Tree Board

Tree Board Regular Meeting Minutes 6 April 2017 5:30-6:30 Thursday City Hall Memorial Room Attending: Tree Board Members: John Akielaszek, Steve Bailey, Abby Colihan, Cassandra Hemenway, Sarah Hoffmeier, Jeff Schumann, John Snell, Lynn Wild Volunteers: Ellen Doyle, Ken Libertoff, Meredith Kitfield • Agenda Tree City item added to agenda by Lynn. Agenda approved. • Approval of January Minutes Minutes from the March 2017 meeting were approved with no changes • Public comments None Old Business • Downtown Summer Tree Work John S. gave an overview of the street and sidewalk work that DPW will be doing this summer on State and Main Streets. Part of the project will be to replace sidewalks. John as worked out an agreement with DPW that the sidewalk around 7 or so downtown trees will be removed and structural soil will be put down under the new sidewalk. John and the Park Service will need to remove the grates around the trees first and they will be on site to help with root pruning that may be necessary. It was also noted that the area directly under the grates will be soil, the structural soil will only be under the sidewalk. • Spring Planting John S. reminded everyone that the 25 new trees that were ordered will be arriving the week of 24 April. He asked for suggestions on where to plant at least 12 of them. The remainder will be planted in the nursery. Suggested locations included Liberty Street, Main Street from the circle into town and replacing some of the dying street trees. He encouraged all members/volunteers to look for suitable sites and if they find some to talk with the homeowner to get permission to plant a tree. Page 1 of 3  He mentioned that not only will holes for the new trees need to be dug ahead of time but also Dig Safe will need to be contacted 2 to 3 days before that. Sarah also mentioned that Dig Safe does not identify water and sewer lines so we will need to talk with the homeowners to see where they are. We will also need to pre-dig holes in the nursery as well. • Urban Forestry Grant Emily and Geoff were not present to provide an update. • Tree City Lynn and Abby proposed that May (or some other month) be made Tree City Month in Montpelier, much like we have Poem City month. Everyone agreed this would be a wonderful idea. Abby and Lynn will pursue this. • Arbor Day conference Lynn reminded everyone that the Vermont Urban & Community Forestry conference will be on 4 May. She gave an overview of the presentation she will be giving, which she is calling Growing Tomorrow’s Tree Stewards. She also passed around the tree signs that the tree steward school children made and will be posted in front the tree each team is responsible for. She also requested that the Tree Board authorize the purchase of books to be given to the teachers helping with the tree steward program. The tree board unanimously approved the expenditure. • Downtown River Restoration Project John S. reported that this is not turning out as expected and that he will have another update at a later meeting. • Terrace Street Neighborhood Project At John S recommendation it was decided that we will wait until mid-summer get together for a planning session. New Business • Draft Signs for Downtown Trees John S passed around two rough drafts of the signs that Emily is planning on making. They will consist of a picture and text. Emily will provide more detail at the next meeting. If members/volunteers have suggestions, please forward them to Emily. • Request for Memorial Tree John S. and Jeff reported that the Tree Board was asked if we might help in acquiring a memorial tree for Jed Guertin. There is a proposal to create a parklet alongside the bike path by the pedestrian bridge in honor of both Jed and Page. The memorial tree may be planted there or along the bike path closer to the high school. Plans are still evolving. Updates will be sent out as we learn more. Page 2 of 3 • Workshops John S. is giving two workshops on tree pruning at the Coop. They will be on 8 April from 10 to noon and on 22 April from 12 to 2. Although the workshops are filled, tree board members/volunteers are still welcomed to stop by. In addition, Dave Wilcox will be giving another workshop on fruit tree pruning. • Green Up Day Green Up Day will be Saturday, 6 May. It was proposed that we mulch the city trees that day. Details to follow. • Next Scheduled Work Days It was decided to cancel our regularly scheduled work days this month. In lieu of them we will be scheduling times to plant the new trees that are arriving the week of 24 April. Next meeting Thursday, 4 May, 5:30-6:30 at City Hall Page 3 of 3