Shade Tree Management Board

SHADE TREE MANAGEMENT BOARD Borough of Madison Madison, New Jersey 07940 Minutes of August 18, 2016 Meeting The Shade Tree Management Board held its regular monthly meeting on August 18, 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: Alan Andreas, Nancy Bruce, Gene Cracovia, Penny Garman, Vince Licari, Steve Miller and Alice Wade. Also present: Paul Allocco. Absent: Lauren Hagerstrom, Mike Kopas. Minutes The Board approved the June 16, 2016 minutes. There was no July meeting. The Board addressed the following items of business: Public Contacts Trees at 100 Shunpike need safety pruning. Borough Tree Status  71 trees have been submitted for removal. At this removal rate, we should be below last year’s 140.  181 trees and 3 streets have been identified for pruning. Penny Garman asked that we identify more streets that need pruning TCC There were no applications for review. Budget Report The STMB financials as of August, 2016 are:  Expended - $55,170.78  Encumbered - $37,622.50  Unencumbered - $24,807 The 2017 budget was discussed with the request to reduce all Department budgets by 5%. The Board made the following recommendations and observations:  STMB will submit a budget that has no increase but the total remains the same as 2016 for the following reasons: o Expended most of the 2015 budget and expect to do the same in 2016 with more going to tree maintenance pruning o Cost of purchasing trees continues to increase each year 1  o Projections are that the number of micro storms may decrease but the intensities will increase thus causing more tree damage o The annual rainfall is still 10” below average which will increase the loss of trees o Tree diseases and insects, particularly the Emerald Ash Borer will increase the need for tree removals. o Plan to use a professional arborist to develop the next Community Forestry Management Plan which is due in 2017.  Steve Miller will fill out the budget preparation worksheet and submit to David Maines. Parks Advisory Committee Paul Allocco will develop a list of tree planting sites for the parks and have it available by the end of September. FMST There was no FMST meeting the previous month but the group continues to care for the tree nursery at the Madison Community Garden. Old Business  The NW quadrant windshield survey, though completed needs to be documented. Alan Andreas will contact Mike Kopas to get this completed within the next 2 weeks.  All of the street ash trees have been checked with no current sign of the ash borer.  The Board reviewed and with minor corrections approved the Tree Canopy Sustainable NJ document.  Bob Vogel developed and populated a spreadsheet to track borough tree issues related to construction sites. Alan Andreas will send the proposed spreadsheet to members for comments. New Business New Arborist – the Board discussed using the consulting services of Richard Woloweicz. It was decided to go forward on the following 2 projects:  Initiate the planning and development of the next 5 year Community Forest Management Plan which will be due in December, 2017  Conduct a small tree survey of a section of Sumerhill Park for a potential arboretum. The Board adjourned at 9:30 AM. Minutes submitted by Gene Cracovia. 2