Mountain Lakes Shade Tree Commission
Minutes of Meeting
April 8, 2010
Commissioners in attendance:
S. Marshall, J. Best, M. Vyff, T. Caine, C. Murtagh, J. Eveleth and H. Carr
Council Liaison E. Emr
1. There where no comments from the public.
2. March minutes were approved with one correction.
3. Arbor Day is in good shape. All commissioners plan to attend and town officials are
onboard. Jay has located a spot to
plant the honorary tree and Marnie will order it from Morris County. DPW needs to be notified to pick up the
tree and plant it. We will meet at
1:30 at Wildwood School on April 30th.
The festivities will be held outside unless inclement weather moves us
to the gym. Last minute details
are being taken care of. Joan will
be in charge of the proclamation and Heather will complete the certificate.
4. Prune and Remove work was delayed due to stormy
weather but is proceeding again.
Commissioners should look over their areas to make sure work is getting
done properly. Check for pruning and
stumps indicating removals.
5. Joan has compiled a list of recent Street Tree Removal
Plans submitted to the Borough.
Commissioners can use this list to inspect their areas and determine
whether plans are being executed properly. This list is for street trees only. Setback Plans are overseen by the Borough Manager. Joan will update the list accordingly
and email it or bring it to our meetings.
6. Joan, Sue and Heather met to determine the frequency
with which the Forester will need to inspect the small parks and well-traveled
paths in the Borough. A
ranking system of 1-4 was used to rate each area: 1-yearly, 2 bi-yearly,
3-every five years and 4-upon request.
Joan will be touring the Borough with Barry Lewis to familiarize him
with the numerous wooded tracts of land in town and our recommendations for
needed inspection. This
information will be added to our new Community Forestry Management Plan.
7. A letter was received from a Boonton Township
resident, Gary Musciano. He was
concerned about the removal of two oaks at the corner of Elcock and The
Boulevard where the town pillar is.
The trees were in decline and grew too close to an intersection so
removal requested by HPC, as part of the Centennial celebration rejuvenation
effort, was granted. Stumps an eye
sore, loss of tree cover and debris not being cleaned up were the main
complaints. Barry will address
this issue with the resident. The
area will probably be replanted with bushes and flowers.
8. Sue, Joan and Heather will read through the old
Community Forestry Management Plan with suggestions for John Linson. What new information needs to be
included in the plan and what sections of the old plan need to be changed or
deleted, will be determined and discussed. The STC will focus on the planting of new trees on private
property in this new 5 year plan.
Starting with our Ò100 Trees for 100 YearsÓ campaign.
9. Shade Tree has been awarded a Business Stimulus Grant
for the removal of invasive plant material in public wooded areas. We will need to determine which areas
are of greatest need in the near future.
Next meeting will be held on May 13th