Urban Forestry Commission

URBAN FORESTRY COMMISSION Minutes of February 22, 2024 IN PERSON REGULAR MEETING Room 208 Municipal Building MEMBERS PRESENT MEMBERS ABSENT ALSO PRESENT Jane Harris, Chairwoman Christopher Holden- Director of PW Bob Grimm Chris Donnelly- City Forester Jonathan Morris Carl Lecce- Guest Steve Cronkite Dave Meyering 1. Roll Call Jane Harris, Chairwoman, called the meeting to order at 4:30 pm, in Room 208 of the Municipal Building at 245 DeKoven Drive. The roll was called and a quorum was determined. 2. Review of Minutes The minutes of January 25, 2024 were reviewed and approved with an addition to the minutes to add the request by Steve Cronkite for 4 cubic yards of topsoil for the Arboretum. 3. Old Business Tree Warden Report  J&J was in for one day doing work in the areas of Oakcliff Road, Westfield Street, Stantack Road and Country Club Road. Public Works Report  Director Holden stated that the grant will be on the agenda for Finance and Government and then for the Common Council the following Monday for grant confirmation. Chairwoman Harris will be preparing a press release. Account Balance  Account balances were not discussed in detail but noted on the agenda. Downtown Business District Tree Pit Bid  Deputy Director Weissberg gave Chairwoman Harris the final documentation for going out to bid for this project. There are roughly 85 locations that need attention. DEEP Tree Inventory Grant  Director Holden stated that he can work with Tighe & Bond to set up a meeting regarding the GIS bid spec. The committee suggested a proposed date. Chris Donnelly said it is good to hear the grant should be fully executed. The RFP will need to be put together. There was a meeting where it was discussed what should be included in the RFP. There is a big question about what system should be used to analyze the data. They will need to come up with specifics about what they want the company to do. Chairwoman Harris stated she really wants the inventory to be done while the trees still have leaves. They will be discussing holding a public meeting in the near future after the grant is confirmed. Carl Lecce Nomination  Chairwoman Harris shared that the commission has one current member and the rest are expired. Director Holden stated that they can work on getting everyone appointed and suggested they appoint a vice chair. Jon Morris made a motion to appoint Steve Cronkite as vice chair. The motion was approved unanimously. Carl Lecce’s nomination did not make it to the February meeting but Chris will be checking to see if it can be added to the agenda for the March meeting to be approved. There were questions as to whose vacancy it was to fill. Wesleyan Hills Pool & Tennis Club Proposal  The leaves have not been able to get delivered due to the weather and muddy conditions. Director Holden suggested the truck back up to the curb and drop the leaves at the curb line. Steve Cronkite believes that is close enough and Director Holden stated he will work with Highway supervisors to get crews out there to deliver the leaves. He said they can then use wheelbarrows to move the leaves to the necessary location. Additional Tree requests  Nothing new discussed. Scarborough Road Trees  A resident of Scarborough Rd is unhappy with the condition of the callery pear trees. There are 96. The City has replaced several of these over the years. A survey was done of all the trees on the street and overall, they weren’t in terrible condition. Chairwoman Harris stated that from what she understands, there was a HOA that was originally responsible for planting those trees. She said that the City has been very responsive in replacing any that have come down. If pruning were to be done, Public Works staff can do the work. 4. New Business  DEEP Environmental Justice Grant- Chris Donnelly stated that the geographic area for this grant is very focused. It is essentially downtown Middletown and the residential areas directly surrounding it. The grant is not exclusive to public areas. It can be used for private areas as well. Chairwoman Harris said it can be challenging to plant in the downtown area due to the small lot sizes. She said that if they can do homeowner owned parts of the properties, then it could be a huge benefit. She believes that at a minimum, we should ask to plant 50 trees. There will be roughly 4-5 planting seasons. Chairwoman Harris will send out the grant material to everyone. Steven Cronkite asked who would water newly planted trees. Chairwoman Harris stated the Public Works Department committed to watering new trees for two full seasons. There is a dedicated truck for watering.  Arbor Day and spring planting sites- Councilwoman Harris and Director Holden stated that the Arbor Day celebration was discussed as being scheduled for Friday, April 26th. Last year it was held at 10am at Long Hill Estate. Chairwoman Harris will reach out to management at the Mansion. 5. Other/Correspondence  Carl Lecce asked about the accreditation of Arboretums. Steve Cronkite shared that each tree has to have its own identification number and detailed records. Carl stated there seems to be several levels of accreditation. 6. Public Comment  None 7. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 5:33pm.