Ridgewood Shade Tree Comission Meeting Minutes 20170209

Ridgewood Shade Tree Commission

Meeting Minutes

February 9. 2017

Andrew Lowry Minutes:

Attendees: Andrew, George, Monica, Tim, Bron, Mike, Melody, Manish

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

Governance

A quorum was present.

Grants

Manish reported that we can’t apply for a CSIP grant this year. We should apply for a NJ State grant for $20,000 for the tree survey. We will need Council approval as the money has to be spent up front and then reimbursed by the state once the work is done. Davey Tree will be asked to quote. They provide location, species, condition and perhaps more information in their survey.

CSIP – this could be a major source of grant money (up to $300,000) as many towns don’t have the resource to fund the grants upfront so competition is less than might be expected.

Overpass Sign

It was agreed that the sign would say. Logo will be forest green.

Education Event – May 9, 2017

We will have a presentation by Nicolas Polanin. He will speak about urban trees. We will invite other ST commissions. It is important for members to attend as everyone gets Continuing Education Credits which we need to maintain our Commission status. The presentation will be at 8:30 in the library and we will host an informal dinner and discussion before at 6:30, probably in the Garden room?

Tree Nursery

Subsequent to the meeting Chris received approval of the requested permit. We will be getting 500 bare root trees and will need to plan for pick up distribution and planting. Tim, Chris and George will arrange for the necessary fencing and ground preparation once the weather is warmer.

Council Budget Meeting

Subsequent to the STC meeting four members of the STC made public statements in support of the STC and the $100,000 budget request. Will see how we come out.

Sidewalk repair – Resident notification

Crystal raised a concern about the way in which residents are notified about the Engineering Dept.’s requirement that they repair their sidewalk to comply with ADA. Basically the concern was that residents were unnecessarily startled by the notification and the time given to make arrangement for repairs. She agreed to develop a letter for residents explaining their options and how they can request extra time to evaluate the issue and comply.

Earth Day - April 23, 2017

STC will be represented as usual. Further discussion at the next two meetings.

Please let me know if I missed anything important.