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The
New Castle City’s Tree Commission Meeting took place on May 4,
2009 at 5:30 p.m. in the City of New Castle’s Town Hall.
Members
Present: Chip Patterson
Susan Keyser
Erv
Thatcher
Fran Peden
Mark Miller
Gail Askew
Tom
Truman
Nancy Coning
The
meeting was called to order by Mr. Patterson at 5:30 p.m.
Mr.
Patterson informed the assembly that as a past chairperson the first
order of business is to elect a chair. He suggested electing a
temporary chairperson to get organized then elect another chair for a
term of one (1) year. Mr.
Miller made a motion to appoint Mr. Patterson as temporary
chairperson. The motion was seconded. A motion to close nominations
was made and seconded. Mr. Patterson was unanimously elected
temporary chairperson.
Term
Lengths – Each member
drew a number that will translate to their respective term on the
Tree Commission. The results are as stated:
Nancy
Coning – 1 year
Mark Miller – 3 years
Susan Keyser
– 1 year
Gail Askew – 1 year
Fran Peden – 2
years
Tom Truman – 3 years
Erv Thatcher – 2
years
Chip Patterson – 3 years
Trustee Appointment –
2 years
Mr.
Patterson will report the term limits to City Council. It will be
the responsibility of the organization you represent to reappoint you
or appoint someone in your place when your term expires.
Approval
of Minutes – Mr.
Miller made a motion to approve the minutes of the February meeting.
Ms. Keyser seconded the motion and the minutes were approved by those
members in attendance at that meeting.
Mr.
Bob Rizzardi was introduced to the members. Mr. Rizzardi has done
the City’s tree planting for many years and works with the Tree
Commission. He knows our budget and works well with us.
Financial
Status – The bank
balance as of today is $18,001. The Trustees of Common have approved
an appropriation to the Tree Commission of $20,000 for this year.
We requested $25,000; $5,000 to fund a forester. We receive the
monies in $5,000 quarterly increments. The Trustees are our sole
source of funding throughout the city. The money that we request
goes into a separate account that is the Tree Commission account that
we control. We solicit contributions from various people and enter
into contracts for work that is needed. We keep $5,000 in a reserve
for storm damage or catastrophic work.
Tree
Work – Pruning work
is typically done by Mr. Rizzardi. If a citizen has a complaint
about a tree they come to Chip Patterson and/or Municipal Services
(MSC) and he contacts Mr. Rizzardi. Removal of a tree traditionally
comes to the Tree Commission for a decision. We hoped to have a
forester in place to handle those activities as part of the tree
ordinance. In the absence of a forester this body acts in that
capacity. Mr. Miller offered that he likes the forester idea, but
with our limited budget he feels it is better to continue planting
trees or maintaining a maintenance program of existing trees. Ms.
Keyser also likes the idea of a forester but is also concerned with
making our finances stretch to cover maintenance and planting.
(Discussion followed.)
Mr. Patterson said we have donated trees that are outside the
right-of-way or behind a sidewalk on private property, but the tree
becomes the property of the owner. For a long time, as a condition
of planting trees, we have accepted voluntary donations and all we
have asked citizens to do is to care for the tree until it gets
established.
Funding
– Mr. Patterson reported that in the past we have obtained
state monies/grants through the State Urban Forestry Department. (He
cited areas around the City that have benefited from these funds.)
He has received information
on other programs that are part of the stimulus package. That
information will be provided at our next meeting.
Spring
Planting -- We have not had
a tree planting for over one (1) year. Mr. Truman asked if plantings
are at the request of the homeowner or do we make a decision to plant
a tree at a particular location. Mr. Patterson responded that
typically it is at the request of the homeowner. The Tree Commission
does not make a practice of removing healthy trees. An exception is
nuisance trees that generate complaints. As trees mature they tend
to raise sidewalks and we try to work with homeowners to ramp over
root systems and find alternatives to deal with the problem. Sewer
issues were also noted. Typically the tree is not the cause; their
roots enter broken sewer lines and cause the problem. Identifying
the tree contributing to the problem can be difficult as well. The
Tree Commission works with Russ Carlson, a State arborist who is well
regarded.
Ms.
Keyser estimated trees are going to cost between $400-$425 per tree.
We could possibly plant 20 trees. There are currently 12-15
homeowner-requested trees on the list. Requests are also generated
by advertisements in the Town Crier. Mr. Patterson
suggested distributing the list of trees currently on the list to all
Tree Commission members. Additions to the list can be made and a
formalized list can be developed. (Discussion
about the process of purchasing and contracting to have trees planted
followed.)
Mr.
Patterson suggested holding off any planting until the fall.
Conditions can get very hot in June and it is not recommended to
plant at that time in our area. He targeted October which would give
us the summer months to get our list together and we would receive
two (2) payments from the Trustees in that timeframe to offset
planting expenses. In the summer we can focus on pruning and
maintenance. We have never broken down maintenance costs
versus planting costs, but perhaps we should work on this.
URS
Inventory – There are
over 1,100 trees in the City that we are responsible for maintaining.
MSC bought the program (GIS) to be used for this inventory program.
In order to input data into the program someone needs to learn how to
map the trees. (Discussion
followed.)
COMMISSION
MEMBERS (General discussion and outstanding issues)
Erv
Thatcher – There is a
tree on the Strand with a split trunk.
Tom
Truman – Expressed
concern about the type of pruning done on some of our trees. He was
unsure who is responsible. Ms. Keyser suggested noting locations and
perhaps have Mr. Rizzardi take corrective action.
Susan
Keyser – Brandywine
Nursery had some outstanding issues with us and she reported on the
work that they have been doing in the city. She reported on several
trees that were ordered because the previous order contained several
damaged trees and some had been planted in incorrect locations. (Sh
provided details on some of the trees. Vandalism issues followed.)
Fran Peden
– Nothing to report.
Gail
Askew – nothing to
report. She represents Boothurst which has a maintenance corporation
that is responsible for maintaining trees in the area. (Discussion
followed about the residents’ concerns with the maintenance
corporation and how the neighborhood fits into the City of New
Castle.) Without knowing
how their maintenance corporation is set up, Mr. Patterson suggested
the maintenance corporation could possibly elect or pay the Tree
Commission to be the entity that deals with trees in the area.
(Lengthy discussion about
right-of-ways and Boothurst’s landlord/tenant situation took
place.) Mr. Miller
suggested deferring this matter to ask for advice and/or guidance
from counsel and be as constructive as we can. He would like to have
Mr. Patterson approach the City. Mr. Patterson will follow up.
Ms. Keyser added that they should contact the State Urban Forestry
people to discuss the trees they are losing in the wetlands portion
of Boothurst and the planting of new trees.
Mark
Miller – He would
like to look at stimulus monies and see if anything can be adapted to
this body. He is willing to volunteer for this project.
Nancy
Coning – Nothing to
report.
CHAIRMAN’S
REPORT
Mr. Patterson informed that a requirement of the tree
ordinance is for this body to develop an urban forestry manual. A
committee will need to be appointed for this task. He suggested
forming a sub-committee in June to work on the manual. These are the
guidelines for working or planting around trees in the public
right-of-way.
Mr. Rizzardi talked to Mr. Patterson about the
Catawba tree at 121 East Second Street.
The Tree Commission took control of maintenance on this tree many
years ago. The tree needs cabling and because of the magnitude of
the work involved, Mr. Rizzardi is suggesting bidding the work out.
Mr. Patterson spoke to the homeowner about the work that needs to be
done. The homeowner is going to provide information on potential
funding to support the tree. It is designated the second largest
Catawba tree in the country. We have done an assessment of the tree
through Russ Carlson and identified areas of the tree that need to be
supported. We are now at a point where negligence could be
considered if we do not make a decision on how to go forward. Mr.
Patterson will solicit bids and report his findings at the June
meeting. (Funding was
briefly discussed.)
Ms.
Keyser revisited the issue of tree vandalism and possible measures to
take to learn who is causing the damage. (Discussion
followed.)
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 7 p.m.
Respectfully
submitted,
Debbie
Turner
Stenographer
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