Shade Tree Management Board

Shade Tree Management Board Madison, NJ 07940 Minutes of April 15, 2021 The Shade Tree Management Board held its regular meeting at 8:00AM on Thursday, April 15, 2021 in the Borough Zoom meeting room. Call to Order by Chairman Gene Cracovia. Reading of the Sunshine Law. Members present: Gene Cracovia, Judy Honohan, Stephen Miller, Kate Bartley, Alan Andreas, Nancy Bruce, Vince Licari, Tom Salaki, Brian Monaghan Members absent: Liaisons present: Joan Maccari (MEC), Rich Wolowicz (Arborist), John Hoover (Council), Chris Schorr (Friends of Madison Shade Trees), Lisa Ellis, Ken O’Brien (DPW) Liaisons absent: Michael Pelessier (Communications), Bridget Daley Minutes: March 2021 minutes approved. Public contacts/correspondence: One request from 72 Green to replace a borough tree. All other public contacts were routine involving nine trees- 6 will be removed, 3 trimmed. Ash at Luke Miller House is slated for removal. Pear tree pruning on Main between Green Village and Prospect is complete and the trees are blooming. Pruning will continue along Main annually. Ash tree at 19 Gibbons will be removed as it is leaning into the park. Private trees: 23 Ferndale will be torn down and rebuilt necessitating the removal three smaller trees and two 36” diameter oaks, one healthy. In March 12 removal permits were issued involving 17 removals and 6 replacements. Council Liaison: Budget approval meeting is April 26 and all are invited. MRC trails project is continuing. Council hopes to resume in-person meetings in September. Borough Council is in regular contact with Drew University regarding the future of forested land adjacent to borough streets. Spring 2021 Planting: Spring trees will arrive next week from Plant Detectives. All sites have been identified with additional sites in reserve. Sites to be marked week of April 20 on four principal roads; Madison, Main, Woodland and Park. Three horse chestnut planting sites will be marked in Summerhill Park. Board was asked for volunteers to help with marking. Annual Arbor Day celebration will be at 9:00, May 1 in Summerhill Park. Madison has been named Tree City USA for the 36th year and for the 14th year received a Growth Award. Madison Train Station landscape maintenance is no longer funded by parking revenues through Friends of Madison Train Station. Current contract with NJ Transit has one year remaining. Borough is exploring maintenance options. TCC (Technical Coordinating Committee: 120 Madison has been purchased from Drew University and will be replaced by a house of worship. Some trees will be removed, others relocated. Madison Projects: Cook Ave Parking lot reconstruction. Current plans include landscaping with rain gardens, tree islands, replacing zelkovas and ginkgoes with oak and maple species, creating several permeable surface parking spaces to enable water filtration by plants. Adopt-a-rain garden is being considered for maintenance. Financial Report: April 15, 2021 2021 Budget $154,500.00 Expenditures- Richview $1191.46 Total expended YTD $1,669.52 Encumbered $113,525.48 Unexpended $152,815.05 Remaining Balance $39,289.57 Parks Dept. paid for ArborPro in 2020. Core Training: John Hoover and Kate Bartley attended via Zoom. Take-aways were emphasize education and outreach in the community. Plant diverse tree species and know species to avoid. The scheduled October NJ Tree Federation meeting will include Core Training and is expected to be in person. Parks Advisory Committee: Open Space funding was approved to hire a Landscape Architectural firm once the Master Plan is approved. Master Plan is expected to go to council for approval on May 10. Friends of Madison Shade Trees (FMST Chris Schorr): Presence on Social Media is increasing. A Judy Mullins Memorial Grove will be established in Memorial Park with help from Madison Garden Club. The goal is to create a demonstration eco-system with trees and underplanting for the public to model and replicate. Friends is exploring how Summit provides tags for new public trees. MEC: no current report Sustainable Madison: 38 cubic yards of paper was shredded at Rotary shredding event on March 27. Open Space: Parks Master Plan on the agenda. Action Items: Chris will provide Summit tree tag info to Ken John will send summary of Council report to Judy Submitted by Judy Honohan