Shade Tree Management Board

SHADE TREE MANAGEMENT BOARD Borough of Madison Madison, New Jersey 07940 Minutes of April 21, 2016 Meeting The Shade Tree Management Board held its regular monthly meeting on March 17, 2016 at 8:00 am in the Committee Room of Hartley Dodge Memorial, 50 Kings Road, Madison, New Jersey. Call to Order Gene Cracovia called the meeting to order and read the Sunshine Law for compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act. Present: Gene Cracovia, Steve Miller, Christine Hammitt, Mike Kopas and Penny Garman. Also present: David Maines and Paul Allocca. Absent: Vince Licari, Lauren Hagerstrom and Alan Andreas, Minutes The Board approved the amended March 17, 2016 minutes. The Board addressed the following items of business: Public Comments and Correspondence Resident requested 2 new street trees on Central Avenue near the Post Office annex. Penny provided information on how to contact Frank Russo when we see construction and street tree issues. Mike will be meeting with a representative from KRE on the zelkova street trees in front of the construction on Kings Rd. (old Green Village Rd. school site). Gene circulated a Board response to a resident’s request on how we select what street tree species should be planted at specific sites. Borough Tree Status Spring planting – Board members are marking sites for the Spring street tree plantings. Steve will send an updated street tree file to Fran Boardman. TCC No new applications were received. Budget Report The amount of $76,195 was encumbered for removals and pruning; $485 was expended on Honor Tree Service and $178.28 for Chatham Print & Design; $16,698.35 is pending for Barton Nursery of the $117,650 annual budget. FMST A Green Fair was held at the library on April 16 from 1 to 3 pm – tree seedlings and tree care information were handed out. Parks Advisory Committee A large decaying tree in Livesey, near the picnic table has been marked for removal. 2 Cole park trees, next to a resident, have been marked for removal. Old Business Heritage House / Tree Preservation – a public meeting is planned for the evening of April 27th. Community Forestry Management Plan review: • Gene will contact Rutgers re a speaker to address assessing hazardous trees, tree insect threats and tree roots/sidewalk conflicts. • Need to set up a walking tour of the MRC deer exclosure to see how the newly planted trees are doing. • Need to plan for a tree-sampling inventory in one of the parks. New Business Alice Wade has been nominated to replace Christine Hammit on the Shade Tree Board. Arbor Day is planned for May 7 – trees from the Community garden tree nursery will be handed out. The Board adjourned at 9:20 am. Minutes submitted by Gene Cracovia.