00 a.m. at DPW, Karen, John, Anne, assign addresses
• Tuesday, 9/13/11, 9:45 a.m. at Nursery, Gerry, John, ??
• Thursday, 9/15/11, 9:00 a.m., clean up whatever Outplanting tasks are left.
It was noted that the nursery has been nicely mowed. Only one tree was destroyed in the hurricane. The
work on the water mains and the row valves might be able to be folded into the above dates.
Weed - barrier work was scheduled for Friday, 9/16/11, by Jane, John, Anne, Gerry and maybe
Jewel and Karen.
2c. Inventory: work dates for inventorying more tree planting locations were not set.
2d. Builder adherence to Tree Bylaw: Gerry Paul reported on the review of two sites in his neighborhood
undertaken by himself and Karen Longeteig. There were big discrepancies between the applications for
removal and the works actually done. We need to consult Dave /Chris about this, and resolve two important
questions:
• Who closes a site — the building inspector, or the tree warden? How can occupancy
permit be obtained if owner has not fulfilled requirements for planting?
• Why was there such a disparity between the grossly underestimated application and
the execution at 50 Slocum Road, which was clear -cut?
On a related note, Gerry would like to see if the Building Department keeps a chronological file of tree
removal applications that we can review periodically, and drive by the sites to see if conditions were "as
approved ". As the Tree Committee members act as guardians of Lexington trees, we would also benefit
from routine emails telling us addresses of hazard trees to be removed. At the least, it would save us phone
calls to DPW when we see a tree coming down. Could a DPW employee be tasked with this? Deb Mauger
will help us try to work this out.
2e. Tree watering list: Anne will ask Dave /Chris who will water the newly planted trees.
2f. Tree Planting in Setback: This suddenly very popular program is filled through next year, so the
Committee voted, in the name of equity, "One tree per homeowner, but exceptions can be considered by the
Tree Committee." Jewel will work with DPW crew to physically stake out the 20 locations in front yards.
Dave will have Paul call DigSafe, and then they can plant.
2g. Commemorative Tree brochure: Jane Beswick reported that the correction stickers and the remaining
brochures have been given to Chris, but she doesn't have them back yet.
3. Membership Renewal for Gerry, Anne, and John. All three wish to continue on the committee, so Deb
will put it on the Selectmen's agenda.
4. Battle Green tree loss from Hurricane Irene: The Tree Committee asked Deb to convey to the
Selectmen that for aesthetic reasons they do not recommend the replacement of this Ash tree which went
down. The entrance to the Green seems improved without the tree blocking the view.
5. Fall vs Spring planting: postponed.
6. Friends of Trees /commemorative trees. Karen noted that one of the four Tuliptrees in Lincoln Park
was leafless, and Jane identified it as one of the Mayo trees. She will ask Dave /Chris to replace it. The East
Lexington Civic Association's tree in memory of Jim Barry will be a Red Maple per request of family.
7. Website: Karen passed around an internet piece about downed tree removal which she thought would be
helpful to be on our website; the committee agreed.
8. Other: We discussed the vital role in the committee's work of data management, map production, and
inventory, and the fact that only one member, Anne Senning, is able to execute these complex tasks. There
is no back -up for her, and she is maintaining official town records of town -owned assets on a volunteer basis.
Deb will bring this up as a sustainability issue during budget season on the Board of Selectmen.
There was no remote participation. The meeting was not recorded.
Respectfully submitted, Karen Longeteig, Scribe
Next regular meeting: October 13, 2011, 7:30 a.m. at Samuel Hadley Public Services Building, Room 125