Notes from Ad Hoc Committee Walk

These are my notes from the AdHoc tree group meeting on Thursday, 9/20.
Present were:
Art Tully
Jaye Vaughn
Norm MacLeod
Zep Thomaselli
Naomi Sachs
Lou Sebesta
Megan Sheremata
Terry Brown
Gary Wood
Pamela Bier
Clara Lou Gould
Phil Shea

Overall, what we are trying to do is make decisions on a two-block basis so that the work crews can move forward, carrying out the contract, but with us having more control over what trees stay and go, how they are planted, how the sidewalks are treated, etc.
We have made a date to meet again next week on 9/26, 5:00 p.m. to do the next two blocks, east of South Brett.

Group met at South Elm and walked the two blocks, on north and south sides of street, between corner of South Elm and and South Brett streets, looking at condition of existing trees and pavement and discussing what trees should stay, what should be removed, what the pavement treatment should be, what new trees should go in as replacements. For the entire section walked, tree removal was decided as a group; after the meeting, Megan, Lou, and I stayed on to discuss specifics about pavement treatment and tree planting.

Overall, of the nine trees that were originally slated to be removed and replaced, only three now are still slated to be removed and replaced. In two cases this was because the trees themselves were diseased and/or dangerous, and in the last case because the tree was causing major sidewalk heaving that could not be remedied without major cost to the city, now and possibly still in the future. I gave my speech about mature trees offering higher economic (not to mention environmental) value to a city, and it was taken into consideration, but in some cases the tree really was wreaking havoc on the sidewalk and creating a bad situation (for pedestrians as well as drainage problems). It was a tough call, and was decided by a vote (a vote was held any time there was not a unanimous agreement - sometimes the "keep the tree" people won and sometimes the "take out the tree" people won).

Megan Sheramata is now working on getting specifications, details, and other important information to Art Tully, by tomorrow (Friday) if possible, so that he can get going on the change order and on telling the work crews how to move forward. These will include:
1. Planting specifications that define such important factors as planting depth, soil medium, time of planting, stock selection, stock handling, etc.
2. Paving specifications and details
3. Tree species recommendations for new trees (several areas where there are no trees now) and replacement trees

The group decided that instead of spending money for costly and problematic tree grates, the City should instead continue the brick paving that it has been doing on the west end of town: the sidewalk area next to the buildings will be concrete, and the strip between the street and the "walking" sidewalk area, which is where the trees are planted, will be a running bond brick pattern laid on sand which is permeable and is better for the trees and for the environment and still safe for pedestrians. This will give a nice sense of visual and physical continuity to our streetscape. The City will issue a change order for this, based on Megan's submitted specifications.

We also discussed the need for pruning all of the trees that will remain, and Lou, Megan, and I are going to submit a list of arborists for the City to get bids from for pruning all along Main Street. By state law, the City is bound to go with the lowest bidder on a project, so we stressed the importance of making sure that the bidders you start with are all good, solid companies so that you don't pay for it after!

Furthermore, Lou recommended that for "fine pruning," especially, like limbing up newly planted trees if their branches are too low, instead of relying on the guys planting the trees to do that pruning, it would be a very good idea to have Lou train a citizen's group to do this pruning - he has done so in the past with other towns and municipalities and it has worked very well. This way, also, you are empowering community members and fostering a sense of stewardship for the streetscape. Along those same lines, we talked about the need for a good maintenance plan for the existing and new trees - Terry mentioned that someone goes along with a truck and waters all of the hanging baskets along Main Street - why couldn't they water the trees at the same time? Well-maintained trees = healthy trees = less money spent by us taxpayers and everyone is happy!

We discussed tree size, but did not yet come to a consensus on this; Megan will recommend 2.5" caliper trees in her specifications, because that is generally understood as the best practice for planting of street trees.

However, some members of the group felt that planting a larger caliper tree would be better. We will need to decide on this soon, as well as a couple of important other issues regarding planting of new trees in general, like TIME OF PLANTING. The spec's will also recommend waiting until mid-October to plant any more new trees - anyone with any expertise in the industry knows that you plant trees in the spring or fall, but not in the summer, and with our 80+ degree days in September, it is not officially fall yet!

This brings me to a very important point:
**No one yesterday knew where we are at with the contract regarding new
trees: have they been paid for already? If so, where are they? Can we do a change order for type of tree and size at this point? This is a really big question mark that needs to be addressed before Monday's meeting so we can decide how to best proceed.

Megan has the list of specific trees (what's staying, what's going, what is replacing, etc.), so maybe when she sends her recommendations on to Art, she can cc the group?

Thanks to everyone who was out there today. We had differences of opinion and it wasn't always easy, but I think we worked well together as a group, respected what each other had to say, and worked together to find the best solutions for our beautiful city, keeping it true to its Tree City USA designation!

Best regards,
Naomi Sachs, ASLA, Conservation Advisory Commission member and Beacon resident