BOROUGH OF MOUNTAIN LAKES
SHADE TREE COMMISSION
SEPTEMBER 9, 2010 MINUTES
Present: J. Best, C. Murtagh, J. Eveleth
(alaternate), T. Caine, M. Vyff, S. Marshall and E. Emr, Council Liaison. Absent: H. Carr, L. Conner.
1. There were no comments from the public.
2. The June minutes review was tabled until the October
meeting.
3. P&R Status Report:
Most commissioners are almost finished with their annual tree
inspections, and some data entry has been done. Joan requested that all survey work, including data entry,
be completed by Friday October 1 so that the bid specs can be done.
4. 34 Hillcrest Road
Construction Site: The house has
been taken down by the contractor.
The contractor has placed protective fencing around a Norway Maple in
the ROW. This tree is growing
extensively in the power lines and has been recommended for removal by Arborist
John Linson. The power company is
willing to prune it to the point that a tree removal could bring the rest of
the tree down. We voted
unanimously to allow the contractor to remove this tree and we will ask him to
replace it.
5. Active Grants:
The Business Stimulus Grant expires 9/30/11. We plan to use the $7000.00 to remove invasive trees (Ailanthus
and Norway Maple, primarily). One
target area is the Esplanade and Station area. Joan requested a volunteer to
assume the responsibility for the administration of this grant and Consuelo
volunteered.
The Green Communities Grant
allows for the development of the 2011-2015 Community Forestry Management Plan. With the grant money we have again
engaged John Linson to help develop the plan, as he did for the current
plan. The last 2 plans were
focused on tree planting. Now that
we have tree protection ordinances pertaining to the ROW and private property,
we recommend that the next plan focus on interaction with residents to achieve
a better understanding and compliance with the tree protection ordinances.
6. 100 Trees for 100 Years: Sue and Heather will contact Tony Cerbo to begin planning
this program to promote the planting of shade trees by home owners on their
property in celebration of the centennial year, 2011.
7. Annual Shade Tree Federation Meeting October 22&23: At least one commissioner must go to
get our annual required CEUÕs.
Marnie and Consuelo agreed to go for 1 of the 2 days.
8. H&SA Bulletin New Cyber Format: The due date for submission is now the
15th of the month before.
We discussed whether the new format would be an effective way to reach
residents. Marnie felt strongly
that we should continue to put submit articles and volunteered to write one for
November.
9. Status of Trees Planted
in 2009 with State Grant: Joan
reported that DPW watered the trees just about every other week. We will have the stakes removed next
spring. The protective wraps
should now be removed to avoid the collection of moisture on the bark
underneath them. One tree on
Boulevard died, and possibly a second one as well. Heather will talk to Tony Cerbo about replacing them later
this year.
10. Setback Tree
Removal/Protection Forms: Over the
summer the form was revised because it became clear that residents did not
understand it well enough and most were not completed properly. Joan worked with Borough Manager Barry
Lewis on the revisions to make the applications more user-friendly. There are now 2 separate forms with
rules and instructions, one for removals and one for tree protection
plans. The ordinance allows for
the Administrator of the applications (Barry Lewis) to request assistance from
the STC. He has asked us to become
involved in the process through a site visit and/or interaction with the
homeowner to gather and provide him with information necessary to make a
disposition on the application. We
reviewed the revised documents and made a few suggestions for further
revision. Joan will make the
changes and send the documents to Borough Hall for distribution to residents as
needed.
The
next meeting will be October 14th at 8:30 am.