Budget Review Committee

BUDGET REVIEW COMMITTEE JUNE 4, 2013 7:00 p.m. Aldermanic Chamber ROLL CALL PUBLIC COMMENT COMMUNICATIONS From: Eliza Weeks Re: Removal of All Mature Trees on Main Street  Assigned to Infrastructure, Budget, BPW & Downtown Improvement Cmte – 5/28/13 WRAP-UP SESSION UNFINISHED BUSINESS – None NEW BUSINESS - RESOLUTIONS R-13-123 Endorser: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau RELATIVE TO THE ADOPTION OF THE FISCAL YEAR 2014 PROPOSED BUDGET FOR THE CITY OF NASHUA GENERAL, ENTERPRISE, AND SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS NEW BUSINESS - ORDINANCES – None TABLED IN COMMITTEE R-12-69 Endorsers: Alderman-at-Large Jim Donchess Alderman-at-Large David W. Deane Alderman-at-Large Mark S. Cookson Alderman-at-Large Barbara Pressly Alderman Arthur T. Craffey, Jr. REGARDING ACCOUNTING FOR THE COSTS OF THE MAIN STREET PROJECT  Tabled 9/18/12  Also assigned to the Board of Public Works; Tabled 9/20/12 R-13-116 Endorser: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau RELATIVE TO THE TRANSFER OF $40,000 FROM DEPARTMENT 194 – CONTINGENCY INTO THE DEPARTMENT 162 – STREET LIGHTING, GENERAL FUND OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE PURPOSE OF FUNDING THE COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH STREET LIGHTING ABOVE THE AMOUNT BUDGETED IN FY2013  Tabled 5/16/13 R-13-118 Endorsers: Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire Alderman Arthur T. Craffey, Jr. Alderman Kathy Vitale Alderman Richard A. Dowd RELATIVE TO THE TRANSFER OF $33,143 FROM DEPARTMENT 194 – CONTINGENCY INTO DEPARTMENT 150 – POLICE FOR THE PURPOSE OF FUNDING THE PAYROLL AND NON- PAYROLL COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE HIRING OF TWO POLICE OFFICERS ABOVE THE 177 POSITIONS BUDGETED IN FY2013  Tabled 5/16/13 O-12-28 Endorser: Alderman Diane Sheehan PROHIBITING THE CITY FROM CHARGING FOR THE COSTS OF CERTAIN OFFICIAL VISITS AND CAMPAIGN EVENTS  Also assigned to Personnel/Administrative Affairs Committee; Indefinite Postponement Rec. 12/17/12  Tabled – 11/28/12 O-13-39 Endorser: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau AMENDING SEWER USE FEES RATES AND CHARGES  Personnel/Administrative Affairs Cmte Referred to Budget and Tabled in Cmte – 5/6/13  Tabled 5/16/13 GENERAL DISCUSSION PUBLIC COMMENT REMARKS BY THE ALDERMEN POSSIBLE NON-PUBLIC SESSION ADJOURNMENT  Eliza Weeks 19 Miami Street. Nashua, NH 03064 603.930.0373 Brian McCarthy President, Alderman-at-Large 229 Main Street Nashua, NH 03061 05/23/13 Subject: Removal of all mature trees on Main Street Dear Brian McCarthy, I am writing to express concern about the sidewalk improvements on Main Street. It is my under- standing that as part of the work the City intends to cul down all the decades old mature trees on Main Street and replace some of them with new trees. I believe removing all the trees will comprom- ise the look and feel of downtown Nashua, making downtown a less inviting place to visit for the next 10 years. I am a resident of the City of Nashua and a Landscape Designer with a Bachelors in Landscape Architecture from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry When I first became aware of the plan to cut down the trees a few weeks ago I toured Main Street on Thursday May 9,h and took a look at all the trees designated to be cut. What I found was that more than 90% of the trees still existing are Thornless Honeylocust (a hearty tree and good choice for street tree use) and appear to be in excellent shape. They have a robust canopy, minimal dead branches, minimal suckering, no evidence of insect infestation on the bark and are leafing out beautifully. In terms of the roots damaging the bricks, I saw limited evidence of that actually taking place. In the places where it looks like that may be happening I believe that some portion of roots may be able to be removed in an effort to save the tree and regrade the sidewalks In fact, I observed that the brick sidewalks are generally in poorer shape where there are no trees The presence of an exposed metal ring embedded in the ground around one of the trees leads me to believe that they do in fact have root sleeves installed. One concerning observation was recent damage to the bark, presumably from snow removal this past winter. Following my walk downtown I decided to get a second opinion on the health of the trees so I reached out to Jonathan Nute, Arborist for the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension. I was surprised to learn that he had actually inspected the trees in October of 2012 with Nicholas Caggiano. Superintendent of Parks and Recreation for the City of Nashua. He said that he recom- mended removing approximately thirty trees and preserving forty three trees. Thus far the City has not followed his recommendations, instead removing all trees within the current sidewalk construc-  Eliza Weeks Page 2/2 tion zones. Mr. Nute also stated that "planting the new trees appropriately and renovating the grow- ing spaces of the existing trees will maintain the shaded character of downtown to begin another 30 year era of arboreal growth " I have included our email exchange for reference. On Monday May 13'" I emailed Nicholas Caggiano and requested a copy of the letter that Mr. Nute sent back in October 2012, utilizing RSA 91-A Right lo Know Law to access this information. On Fri- day May 17'" Lisa Fauteux emailed me back, enclosing the original letter that Mr. Nute wrote and an undated memo providing some background on the decision to disregard Mr. Nute's recommenda- I believe that Mr. Nute gives some compelling reasons why the trees can and should be saved. I am not opposed to cutting down the trees that were identified as having poor branching, circling roots, stunted form or excessive trunk decay. I believe that leaving the trees that Mr. Nute identified as healthy and replacing the weak trees with a diversity of species as he recommended will help pro- long the health of the existing and proposed trees. Further, keeping the existing healthy trees will continue to provide shade in the summer, visual buffer from the four lanes of cars and an appropri- ate sense of scale while the other trees mature. 1 urge the City to reconsider their decision to cut all the trees on Main Street and figure how best to protect the healthy trees during the sidewalk renov- ations. I also recommend the City implement a tree protection policy during periods of snow remov- al, maintenance, and construction to protect the trees, existing and proposed, from further bark damage. Sincerelv Eliza Weeks Enclosures: May 9"12013 email correspondence to Mr. Nute from Eliza Weeks October 12lh 2012 Letter from Mr. Nute to Mr. Caggiano Undated Memo from Mr. Caggiano to Ms. Fauteux City of Nashua Sidewalk Improvements cliza weeks <cliza.barton.weeks@gmail.com> Thu, May 9,2013 at 7:39 PM To: Jonathan.Nute@unh.edu Cc: Jim Donchess <jim@jimdonchess.com> Dear Mr. Nutc. I am a resident of the city of Nashua and a Landscape Designer with a Bachelors in Landscape Architecture from the SUMY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. 1 am concerned about the wholesale removal of the street trees on Main Street and it is my professional opinion that there is nothing wrong with the majority of the trees, however, 1 would like the expertise of an arborist to help in determining that. I walked down town today and surveyed the trees that are slated to be removed with Jim Donchess, who is Alderman- at-Large for Nashua and also concerned about the removal of the trees. More than 90% of the trees are Thomless Honeylocust and appear lo be in excellent shape. They have a robust canopy, minimal dead branches, minimal suckering (no more than 1 would expect for a Honeylocust), no evidence of insect infestation on the bark and are leafing out beautifully. The city, specifically the Mayor and the Department of Public Works, claim that they were improperly installed, don't have root sleeves and the roots arc causing the bricks to heave. They also don't like the fall foliage or the pods they drop in the fall. In our walk today I saw a few cases where it appeared the trees weren't installed at the proper grade, causing the roots to show significantly at the base. In those cases I believe that retrofits can be made to accommodate those trees. In terms of the roots damaging the bricks, I saw limited evidence of that actually taking place. In the places where it looks like that may be happening 1 believe that some portion of roots may be able to be removed in an effort to save the tree and regrade the sidewalks. In fact, I observed that the brick sidewalks are generally in poorer shape where there are no trees. The presence of an exposed metal ring embedded in the ground around one of the trees leads me to believe that they do in fact have root sleeves installed. I would like to know if you can meet with me so 1 can take a walk with you downtown and get your professional opinion on the street trees in question. Specifically, I would like to know your opinion on the health of these trees and what could be done to mitigate the impact of a sidewalk redesign to these trees. Is there a time we could meet next week? This project is currently underway and approximately 13 mature, healthy trees have already been removed, all in a row on the same block. Thank you for your lime and 1 hope to hear from you soon, Eliza Weeks 19 Miami Street Nashua, NH 03064 603.930.0373 Nute, Jonathan <Jonathan.Nute@unh.edu> Mon, May 13,2013 at 11:11 AM To: eliza weeks <eliza. barton.weeks@gmail.com> Cc: Jim Donchess <jitn@jimdonchesscom> Thank you for contacting me. Yes, it is a real heartbreaker that some of the trees are being removed. Supt, of Parks Nicholas Caggiano asked for my guidance in anticipating this project, so we m e t on Oct. 11, 2012 and looked at each of t h e trees. On the East side of Main Street, we identified 12 trees for removal, replanting with 8 trees, with 15 trees untouched. Along t h e West side of Main Street, we planned on removing 18 trees, replanting with 13 trees, with 28 trees untouched. The trees suggested for removal were because of combinations of included bark, weak branching, excessive trunk decay, excessive lean, circling roots, extensive t o p dieback and poor form. My letter to him of Oct. 12 evaluates each of these trees. He may b e able to share this with you. To add more diversity to the site, I suggested appropriate trees to plant, as well as root renovation of the trees to remain to improve their vigor as the sidewalk is rebuilt around them. This is a big project with a substantial investment by the city. As you know, growing trees in such an urban environment has been difficult since the trees were planted in the 1980's. Planting the new trees appropriately and renovating the growing spaces of the existing trees will maintain the shaded character of downtown to begin another 3 0 year era of arboreal growth. Nute HILLS BOROUGH COUNTY 329 Mas! Ruad.Koom 101 U N I V E R S I T Y of N E W H A M P S H I R E Cioff5tavvn,NH 03045 COOPERATIVE EXTENSION (603) m 6060 Fax: (603) 645-5252 Nicholas Caggiano e ision.unh.edu Superintendent of Parks 100 Concord St Nashua, NH 03064 Cel. 966-7517 County Oikti Belknap County Mr. Caggiano October 12, 2012 527-S47S It was good to see you yesterday and look at the street trees along Main Street Carroll County from the Nashua River to Rt. 111. You are removing the brick pavers over <H|7 383« asphalt sidewalk and replacing it with ccmeat with brick trim in phases over the next 3 years. Most of the street trees were planted in the 1980?s. Wc looked at each one to determine if it should be removed and replaced with a better quality Chethlr* County specimen. 3S2-4S50 Along the East aide of Main Street, we identified the following for removal: Coöi County Library Walk 14" trunk diameter linden with trunk wounds and internal decay. 7BB-4961 -Methodist Church - 16" locust in middle of sidewalk, roots lifting bricks. Do not replace, as existing adjacent trees are sufficient. -Eli's BBQ - 1 2 " linden with trunk decay, circling roots and top dicback. Grillon County -Wine Bar - ] 6" locust Large limbs removed will cause trunk decay. 787-6944 -Saint Patrick Center - 20" linden in middle of sidewalk and with weak branching structure. y orough County -16" linden with included bark and weak branching <- JfcO -24" linden with included bark and weak branching -12" linden with included bark and weak branching. Mtrilmack County Replace these 4 trees by planting 2 trees on the lawn 796Ï151 -Citizens Bank - 8" red maple with excessive trunk decay. Do not replace. -10" red maple with excessive trunk dccay. -12" red maple with dead top. Rockingham County -10" red maple with trunk wounds and weak fork 7* up the trunk. 679-5616 Although this calls for the removal of 12 trees, plan on planting 8 trees, as there Sullivan County are sufficient existing adjacent trees to fill in the gaps. There are 15 adjacent trees 861 9Î00 that will not be removed. Along the West side of Main Street, we identified the following for removal: Education Center 679 949<HO«ce; -Coast Jewelry - 10" trunk diameter red maple with trunk wounds and poor triple 877-398-4769 (Tod Free) trunk formation T up the Uee. -City Hall - 18" red maple in middle of walk end poor branching. Do not replace. -Persian Rug - 16" red maple with trunk wounds. UNH Cooperative -18" linden that forks 4' up the trunk and has dead top. Fxranslon Stat* Otte* 862 1570 -Sovereign Bank - 18" linden with trunk wounds, dead top and forks 5' up. -12" linden with 5 forks 6' up the trunk. -12" linden with trunk wounds and poor branching. Arrtffrtf pw  Page 2 of 3 -Aubuchon Hardware - 10" locust in middle of walk with excessive lean to street. Do not replace. -Surf Restaurant - 10" locust in middle of walk, suppressed with poor form. Do not replace. -Flegal Law - 1 0 " locust in middle of walk with poor fork T up the trunk. Do not replace. -Gentle Dental - 10" locust with basal decay. Do not replace. -Nashua Garden Restaurant - 10" locust with trunk wounds and circling roots. -Metro PC - 18" linden in middle of walk with weak fork 5* up the trunk. -8" linden stump. -10" linden in middle of walk with poor branching. -10" linden with stunted form and poor brandling. -10" linden with stunted form and poor branching. -Boost Mobile - 12" locust in middle of walk and a poor fork 9 * up the trunk. Although this calls for the removal of 18 trees, plan on planting 13 trees» as there are sufficient adjacent trees to fill in the gaps. There are 28 adjacent trees that will not be removed. The remaining trees are predominantly locusts, so use this opportunity to plant a variety of other trees. Modern arboriculture recommends that no more than 10% of trees be a single species, with greater diversity a defense against future catastrophic insect and disease attacks. Recommended trees for this location are: Ginkgo Biloba (male), MPrinceton Sentry" Zelkova Scrrata, "Village Green" Caipinus Betulus, European hornbeam, "Fastigiata" Acer Rubrum, red maple, "Karpick" and "Bowhall", both columnar in form You did a good job of planting new trees of 3.5" to 4.5" trunk caliper near the river bridge. Survivability of larger trees planted at these sites would decline dramatically, so is not worth the cost, effort and disappointment of not growing a sure thing. The 6 , x6' cast iron sidewalk tree grates provide a neat appearance and the underground watering system is exactly what was needed. As the sidewalk reconstruction reaches the 43 trees that will remain, you should hire one of the arborists referenced below to use an air blast sprayer to do two things. First, blow the dirt away to expose the roots and allow pruning of those that are a problem, and second, add better soil back around the roots using your loam/mulch mixture to improve the growing conditions. These 43 trees are a significant investment by the city and this root renovation will ensure their continued good health. Do an wair spade" search of Youtube for videos of this technique.  Page 3 o f 3 The following local arborists are all proficient with air blast excavation. Kyle McCabe Dan Tremblay Northern Arboriculture LLC Broad Oak Tree & Shrub Care, Inc. PO Box 1092 PO Box 876 Merrimack, Nil 03054 Mil ford, NH 03055 Tel. 440-3943 Tel. 673-1513 Lee Gilraan Joe Davis Lee Gilraan & Associates Bartlett Tree 28A Old Manchester Road Work 627-9400 Amherst, NH 03031 Cel. 234-7732 Tel. 249-5042 Do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. Jonathan W, Nute County Extension Forester & ISA Certified Arborist  City of Nashua Public Works Division Parks and Recreation 9 Riverside Street 100 Concord Street Nashua, NH 03062 Fax (603) 594-3465 MEMORANDUM To; Lisa Fauteux Director of Public Works From; Nicholas Caggiano Superintendent Parks and Recreation Subject Request to summarize decision factors in tree removal related to the letter from John Nute October )?, ""01? along with our work to date discoveries The discussions following the receipt of the UNI 1 Main Street Tree report brought to light several issues thai existed on Main Street that the team decided would not work in favor of trying to save most of the existing trees. Problem tree issues were discovered on each of the five blocks This decision to remove the trees was not made lightly and was debated among the team members for quite some time. These issues arc outlined below; • The existing trees were not planted properly in vessels migrating roots have caused sidewalk heaving and tripping hazards. This was due to at the lack of technology at the time not through neglect. • The number of trees noted in the letter are not correct and do not account for trees lost due to storm damage or other causes. • The trte lights that were installed in the I990's and the early 2000's by the Great American Downtown have actually created girdling issues. These wires have actually grown into the trees. This has resulted in the loss of many limbs. The overhead wire feeds are also very unsightly. • Many of the trees on the West side of Main Street have shown signs of cankers, and have resulted in inajoi structural issues. These trees should be removed. • There ts a fair amouni of sidewalk plow snow removal damage to the existing trees, This is a result of not protecting the trees from this equipment. The resulting wounds in the trees have compromised the health of many ot the trees. • I lie root cvacualion and root pruning method will not guarantee the health of the tiee after construction. I his method will also not guarantee thai the sidewalks will not be compromised in the future. • Hie current locations of many of the existing trees are not lined up properly. These centcr o f t h e sidewalk trees have created travel issues for pedestrians, and for businesses. • Certain spccics of the trees on Main Street namely the Lindens have created dirty conditions and stained sidewalks and street furniture. This is due to sooty mold created by the honey dew of Aphid insects. • Certain curb tip downs have been compromised by tree roots. These tip downs arc accumulating w ater during rain events and ice during the winter creating safety issues. • The currcm placement of many o f t h e Main Street trees has created visibility issues with business signs and entry ways. Consideration of the planting o f t h e new trees should take into account business signs and store fronts. These existing trees did nor conform to the Landscape Architects recommendations. • When the excavation was started it was discovered that several o f t h e trees roots had become entanpled in utilit) conduits and pipes. Not addressing these issues would require excavation of the new sidewalks in the future when problems arose. New tree planting should not be planned to be planted over utility runs. These items could not be seen from the surface and only came to light during exaction Administration Street C.ily Parks ftecre.ilian bolid Waste WasIrwattH liusiness Office Department Engineer Department Department I reatment Plaril (603)589-3140 (603)589-4750 (603)589 3120 (603)589-3370 {603)589 3410 (603) nR0-3560