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Click here for minutes from January 24, 2006

FEBRUARY 28, 2006

ATTENDANCE: Chairman Don Nelson; Rich Whitehead; Maribeth Becker (6:03 p.m.);
Laurel Lindstrom

STAFF: Hal Alvord, Tree Warden Paul Sotnik, Deputy Tree Warden

OTHER: Dianne Witkowsky, Spring Hill/Hospital Area Association (6:03 p.m); Nick Overall, ENNA (6:12 p.m.); Tia Sidey, Farm Creek; Pam Garrett, Harbor Shores;

CALL TO ORDER

Chairman Nelson called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m.

APPROVE MINUTES – TREE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING OF JANUARY 24, 2006

Mr. Alvord said that he and Mr. Sotnik reviewed the minutes. Revised copies of the minutes were distributed. Changes were printed in red and blue.

Ms. Witkowski and Ms. Becker arrived at 6:03 p.m.

** MR. WHITEHEAD MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF JANUARY 24, 2006 AS CORRECTED.
** MS. LINDSTROM SECONDED.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

REPORT – INNER CITY GRANT – ARBORETUM STATUS

Mr. Nelson said he and Mr. Viteretto met with the Parent Teachers Organization of Columbus Magnet School and gave them an outline of what the plan was like and where they stood on it. They talked about what the teachers are doing to try to bring it into the curriculum of the school. They gave them an update on their new approach to going after tree planting on a neighborhood by neighborhood basis. He said that new approach seemed to be very well received. Mr. Nelson said he saw Mr. Bociek today, and Mr. Bociek indicated he hadn’t gotten a good response from the Parks Department with respect to the track going around, as well as other issues. Mr. Nelson asked Mr. Alvord about the status of the funds, and if they can order the work done and be reimbursed for the claim. Mr. Alvord explained that Mr. Bociek hasn’t billed them for the 14 or 15 trees. The grant is $18,650, and the tree expenses are at approximately $11,000, with 14 trees at $500 each, as well as another 6 or 7 trees they have to still be planted. They still have to pay for the signs, and pay for the track work if there is any money remaining.

Mr. Alvord suggested that as Mr. Viteretto is very busy, it might be worthwhile to get another volunteer to help out before they risk losing the funds from the grant. They received an extension on the grant to June 15. Chairman Nelson asked Mr. Whitehead to help out. Mr. Whitehead said yes, and that he would help with the signs. He showed the committee members a sample of the tree plaques. It might be somewhat tempting for vandals, although no one could remember any reports of vandalism. It would be easy for volunteers to affix the signs to the trees. Mr. Alvord said they would have to exercise more care when affixing the plaques to younger trees.

Mr. Overall arrived at 6:12 p.m.

Chairman Nelson suggested the use of wood chips around the edge of the track, sort of as a barricade between the track and the playground. Some discussion took place regarding the suggestions and alternatives for the track area and the walkway.

The extended expiration date for the grant is June 15, 2006. The DEP has to inspect it at that time, so the target date of April 15, 2006 was set to get the work done. Mr. Alvord said all costs for the arboretum should be charged to the Tree Planting Account. He suggested a site visit to the arboretum with Mr. Overall, and Mr. Whitehead.

REPORT – INCIDENTS OF ILLEGAL CUTTING

Mr. Sotnik said there are no new illegal cuttings. He said Mrs. Cordero at 34 North Taylor Avenue is supposed to pay her $849 fine on Friday. She is also supposed to have the name of the tree removal contractor that will be doing the clean-up work.

He said he spoke with the people at 22 Old Lantern yesterday, and they are still in the process of putting their tree planting plan together to bring to them in for review and approval.

REPORT – STATUS OF APPLICATION: US CONFERENCE OF MAYORS –
AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE PROGRAM FOR COMMUNITY TREES

Mr. Alvord said the US Conference of Mayors is offering grants for recognizing community tree programs. He distributed copies of the grant information to the committee members. They passed it along to the Norwalk Tree Alliance. Mr. Tracy did a lot of upfront work on this. It then came back to Mr. Alvord, Mr. Sotnik and Mr. Yosock, and the grant was applied for on-line. The Norwalk Urban Forestry Improvement Project is what they applied for. Under that umbrella is the Columbus Arboretum, the tree planting program, adopt-a-spot, adopt-a-street, and all the tree related things they do and have accomplished over the last few years. They will know on Monday, March 6 if they will be invited back to submit a completed hard copy package. The US Conference of Mayors accepts the applications on-line, ranks them, and then invites a certain number of communities back to submit the full application. Mr. Alvord said the awards that Norwalk has received are listed in the application. Norwalk is a Tree City USA. They mentioned in the application the Connecticut ReLeaf Community status and that Norwalk won the Connecticut Urban Forestry Award last year. There are two categories, cities over 100,000 and cities under 100,000 in population. Norwalk would be in the category of under 100,000. The winner in each category gets a $75,000 grant and the runner-up gets a $25,000 grant. It is a recognition grant for having healthy and growing trees or urban forestry related programs.

REPORT – STATUS OF TREE REMOVAL AND TRIMMING CONTRACT

Mr. Alvord said if you go to the city’s website, and click on tree management, you can see the status of the CL&P permit. It indicates where they will be trimming trees in the city, and it provides an update on the 3rd Taxing District tree trimming permit. He said they are trying to get the two local electric companies to also get tree trimming permits. The 2nd & 3rd Taxing Districts have overhead electrical lines. It doesn’t appear that they ever had a permit. CL&P is very careful to consult with the city before removing or trimming any trees when working on the power lines.

The Third Taxing District wants to cut down some trees in the East Norwalk Cemetery. Their lawyer wrote Mr. Alvord a letter saying that he didn’t have the jurisdiction as the Tree Warden over the 3rd Taxing District property. The Corporation Counsel came back with their legal opinion that the city has no jurisdiction on the 3rd Taxing District property. The initiative to take the trees down result from their interference with the stone wall and a gate post. Both Mr. Alvord and Mr. Sotnik have been out to the cemetery, and thought there might be options to removing the trees. There is one gatepost on the southwest corner that is being pushed over by a root system. They talked with some of the commissioners, and they are now down to three trees that they want removed. Mr. Alvord said he urged Mr. Leary to let the community know what he’s planning on doing. Mr. Alvord received a call today that Knapp Tree Service (TTD’s tree contractor) went down to the city garage and picked up Mr. Alvord’s tree removal signs and put them on the trees. Mr. Alvord told Mr. Leary to remove the signs from the trees and post their own signs. Ms. Lindstrom said that Mr. Simon Sumberg is going to be legal counsel for the 3rd Taxing District as of March 1, 2006. Mr. Alvord suggested that the neighbors in eastern Norwalk should go talk to Mr. David Brown. Chairman Nelson asked how to initiate appointing a tree warden and adhering to the State statute. Mr. Alvord said he thought it has to be done at the commissioner level. Mr. Nelson asked Ms. Lindstrom to handle this. Mr. Sotnik had a copy of the State statute and said it was Chapter 451, Section 23-59, Public Shade Trees, and Tree Protection Examining Ordinance. Section 23-59 is Powers and Duties of the Tree Warden. Ms. Lindstrom said there has been a recent reactivation of the East Norwalk Cemetery Association. Mr. Whitehead said he had been out to the cemetery, and he suggested that they trim the trees that have dead branches.

Mr. Alvord said the other part of the Tree Removal and Trimming Contract is that the Board of Estimate and Taxation approved the special appropriation of $52,000 that is on the Common Council agenda for tonight. They will then do an amendment to the Almstead contract and get them back to work removing dead trees and branches to clear up the backlogged work orders.

REPORT – TREE ACTIVITIES AT OAK HILLS

Mr. Alvord said last year there was interest in the tree program at Oak Hills. He said they are sensitive to the city’s objectives of the tree planting program. Mr. Alvord said they received a call this week, and last week, from Mr. Glenn Dube, the superintendent of Oak Hills, who said that there was a dying tree outside the entrance to the restaurant. Mr. Sotnik went out and posted the tree, as it does have to be removed. There are two trees that were affected when the restaurant was built. The trees are dropping limbs near the restaurant and the cart track. Ms. Witkowski asked if Oak Hills would be responsible for replanting. The problem really was with the contractor. Mr. Alvord said he wasn’t overly concerned with Oak Hills and the replanting, as they have an annual program of removing, trimming, and replanting.

DISCUSSION – STATUS OF TREE PLANTING PROGRAM

a. Next 30 locations – status.

Mr. Overall provided Mr. Sotnik with the agreement that he had obtained from 12 Myrtle Street. Mr. Sotnik summarized for the committee members that as of last month, they needed 13 ownership agreements. As he hadn’t received any response, he sent an e-mail requesting an update. He said that #21 and #23 Ludlow Manor will be handled by Mr. Overall this weekend. He confirmed that #14, #15, #17, #45 and #75 were the ones they were still waiting on. Mr. Overall said that he has not received any responses from calls he made. There are tenants in #45, and the landlord lives in a nearby town. They will try to contact the landlord.

Mr. Whitehead and Ms. Becker will be staking two properties. Chairman Nelson has three to contact. Mr. Sotnik said there is a group of 8-10 trees scheduled for planting on Elmwood Avenue, and he would like to coordinate that order, along with a separate order for any trees needed for the above mentioned properties, to get to Almstead by March 15.

Ms. Tia Sidey of Rowayton said she started Farm Creek.org and has organized a chemical pesticides and fertilizers talk on March 11, 2006. She distributed a flyer with information on the talk.

b. Guidebook for volunteers.

Mr. Alvord said the final budget review is scheduled with the Board of Estimate & Taxation on March 21, 2006. Until then, there won’t be a lot of time to work on it. He suggested for Ms. Witkowsky that as a short-term solution, there are three websites that have good, 1 or 2 page descriptions of the trees with color photos. She said that the problem with the homeowners is that they don’t know what type they want.

Ms. Pam Garrett of Harbor Shores suggested buying ortho books so people had an idea of what kind of tree to select. She said the UCONN website is an excellent source of information.

Ms. Witkowsky said the woman she visited on Glenwood Avenue to obtain an ownership agreement didn’t want to pursue this due to a year-long battle with the city Conservation Commission. There are wetlands in the backyard, and the woman complained about not being able to trim any of the trees or shrubs. The property is wide open on all sides. Mr. Sotnik suggested that planting shrubs would also be okay. Mr. Alvord asked if she was looking at it as part of a larger neighborhood approach. Mr. Alvord suggested that when the neighborhood plan is together, they go out and walk the locations. They could stop in and visit with the woman. The ownership agreement really doesn’t put much burden on her. The stream appears visible only in her backyard.

INFORMATION COPIES

a. Tree City USA Bulletin No. 6

Mr. Alvord distributed the latest bulletin.

DISCUSSION – NEIGHBORHOOD ACTIVITIES

Ms. Becker said they had a lengthy CNNA meeting last month. She said Mr. Alvord and Mr. Sotnik talked about the Tree Program and the success of Golden Hill proposal. She said Mr. Alvord also gave an overview of the DPW. Mr. Shockley talked about neighborhood cleanups and city wide cleanups. She asked Mr. Alvord if any more dates had been scheduled for the cleanups. Mr. Alvord said that he met with Mr. Shockley that afternoon, and they came up with some ideas to improve efficiency. They will divide the city in half, to be north of I-95 and south of I-95. He suggested that they ask Mr. Shockley to come to the next CNNA meeting. They want to be able to accomplish more than last year and do a better job. He said that the city-wide cleanup should be focused on litter. They developed a plan for a hazardous and bulky waste drop off facility at the center, and he hopes they will be able to get it funded.

DISCUSSION - NTA ACTIVITIES

There was nothing to report.

NEW BUSINESS

Chairman Nelson said that he, Mr. Bociek and Mr. Tergis met with the Principal at Brookside, the site of the Arbor Day tree planting this year. He would like to have a meeting with the Mayor so that he and Mr. Alvord can get the proclamation that they are a Tree City.

Mr. Alvord said there are two new grants available, one for $2,000 and one for $3,000. These came out of Mr. Chris Donnelly’s office, the State Urban Forester. The Urban Forestry Education Grant has a potential of $3,000 available to help develop the curriculum at Columbus Magnet School that ties into the arboretum. The second grant is for local volunteer and non-profit groups. This could be a good way to get volunteers and interns to inventory trees and get the location data into the GIS.

Mr. Alvord said he received an email from Chris Donnelly, The State Urban Forester. It is for informational purposes only, and he distributed a copy to the committee members. Chairman Nelson suggested that Mr. Alvord email it to State Senator Robert Duff.

Ms. Pam Garrett of Harbor Shores said that there were two basic concerns regarding trees in the neighborhood association area. There are two areas of the neighborhood that are rather desolate looking. One runs along Neptune Avenue which runs east from Woodward. She showed the committee members pictures of the area. There are people interested in doing work. The front yards are small, the setback is 25 feet with no sidewalks, and in many cases there are shared driveways. The concern is for the smaller crab trees that shed fruit all over the street. She provided the signed Ownership Agreements to Mr. Sotnik. Chairman Nelson said Ms. Garrett did a great job. She showed pictures of the gateway to the south Norwalk waterfront community. The pictures indicated a barren area that was in need of some improvement. Some discussion took place about the Darien Aphalt company, and the problems Mr. Bothwell had with people discarding items on the property. She thought it would be a wonderful opportunity to have this program provide some visual screening for this barren area. She provided another picture of a property that hired a landscape architect to do some work. She suggested that they continue the line of trees running along the street. Their proposal is to continue the line on 40-50 ft centers across the property. Mr. Alvord and Chairman Nelson said they had conversations with them last year to do something with the 2.7 acre property. Village Creek controls the first 100 feet of the property and would like to plant the trees there. Callanen is interested in doing this also. She will provide the backlands covenance document via email to Mr. Alvord. She is seeking the committee’s opinion on getting Mr. Bothwell to move forward on this. The next proposal would be to erect a sound barrier. Mr. Alvord suggested that they look at the backlands covenance first, and then go to Mr. Bothwell. Ms. Garrett said she would be happy to be the liaison. Mr. Alvord asked about the trees on the other streets. She provided pictures from the agreements and explained the situation. It is not totally barren, but it should be considered more of a gap-filling process. She said that Mr. Robert Griff had assisted her with some of the work. Chairman Nelson said that this is really a two-part program, industrial and neighborhood, and he suggested that he and Mr. Alvord take a look around.

Ms. Tia Sidey of Farm Creek in Rowayton said that Mr. Nelson and Mr. Shockley had been down to Sammis Street. It used to have a bridge across and there used to be a beautifully planted pathway that now looks awful and is on the edge of a pumping station. A landscape gardener drew up a plan, and she will further review it with her. She will submit it to Mr. Alvord in a hand drawn sketch. Mr. Alvord said that Sammis Street pumping station has an underground storage tank. Work can’t be done until the tank is removed, which most likely will be in the spring. A suggestion was made to do vegetative screening. They have a Trash Bash Day coming up, and she would like permission to have the talented gardener volunteers trim back the shrubs, bushes, etc. to improve the appearance. She left her phone number, 855-8593 for the committee members.

Mr. Alvord said he will send Ms. Becker the latest version of the Tree Advisory Committee’s feedback into the Planning Principles document for the city’s Master Plan. She will then send it out to the committee members.

** MS. BECKER MOVED TO ADJOURN.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:53 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Carolyn Marr
Telesco Secretarial Services