HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-04-23 Tree Board Minutes Tree Board
Wednesday, April 23, 2024 @ 4:00 p.m.
City Council Chambers, 262 Harlow St.
Meeting Minutes
In Attendance:
Tree Board Members: Greg Edwards, Annette Dodd, David Ludwig, Dominick Rizzo
City Staff:Aaron Huotari, Ben Arruda
Guests: none
1) Callmeetingtoorder—GregEdwards
a) 4:01 pm
2) Approval of Meeting Minutes 2/8/24
a) Corrections needed:
i) Start time on header needs to be changed from 4:OOp to 5:30p
ii) "Dominick" in 2.a. is missing "k"
iii) Section 14.b. needs to says "potential damage" at the end
b) Motion to accept minutes as amended: Dominick, Second:Annette. Unanimous approval
3) Arbor Day celebration plans
a) City Council made proclamation April 22
b) Plan to meet with students at Vine St. School to talk about trees on 4/26/24, plant a Norway
Spruce, and hand out workbook/coloring book, and colored pencils to students. Big thanks to
Principal Swett for organizing student attendance. City Council Chair Pelletier will attend.
4) Spring tree planting will include 55-60 trees, depending on availability.
a) These are replacing trees that were removed in the past, resident requests, and vacant spots
b) 20 different species to increase diversity
c) Planting to start 2nd week of May, trees will be staked, downtown trees will have watering bags
d) Discussed tree wraps and/or mulching to prevent string trimmer damage
i) Discussed a trial to see if this helps, but doesn't invite pests, tree damage from heat&
moisture, etc.
5) Bangor Beautiful tree donation, May 10, 9:00 am
a) Spots are chosen and digsafe has been entered
b) Ohio St. locations show fiber cable under area we plan to plant—need to investigate more
c) Asphalt removal in front of corner store—creating esplanade at curb edge
d) Safety vests will be worn by everyone, Forestry Division will put up cones and signs
e) Still looking for volunteers to help fund trees
6) Compost
a) Compost made from leaves and grass from residents. UME checked for activity and
carbon/nitrogen ration
b) BHS students performed a bioassay to determine if there is residual herbicides
c) Will give trees to residents—trees were donated by Maine Forest Service
d) Event tentatively planned for May 31 &June 1
e) Some tree seedlings will be planted in the nursery
7) Tree inventory will commence in May, to be completed by two University of Maine undergraduates
and two Masters program students—all from the Forestry program
a) Students will focus on inventory, then move on to other projects in Forestry division
b) Met with students to plan summer work and they were all excited to start work
c) Have tablets in place to support their inventory work
d) Goal is to have a complete inventory of all street and urban park trees
e) Inventory will be in ArcGIS and available to CityWorks asset management software
f) Board Member Ludwig suggested we let Police Department know. He had residents report him
when he was doing inventory in Orono
8) Resident Tree Removal Request @ 71 Walter St.
a) Resident says tree is causing leaves and branches to fall in their yard and is clogging drains,
causing flooding
b) ISA tree assessment found the tree to be very healthy, plenty of interior foliage, no
overextended branches.The only problem found is surface roots extending under sidewalk and
it has a co-dominant top.
c) Appears to a stormwater management issue, not a tree issue
d) Tree Board agreed unanimously not to recommend the tree for removal
e) Tree Board wants residents to know they can remove leaves from clogged drain.They can also
call PW or report through GoBangor app so we can send someone out to clean it
9) Browntail moth is ready to be leaving their winter webs in Bangor, soon
a) Ben Arruda is planning for pesticide injections in City parks w/Tracy Willette
b) Talking about an increase of pesticide injected and more trees in parks
c) Board would like to see arterials treated to make walking and biking safer, as well as slowing the
spread into the neighborhoods
d) Maine Forest Service maintains a list of licensed pesticide applicators who can treat private
trees
10) Emerald Ash Borer research
a) Two University of Maine students are conducing research projects on Emerald Ash Borer(EAB)
in Bangor
i) One project is being done to look at existing data and create list of options for the City
ii) The other project will use the inventory data to create a more targeted plan and estimated
costs for reacting to EAB
b) Both students will share their results with the City
c) EAB was sighted in Stetson 2 years ago. Last year it was sighted in Hermon. It's a matter of time
before it hits the City of Bangor
11) Grant Manager at the City of Bangor has started the application process to apply for grant to fund
the creation of an Urban Forestry Management Plan
a) Deadline is 3 weeks out and application is well on its way
b) Also including request for capital funding for the UFMP
12) Tree City, USA application was approved. City of Bangor has received a Tree City, USA designation
for 19 years—2004 through 2023, except for 2013
13) David Ludwig, Board member, is moving to Auburn in mid-June and is willing to stay on Board until
we fill the spot
14) Bangor High School Student Projects
a) BHS Student, Nora Lin, presented her compost study at the Maine State Science Fair and won
First Place in her category
b) Paige Sornberger did a project on education and tracking of Beech Leaf Disease (BLD)
c) Both students will be presenting to the Infrastructure Committee on May 20tn
15) American Chestnut Foundation of Maine called April 19t"to offer 17 trees to the City of Bangor
a) Trees were planted on Earth Day
b) Will request approval from Government Operations Committee on May 6tn
16) Discussion about expanding tree pits in downtown area when we plant new trees
a) We are already doing a dig safe
b) Tree will have better chance of survival if there is more open area around tree
17) Temporary tree protection
a) Use boards and zip ties to protect trees in the downtown area
b) Can we do this in the future?
18) Next Meeting
a) July 10, 2024, 5:30 pm
19) Adjourned meeting at 5:04 pm