Tree Board

Montpelier Tree Board Minutes October 2, 2014 5:35-6:35 pm Montpelier City Hall In attendance: John Snell, Abby Colihan, John Akielaszek, volunteers Ellie Doyle and Cara Barbero and Tree Warden Geoff Beyer; Ken Libertoff arrived late. • No minutes from previous meetings approved because there had not been a quorum since the May 2014 meeting. • John A reported on the status of the ash tree survey on private property. 92 parcels have been inventoried with three more to go. At this point 45 of 92 parcels have had ash trees and 328 ash trees had been counted in all. John S, Abby and John A will continue the survey work. John A will put together the information to be included in packets sent to those landowners where ash trees were found. • Geoff reported that the proposal for inventorying City trees has not gone out to bid yet. He will touch base with Danielle Fitzko to get a list of qualified tree inventory groups. Upon suggestion from John S, Geoff will also see if a winter survey would be possible instead of waiting for Spring 2015. • Downtown watering of trees will be discontinued as we head into cooler weather. It was noted that we need another length of hose, perhaps 50- 100 feet, to make watering easier next year. John S mentioned that the use of a wye enables two trees to be watered at the same time. John S will talk to Jeff Jacobs’ son about using the spigot behind Splash. Thanks to Abby and all those who helped keep the downtown trees watered over the summer! • In the nursery, John S reported that Jeff has started tagging trees. Geoff and volunteers have pulled out dead and dying trees and he has scheduled some of the High School freshman class to do some more maintenance work there. They will also be tasked with some tree care along Stone Cutters Way and also on Barre Street. The work date is Wednesday, October 8th. • John S reported that the Union School wants some trees planted there and Geoff indicated that the High School wants some too. The Union School does not want flowering trees which will attract bees. John will mark spots for planting. Geoff may be able to get some Norwich cadets to help out with plantings at the schools later this month. • Downtown tree plantings were discussed. For at least a couple of locations the Tree Board will probably submit a request for a Capital Improvement Project to dig up the dead trees and also the existing soil and replace with structural soil to increase soil volume and possibly tree survival. The two locations mentioned were near the Quirky Pet and near the City Center. John S will check on the availability of trees for  purchase at this time for those locations because any Capital Improvement request will take more than a year. • John S will be leading two tree walks during We Walk Week which starts on October 11th. John’s walks will be on the 11th and the 13th. John noted that the author of “I Left My Sole in Vermont” will also be leading a walk on the 14th. That book details 40 walks in central Vermont within 15 miles of Montpelier. Meeting adjourned around 6:35 Next meeting: Thursday, November 6th, 5:30-6:30, at City Hall