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TREE ADVISORY COMMITTEE
MINUTES
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OCTOBER 24, 2006
ATTENDANCE: Don Nelson, Chairman; Rich Whitehead; Maribeth Becker;
STAFF: Hal Alvord, Tree Warden; Paul Sotnik, Deputy Tree Warden
OTHERS: Tom Vorio, Larry Andronaco, Joe Tamburri, Oak Hills Park; Chris Torre, DPW; Alan Kingsbury, Norwalk Tree Alliance.
TREE LIAISONS: Tia Sidey, Farmcreek Org.; Dianne Witkowsky, SHHA; Michael Mushak, Golden Hill Association; Doug Rising, Marvin Beach.
1. CALL TO ORDER
Mr. Nelson called the meeting to order at 6:06p.m.
2. APPROVE MINUTES
All present at the meeting took a few minutes to review the minutes of the September 26, 2006 meeting.
Corrections to the minutes of August 22, 2006 are as follows:
Page 1, change “Dane Tracy” to “Dave Tracy” and remove his name
from Tree Liaisons and add
to Others.
Page 1, Item #2, Approve Minutes, change date of minutes from July 25 to August
22, 2006.
Page 1, Item #2, Approve Minutes, Motion, change the word “motioned” to “moved”.
Page 2, Item #3, change “Paul Slotnik” to “Paul Sotnik”.
Page 2, Item #4, Arboretum Dedication, change date from “September 25, 2006”
to “September
27, 2006”.
Page 2, Item #4, change to read as follows, “Mr. Alvord reported that the
dedication will take
place at noon on Wednesday, September 27. Weather forecast is 71 degrees under
sunny skies. Hoping for a fantastic turnout. Attendees will include Fred Borman,
Chris Donnelly and Kelly Caffarelli of the Home Depot Foundation. 365 students
from Columbus School will participate.
Mr. Viteretto inquired about the parking. Mr. Alvord said they will be able to handle the parking with no problems. The Police Department will be assisting.
Mr. Alvord reported that there are now twenty-one trees in the
arboretum; each will be marked with a yellow ribbon.”
Page 2, Item #5, DPW Open House, 1st paragraph, change to read, “Mr. Nelson
said that we were
hoping for a very well attended event and described some of the activities
that will take place.”
Page 2, Item #5, DPW Open House, 2nd paragraph, add “prior to the DPW Open
House” after
“September 30, 2006.”
Page 2, Item #6, Tree Planting Program, a. Fall planting preparation, 1st
sentence, add “for
Harbor Shores” after “spreadsheet”.
Page 2, Item #6, Tree Planting Program, a. Fall planting preparation, 2nd
sentence, change “Excel
sheet” to “Excel spreadsheet” and add “Garrett” after “Pam”.
Page 2, Item #6, Tree Planting Program, a. Fall planting preparation, add
the following: “Ms.
Sidey asked if a tap could be put in to help with watering. Mr. Alford said
that this was
not necessary.”
Page 2, Item #6, Tree Planting Program, b. Procedure for removals, 1st paragraph,
delete the last
two sentences beginning with “Ms. Sidey said…” and ending with “…not necessary.”
Page 3, top of page, 2nd paragraph, delete the last sentence.
Page 3, Item #7, Under Investigation, a. Yard debris removal, delete the 3rd
sentence beginning
with “He said that Norwalk reduced their price…”
Page 3, Item #7, Under Investigation, b. Tree warden, intern job descriptions,
change “Mr.
Viterello” to “Mr. Viteretto”.
Page 4, top of page, change date from “October 26” to “October 28”.
Page 4, Item #11, New Business, a. US Forest Service visit, 1st paragraph,
change “an article” to “a case study”.
Page 4, Item #11, New Business, a. US Forest Service visit, 2nd paragraph,
change “Mr. Nelson”
to “Mr. Alvord” and change “the Norwalk DEP” to “the Norwalk DPW”.
Page 4, Item #11, New Business, a. US Forest Service visit, 4th paragraph,
change to read, “Mr.
Alvord commented on the CL&P alternate route for the power line, highlighting
the fact
that CL&P has offered to plant trees along Main Street.”
Page 4, Item #12, Adjournment, Motion, change “motioned” to “moved”.
** MR. WHITEHEAD MOTIONED TO ACCEPT THE MINUTES OF THE
SEPTEMBER 26, 2006 MEETING AS CORRECTED.
** MS. BECKER SECONDED.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
3. REPORT/APPRECIATION
a. Arboretum dedication – Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Mr. Alvord reported that the dedication was a great success, with close to 500 people in attendance. Kelly Caffarelli, the Executive Director of the Home Depot Foundation, was also in attendance and re-presented the awards to the Mayor and to Dave Tracy, plus the correct check for $75,000. Mr. Alvord returned the old, incorrect check to her. The event went very well and will be presented in several magazines and case studies. He reported that there are a lot of photos of the event.
Mr. Alvord stated his appreciation for the efforts of Mr. Sotnick for all his behind-the-scenes detail work, and to Ms. Becker, who volunteered to arrange the lunch. Their hard work was greatly appreciated.
b. DPW Open House – Saturday, September 30, 2006
Mr. Alvord stated his appreciation to the Tree Alliance for participating; to Almstead Tree & Shrub Care for providing some trees and its monetary donation; and reported that they had the highest turnout for any DPW Open House conducted so far. He said the event went very well, partly because invitations were delivered to every elementary school in the City, and each principal promised to send them home with the students, which resulted in many phone calls from parents prior to the event. The next Open House is planned for September 29, 2007.
c. US Forest Service visit – October 18, 2006
Mr. Alvord reported that he and Mr. Nelson participated in the US Forest Service 5-year review with the DEP Division of Forestry. Every five years the US Forest Service goes out and reviews the performance of the State Forestry Divisions, and this was the year for the Connecticut State Division of Forestry. They took the Fire Dept. shuttle bus and met at City Hall, where Mr. Alvord gave a brief overview of the program. Copies of the application for the Home Depot Foundation Awards were also distributed.
A trip to the Arboretum followed, with description of the process of creating the Arboretum and applying for and receiving the grant funding behind it. Then they went to Golden Hill to observe what had been done with the Golden Hill Association, and then on the way back to City Hall, they stopped at Myrtle Street to view the first free tree.
Mr. Nelson reported that he had spoken with Chris Donnelly yesterday, who was very pleased with the visit and reported that everyone was very impressed. Mr. Donnelly also mentioned there would be a recognition of the Tree Alliance award at a meeting coming up on Thursday of the CT Association of Arborists.
4. REPORT – INCIDENTS OF ILLEGAL CUTTING
There were no reports at this time.
Mr. Alvord reported on an issue between a property owner and a City-owned tree, which has been an ongoing situation. The property owner had requested removal of this tree several times in the past. Apparently a DPW foreman who is a Deputy Tree Warden and undergoing Tree Warden training was passing the property and saw the property owner preparing to cut the tree down; stopped him; called the police; cited and fined him. The police took the matter seriously and cited the property owner for criminal mischief. Even though the property owner paid the $99 fine, he had to go to court and is now on a year’s probation for attempting to cut down a City tree illegally.
Mr. Sotnick stated the police officer who responded was Officer Paul Larson, who has been good with a variety of issues regarding trees and fill permits.
5. TREE PLANTING PROGRAM
a. Fall planting preparation – Harbor Shores, Farm Creek
Mr. Alvord said Harbor Shores has received a communication from Pam Garrett who may have the Excel spreadsheet with the locations. Mr. Alvord will need to sit down with her and go over it. The problem is now that there is no one in the neighborhood association who understands what is going on, but he feels they can make something out of it for fall planting very quickly.
There is one twist on the Harbor Shores plan, which was that there was a plan to plant something in front of Darien Asphalt on Woodward Avenue. They will be able to save that money as Darien Asphalt has presented a P&Z application to build out the vacant lot next to them in a build-to-suit arrangement with a potential tenant. As part of the P&Z approval, P&Z will require Darien Asphalt to do the plantings that Harbor Shores was going to do under the tree planting program. They now will save close to $1000 and the trees will still be planted, and this money can be allocated for other plantings in another area of the City.
On Farm Creek, Mr. Alvord said that Ms. Sidey sent him an email indicating that OMI has planted the shrubs on the pumping station side. Mr. Alvord will invite Chris Torre to go with him to view stumps that have to be removed.
Another potential complication there is the walkway from the Sammis Street pumping station across Farm Creek over to Wilton Avenue. He said Ms. Sidey told him that when the walkway was created, it was the old roadway, and the asphalt was never removed on the north side, but was covered over with soil and planted grass. This will have to be checked out, as it will make it more difficult to punch through the asphalt to put the new plantings in. Mr. Alvord said they can check it easily, possibly later this week, then Chris can stake it and the purchase orders to Almstead can be issued quickly.
Ms. Sidey reported that OMI did a great job with the plantings, although they are off-balance. Mr. Alvord promised to check them and align them.
Mr. Nelson said there were a few other planting possibilities, possibly six or eight more spots. If the neighborhood agreements from property owners can be gotten, the sites can be staked. Mr. Alvord said they were meeting with Mike Mushak tomorrow. A brief discussion followed as to whether areas are on private property or City property.
b. Guidebook for volunteers
Mr. Alvord reported that he has spoken with Mr. Nelson about the guidebook. Mr. Alvord doesn’t feel he is able to devote the time to put this together. Mr. Nelson nominated Mr. Kingsbury to work with Mr. Alvord to pull the guidebook together. Mr. Kingsbury and Mr. Alvord discussed what the guidebook entailed. Mr. Nelson told Mr. Kingsbury the guidebook was an extension of the 23-page booklet being prepared for the Arboretum.
Ms. Sidey commented on plantings for more salt-tolerant varieties to be planted in areas that occasionally get inundated with salt water. A further discussion followed regarding crabapples, deer resistant varieties, and types of trees.
6. INTRODUCTION AND DISCUSSION: TOM VORIO, OAK HILLS SUPERINTENDENT
Mr. Whitehead introduced Mr. Vorio, Superintendent of Oak Hills Golf Course. Mr. Whitehead said that he had worked with Tom as Glen Dube’s assistant, and when Mr. Dube left, Mr. Vorio stepped into the superintendent’s role. At Oak Hills, he acts as a tree specialist.
Mr. Vorio is appearing tonight to review plans for winter at the 9th Green, where there are dead trees along the cart paths and brush needing to be clear. He reported that there has been significant replanting, including seven or eight ornamental trees around the new restaurant. A dead willow tree was removed from Fillow Street and a river birch was replanted there.
7. UPDATES:
a. Investigation into wood processing operations
There was no report at this time.
b. Development of intern position
The NTA has received a check from the Home Depot Foundation and they have a spending plan to fund a Forestry intern for a period of one year. The concern is that if they just go out and advertise for the position without a very tight list of things for the intern to do, it will waste the year. Mr. Alvord suggested a job description be drawn up to demonstrate to the City what the value of the Intern position is, in order to someday create a Municipal Forester position. Discussion followed.
8. INFORMATION COPIES
a. DEP reminder on Tree City USA reapplication.
Mr. Alvord distributed copies of the Arbor Day Sept. 10th issue. He reminded
the TAC of the Tree City USA reapplication.
b. Arbor Day September/October 2006
Mr. Alvord then discussed whether or not the City should consider applying again this year for the Awards of Excellence for Community Trees co-sponsored by the US Conference of Mayors and the Home Depot Foundation. It was decided that an application will not be submitted this year.
9. DISCUSSION – NEIGHBORHOOD ACTIVITIES
Ms. Becker stated that last month there was an important meeting held on the West Avenue redevelopment. Mr. Seligson’s team came in and presented the plans, complete with models and renderings of what the area is projected to look like after the project is completed. The presentation lasted a half-hour with a question and answer period following. A lengthy discussion of the West Avenue project followed.
10. DISCUSSION – NTA ACTIVITIES
Mr. Kingsbury stated that work continues on the twenty-eight page brochure, as well as on the annual budget and the funding for the intern position. A discussion will take place with Mayor Moccia about the matching grant funding from the City.
11. NEW BUSINESS
Ms. Becker discussed the CL&P paving for Main Street. Mr. Alvord commented on the November 15 informational meeting to be held at the Norwalk Inn on the Glenbrook Project and the Middletown-Norwalk project. Discussion followed.
Mr. Alvord stated that new curbing and sidewalks will be put on all of Main Street by CL&P, with plantings, and curb-to-curb repaving on the road from Cross Street and North Avenue almost up to Route 123.
Ms. Becker said she has spoken to Sue Schweitzer about the TAC playing more of a role regarding the planters and baskets on Wall Street.
Continued discussion followed on the Riverside Avenue project through CL&P and the disturbance of the area fronting Riverside Cemetery.
12. ADJOURNMENT
** MR. NELSON MOTIONED TO ADJOURN.
** MR. WHITEHEAD SECONDED.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:45 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Linda J. Hayes
Telesco Secretarial Services
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