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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-11-09 Tree Board Minutes Tree Board Wednesday, November 9, 2022 @ 4:30 p.m. City Council Chambers Meeting Minutes 1. Attending: Greg Edwards,Annette Dodd, Erica Dubois a. Not in attendance: Cayla Moore, Sean Malone 2. Approval of agenda 3. Public Comment a. Dominic Rizzo, 57 Leighton St. i. Wants board to consider more frequent Tree Board meetings 4. Tree Removal Requests a. 201 Buck Street, 2 Norway Maple trees—Amy Martin i. Amy Martin, 201 Buck St., presented her case to remove 2 public trees from the esplanade, negative affects of trees to her and her property ii. Dominic Rizzo, 57 Leighton St., presented reasons to keep public trees,the value of public trees 1. Amy Martin stated she would be willing to plant fruit trees if these trees are removed 2. Requested to remove just one of the two trees 3. Requested a hard trim iii. Board vote: 3 members vote to not remove trees iv. Board Vote: 3 members vote to not replace trees with fruit trees b. 205 Silver Road -update on previous tree removal request i. Sewer line failure ii. Will require removal of tree to replace line 5. 2022 Tree Plantings and Removals a. 53 trees planted i. Recommend no planting of trees on Invasive Advisory List b. 28 trees removed i. Recommend removals be assessed using the ISA Tree Risk Assessment ii. Add QR code with link to tree assessment for resident transparency c. Can we start tracking canopy plantings versus understory plantings i. Limit understory trees to areas that cannot accommodate canopy trees 6. Management&Tracking a. G. Edwards recommended requesting more funding for tree management and tracking b. E. Dubois recommends tracking of parks and city forest work, too c. Urban Tree Management Plan i. Start working on framework for management plan 1. What do we want to see in the management plan? a. Brainstorming session 2. Volunteers can develop framework d. Can we make tree data accessible to the public? i. GIS data and tracking possible now? 7. Nursery update a. No new progress on tree nursery this year b. Staffing issues 8. Agenda topics added at the requested of Tree Board Member Annette Dodd a. Schedule for tree replacement? i. We will plant in April, early May ii. Tree budget was increased from $1,000 in FY22 to $4,500 in FY23 b. Trees removed will be scheduled for replacement i. If it can't be replaced,we will document why we can't plant ii. D. Rizzo suggested that we add information to orange removal signs that include plan for cutting, stump grinding, and re-planting c. Can we plant in the fall to replace trees that were cut during the summer? i. There is likely to be money in the budget next fall d. Has the city ever hired out the tree replanting like they do the cutting? i. We would prefer to keep work in-house e. Is there a tree planting plan for the waterfront? i. Will talk with Tracy about planting more trees f. Possibly look into an adopt a tree program? i. Will look into volunteer program parameters ii. G. Edwards—develop a "Friends of..."to help plant more trees 1. Maybe offer help to private (residential) plantings 9. More frequent meetings a. Quarterly meetings would be more productive b. Does the ordinance allow this? 10. Browntail Moth Update a. Summer 2022 saw a large uptick in BTM complaints i. 139 reports 1/1/22-10/31/22 vs. 76 complaints 6/1/21-12/31/21 ii. Public tree damage did not appear to be any greater than prior year b. Entomophaga aulicae found in Bangor—not widespread i. This may have impacted adult moths ii. Anecdotal reports in Bangor indicate there were fewer male moths gathering around lights at night in July/August iii. I read similar reports from other parts of the state c. Plan for Winter 2022-2023 i. Clip winter nests in public parks that can be reached d. Plan for Spring 2023 i. Trial pesticide application in larger trees that we can't reach with bucket truck e. State funding: LD 1929 from the 130 legislative session was signed on May 3, 2022. It allocates one-time funding of$150,000 to be distributed to government or nonprofit for browntail moth response. Maine Forest Service will develop rules for distribution of the funds.The goal is for rules to be finalized by late 2022, with funds awarded in early 2023. 11. Funding a. Can we apply for ARPA money? 12. Tree Board Chair a. Vote on Chairperson at January meeting when full board is present 13. Next Meeting Date a. Next meeting to be held in January. Date TBD