Shade Tree Management Board

Shade Tree Management Board Madison, NJ 07940 Minutes of January 19, 2017 Meeting The Shade Tree Management Board held its regular monthly meeting on January 19, 2017 beginning at 8:00 AM in the Committee Room of the Hartley Dodge Memorial, 50 Kings Road, Madison, NJ. Call to Order: Gene Cracovia called the meeting to order. Present: Gene Cracovia, Alice Wade, Penny Garman, Stephen Miller, Vince Licari, Alan Andreas, Tom Salaki, Brian Monaghan, Carmela Vitale (Council Liaison) and Paul Allocco (Parks Advisory). Absent: Mike Kopas The Board addressed the following items of business: 2017 Organization Meeting ● The Board positions of Chair, Vice Chair, and Treasurer were all renewed with 2016 officers. The new Secretary will be Brian Monaghan. Mike Kopas will not be able to attend any STMB weekday meetings. He offered to continue to help out the Board when he has time available. Tom Salaki will be nominated to replace Mike. Minutes  December minutes were approved. Public Contacts ● Vince reported that a Borough tree at 40 Niles, which is raising the sidewalk, will be removed. Council Liaison Report ● Carmela Vitale spoke about the relationship between the STMB and Town Council. The general feeling was that all is good and the dialog between the two parties is very constructive. She also mentioned that she has been talking to a consortium of three towns about shared expenses. It is an idea she will pursue and perhaps will take effect in 2018. Carmella and Gene also thought it would be constructive to get the new DPW head, Ken O’Brien, to come to future meetings. Borough Tree Status ● Three trees at 242-246 Main St. were marked with a red ‘X’. The Borough, County or State authorities did not mark the trees. Penny will investigate the situation further. ● Penny reported that there were 2 quotes for the purchasing of 105 trees in 2017. Both quotes were higher than the previous two years. Barton had the lower bid and will be awarded the contract. The amount was $18,000. TCC ● Alan will continue as the STMB representative. ● Alan is assessing 36 Kenny St.  ● The new BOA ramp construction might require the removal of a tree, which will be replaced. ● The new construction on Greenwood Ave. (Walgreen’s) will probably require tree removals and replacements. 2017 Community Forestry Management Plan Goals ● The Board reviewed the 2017 goals with the following being highlighted: o CORE training for those who have not had it o Implement ash tree management program o Measure Madison tree canopy o Determine future of tree inventory software. Budget Report  Budget - $117,650 o Budget for 2017 will remain same  Expended - $5580.75 – Honor Tree Service  Total Expended - $107,204.78  Encumbered - $9,273.50  Unexpended - $10,445.22 – need to check on 2016 outstanding bills Parks Advisory Committee ● Paul reported that there are plans for a few trees to be removed in the Summerhill and Delbarton parks. ● A plan to coordinate the Parks and STMB efforts during the high school Day of Service was discussed. An effort will be made to enlist high school students and Drew volunteers. Most of the work will be in the proposed Summerhill arboretum. FMST ● No report. Old Business ● Ash Management Program It was proposed that 41 Ash trees be removed in 2017. The first trees to go will be those rated poor. 20 will be removed by April 1st with the remaining 21 being removed in the fall. There are 208 street ash trees, most of which need to be removed over the next 3-5 years. Nancy will write an article for the local paper explaining the ash borer situation. Letters will also be sent to neighbors in the affected areas. Gene suggested that certain trees with a DBH of 20 inches or more might be treated for the borer. Vince will assess those trees. New Business ● Rutgers Tree Day Notes were sent out to Board members. Key points included: o Using i-Tree for measuring tree benefits, it is critical to try to save large trees (>20” DBH) o Need strong support from enforcement agencies in order to protect trees during construction o Minimum ash borer treatment is 10 years but may got to 25.  ● Madison Tree Canopy: Lisa Jordan from Drew will head an effort to map the Madison tree canopy. ● Tree Inventory: ArborPro presented their enhanced tree inventory system via a webinar. Steve presented the pros and cons between the present system, ArborPro and i-Tree. No decision was made on which system will be used. It was agreed that it must be decided in 2017. Meeting adjourned at 9:47 AM. Submitted by Brian Monaghan