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TREE ADVISORY COMMITTEE
MINUTES
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DECEMBER 27, 2005
ATTENDANCE: Don Nelson, Chairman; Laurel Lindstrom, Peter Viteretto,
Maribeth Becker (6:10 p.m.)
ABSENT: Richard Whitehead
STAFF: Hal Alvord, Tree Warden, Paul Sotnik, Deputy Tree Warden
NORWALK TREE ALLIANCE: Alan Kingsbury
NEIGHBORHOOD TREE LIAISONS: Dianne Witkowsky, Spring Hill/Hospital
Area Association; Michael Mushak,
Golden Hill Association.
OTHERS: None
1. CALL TO ORDER
Chairman Nelson called the meeting to order at 6:05 p.m.
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM NOVEMBER 22, 2005 MEETING
The following corrections were noted:
Please add “STAFF: Hal Alvord, Tree Warden” to the header
In the NEIGHBORHOOD TREE LIAISONS listing: please change “East
Norwalk” to
“Eastern Norwalk”
Page 2, paragraph 3, line 5: please change “received email” to received the email”
Page 3, paragraph 3, line 6: please change “ found a silver
maple” to “found a quality
silver maple”
Page 3, paragraph 3, line 9: please change “and when the project”
to “and when completed
the project”
Page 3, paragraph 3, line 11: please change the comma following
the word “eliminated” to
a semicolon.
Page 3, paragraph 4, line 3: please change “concerned” to “concerns”.
Page 3, paragraph 5, line 8: please change “Kathryn follow up”
to “Kathryn Hebert follow
up”.
Page 5, paragraph 4, line 3: please change “Mr. Turgest” to “Mr. Tergis”.
Page 6, paragraph 1, line 1: please change “trees that taken
down” to “trees that were taken
down”
Page 6, paragraph 1, line 4: please delete the sentence “ Mr.
Alvord explained that her
company paid for the removal of the trees, which were a risk to public safety”.
Page 6, paragraph 3, line 1: please change “that currently Planning
and Zoning has” to
“that Planning and Zoning currently has”
Page 6, paragraph 3, line 3: please change “Mike Green” to “Mike Greene”.
Page 6, paragraph 3, line 7: please change “some trees and that
they were on the State
right-of-way. The State refused permission to remove the trees. After some...”
to “some trees that were on the State right-of-way. After some...”
** MS. LINDSTROM MOVED TO ACCEPT THE MINUTES AS AMENDED.
** MR. VITERETTO SECONDED.
** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
3. REQUEST FOR MEETING WITH THE MAYOR
Chairman Nelson reported that he had not been successful with meeting with Mayor Moccia. Mr. Alvord suggested that this week would be a good time to attempt to meet with the Mayor. Chairman Nelson agreed.
Ms. Becker arrived at 6:10 p.m.
4. REPORT - INNER CITY GRANT
a. Arboretum Status
Mr. Viteretto reported that he had not had an opportunity to visit the Columbus arboretum recently. Mr. Alvord and Mr. Sotnik reported that they had visited the site and counted 14 trees rather than 15. Mr. Viteretto will get a site map to them so they can determine the locations of all the plantings.
b. Extension Request
Mr. Alvord reported that the City’s request for a grant extension until June 2006 has been approved by DEP Department of Urban Forestry. A letter from Chris Donnelly, State Urban Forester, extends the grant to June 15, 2006.
5. REPORT - INCIDENTS OF ILLEGAL CUTTING
Mr. Sotnik reported that there were some trees removed at 22 Old Lantern Place. He is currently in the process of contacting the property owner.
6. DISCUSSION - STATUS OF TREE PLANTING PROGRAM
a. Spring Hill/Hospital Area Association
Diana Paladino has asked about the Tree Planting Program. Ms. Witkowsky mentioned that due to the high number of rental units that are in the area, there are many absentee landlords. Ms. Witkowsky also stated that with the rapidly changing landscape, a tree inventory needs to be done quickly. There was a discussion regarding how to facilitate inventorying the Spring Hill area. Mr. Alvord explained that the only trees that are being entered into the GIS system are city trees. Mr. Nelson suggested that the Golden Hill area may be a workable model. If the Neighborhood Associations are involved, it may be possible to inventory street by street. Another consideration that may hamper tree planting is use of the snow shelf where parking encroaches on the snow shelf or where the snow shelf is too narrow.
The discussion moved to the Coalition of Norwalk Neighborhood Associations (CNNA) and Ms. Becker reported that at the last meeting of the CNNA Walter Briggs, Chair of the Planning Commission; Dorothy Mobilia, Chair of the Zoning Commission; and Anne Carbone, Chair of the Zoning Board of Appeals attended. There was a panel discussion regarding the zoning regulations and landscaping. Ms. Becker stated that the meeting went well. One thing that was evident was that no single regulation change will affect all of Norwalk. Mr. Alvord pointed out that it is easier to deal with specifics and that perhaps the Tree Alliance could function as a clearing house for information. Following some additional discussion, it was decided that the first step would be getting copies of the regulations from Planning and Zoning and studying them. Mr. Sotnik will look into obtaining a number of copies for the Advisory Committee.
Mr. Mushak stated that he will bring in copies of the ordinances from Bedford and Pound Ridge, N.Y. Their tree regulations are an addendum to their town ordinances. The regulations are geared towards preventing clear cutting. Ms. Lindstrom also inquired as to whether some tree ordinances would be available from the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM). Mr. Alvord will check into that and will also ask about case law. At the present time, the EPA has a number of suits lodged against it by private property owners who have wetlands on their property. Because of the restrictions made by the EPA regarding wetlands, the property owners are demanding just compensation for the loss of control on the use of their property.
The discussion then moved to the Golden Hill area and Mr. Alvord commented that the process had worked out exceptionally well. It was suggested that perhaps a power point presentation on how Elmwood Avenue was inventoried and staked for trees might be helpful in generating interest with the neighborhood associations. Ms. Becker felt that this was a great idea for a CNNA meeting. Mr. Mushak explained that an old photograph of Elmwood Avenue was the inspiration for the Golden Hill Association.
b. Next 30 Locations
Mr. Sotnik distributed the next 30 requests for tree plantings. After a quick review of the various sites, it was determined that 12 of the locations were not suitable for tree plantings. There are other sites which already have green vegetation in the immediate area and these will be moved to the bottom of the list. Mr. Sotnik also stated that a new supply of tree stakes are available. He will bring some to the next meeting for restocking of the kits.
Mr. Sotnik suggested that the Neighborhood Associations work on getting the Ownership Agreements for the remaining 18 sites. It was generally agreed that working on a street by street basis would be an excellent plan once the requests are filled.
c. Guidebook for Volunteers
1. Dirr’s
2. http://plants.nrcs.usda.gov
3. www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/idit.htm
Mr. Alvord distributed black and white copies of a brochure from the University of Colorado which has thumbnail photos of various trees. He will check into the possibility of using the color photos for the volunteer guidebook. He also suggested that the Committee members check out the two listed websites. If good images can’t be located on the Internet, a request for use of their images will go out to Dirr’s.
7. TREE CITY USA RENEWAL
The application renewal has been submitted and Mr. Alvord feels that Norwalk is in excellent shape as far as the program criteria.
8. CL&P TREE TRIMMING PERMITS
CL&P has contacted Mr. Alvord’s office and asked for an extension of the permits. This was denied and CL&P was issued new permits for 2006 for the same areas they had been working in during the fall and winter of 2005. Mr. Alvord reported that the new permit forms had been used and were working well.
9. INFORMATION COPIES
a. Tree City USA Bulletin No. 5
b. University of Colorado Tree Walk
Mr. Alvord distributed copies of the Tree City USA Bulletin No. 5 to the Committee members and also mentioned the brochure he had distributed earlier.
Mr. Viteretto explained that he had to leave shortly and then distributed copies of the letter that he had drafted to Martha Stewart’s company regarding the trees that had been removed from her property on Flax Hill Road. Mr. Alvord suggested that comments could be emailed to him and he would work with Mr. Viteretto to adjust the letter accordingly.
Mr. Viteretto also mentioned that he had discussed sending letters to all the merchants on Wall Street regarding the piling of garbage and boxes on the tree grates with John Krysiuk. Mr. Krysiuk had just contacted Mr. Viteretto earlier today and suggested that he proceed with the letter.
10. DISCUSSION - NEIGHBORHOOD ACTIVITIES
Ms. Becker said that the two issues that have been prominent at CNNA are how to be effective with the zoning and the issues of crime.
Ms. Lindstrom distributed copies of the new edition of “Norwalk At Your Fingertips 2006” which was published by the Eastern Norwalk Neighborhood Association.
Mr. Viteretto left the meeting at 7:40 p.m.
11. DISCUSSION - NTA ACTIVITIES
Mr. Kingsbury reported that currently the Norwalk Tree Alliance is in recess.
12. SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2006
Mr. Alvord distributed a schedule of the meetings for 2006. After some brief discussion about the December meeting, it was decided that the schedule was acceptable to all.
13. NEW BUSINESS
Ms. Becker asked about the possibility of having an intern or two for tree inventory. Mr. Alvord said that he would consider it, but all of their current interns are drawn from engineering programs, not horticultural ones.
14. ADJOURNMENT
** MS. BECKER MOVED TO ADJOURN THE MEETING.
** MS. LINDSTROM SECONDED.
** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
The meeting adjourned at 7:55 p.m.
Respectfully submitted
Sharon L. Soltes
Telesco Secretarial Services
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