Mountain Lakes Shade Tree Commission

Minutes of Meeting

November 11, 2010

Commissioners in attendance: S. Marshall, L. Conner, M. Vyff, C. Murtagh, J. Eveleth and H. Carr

Council Liaison: Ellen Emr

1. There were no comments from the public.

2. October minutes were approved with some typographical error corrections.

3. Prune and Remove is complete. Joan has given Barry the numbers in three lists: prunes, removals in ROW and parkland (wood removed), and removals in woods (wood to remain). Total price should be lower than last year. There are fewer trees to be removed and fewer large limbs to be pruned.

4. Consuelo and Marnie attended the Shade Tree Federation Meeting for 2010. They found the speakers to be informative and obtained the needed CEU credits. Sue was given the required paperwork.

5. Laura attended a meeting of the Cove Project Committee where there were many ideas about how to proceed. The barberry will be removed. How and what to replant was discussed. A landscape architect from Boonton Township may be hired to help with the planning. A short knee wall of stone, a cornerstone greeting plaque, and native vegetation may be included in the project to line the Cove. A natural look is the goal.

6. On November 4^th, after school, students from the environmental club, their teacher Mr. Fewel and commissioner’s Laura, Joan and Heather gathered at the far end of the new fields. Our mission was to remove rebar and tubes that protected seedlings planted years ago. The weather was cooperative as we pushed through new growth saplings to find rusty rebar and plastic tubes in the initially cleared area. With enthusiasm and hard work the job was completed in less than two hours. Laura reports that the pile of rebar and plastic was picked up by DPW.

7. Consuelo has been working on the Business Stimulus Grant project. It needs to be completed by September of 2011 using a state appointed contractor. Joan walked the areas, identified for removal of invasive plant material, with Mike, from “Tree King.” He is the approved contractor for Morris County. It is difficult to determine what our $7000 will cover since most of the trees slated for removal are small in diameter. The parameters set by the state deal primarily with the removal of larger trees. Mike will get back to us with more information.

8. John Linson will write the new 5 year Community Forestry Management Plan as he did last time. The major focus of this plan will be to make Mountain Lakes Shade Tree ordinances work better in order to protect our tree canopy. Commissioners will help our Borough manager by making site visits when needed.

9. Arbor Day photos have been put on line and copies filed.

10. Tony sent a draft outline of the “100 Trees for 100 Years” centennial sale. We will be working with him to finalize the details soon.

11. Heather has been in contact with Tony about the replacement tree on the Boulevard from the 2009 planting. He will also plant the two 2010 honorary trees at Birchwood beach area. Sue and Heather will flag those locations after today’s meeting.

12. Ellen suggested that Shade Tree may want to look into using GPS mapping to do our P&R survey in the future.

Next meeting will be held on December 9^th