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TREE ADVISORY COMMITTEE
MINUTES
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JULY 26, 2005
ATTENDANCE: Don Nelson, Chairman, Laurel Lindstrom, Rich Whitehead
ABSENT: Dan Brookshire, Peter Viteretto
STAFF: Hal Alvord, Tree Warden; Paul Sotnik, Deputy Tree Warden
NEIGHBORHOOD TREE LIAISONS: Mary Beth Becker, ENNA (6:30 pm)
Dianne Witkowsky, Spring Hill/Hospital
Area Association; Edward Logan, Wilton
Area Association Tree Liaison
CALL TO ORDER
Chairman Nelson called the meeting to order at 6:02pm.
APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM THE TREE ADVISORY COMMITTEE
MEETING OF JUNE 28, 2005
The following corrections were made to the minutes:
ATTENDANCE:
Change “Dave Tracy” to “David Tracy”.
Change “Pete Vitretto” to “Peter Viteretto”.
Remove David Tracey’s name from the ATTENDANCE category and addition
of a new heading “NORWALK TREE ALLIANCE” with Mr. Tracy’s
name following it.
Remove Mary Beth Becker’s name from the list and insert under new heading
“NEIGHBORHOOD TREE LIAISONS:”
Add “ENNA” following Ms. Becker’s name.
ABSENT:
Move category up list to follow ATTENDANCE heading.
Pg 3, paragraph 1, line 2: Change “arbor” to “arboretum”.
Pg 3, paragraph 3, line 1: Change “Bochuck” to “Bociek”
Pg 3, paragraph 4, line 1: Change “there were some discussion” to “there was
some....”
Pg 3, paragraph 5, line 1: Change “a list of close to 90 requests...” should
be changed to
“a list of 108 requests...”
Pg 3, paragraph 5, line 2: Change “About two thirds of the residents have
not have their
property lines checked” to “Most of the residents have not received their
property line checks.”
Pg 3, paragraph 5, line 4-5: Change “Olmstead” to “Almstead”
Pg 3, paragraph 6, line 2: Remove period following word “issues”.
Pg 3, paragraph 8, line 1: Remove the word “backlog” Change the word “over”
to
“nearly”.
Pg 3, paragraph 8, line 2: Change “Olmstead tree management” to “Almstead
tree
management.”
Pg 4, paragraph 1, line 2: Change sentence from “...to add or remove curb
cut at the spot.” to “...to add or remove curbs and do paving at the spot.”
Pg 4, paragraph 6, line 2: Change the word “sign” to “site”
Pg 4, paragraph 6, line 4: Change the word “City’s” to “cities”.
Pg 5, paragraph 1: Please add the following sentence: “Mr. Sotnik mentioned
that there
had been reports of illegal cuttings at 11 Harstrom Place, 33 Bayview Avenue,
25
and Orchard Hill Road that were being investigated.”
Pg 5, paragraph 5, line 1: Capitalize the word “coalition”
Pg 5, paragraph 5, line 1: Change the word “have” to “has”.
Pg 5, paragraph 5, line 3: Change “Wall Street” to “West Avenue”.
Pg 5, paragraph 2, line 1 : Change the sentence to read “Ms. Lindstrom noted
that until the
minutes are approved, they are not available to groups.” to “Ms. Lindstrom
noted
that until the minutes are approved, they should not be available to individuals
other
than TAC members.”
Pg 5, paragraph 3, line 2: Change the sentence from “Ms Lindstrom said that
the people
the minutes are going to the website to re-read the approved minutes.” to
“Ms.
Lindstrom said that the 30 people to whom Mr. Alvord sent the unapproved
minutes this month are not going to go to the website to re-read the minutes
once
they’re approved.”
Pg 5, paragraph 4, line 6: Change from “...opportunity to provide their input.”
to
“...opportunity to provide their input before the minutes become public.”
Pg 5, paragraph 5 : Change the paragraph from “Ms. Lindstrom said that the
minutes
should go to each member for their review and then sent back to the office.
Once
the corrections are made, the corrected minutes could again be emailed to
the
Committee. Ms. Lindstrom said it would only take three minutes to send the
minutes to the Committee members.” to read “Ms. Lindstrom said that the
monthly agenda could be emailed to more than just TAC members. A second
email with the unapproved minutes would go to the TAC members only for their
review. Ms. Lindstrom said that it would only take an extra three minutes
to send
the two emails a month instead of one.”
** CHAIRMAN NELSON MOVED THAT THE MINUTES BE APPROVED
AS AMENDED.
** MS. LINDSTROM SECONDED.
** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
DISCUSSION - STATUS OF TREE PLANTING PROGRAM
A. ALMSTEAD CONTRACT
Mr. Alvord informed the Committee that the contract has been executed. Almstead
is ready to plant the new trees as soon as approved.
B. INITIAL LOCATIONS
There are ten locations on the standing tree list that were staked last year. Before the delivery of the trees, Mr. Alvord wants to verify that the stakes are still at their assigned locations to prevent confusion. Members of Committee volunteered to check the various addresses and report back to Mr. Alvord. During this discussion, the point was raised that if the trees were on or near rental units or condos, that the owners of the building, not the tenants have to be contacted for permission.
C. REQUESTED LOCATIONS
Mr. Alvord explained that if the tree requested were taken in
order that the City could end up with the plantings all lumped in one area
rather than spread throughout the City. He
displayed a large GIS map of the City with the ten current planting locations
indicated. In the future, the map will be further enlarged and be supplemented
with aerial photographs of the sites. South Norwalk and East Norwalk would
be high on Mr. Alvord’s priority list because of the lack of trees in those
areas.
Ms. Becker arrived at 6:30 pm.
When a request comes in, the Committee should look at two factors: 1. How many trees the property has on it and 2. in the broader view, where the site is located in terms of street scape.
Mr. Nelson asked for a write up on the procedure for prioritizing
the planting order. There was some discussion about the financial aspects
of the tree plantings. Mr. Sotnik explained that while there were 108 request
for trees, the actual number of trees and shrubs needed was 204. A rough average
of the cost of getting a tree into the ground at a site is about
$400.00. Mr. Alvord suggested that before a volunteer is sent to a site to
stake a tree, that discussion has already taken place with the property owner,
so that when the staking is done, the property owner is fairly confident that
a tree will be planted there. He suggested doing the prioritization and orders
in groups of 20, which would be workable for Almstead and for the Committee.
Mr. Sotnik will email the members of the Committee an updated Tree Listing
with a date/time header. It is also important to have signed Tree Ownership
forms in the file for each location on private property. Once the tree is
planted, the location will go onto the GIS inventory list and also added to
a list of completed plantings.
REPORT - INNER CITY GRANT
Mr. Viteretto is drawing up a map of the arboretum at Columbus
Magnet School. The principle has requested that Parks and Rec change the specification
of the area to pure
grass so the students can use the area as a soccer field.
Mr. Nelson said that he had checked as to whether the recommendations for Ryan Park had been implemented. Unfortunately, nothing has been done on it. Concerns about providing drug dealers and other undesirables with cover from plantings were expressed. Redevelopment is responsible for the Park. Also, it was suggested that the Police step up their presence in the Park to encourage families. It was pointed out that if the trees are not planted this year, then the Grant will have to be applied for again next year.
ILLEGAL TREE CUTTING
Mr. Sotnik received a report about illegal cutting at 12 Cabaret
Road. Harstrom Place has submitted a plan that is under review and probably
will be approved. 25 Orchard Hill has a site inspection scheduled for July
27th to verify that all the branches and trees were cleaned up and move
a pile of wood chips to allow for a final inventory of what was there. 33
Bayview is in progress and attempts to contact the owner of the property are
being made in order to see if they will submit a plan for replanting or a
replacement fee. The Taxing District Utilities permits are still being worked
on.
UTILITY TRIMMING
Mr. Alvord announced that the website is up and running. It is the committee’s responsibility to keep the information on that site current.
Mr. Alvord announced that CL&P had contacted his office regarding four additional streets that require utility tree trimming. Three of the streets are currently not covered by their permit. CL&P will be applying to have their permit amended.
There has been some interaction with the Third Taxing District regarding five trees at East Avenue Cemetery. Four of the trees are within the cemetery’s wall, the fifth is outside the wall on land that is considered State of Connecticut right of way for Route 136. The trees under consideration are planted close to the wall and the roots are causing the mortar in the wall to crack. One of the trees has forced a gate post to start leaning slightly. There are questions as to who has jurisdiction over the trees. A letter was sent to Mr. Alvord from the Third Taxing District attorney and Mr. Alvord has contacted Corporation Counsel for direction and advise. The Committee discussed the situation. Concerns over possible conflict of interest were expressed since the Corporation Counsel and the lawyer for the Third District are law partners. One of the suggestions was that if some replacement trees were planted now and allowed to have a few years growth before the other trees were removed, the street scape would not be so radically changed. Another suggestion was that some stones be removed from the walls where the root damage is occurring until the situation can be resolved.
The Sixth Taxing District is also involved in major tree removal situation where a historic house on Wilson Avenue is to be moved from #2 to #8. This involves taking a number of trees down. The original plan had involved moving the structure cross country and would have traversed wetlands. Currently, the plan is to take the house to the street and transport it via the roadway. Mr. Alvord has requested a bond for replacement of the trees that will be removed and insurance certificates for the project. The insurance certificate was delivered to Mr. Sotnik today but the bond is still outstanding. As with the Third Taxing District, there are questions about jurisdiction and precedent.
DISCUSSION - STATUS OF TREE RELATED WORK ORDERS
Mr. Alvord stated that Almstead is ready to start on tree removals. He has prioritized the list as there are not enough funds in the account to remove all the trees on the list.
DISCUSSION - NEIGHBORHOOD ACTIVITIES
There was no report or update on Neighborhood Activities because many people are away on vacation.
DISCUSSION - NTA ACTIVITIES
Mr. Nelson reported that the tree inventory continues. The Awesome Tree Contest continues.
DISCUSSION - “STAKING” TRAINING JULY 28, 2005
The staking training is scheduled for Thursday night, July 28, 2005 at 6:00 PM at the DPW Library and will include some “on site” training in front of the Health Department and City Hall. Packets with simplified instructions have been prepared for the volunteers. The measurement instructions for GIS placement have been simplified, also.
Mr. Alvord distributed copies of the National Arbor Day Foundation bulletin that arrived today with guidelines on what types of trees to plant in which locations.
DISCUSSION - FILLING COMMITTEE VACANCY
Mr. Alvord informed the Committee that at the Common Council Meeting taking place later this evening, Mayor Knopp with be nominating Mary Beth Becker for appointment to the Tree Advisory Committee.
NEW BUSINESS
Mr. Whitehead informed the Committee that he had attended the Connecticut Tree Protective Association meeting on June 21st. He was approached by the Regional Supervisor for Lewis Tree Company, who informed Mr. Whitehead that they will be starting trimming for CL& P in the middle or end of August. The supervisor, William van Cura said that he understood there were alot of concerns about the trimming that was performed in the past. After some conversation with Mr. Whitehead about events in the past, Mr. van Cura asked if a company representative could attend one of the meetings. The Committee was very positive about this development. It was apparent that there have been many changes in CL&P, so it would be important to confirm who the CL&P arborist is for this area.
Mr. Alvord said that he was hoping to report at next month’s
meeting that some trees had
been planted.
Ms. Dianne Witkowsky, the Liaison for Spring Hill/Hospital Area Association, was introduced to the Committee. Ms. Witkowsky has some questions about why the Adopt-A-Spot at Stevens and Stewart had not been able to move forward. Mr. Alvord said that he would look into the situation and report back to her.
Ms. Becker had a question about what Almstead will do once a tree has been planted. Mr. Alvord informed her that if the tree was on City property, Almstead has the responsibility to water and care for it for one year. It is guaranteed for a year. If the tree is on private property, Almstead will go by and check it for signs of distress. The property owner has already signed an agreement that they will care for and cultivate the tree.
Ms. Becker also informed the Committee that she would not be able to attend the stake training and Mr. Sotnik said that he would be happy to give her the packet and a quick overview at her convenience.
ADJOURNMENT
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There was no further business and the meeting was unanimously adjourned at
7:30 pm.
Respectfully submitted
Sharon L. Soltes
Telesco Secretarial Services
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