Shade Tree Management Board

Shade Tree Management Board Madison, NJ 07940 Minutes of April 21, 2022 The Shade Tree Management Board held its regular meeting at 8:00AM on Thursday, April 21, 2022. It was a hybrid meeting in the Borough’s Committee Room and a Zoom link. Call to Order by Chairman Gene Cracovia. Statement in compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act In compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act, adequate notice of this meeting of the Shade Tree Management Board was provided by transmitting a copy of the meeting notice to the Madison Eagle, Morris County Daily Record, posting a copy on the bulletin board at the main entrance of the Borough Hall, and filing a copy in the Office of the Clerk, all on January 11, 2022. Copies of said notice were made available to the general public. Attendance Name Present Role Name Present Role Bartley x Member Miller x Member Bruce x Member Daley x MEC Cracovia x Member O’Brien x DPW Honohan x Member Wolowicz x Arborist Licari Member Schorr x FMST Limbach x Alternate Erlich x Council Monaghan x Alternate TBD Parks Salaki Member Minutes Approval Motion to approve March minutes with editing changes and accepted. Public Contacts/Correspondence • No major issues from the public to DPW. Honor Tree needs to submit quicker billing of completed work • Tree Permit Requests - March: 12 permits requested totaling 24 trees to be removed. 11 trees recommended to be planted and no permits denied. Public Tree Planting • Spring - Judy reported 91 sites will be planted. The trees will arrive on April 27th which were purchased from Plant Detective. Judy mentioned that the mark outs must be completed by next week. • Fall - 26 trees are slated for planting along Main Street Council Liaison Report • Rachel reported on the solar carport project. The project locations will be the MRC, the pool parking lots, and the DPW building roof. Construction should begin in 2023. No trees will have to be removed. This initial project is expected to supply 2% of Madison’s  electric. She also said that the new N.J. Plastics Law will supplant the current town law starting in May. Ask the Arborist - The zoom event took place on April 13th at 7 pm. There were 40 signups of which 20 attended. The format and questions were deemed a great success. The feedback was very positive. Many thanks to Bridget and Rich for a unique and informative evening. Perhaps this should be a biennial event. Tree Ordinance • Latest and possibly the final version of the Ordinance was sent to STMB and Town Council for a review. Of those contacted, all approve of the draft. Final vote will be on April 27th. Open Space • Nothing to report Budget Report Year to Date – 2022 Budget  Expended: $2516.58  Encumbered: $?  Remaining Balance: $?  Unexpended: $151,967.99 Arbor Day – Nancy reported that the arbor day celebration will be held on May 7th at the Crescent Parking Lot at 9 am. Gene will be hosting and the town schools will be participating. It was mentioned that volunteers will be greatly appreciated. Nancy’s Summerhill Park – The Garden Club of Madison will be implementing a portion of Tom Salaki’s plan to celebrate their 100th year anniversary. Their plan is to plant a Tulip tree, and understory plants. The work will be done by a commercial firm. The STMB unanimously voted to support the plantings at the park. Land Mark Tree Voting – Nancy said that there is good momentum for the voting of this year’s nomination of land mark trees. Ballots will be available at the Arbor Day celebration. Also, votes may be cast online. Sustainable Madison • No report Friends of Madison Shade Trees • Chris spoke about their efforts to partner with J & M Garden Center to get native trees for both Memorial Park and Summerhill Park. • Working on promoting Arbor Day • In the process of ordering banners for display on Main Street promoting the importance of trees • Chris said that the FMST will sponsor the purchase of native hardwood trees when purchased at J & M. Friends will donate $200 for the purchase, and J & M will provide an additional 10% discount. FMST will be at J & M on April 23rd and 30th to promote the offer.  MEC- the town Wide Yard Sale will take place on April 30th. Claire Whitcomb has offered the idea that one could donate the proceeds to the Save The Drew Forest. Joan and Bridget might be building a pollinator garden at the Board of Education building as part of their Rutgers Sustainability Program. • Claire Whitcomb will be attending the Council meeting in support of the Tree Ordinance Madison Tree Canopy – Lisa Jordan who is a Drew University professor shared a study conducted by herself and Drew student Daniella DelRosso regarding Madison’s tree canopy coverage. The study compared the percent canopy coverage from 2001 to 2016. Unfortunately, the results showed a total acreage decline of 10% from 48% to 38%. The SE quadrant saw the greatest loss with a 14% reduction. Since the survey only includes up to 2016, when new data becomes available, the prognosis does not look any better as the brunt of the emerald ash borer will surly reduce the canopy further. To put the situation in perspective, Lisa calculated that the current canopy will sequester the carbon generated by approximately 200 Madison homes per year. Action Items • None Submitted by Brian Monaghan