The New Castle City’s Tree Commission Meeting took place on March 6, 2006 at 5:30 p.m. in the City of New Castle’s Town Hall.
Members Present: Chip Patterson, Chairman
Erv Thatcher
Susan Keyser
Mark Miller
Fran Peden
Lillian Shue
Member Absent: Matt White
Chandler Gebhart
The meeting was called to order at 5:35 p.m. by Chairman Patterson.
REPORT OF COMMISSION MEMBERS
Erv Thatcher – We have been trimming pear trees along Washington Street; we also trimmed up some trees in Dobbinsville. We will be doing some smaller trimming soon. Some of the trees along Seventh Street have had their limbs removed after trucks broke the limbs off. In front of 140 East Third Street there are a couple of trees that were planted about four years ago. One of those trees is not doing well. (Brief discussion followed.) The decision was made to look at the tree and where it is planted.
Susan Keyser – She brought the most recent tree planting list that she has. It does not include Sally Monigle. If anyone sees something she has forgotten to include on the list, please let her know. She asked for advice concerning replacement of
Ms. Monigle’s ash tree and to determine what should be put in there. We have had two ash trees fail there in the last several years. Mr. Miller added there are a couple of places in town where we have had repeated failures of trees. It might be that there is bad soil there. Ms. Keyser didn’t feel the soil was the problem; perhaps it is road salt. There was a soil sample done and nothing showed up. She said others said there might be a gas leak underneath. The affected tree has been removed.
She has received numerous requests for small trees and asked what types of trees should be considered. A small tree is a flowering tree and generally has a fruit and the fruit can be eaten by birds which creates damage to their vehicles. (Discussion followed about types of trees and placement of trees at certain locations.) Bob Daly approached her about his pruning of fruit trees; she will speak with him.
Ms. Keyser was given a shrub-care proposal from Bartlett Tree Experts totaling $7,600. They list eight different proposed actions to take. There was some confusion why this proposal was sent to us as one of the actions dealt with treatment of our elms which we just did last summer and is to be done every three years. (Discussion about treatments and costs followed.) The Chair reported he has not received any response yet concerning his opinion about ash trees from Russ Carlson; Ms. Keyser has not followed up with him either. It was decided that no action with Bartlett will take place at this time.
The Chair reminded everyone that the consensus of our group was to use The Care of Trees and suggested giving them a specific project and define what we want them
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to do. We had talked about having them do tree trimming and try to train them. If
Mr. Daly does this, we need to define what we will give The Care of Trees and get a price from them. Ms. Keyser said there are enough pruning needs for young trees (less than 15 years old) that we could specify for them. A question was asked who is responsible if a tree gets scale on it and we planted that tree? It would be the Tree Commission’s responsibility. The Chair asked for volunteers to draw up a list of trees that we will ask Bob Daly to address and a list of trees for The Care of Trees.
(Brief discussion about grants and other sources of monies took place; the Chair welcomes information about these.)
Mark Miller – Expressed concern over the new housing complex (Deemer’s Landing). There were trees planted along Washington Street, but there is no sidewalk. It seems the trees are planted right where the sidewalk should be. The Chair said there are two projects. West Ninth Street, between Gray Street and Washington Street, and the other is State Highway and they are supposedly going into Washington Street and rebuild it with sidewalks. Mr. Miller said 5-6 trees have been planted on Washington Street along Washington Street; who planted those trees? The Chair said if the developer put those trees in he did so without speaking with the Tree Commission.
Fran Peden – No report.
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
Family Foundation Academy Landscaping Plan – The Chair asked Ms. Keyser if she had followed up with Lowell Hutchinson of McBride and Ziegler regarding trees at this location. She has not made contact with him to date. She is considering a type of elm be put in.
Arbor Day Symposium – The Chair will be attending a two-day Arbor Day Symposium on March 7-8, 2006. He hopes to have some interesting information at the next meeting.
Tree Ordinance Follow-Up – The Chair reported that Gerry Kavanaugh is currently unable to work and one of his law partners has stepped in to help out. He will ask Council President Bill Blest if we can have access to information and try to get the ordinance on track. Maybe the City Council will allow us to go out of the city to see if we can get an attorney who specializes in this field or get some insight on how these issues are handled in other communities. He is hoping to gain valuable information at the Arbor Day Symposium. (Discussion about Rehoboth’s tree ordinance and process took place.)
Tree Inventory Software, Orthographically Corrected Map – If you want accuracy in the terms of placement of things you have to take into account curvature, etc. That was the map we had paid for that took the County’s tax maps and corrected them for the deviation that occurred. We supplied Bryan Pariseaultwith those. David Skupien looked into the status of the purchase of software. He said Dave Athey informed there was $5,000 left over from the grant. Mr. Skupien provided a recent quote from Environmental Systems Research Institute for the Arc Editor, concurrent use license and key installation package, and the price is $6,323.87, which includes shipping.
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The Chair informed Mr. Skupien the Tree Commission would only consider this if it became the property of the Tree Commission and we could house it on a computer we would have access to. He created a draft letter to that effect. We will be responsible for the balance of $1,323.87. What is the pleasure of the Tree Commission? (Lengthy discussion about the pros and cons of the software followed.) It was decided to set up a meeting with the City of Newark and see how they use the program before making a decision. The Chair will schedule a meeting in March to meet with Charlie Emerson in Newark. Mr. Miller suggested involving a City employee who possesses IT expertise. The Chair will speak with his IT person.
Tree Work Summary – The Chair summarized what tree work is needed. Rizzardi to do trimming on ash trees at 140 East Third Street; Joe Toner’s tree, and a tree that is presenting a safety hazard on Moore’s Lane.
Ms. Keyser brought up the tree near the sailing club. In the past she has seen fungus growing at the base of the tree. It has been pruned a number of times. She doesn’t know its condition but wonders if we shouldn’t think about what we want to do with that tree. A tree with a similar fungus on Second Street fell down. (Discussion about the tree’s condition and whether it should be replaced took place.)
NEW BUSINESS
Nothing reported.
ADJOURNMENT
Mr. Miller made a motion to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded and approved. The meeting was adjourned at 6:45 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Debbie Turner
Stenographer
