Shade Tree Management Board

Shade Tree Management Board Madison, NJ 07940 Minutes of October 15, 2020 The Shade Tree Management Board held its regular meeting at 8:00AM on Thursday, October 15, 2020 via Zoom. Call to Order by Chairman Gene Cracovia . Reading of the Sunshine Law. Members present: Gene Cracovia, Nancy Bruce, Steve Miller, Alan Andreas, Brian Monaghan, Tom Salaki Members absent: Alice Wade, Judy Honohan, Vince Licari. Liaisons Present: Joan Maccari (MEC), Ken O’Brien (DPW), Rich Wolowicz (Arborist) , Maureen Byrne (Council), Chris Schorr (FMST). Guest: Kate Bartley Minutes: September 2020 minutes approved as submitted. Fall Tree Planting: 60 trees were delivered September 21. All but about 7-10 have been planted by DPW. A couple of sites were found to have conflicts. New sites will be identified. Twenty white pines were planted in Gibbons Pines park. Half were planted on the Loantaka side where many ashes will be lost. The goal is to be able to plant more pines in the future. The remainder of the fall tree order, 40-50 trees, are coming in on November 1. Sites in each quadrant need to be marked as soon as possible . DPW will do the planting. Public Contacts/ Correspondence: Two residents raised issues: 1. Mr. Crimmins , Ridgedale Ave., has concerns about pruning and removal on public property. Rich, Ken and Gene will be meeting with him on Friday, October 16. 2. Alison Hoch was concerned about tree removal by a developer on Vinton Road. Rich and Gene did research and sent a report with an explanation. The developer followed the rules laid out in the Tree Protection ordinance. Trees removed were not healthy, many were arborvitae. It was the consensus that the process worked. Report from the Arborist: 44 service requests concerning 56 trees came in. Resulted in 35 need trimming, 12 nothing required, 10 need removal. Eight new permits, involving 14 trees, were issued. One will have a planting obligation, and 3 more were recommended to be replanted. The Health Department is dealing with a neighbor dispute re a hazardous tree. No resolution yet. The Electric Department is getting calls about dead trees, most on private property. Rich will be working with the Electric Department. Vince submitted a tree removal and pruning list after surveying every road in Madison. Approximately 35 trees should be removed. TCC: Nothing to report. Budget: It was noted that there is a lag in budget numbers reporting Total budget: $154,500 Expended: $69,323.86 Encumbered: $46,162.14 Remaining Balance: $39,012.00 Unexpended: $85,174.14 Paid : $1,619.50 Maintenance ( Richview Consulting) $4,429.00 Maintenance (Honor Tree Service) $500.00. Training ( NJ Shade Tree Conf.) Madison Green Check-In: October 21. Green groups in Madison will meet with Mayor Bob Conley, Councilwoman Maureen Byrne, and other administration officials to discuss ideas to work together better and possibly reduce energy costs. It will address how Madison can continue best practices from an environmental standpoint. Ideas and topics should be forwarded to Gene. NJ Tree Federation Virtual Conference 10/19-23. Gene, Nancy, Judy and Mike Giordano will attend. Parks: A request for proposal for a master plan for parks went out. Parks will look for funding from Open Space and other sources. MEC: The town-wide yard sale was a great success as was the sale of rain barrels and composers. Native plants from the community garden will be available to residents. Sustainable Madison: Actions for Madison, particularly in the energy area, have been submitted and might increase the points allocated. Waiting to hear from the state. FMST: A good percentage of the saplings that were planted out of the tree nursery in the MRC meadow have survived and doing well. Thanks to Marta and Alice, Rose Garden Park has been accepted into the Smithsonian Archives of American Gardens. The sculpture commissioned to memorialize Garden Club of Madison member Barbara Carey has been installed in Rose Garden Park. Garden Club of Madison: Members will have last maintenance session of the season at the swale in Gibbons Park. Funds will be used to buy wildflower seed mix for the meadow at MRC. The Garden Club will also plant 30 native shrubs (elderberry, deciduous holly, ninebark) there. Old / new business: Tree City and Growth Award applications will be submitted. The private ash tree on Ridgedale Ave is listed in the National Tree Register. The state has been treating it to avoid an attack from the emerald ash borer. The County will be taking down ash trees along county roads. Gene thanked Kate Bartley for her interest in attending the meeting. Meeting adjourned at 8:55AM. Submitted by Nancy Bruce