Ridgewood Shade Tree Commission

Meeting Minutes

2020, July 14

Present via Zoom:  Andrew Lowry, Michael Sedon, Ian Keller, Carolyn Jacoby, Declan Madden, Susan Nashel, Manish Shrimali, Steve McCabe, Melody Corcoran

Minutes from last Meeting (May 12, 2020) were approved.

• Tree Inventory Status

The work of data collection is complete.  Declan and Civil Solutions are working on getting the data formatted and usable.  Declan was concerned that the data not be shared broadly until we have a better handle on what it says about the trees.  It was agreed that Ian and Declan would work together on the best way to share the information.  Village Manager has tentatively requested an update/presentation for a Sept. Council meeting.  This needs to be discussed and confirmed or delayed.

• Garage Planting

It was agreed that the entire process of getting the 7 trees planted was unsatisfactory and while the STC had done significant work and made clear recommendations they were essentially ignored.  The CU soil was installed on the Hudson St. trees but installation was not done to specification.  Hopefully this will not impact sidewalk structure in future.

Watering of the trees was discussed and EPIC is responsible for doing it until the garage is turned over to the Village.  Then Village Landscaping/Project Pride will be responsible.  Subsequent to the meeting Andrew spoke to Garry Cirillo and he purchased a 100’ hose so the tree bags can be filled easily and quickly 2-3 minutes per 15 gallon bag.  They should be filled every day during this hot weather and every other day for the next 12 weeks.  STC members are asked to check the bags whenever they can to be sure they are getting filled regularly.  The Village has invested about $55,000 on the 5 Hudson St. trees and they should be carefully taken care of.

• Fall Planting
  • We discussed identifying locations in the CBD that are not sidewalk tree wells.  The are several (5-10) easily identifiable locations.
  • Confirm with Village Manager and N. Bigos the allocation of funds
  • Review schedule for fall planting bidding process (we need to be clear to all candidates what the specs are and when they will be issued) There is an opportunity to get substantially more trees planted if the process is handled efficiently.  Subsequent to the Meeting Declan and Nancy decided to plan only 100 trees due to staffing and logistical concerns.  The New Jersey Tree Foundation has been contacted and their initial quote was much lower than quotes previously received.  With the $110,000 Capital budget for 2020 over 300 trees could be planted.  The formal bid will go out in late July and returned in late August.
• There has been no progress in getting Declan Scheduled to evaluate 2018 planting and retrieve the water bags.  This becomes increasingly important given the dry/hot season.  The water bags themselves are worth over $1,500.  Andrew will follow up with Nancy Bigos.
• Dina Kat has replaced Candy who retired.

Andrew asked if anyone would summarize the Tree Fund Webinar regarding sidewalks and tree roots.  Several approaches have been tested and seem to be much better than the current Village methodology in preventing sidewalk lift and root problems. Carolyn Jacoby provided the following summary of the Tree Fund Webinar:

• Large trees provide most benefits. 
• To maximize growth: trees need sufficient soil volume, space for root flare, water, room for canopy and quality nursery stock.
• Soil volume: 1” diameter needs 50 CF; 4” diameter - 200 CF; 20” diameter - 1200 CF.
• Sandy loam is best.
• Products tested: Gravel based structural soil (GBSS 80% gravel, 20% soil); Supported concrete pavement; Sand based structural soil (SBSS); Silva Cells (Deep Root Corp); Strata Cells (CityGreen Co).  Open soil surface.  Results: Structural soils had the least root growth.  Strata Cells had best results - root growth and canopy.
• Also tested methods for reducing roots that lift and damage sidewalks, extending life of sidewalks: 18” deep root barrier; 18” black poly layer; 4” styrofoam under sidewalk; 4” gravel under sidewalk; and 4” structural soils.  Results: gravel best, then styrofoam and 18” deep root barrier.

Please let me know if I missed anything important.

Volunteer hours: 6

Ridgewood Shade Tree Commission

Meeting Minutes

May 12, 2020

Opening

The regular meeting of the Ridgewood Shade Tree Commission was called to order at 7:35PM on Zoom by Andrew Lowry

Present

Andrew Lowry, Michael Sedon, Ian Keller, Carolyn Jacoby, Declan Madden, Susan Nashel, Manish Shrimali

Approval of Minutes

Motion to approve the minutes for March 10, 2020 was made by Andrew Lowry, seconded by Carolyn Jacoby, and approved by all present.

Tree Inventory

Tree Inventory is proceeding as planned and there is good communication between Declan Madden and the Davey team.

Declan reported that Davey Tree had indicated that they expected that a complete inventory as proposed would be more than the 12,000 trees/planting sites budgeted. They estimate that there are another 1,000 - 1,500 trees/planting sites to count. It was agreed that it would be a mistake not to complete the inventory of the entire Village’s street trees (not including County or State roads) so that Ridgewood would have a baseline picture of the entire Village taken at the same point in time. 

Funding for the inventory is understood to be as follows:

Cost

$56,215 Davey Contract

Budget

$50,000 from the repurposed 2018 Capital budget

$10,000 from the NJ DEP. Grant (Funded by the Village but reimbursed by the state upon completion and satisfactory certification)

If there are an additional 1,000 - 1,500 trees/sites to count that would cost an additional $3,800 - $5,700 ($3.80 per tree)

That would bring the total cost to $60,015 - $61,900.

The Shade Tree Commission voted to approve that any overage (up to $3,000) above the $60,000 could be covered from funds in the Shade Tree Commission Trust Fund.  Andrew estimated that at least $7,000 was in the Trust fund and will confirm with Village management.

Project should be completed by June with results and training of Village staff coming in July/August.

Other Business

• The Webinar -Sidewalks, Urban Plazas and Tree Roots- presented by the TREE FUND was discussed and was highly recommended viewing for all STC members and Village Departments.  Ian will circulate the site location.
• The Hudson St. Garage planting will be week of May 18.  Ian reported that 5 Zelcovas and 2 Trident Maples will be planted. Not our choice of species.  The Hudson street sidewalk will be constructed with a 4’wide strip of 2’ deep CU Structural soil under the pavement. Tree wells will be 4’ X 4’ with metal grates.  It will be important to be sure watering of the trees is carefully executed. The responsibilities will be determined in the next few weeks.
• Carolyn will follow up on getting CEU’s for the Webinar for those that attended.
• Manish will review the CFMP to see if there is anything we need to do this year that we have neglected, (we believe we are on schedule in all areas).
• Fall planting is expected to be on schedule.  It was noted that this is a Capital funded project so funds will be bonded, not taken from the operating budget, which may be under pressure from the pandemic.
• We will follow up on the collection of water bags and stakes from the 2018 planting.

Please let me know if I have missed anything.

Andrew Lowry

Volunteer hours: 7.5

Ridgewood Shade Tree Commission

Meeting Minutes

July 11, 2017

Minutes: Andrew Lowry

Attendees: Andrew, Monica, Bron, Mike, Tim, Carolyn, Ian, Manish, Dan

This provides a brief summary of the decisions reached and the issues discussed at the above meeting

Governance

A quorum was present.

Minutes from June 13, 2017 were approved.

It was requested that the STC minutes be forwarded to Dylan Hansen for posting on the Village website.

Minutes from one month will be approved at the next month’s meeting, and then posted.

Dan Cramblitt was introduced by Tim. Dan will have responsibility for Parks/Trees and Tim will work with him through December 2017.

Priorities for 2017 Planting

• Areas C&D are the primary areas for this fall.
• STC agreed to budget $15,000 for CBD planting with the remaining $40,000 of the capital budget for trees split evenly between areas C&D.
• Parks and Rec Dept. will circulate bidding specs for regular street shade tree planting. Members can make suggestions for additional requirements.
• STC sub-group will develop draft spec’s for CBD tree well reconstruction and planting. Tim needs the specs by 7-21-2017 so they can be included with the entire fall shade tree bid.Adopt-a-Tree
•  
•  

• Tim reported we had received requests for 15 trees. One or two more may be included.
• If trees end up costing more than the $350 quoted to residents the extra will be paid from the Parks and Rec. line item budget. We don’t anticipate more than an additional $50 per tree.Downtown Tree Wells
•  
•  

• Manish reviewed the presentation developed by the CBD sub-group.
• He will circulate an electronic copy to STC members.
• We would like to share the presentation with the Village broadly starting with:
  • CBD advisory committee - Councilman Hache is contact person
  • Chamber of Commerce - Mike to make contact
• The objective of the meetings is to increase involvement of the business owners in the CBD tree planting and care process. Here is what we are doing – what can we work on together to make the project successful? Tree OrdinanceThe ordinance needs to be revised and re-introduced in a work session and then voted on in August. There were technical problems with its previous approval.Tree Nursery
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  

• Bron reported that the Girl Scout project was not going to go forward.
• An automatic drip watering system has been set up at the recycling center.
• There was a discussion as to how long trees should be grown in nursery soil before they should be replanted.
• Our use of the whips has been reported to the NJ Tree Foundation.Misc.
•  
•  

• We agreed to participate in the Good Life Ridgewood program Oct. 1, 2017.
• A presentation on the STC’s work so far was made to the LWV in June.  
• Let me know if I missed anything important.

The Village Skate Park is located at 259 North Maple Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ  07450 (adjacent to the Stable).  Hours of operation are from 9 am to sunset daily, seasonally from mid-April through mid-October.  It is a "skate at your own risk, non-supervised facility", limited to skateboards and in-line skates only.  No bicycles, roller skates, scooters, go-peds or any other motorized vehicles.  Protective equipment required at all times.

Photo identification memberships are required by all users at no cost.  Registration may be made online at www.ridgewoodnj.net/communitypass (under Graydon Pool/Tennis/Skatepark).  Once registered you must visit the Recreation Office at the Stable, 259 N. Maple Avenue, Ridgewood to obtain your photo identification badge, Monday through Friday, 9 am to 4 pm.  Telephone 201-670-5560 with questions.

Village Skate Park Rules and Regulations - Ordinance No. 3638 and 3639