Yeah. Oh, nice. Nice to see you. Nice to see you. Chill. All right. Pick this off. Call this meeting to order. This is the regular meeting of the Shade
Tree Commission of the Bureau of Fair Haven for August 6, 2025. In accordance with the provisions of the Open Public Meeting Act, public meetings may be held in person or by means of communication equipment to include streaming services and other online
meeting platforms. This meeting is being held in person and through the Zoom meeting platform being broadcast from Burrow Hall, 748 River Road, Fair Haven, New Jersey. Public participation for this meeting on August 6, 2025 is available by call and phone number or
through Zoom. Members of the public will be on mute until it is time for questions or comments which will be announced. At that time, the public has the opportunity to question or comment by phone or through Zoom by the raise hand button will be called on at the appropriate time.
Notice of this meeting was sent to the Asbury Park Press, the Two River Times, and Star Ledger on January 31st, 2025, posted on the Burough website, the bulletin board, and the municipal building, and has remained continuously posted as required under the statute.
With adequate notice having been given, the shade the shade tree commission secretary is directed to include the statement in the minutes of this meeting. Roll call. Leah Vani present. Neil Blecker
here. Is that Peter Vatti? Absent. Mike D'Angelo absent. Chris Larson here. Chris McCabe said he was right. Uh Rebecca Fleet said she would be late. Jill Sullivan
here. Bonnie Tivia absent also present for Secretary Christy Larson. You have a quorum. Thanks Kirsty. All right. Please stand. Join me in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Okay. Approval of the prior meeting meeting minutes. Everybody look over the
minutes. Nothing here. Nothing here. Questions, comments? Oh, there's Chris. All right. We get a motion to approve. Sure. Motion to approve.
Second. Minutes approved. All right. We're going to move right into project updates. As everybody knows, we're in the midst of updating our community forestry management plan.
And tonight we again have Bill Brash and joining us is director Nick Perchinsky. He's the director of DPW and he's handling all our tree inventory data. Sorted.
Yeah. No, we're working on it. All right. That's great. Um, Bill, um, makes sense to start off with the inventory. Give you a little rundown on it. and they can dive into it or Yeah. I mean, um I think the state
helped pay for it, did they not? Yes. Yeah. And and so as a as a result, it's it's got to be part of the management plan and and how the schedule for whatever came out of that in terms of priority removals and and um and pruning part.
Just need a schedule kind of thing. So we can put it in here and say whatever your budget is, is it going to be five trees a year? Is it going to be, you know, however that's going to work out that fits into your budget? U should be part of the plan exactly how
you're going to implement whatever those priority one removals and pruning and priority twos were. Um they're going to be looking for that on the plan. That's that's the main reason I think it was I asked if you could be Yeah. No, that's fine. Again, uh DPW
operations, you know, we're here to to serve Fair Haven and, uh, you know, tree maintenance and hazard mitigation are part of our core responsibilities. Um, obviously we do routine maintenance in the in the parks and burrow, uh, properties. Um, but also the rightways.
Um, and you know, having Arbor Pro has has helped us identify some of those issues. And then we're also working with different utility companies because obviously DPW can't work within um utility clearances. Um, you know, we're
currently, uh, you know, working in, you know, the bird sanctuary with the garden club on doing some of the deadfall clearing there, but you know, we coordinated work with, uh, with JCPNL because of some storm damage and and, you know, neglect in the in the in the
in the bird sanctuary area for, you know, um, for a while. But then we also have emergency response. you know, we provide uh you know, rapid response after a storm damage or hazardous trees are obstructing public um you know, rightways and roads. Um you know, we got
called out in June and uh you know, on Buttonwood there was a tree that came down on a on a on a property and we cleaned it up. And then obviously we had to call in help also for um uh stuff that's beyond DPW resources and
equipment. Sure. we get a contractor to come in and help us out. How do that how does that work? Do you have a state vendor that you call or is it do you have somebody in house that you call? Um yeah, we have someone in house that that we call. Uh obviously we've kicked
around the idea of getting an RFP or or through a state contract. Um you know there's various different uh um you know state contracts to have uh tree trimming, pruning or removal services. Um, honestly, you know, if it's if it's
beyond DPW capacity capabilities, we try to, you know, use, you know, use our our local guy to help us out because of the turnaround. Sure. Uh, the other day we got a call from residents down on Lori Drive. Uh, wasn't even a storm, but there was a tree that was, you know, a branch that was hung up
in a tree that 50 feet up in the air. you know, we tried, you know, throwing a line and trying to pulling it down and stuff, but we ended up calling, a tree service guy to come and help us out and take it down. And then we do the residual cleanup and and what have you.
Um, but it in those types of instances, we've been using Arbor Pro to create, you know, work lists um and then um and then follow up. you know, in the past we had a spreadsheet, but you know, we're trying to switch over to the Arbor Pro
so we can document and and use that. It's still a learning curve. Um, the app is not perfect. It's a little hard to use sometime, but uh and then the next big step is also um you know, we had two new facilities come
online, the DPW facility and the police station. Um and there was a landscape planting associated with each of those facilities. So the next we have some time next step is kind of to kind of go through and identify those new trees that were planted and and also add them
to the inventory. That's the next step of uh of of the process that we haven't done yet. You know, really we did more of the rem tracking removals or emergency response stuff. Yeah. Um, but the the plantings, I know Christie did some, I think, added a few
using the uh the Arbor Pro, but we have to get into a habit of of getting getting used to using it as a as a resource. Um, so you guys got the Arbor Pro software as a result of the contract with them. Yes. Yes. Okay. Um, you know, that that's really a
a good thing. Um most towns don't have the capacity to uh once they have their inventory done to keep it updated like well it's not free we're paying oh yeah no it's very expensive but it's not just a fee which is like 2500 a year I think right but it's the capacity too
in house to be able to have somebody dedicated to be able and knowledgeable enough to keep it up to date like that it's a lot of work. Yeah, it's it's crazy now in this day and age there's so much data that's being collected and stuff and and it's being able to
synthesize that data and to aggregate it and to use it responsibly to to and efficiently to to be able to delegate resources and allocate them in the correct way and then also to just document it for you know for for
purposes of chry commission or the mayor and council or whoever else we're running into the same problem with storm storm water or um you know uh condition analysis for our pavements and our roads and we're we're you know in the past DPW
was was not looked upon in a in a in a technology kind of forefront and and we're we're being you know forced to or quickly you know switching to that mindset where we're using technology to it its maximum benefit for for the community.
Yes. So, it's a learning curve, but we're getting at it. Well, not so much not so much your age, but my age, that's a real stoping part of the technology part. Well, it's at all ages. It's everything's happening so fast, it's hard to keep up. And you'll be hiring 12 year olds pretty soon to be running
things. Seems to me Nick, can I ask you a question? Have you been able to like get through any of the priority one removals or like Yes. The result of that like Yeah. So again, we we um if you look through the Arbor Pro and you you create
a u a report, a detailed report, um our our main focus as we started looking at the inventory was to concentrate on the high priority um removals. And if you look at the high priority removals, there are three trees identified, one on
Hillrest, one on South Woodland, and one on Brookside. Um two of them were within the utility areas. So, we work closely with the arborists from JCPNL and both of those were removed, the one on South Woodland and Brookside. And if you go into Arbor Pro, um I took pictures also
of the of the trees after the fact and then change their status from tree to um I think they call it stump. Stump. Yeah. Yeah. Or whatever the classification is. So, so yes, the the the three prior one
removals have been addressed, right? You know, so you know, we're we're pretty happy about that. You know, there's other there's other trees that were also removed as a part of either storm damage or whatever. If you take a look through, I can show people um
afterwards or whatever on the screen here how we're um um you know how we're tracking that, how you can see it, how it's populated and uh go from there. That's cool. Is there is there a way to get it up on
the screen or um send it to me? Yeah, I it's it's it's almost uh worth maybe at some point I have a subsequent meeting like at DPW where I can plug my computer into the into the into the conference room area
into the screen. I can show you around and and visually it's a lot easier to do it that way I think. Okay, sure. Um, okay. So, the I actually got a copy in the Arma Pro at least to print out their summary and they have in here 28 trees
for priority one removal. um total um I think there's a there's a there's there's there's different there's there different risk ratings associated with them. So okay there's there's three that were
considered high then there's moderate low or not applicable. So there could be additional risk ratings associated with those. Okay. So so the ones that we did were the high risk ratings right now. Okay. that we concentrated on. I don't know if you can see. I kind of
just brought up my login. Okay. Yeah. So if you like uh zoom, if you if you type in under if you type in like tree ID591, I think if you go into search, like a
little uh magnifying glass there, man, and then like tree ID under ID, type in like 1591. That will bring you to um the Hill Crest. I um I all I see is a
screen of Paris. Am I supposed to be seeing I mean it's lovely, but am I supposed to be seeing something else? We're expanding our reach. So if you go like to work or down, you could zoom down. You could see pictures.
Just for my my benefit is is this an inventory of every tree in area? No, it's the inventories of public rightway or certain areas of certain parks. Okay. So, but not on private not on private property.
It was cursed. It's like one of the screen that projects on there is not the same screen that apparently projects to uh Oh, okay. Because now I see Arbor Pro. Yeah. So, I was trying to give each Thank you. Just making sure I'm not crazy. It's the
end of my day. But yeah, you can do this on all the that were inventory. Uh try 1456 tree ID here. This one here is South Woodland. South Woodland. Yeah, that one looks
like it was for some reason was updated. So if you zoom through the details, you can see the pictures of the before and after pictures. So that was the the decay at the bottom. You can see it was basically at the utility uh pole there and then
afterwards you can see the stump is there. So you know as that's kind of how we've been utilizing uh then if you if you look to the right you see that it's no longer a green dot, it's a brown dot there.
So that's that's a designation of the that it's been removed and that it's a stump. Yeah. So if you you zoom out, you can see some of the other green dots within the rightway. And then those gray lines are the parcels. So if
the tree is inside that parcel, inside the property line, then it's a, you know, a private tree. And those are the trees that we're not identifying. just the trees within the rightway were the ones that were, you know, were inventoried and are responsibility of the burrow.
It's like um 2,600 trees were identified um on like a certain criteria and we got a grant to do this. Okay. Required for um to do the management plan. Yeah, it's amazing that
was super cool. Do they have the trees at sportsman's? Yes, that's on there. Uh, actually, no, I'm lying to you. That's not on there. I don't think that that's cool. Yeah. Well, they might have done them by accident. They they did the trees within the
public rightway. So, like along Hans and Third Street, but not not the ones that you're thinking about. They uh sportsman's field, right? But not the ones that are adjacent to the residential properties. So, just the ones that are on Third
Street and the ones on Hans. You could have done this by accident. I don't see any. Um, but I only see some on third. Not I don't know which ones you're talking about. The If you look at the back of sportsman, like when once you start
getting into the residential area, like there's that there was that buffer buffer that was back there. There were some ash trees that were removed and there are some some other trees I guess that were uh you know reviewed and addressed. Yeah. Just lease on the right.
And then the other thing too like if you look at what we've been doing and trying to do um if you go to um uh where is it? Worklists. Christ in the on the left hand side you
see work lists um work list is the it's the dots with the lines next to it. Okay. So there should be proposed open closed. So if you click on one of those like proposed um open
um or closed. So if you look at uh look they're closed Fair Haven Road. Yeah. If you click on that, it takes you to Fair Haven Road. So, those are the cherry trees, the 35 cherry trees that are that are along
Fair Haven Road. So, just recently, um, DPW, uh, trimmed out some of the dead wood and did some traffic safety trimming so that the signs were not being blocked as you approached the intersection. you know, over time those
trees start to have been hanging over and, you know, reaching for the sun and, you know, trucks have been hitting it. They've been blocking signs and they were obscuring the blinking light. So, um, you know, this spring, that was one of the one of one of the the tasks that
we accomplished and did. So, you know, we're using this also, we're trying to use it to document the trimming aspect of of of longer segments or linear type projects. Um we also have another work order
system that we're working on or working off of. We kind of started it up in July also. It's um you know violytics and we're using the work orders there also to take a look at our signage and if there's signs that need to be uh that are obscured because of branches and
stuff we or hidden because of branches. We've been you putting in work orders for the guys and they've been going through sporadically in between, you know, the other stuff and and and and making sure that those are um visible. Going to do uh newly planted trees.
Um newly planted trees. So the we would have to take our mobile phones and the app associated with it through the web and we would have to um add the trees at the so we walk to the spot walk to the
tree and then press the big plus sign and then fill out all the data for it. We haven't really got to that level yet. Um, I've done some. You can do it from your computer, too. Yeah. But, yeah, we haven't DPW hasn't really gotten to that that level of stuff, but like I
said, we're looking to explore that with, you know, DPW, the trees that are planted on Third Street, Need some help. Yeah. and and just the hard part is is that it it's asking for a lot of information and if I if we send a guy or someone out
there, it it's if they don't have necessary training on it, it's it's hard for them to distinguish what kind of tree it is if it's not tagged. You know, the DBH, you know, there's a whole protocol required to enter the information. They're not really trained. And to be honest, I'm not really trained
in in doing that stuff. So unless it's unless I have a sheet that says what I need to enter and you know I could do it then but that's maybe where some of the shade tree volunteers um that have done some of the training might want to either help us either individually or
come out with the PW and and identify some of the the species and trees and the the nomenclature required uh be it on third street be it you know any of those locations that's I think and there's I think there also create like a cheat sheet, you
know, that would Yeah, that would help us because obviously, you know, I'm not a tree expert. I'm not an arborist, you know, you know, so but in theory, like what Mark's saying, like when we plant something, we should know have the information and that's the best
time to do. But the problem is is DPW doesn't always know when it's planted or like when it's done. It's either done by a third party contractor, it's not us doing the planting, right? So it's always after the fact and then there's a lag and then there's you know the volunteer do that when we have the
entire inventory so you can see every species. Yeah. I think like there was like the concern of noviceses or like doing the inventory like that is definitely against was against the regulations for the grant but as like we're planting new
things if the like if we have the information that is definitely something that lay person could do a volunteer could do right. Um, definitely like definitely identifying like established trees that would that would put us I mean that would put us in
violation of what like for example when shade tree planted two at center two at Marter Park in the fall buying program. I just entered them because I had all the information from Ferbra, right? I'm not an arborist clearly, but I just copied and pasted. I'm like, okay, they said this tree is going to be six to
seven feet. It's this kind of tree. I was able to just plot the point, but I had that information, right? And when a tree is smaller like that, it's you're not required to have like a risk rating or anything like that like and and you can put in like what you know the known
estimated height is going to be and stuff like that just by googling that information. But um yeah, once it's once it's there then and growing for a while is when you would need to be
do you get is there when you enter those trees for example does it Nick is there some kind of an alert that says this has been added or is it just the number goes up and yeah I don't I don't maybe there is but I'm not sure um if there if it if there's a notification system or you
know or if there's changes to the inventory I'm not sure if you get notifications or Yeah. So, I don't know if there's something that's set up internally to to to do that. You kind of have to, I guess, be looking for it, but you know, it's a question we can ask them as well. I don't know.
I think they do have like a track a tracking thing or history of what was done because I remember asking them like if you go in there and you totally screw something up, like they could go back. Yeah. So, I know that like if you go to specific a specific tree, you could see who edited it, what was entered in, but like if you just look globally at the
entire, you know, fair haven. I don't I don't know if there's a way, maybe there's some filters or something. It says what trees were added between these dates or something or, you know, I guess it's just like one of the old Microsoft Access databases that's linked to the map. You probably can query and filter
it, but do you are you on your mailing list? I feel like I get like training things sometime like once um I I I do get emails but I don't necessarily um follow every single training exercise. I know they have stuff.
I know there was some recent thing that they said about Ezri or something but I think that was them but uh our software subscription only accounts for 10 users. So I think the administrator at the time delegated you know a certain amount internally and
then a few to shade tree and that kind of took up the 10 users. Do we know who those 10 users are? Yeah. Like can you see them? Like can you see the users like um on the site?
Look at it. I just know who they are. So you know it's just the administrator system administrator you bridge Dave as a user right need Chris
Sherry oh sher that was the other question I was ask how does she interface with some of this stuff she has access to it she does but she tends to ask me to run it for her so I don't know if she uses it
herself. You know, Nick, I have a question for there's a like a protocol, a sheet that if there's a newly planted tree that and you're going to add that information or it it kind of it forces you to give them
this information. Is there a sheet that shows what that should look like? I mean, that I haven't done any like adding new tree stuff, so I don't know. Well, I'm wondering what that looks like. I don't I don't know. It would be Have you seen it? When I entered the tree, I saw the
fields that have to be. Is it five or is it 10 items? Like 20. Some of them I don't know. Only some are required. Okay. Like I didn't know the air pollution potion. No.
But some of them they let you omit and some they don't. So I just quickly I just did my best. Yeah. I quickly put it in. There's like there's you know probably like 30 entries in here that that show up as red property property address zone property street on street side fictitious
hardscape damage utility presence species species ID status number of trunks exact DBH exact height crown tree condition recommended maintenance observations clearance risk rating um and then there's there's notes and then
I guess those are the the minimum um fields that would have to be uh entered in. How many are actually required? But those are the ones that are in red, the fields. So that's how many are required. That seems that seems wrong to what they
demoed or that seemed excessive. Like when they demoed it, it was not that like adding a tree was not a hard process. You're right. It was that that seems like that seems like when they roll up on a tree as part of the inventory. Correct.
That's the that's the question you can follow up on. Yeah. Setting of some sort because it seems as if you're just entering a tree that is a new planting. Obviously, you need the property location, the species
in the current height, but like you know. Okay. Is there a way to get Bill? Would you like a copy of it? Yeah, I'd like to in here too. I think it would be good information for the state to see this is that's what's going into it. This is what in went into your
inventory. This is a spec specific data. I guess every field that prints out in that Excel sheet. Okay. It's out. Um very this um
no no really putting in what was required by the grant and what was going to be required for the for um the management plan. Yeah. And really that information is brave is not going to find that useful. You need to know whether or not the what
the tree is, how big it is. right? What the condition of it is, is there, you know, utility lines or problems or whatever. You don't need to know what the air pollution is. I mean, it's nice to have the information there, but you don't need it al writing grants and stuff like that, like the pollution, you
know, that it's useful for things like that if you were going to talk up, you know, maybe your sustainable New Jersey or whatever. Yeah. But there was also something that it would calculate the value of the tree based on, you know, Yes. I don't think we entered in that.
That was just the algorithm. The algorithm did it and just put it as part of the the tree ID. Yeah. The ecosystem benefits they call it. You put the species diameter, height, and then the condition and it'll spit out what the value of the tree is. That that's part of what it tree
contributed to this. I'm sure this it's the same algorithm. Yes. Yeah, you're right. Interesting. Terrific. Um, okay. I I think I have enough of information, probably more than enough about what
what goes in and to satisfy the state that look, you they paid for this inventory. You went to AR and they provided pretty much a Cadillac for you that you're utilizing on a daily basis, it seems like. So, um I think that the state would think
that that the money the grant money that they gave you to well cost and nothing else was was well spent especially since you're you're continuing to use it because there's not a lot of towns that have the capacity to be able to do what you're doing,
you know, entering every tree kind of thing and keeping it up to date. A lot of towns what they do is they get their inventory and then they assign a 10-year plan and it it doesn't change. They just work towards what those goals are over the 10 year period. Gotcha. You know,
and then they have to reinventory. So, where are we Christie with the the subscription? Are we still in the new in the fall? It's one year. We got our first year period. Yep. And is that something that we have to vote on and approve or
it was to council, right? I didn't know if it was it comes up. Can we have to 2750 come out of your budget? Two 2,750. Mhm. How many trees are there? 2600. Yeah. 2600 inventory.
They So they show the total value of those trees. Yeah, you can add it up. I'm sure that it's in there because that's the total value of the inventory. That doesn't include mark like anything
in the natural area or the bird sanctuary or anything like that. It's just it's mostly rightway trees except for you know some sections of the parks that were able to be identified like uh the Normandy like those trees were identified because it's
pretty easy to get access to them and those things but like the Nashville area um you know there's there's not there's nothing really identified except for like along the church uh the church driveway and then along you know Ridge Road. Right. Yeah. They just start walking
down the third street trail and they then they stopped because they've reached the maximum number or what the grand I ran into them that day right there. Yeah. So
if they use the algorithm for iTree I'm sure they have a a benefit or a value for what your the trees were that were in it's pro it's probably in the millions. Sure it is. does. Yeah, there's a summary report I think
for the entire fair haven that can it quickly spits that out. Um, who has access to that software or that report for public consumption? So, I there were privacy concerns for number one, right? Photos of people's
houses and things like that. And then there was administrative and management over time. It would be very cool if you said we had 2600 days. Now we have 2540. Now we have 2400. Oh, we could we could post.
Yeah. The Oh, yeah. I thought you meant like some kind of a way to do a public like, you know, if we wanted to put this on the website, there is a public view and you kind of can control what they would see. Um, but we never went
down that road of like what that would be, right? But it would, but we were still trying to Yeah. hash it out, right? That's a 2026 conversation. Um, as and I think, you know, as Nick and his team gets more comfortable and
fluent with doing it, then that would probably be a better time to I don't know. Last thing you would want is be like, you took down my tr. Oh, that would never happen. Chairman. Yes.
So, I don't understand the privacy concern. I No, no. I I I misunderstood Mark's question. I was talking about access to the entire software and everything like that because there are the trees being in the rightway. There
were like, you know, there are photos of people's homes. There are people, you know, it's so that kind of I can Google any address in town. That's and get a picture and and there's also a management issue.
I mean, there's only 10. You were talking about I mean, you weren't talking about access. Are you talking about access and software? I was only talking about things. Yep. I misunderstood your question. That's what we were talking about. Are you talking about access? I don't understand the privacy issues.
It's It's not a privacy issue. I misunderstood Mark's question, but it's also a management. There's I thought Mark was asking about access to the song. That's why there's no
there were just photos of people's homes with trees in front of them. And that's what I was referring to. And why is that a privacy issue? But I think he's saying that that arbor, whatever it's called, arbor pro probably has signed something with them where
they're sort of encumbered. They can't release it like that. Like they don't our pro doesn't want you to trouble. So they probably something that has to be signed by their law. It's not. Don't worry. We can't see you.
We can't see you. Uh, Bill, do you need any more info from Nick? No, I more questions. Two other things I would add. I know reading through the the draft here under equipment. Um, you know, there's discussion about watering trucks and things like that. Yeah, we're we're
looking to upgrade our our pickup truck with a higher uh a larger pump so that um so it's a little easier to go around town and to to water it because before it was like a a trickle.
Um so we're we're looking into to getting a new pump and doing the wiring associated with that. Um the other thing too, one of the concerns and one of the issues that we would like help with is with from the shade tree
commission and this plan is to um the DOT clearances associated with the rightway. Um, you know, it always comes down to that work being outside the uh scope and equipment of DPW. And that's
where in theory we need some coordination with the shade tree and with administration to make sure we have enough budget to to have an outside vendor come in and and do some of that using a bucket truck or whatever else because a lot of that work is 136 or at
the curb line is what's required. Okay. Um, so that that's something that as part of the plan implementation, some of the objectives or action items, one of the things that we were talking about would be helpful is to make sure that that's addressed, you know, as part of
um, you know, as part of this this community uh, forestry plan. Okay. Do you have a card? I have a card something or just a if I can if I have some questions if it's okay, I can contact them directly. Yeah,
if he says it's okay. Yeah, great. Thank you very much. You give out your phone number will you give out your phone number? Sure. What is it? It's um 732
890725. 0725. Yes. If I don't know the number, I won't answer, but I'll I'll you leave a message. I can find that definitely answer. Um,
okay. Um, I I guess the other thing that was on the uh the agenda from the last meeting was um trying to come up with a list of priorities, work priorities for the plan. And um and I think certainly
this work is is is going to be listed as one of our priorities and a schedule for the Navy addressing whatever's left from their priority of crew removals and pruning. Um the plan's good for five years. So, you should be thinking about,
okay, if there's the three high-risisk ones been removed, but there's 28 total, maybe there's 10 that are just below that kind of deal. Or however you would manage that, Nick, just let me know so I can put it in as this is how we're going to work through
the inventory results. Okay? It's going to take us three years. It's going to take us five years. There's 28 total trees, but it only requires 20 at this point. You know, just a little bit of analysis and and a schedule for how you
plan on addressing that. The other couple of things that I heard um in and just one thing on that just a quick takeaway that's something we would need help from Sherry you know to to kind of the arborist the the burls arborist to really to you know give us a um a
snapshot of the the physical condition of that tree that was designated as you know you know a risk rating of removal or priority one removal so that we can say that yeah we're going to watch that or yes we need to you move forward with proposal that's not something that DPW
guys are going to make a decision on. So she could rank your the list of she can help with that identify you know making sure that uh you know she agrees with these removals and that uh or or you know takes a look at them and say yeah this this needs to be done
immediately or we can watch that or we can just maybe prune it or trim it and then not take down the whole tree. But that's something that, you know, I'm not comfortable doing. The DPW guys are not going to make that call and and have to just We don't have the training or that's not our expertise.
Bill said, I know you said something about planting. Yeah. What was the conclusion in that? Well, there was two areas that that were that came up in our discussion. One of them was River Road and the lack of trees, I guess, but how difficult it is
because all the concrete and uh there's no real planting locations there. Um unless you remove stuff in a parking lot or or you cut concrete along and uh if that's what you want to do or you think it's feasible, we can include
it in the plan because when a state comes up with planning dollars, they'll pay for removal of concrete to install a tree. makes sense from a an art culture standpoint. Yeah, I think we at the last meeting, didn't we discuss that we didn't need
like specific areas, but we were thinking about general areas like such as River Road, right? And the other one was not just the not just that parking lot area, but like further east there are some Yeah. You have a commercial district that maybe could use trees that you
don't have any. Uh it it is it is a little difficult because of the fact that it's your planning locations are are not obvious, right? And um and the other part of it is is the fact that Fair Haven exceeds what the recommendations are for canopy cover. So you don't have a you don't
have a lot of pressure to plant trees because you have a lot of trees in town. you exceed what American Forest recommends. You you exceed the the u I think the medium in in Mammoth County even. Okay. But you talked also about
maybe shading some of the bleachers and stuff in Fair Haven Fields as well and tree planting and and replacing whatever comes down as as you're doing work, you know, as as you know, as a goal. And I don't know if
it's a priority and if there's anything that I'm missing that that you didn't that we you know I'm not covering that you want to do in the next five years. Right. I think there was discussion about ordinance changes. There was discussions about stewardship plans on a fair haven
fields area that's um in a natural state. You know invasive removal and getting some outside assistance through USDA through that. I love that. But you you got to tell me so I can put it put it on a plan and pursue it. Did you get the oops the updates from
Bonnie and Mike? We're not here. I I got Bonnie's mics and I didn't forward mics to you because I didn't know if you wanted to discuss them as a commission before you just plot the plan. Okay. Yeah. question Mike's were um collaborate with the
county for tree planting on river row and volunteer to street head it um focus on burrow tree replacement post sandy areas second third enhance road and add one to two burrow trees a month
for the year if appropriate funding for care and maintenance align those were his suggestions you guys agree this sound and bonnies were that was Yeah.
very good though. Yeah. Was that was excellent. It was a management plan unto itself. You want to say that continue the um the uh resident tree buying program?
Absolutely. Yeah. I didn't think about it because we we're just doing it. Yeah, tricky part. Continue the resident tree and maybe look to expand to a memorial tree program. Resident tree. What was that? It's called the resident tree buying
program. We started it um years ago. Um it's happens twice a year. Okay. Yeah. In the spring and the fall. And and
so the residents they we partner with Fern Brook Nursery and um they pay the nursery directly. We just kind of like facilitate the organization of it and they buy
um trees at a a pretty decent rate and Fernbrook comes and plants them on their property. So on private property on private property. Is that right? That's a you know I don't I've never heard of that. I don't know that any other town
actually does it. A couple other shots do it. Manisquan Belmar. Um I like that. Do they use Fernbrook as well? Yeah, they do. Larry Cruz is a great man. Really is.
That whole crew there with Tanya and Kevin. Yeah. Yeah. That's a good crew. Jill is going to be a panelist with um at the New Jersey State Federation in October. Oh, the Shape Tree Federation meeting. Yeah. Oh, that's terrific. Yeah. Larry Cruz
has been he's been a real leader for many years. Very very knowledgeable guy. Guess he's starting to retire now. Like Kevin's taking over. Furbrook does a I have a number of trees in my yard and that were grown at Frook, too.
Yeah. They do a nice job and it's forked down. Yeah, beautifully over the short time we've done it. So, you want to continue? I can give you the number of how many trees have been planted so far if that's useful. Have it on me. You'll have to I think we've been averaging about 40 45
planting this season like Yeah, we had a big planting last um spring 80. Yeah. So, it's been over 200 trees. And you've been doing it since since when? We started it in fall of 23.
Okay. And you've planted 240 trees or 200 trees. It's been about 200 trees. 210 and it's a nice transaction because the the resident just deals directly with Fernbrook. Yeah. And then they come in, they just put together like their menu
and make the orders, send it off to them. That's terrific. And they come in and plant them and it's all done. Usually within two to three days depending on whether you don't have to worry about it because it's not on priv. Yeah. It's outside of our rightway. But
uh just the ones we do. Yeah. Which is coming up. One of the things part of the community management plan that we're talking about five-year outlook or whatever and I know it's been kicked around at the natural committee and and other places is is the
um the corridor on Fair Haven Road with the cherry trees. Um, and I guess in the past we were told that some of those trees are kind of reaching their end their life and that we need to, you know, start thinking about
what needs to be done about either supplementing or or or doing additional planting if they want to preserve that that corridor to look the way they want to, you know, be presented in the future. Um, so I don't
know if that's one of the goals of Shade Treat 2 is to kind of, you know, figure out how to how to implement that in the future because that's that's one of the iconic areas in the springtime. Um, so that that should really be part of the plan to figure out, you know, is
it, you know, planting, you know, every third tree or or or or, you know, pushing that that horizontal vertical line of trees, making them staggered or pushing them towards the inside the natural area so
there's, you know, more space for them to grow and kind of clearing out some areas. I know there's discussions but some you know there should be some planning exercise and some shareholders involved in deciding how that is implemented and done. This might be a way to to kind of coordinate that and
then be the the guiding policy for the various community groups to to implement. Are the cherries uh they're on Fair Haven Road? You did you say Were they all planted at the same time? Yes. How many trees were we talking about? Those are those 35 or so.
35. And do you know when they were planted? 50 years ago. 50 years ago. Are they like Japanese flowering cherries? Okay. And they were planted 50 years ago. Yeah. Okay.
I don't know how accurate that number. It seems to vary, but Okay. But they were all planted at the same time. You know, they were planted by the Boy Scouts at the time. Is that what That's what I I That's what I mean. You know, the room is urban myths. But
there's Did you say 35 trees? Yeah, give or take. You know, are there some in worse condition than others? Yes. Okay. Uh you don't want to lose them all at the same time. And it's a really good thing that you want to plan it. So maybe it's, you know, you replace two or three
a year. Um you've staggered them and and you don't lose that line that you have, per se. Um just a suggestion, it's great to put it in this plan and um and if you
guys agree then I'll certainly include it. I think it's certainly worthwhile. Um you might want to you you have an arborist in in Sher Spiro who's a good she's good and um you might ask her, hey, plan this
out for us. This is what this is what we it's a pretty simple set of criteria that you've laid out. you could easily um come up with a plan, you know, three, five, depending on what the the condition of them are now so
that you know over the next 30 years, you still have that that cherry tree uh line that and there's no holes in it. Might be various ages, but it's still there. Um I think that's
pretty worthwhile. And the cherries have really they've taken a beating this year, especially Quanza. There's a brown rod out there and they and u and the cherries down ashore really really been hammered with that.
So um you know they're not they're kind of like fruit trees. Well, they are fruit trees I guess but um so there's a lot of pests, there's a lot of diseases associated. So management plan would be good for that. Okay. Yeah. Absolutely. That's
concluded. I think I think that would be something that Sherry could definitely contribute. Okay. To that. Was there any others be? Because I'm at the point now that I think I have just about all the questions that I had answered so that maybe the next time we
meet, we have a draft that includes everything that you guys can just, you know, look at typos and make sure that it it does say exactly what you wanted. Sure. And it and then we can send it to the state for their review.
Yeah. Could we get that maybe like a week or so before the next I mean if it's not you know absolutely. Yeah. Just so we can Sure. Do you want me to run through bonding hers and sections if you guys want to agree to before you add all of these? I
know it's expensive. Um hers were broken down to like environmental goals and benefits to about improving air quality. I don't know how specific you want these. Um then there were a section about human well-being, social goals and benefits about providing recreational activities and creating a sense of a
sense of pride. Foster um education and engagement involving residents in planting and maintenance economic goal that decrease property values reduce energy costs. And then she has a whole section about planting objectives.
Um, and then maintenance goals about working with EPW to establish a maintenance plan. Did everybody did you see these? Were they on the email? No, she just sent them to Bill and before we locked them all in. Okay.
She wanted Yeah, I would since uh Jill, Leia, Chris, uh, anybody else is here. I I guess I was the only I mean I I read them and I couldn't think of anything that I'd want to take out. I mean they're all excellent points and well
done. Maybe it would be too much to put them in the final draft. No, not not at all. And you know, I I think the way this the plan is structured through uh New Jersey Forest Service, she's talking about these things as elements. These are things to
strive for and and we can work a lot of those into exactly the nuts and bolts things that we talked about in terms of how you manage for the cherries in terms of benefits and aesthetics to the to the
fairy. I mean, she her stuff is elements. It's not the nuts and bolts to get you there. It's what the feelings you get by seeing the nuts and bolts have been done. And that they in the planning process, they call those the elements. Okay.
That's what you're striving for. But here's how you get mission plan. Foundation. Yes. So, uh, if you guys agree with them, you know, I I believe I have them, Christie. I can work them into the plan. I think she sent them to you directly. Um, I can share them with commission,
whatever. Or you can throw them in and you guys can edit the next draft accordingly. Whatever you want me to do. I fill up. Let's see. So, do you email it's it's a it's a couple pager. Yeah. So, so I have Bill Yeah. use his knowledge
and expertise to work them into the plan and then we can They're all good. Then we'll see the uh Did you not So, you did not get them. I I did get them. Okay. Yes. And I think the latest draft has some elements of that.
Um but I can get a little bit more specific. And now that I know the nuts and bolts, you know, the the action items that you guys want to do, the planting here, you know, the the um stewardship there,
it's all leading to to what Bonnie has said in terms of those benefits, right? Um air quality. things like that. Yeah. Um Yeah. Yeah. And then then we'll all see them as incorporated for the plan rather than
add an extra step there. A week before meeting a week before. And if Nick has anything to add or anything you're using that you want to if you want to like we can include pictures of water or something. I mean I don't know like whatever you think would
be helpful. Yeah. we can talk offline if there's something in the report that you need or something that we can help provide that. Great. You know, it's a common it's a common thing in terms of how you equip the
someone to be efficient at water because you've got a lot of trees of water. It's more than one tank full, maybe multiple tanks. So, how close is the water source? How efficient is the pump? How expensive is the pump? I work with a lot
of towns and one of the towns I I was just at is Robinsville. They get their pumps from Amazon. They're like $80. Hose goes in here, goes out there. It It's amazing. It's like something that's made by, you know, small people
and it works remarkable. Yeah. And it's like a tenth of the price of a Honda kind. If you want, I'll get you that information. Yeah, sure. I found it to be remarkable and those guys swear by it. So, I mean, that's the kind of thing you like to see. You like to see how somebody's
addressed an issue so you don't have to reinvent the wheel. If it works for you, it works for you. Good. Good. That's good. Can I ask um Bill, I feel like you touched lightly on the the heat map thing. We had talked about it a little bit. Is there as a
commission, do you guys feel like maybe that should be a bullet point? is to try to increase the canopy in the heat in like the reddest part of the heat map which is basically the commercial. Is it worth putting it in or no?
Absolutely. Uh I think it's worth putting in. I think you have I think the heat map contributes to the difficulty of addressing it because the reason the heat map is there is because all the you know impervious surface
that's there. I think that right the biggest part is that parking lot and it's that that there's space that there's a need heat map reveals the need right okay uh now you have to overcome the obstacles that are in the way of
addressing that sure and um and I think it yeah I mean it's demonstrated we recognize the need now how do we go about doing it might might be the next plan after this because it could take a while to get to that and funding may not be available from the
state. Uh, and you might want to might want to consider that because there's not a lot of people that pay to cut concrete or or asphalt to plant trees, right? But the state will do it. As long as it's in the public right away. Can't be on private property.
Well, as far as I know, I mean, that's private property. Is it not? Yeah. the metro, the parking lot, everything is by Acme. Yeah, that's all. I'm going to ask that question.
Okay. I'll ask the forest service that question cuz they've been reluctant in the past. Things change. That was good. Is that a hand, Susan? That's a hand. Yes. So, any plan for the trees and button
board? I don't remember calling them out specifically u because it's much like um the cherry cherry trees it is an iconic part of and and I know in the past I've heard sort of some discussions about when one
goes plant one onto the property something like that to get it back from the street though I didn't know whether you you were going to address that That's also very trees, right? That's grown, but it's private property.
I mean, who know it's technically it is the right away. It is the rightway. Yeah, those trees are still in the rightway. And there are trees like the one that came down in the in the June storm was uh you know you know there's one tree that's that's vacant now. So
there's a spot. So in theory there could be a tree planted in in close proximity to maintain that that line. So that would be a good place to do a new new planting same species same kind. And to your point Susan when they do come down I I live over there I have noticed
that they are being planted further back so they're not just or they planting the same. Oh they are. Yeah. Okay. Who's doing that thing then? That's a private like that's the ones that I've seen are definitely been part of the
private property plantings the residents are they moved into the point where they're not part of the rightway anymore I would I don't know but they're further back I mean they still look like they when they grow they're going to give you
that same visual but it's it's definitely been implanted further off the road but that's that's a good good point to include in the management ment plan. So that in theory there's a policy that says look if a tree comes down that either the burrow or the or the or the resident we should try to address that
somehow in in some future planting to kind of maintain that tunnel. Yeah. I mean that those were um the London plane trees actually and they been offered by Bernbrook. So I feel like the ones that were replaced actually came through the
program. Yeah. So that would be a resident not The reason I brought up is because it's I I have a a memory of having a discussion a while ago about these trees and that the fact that they were
um it's probably when Bill Brooks was still here that the trees were like they're the root system out into the roadway in some cases and it used to be a small driveway and then over time that driveway became a road. So the the root the root system which
kind of extends to the drip line has gotten compromised or has been you know as the edge of pavement expands they've gotten up to the the trunk of the tree. So yeah, they're kind of getting sure, you know. So if came down, if one of them came
down or died, um at that point, it's the responsibility of the town to take it down or but it would be the responsibility of the homeowner if they wanted to plan it again. Yeah. I don't think there's a clear policy on it. So that's where it would
make sense to to put something in the in the management plan to kind of address those types of scenarios so that there's a you know a clear decisive path forward on those types of scenarios. Maybe that's something that um with the
fund that we have the tree removals that you know we could supply the lemon plane tree as a replacement. Um, you know, like there's other towns that I know from doing this resident
tree prime program that like if a resident wants something in the right away, they just call the town and town walks it in. But but in this case, it sounds like if they were to be replanted, you wouldn't replant them obviously where they are. You'd have to plant them on private property.
I don't know that what I'm talking about is I don't know what the rightway is on that road. Nick would be able to speak to that like but say you know it's 10 ft back from where the tree was like right on the road. Yeah. You want to give the tree enough room to grow and if you plant it right
at the edge it's not going to have enough enough nice soil and not be uh you know dealing with snow plowing or or or cars driving by. So yeah, realistically you want to plant it back 10 feet or so just to give it enough space and to kind of
thrive. Sure. Well, that's what I mean. Like, can we build this plan? Can we determine like town policy on something like that? Like right now, like Nick, if if a tree came down or had to come down, are is
the town technically responsible for those trees that if there was one dead or disease or would the Yeah. So the in just from past experiences, the uh the burrow went through button wood and and trimmed all the the dead wood and some of the hazardous trees or you know a tree came
down, the DPW guys were involved or you know one of our um tree contractors came and helped us out. Um so yeah there most of those trees are within the the public rightway and the burrow you know gets involved with it. Sure, but they wouldn't have
the necessarily I mean it would be nice to have a we always talk about like you know if you plant pick a tree down you should plant the planted tree but in this case if a tree came down no there hasn't historically there hasn't been any type of automatic replanting that DPW goes and gets
another tree and you know plants there isn't anything like that in place right and especially in this case because it would have to be planted on private property at that point right it's a little tricky That's the right way we go on Buttonwood. I don't know off the top of my It's not
It's not perfect, but um the other question is too that the the street is named Buttonwood, but the trees stop at the top of the hill where the old driveway, you know, you can open this up for discussion, but do you want to continue that that same theme all the way down
goes into the into into Fair Haven Road there, you know, as a as kind of a continuation? I don't know. That's something that you know some people can discuss or just wait again. I don't know what you mean. Buttonwood was the old driveway for the
Marter estate. It comes up to the house at the end and stops and you turn the street is still named Buttonwood and it goes all the way out to Fair Haven Road. Yeah. Okay. I see what you're saying. You know, is it is it worth or is it something that the burough wants to continue that that scheme along the
public rightway out to Fair Haven out to the cherry trees? You know, I don't know. That's just, you know, a thought. Well, I I think it definitely deserves a mention in our plan for sure. Um Oh, yeah. But
I don't know that you need to get into the nuts and bolts. Okay. Um in the plan unless you want to. Um but it would be um these are the go this is what we'd like to see, right? Um, we'd like to see
a replacement when a tree comes down. We'd like to see that, you know, anything is at increased risk is addressed in a timely fashion and the replacement uh afterwards, you want to maintain the same species that's there. Y um
and and then work towards that. I mean, presently or all the time, you have to follow the ordinance. So as of now if a tree comes down and I get a tree removal application the replacement is dictated by what it says in the ordinance which is depends on how the whole schedule.
Yeah. Depends on how what the diameter is there maybe hazard. Yeah. It could be four trees replaced for that one that comes down unless it's hazard or unless it's a increased risk tree. Yes. Yeah. So,
so, so that's called buttonwood. Buttonwood is traditionally American sycamore. What you're saying are London plane trees. The species identified. It says American sycamore. I thought they told us it. Yeah. Some I don't know London plane and uh
maybe that was a decent replacement for them. It's not it. It's only half an American. It's a hybrid between the European plane tree and American sycamore. That's what London plain trees are. They're a little bit different. Smaller leaf um yellow,
not the white bleached bark when it peels. It's more like a yellow green. So, are these are these trees white or are they like a yellowish green when it peels? Why would you say they're running in plain trees? Okay. They're running in plain trees
because buttonwood is is the is a common name of American sycamore. No, but it sounds as if they're London plain trees. Yeah. Which is probably a better better choice anyway. It's a it's an urban tree. It's a little
hardier and it's less disease. I know. Here's a picture of it that or you can you can click on one of the trees and go to the picture and shows. Just go to any of the trees on button. Yeah. We had an didn't somebody do an assessment of all those trees couple
years ago. You were calling it Yeah. American Sycamore. But you go down to the pictures and just just click on the picture and you can zoom in on the on the tree. You can tell by the leaf too. American sycamore leaf is big. If you if you
double click on the tree, you can get closer. Like you can zoom in. That helps. They look like It look like 11 point. When were those trees planted? Early 1900s. Yeah.
I think blended plane trees have been out around for two or 300 years. Yeah, they look like blended planes. Okay. Well, we definitely want to get them into the plan. And like I said, we don't have to get into the nuts and bolts, but I guess we would
have to kind of figure out a policy surrounding them. Yeah. You and the plan, you kind of set what those recommendations are, right? And then you could work towards that. Okay. Um, you know, I'm sure I'm sure the residents know all about what the what
the residents think about their trees on Butler Lane or Butler Road. So, that' be a big sell. And and Christie makes a really good point with the ordinance the way it is too. There is an obligation to replace. You have to remove as long as it's not
a tree that has to come down because it's at increased risk. It's fell apart. But there's no enforcement. Oh, there's a permit required. So there's a permit required. No enforcement that you plan. You're on your own.
Okay. Um, unless you guys have any questions for me, I think we'll we'll be pretty close to sending it to the state. Okay. Got an exit. What was this? You said the mayor needs to sign it or an attorney or the bur
attorney. Uh, yeah, the mayor needs to sign it. There's I I think in the report there should be in the appendix is uh I completed the um the form. Okay, I'll get it on his radar then.
It's on page 23 and it uh it commit it. Yeah, it's the either mayor if it's a county plan, it's a county commission has to sign. So then then we send it down to them and they they take a look at it at the state
and they either approve it and then they they ask for some additional stuff. Okay. So we're in good shape I think anyway. Great in the planning process. So that's good. And Nick, thank you for
coming too. Yeah, no worries. I appreciate it. Thank you. learned a lot today, too. Good. Good. Yeah. Enjoy the rest of your summer. Yes. You guys, too. I guess we'll be
September when September third. September 3rd. That's right after Labor Day. Yeah. The third. Okay. That was really helpful. Thank you guys. Very much so. Thanks. Good seeing you.
Good to see you, Bill. Thank you. See you in September. That's it. Nick, anything for us? Any need anything from us? All good. Uh, no. It's continue um,
you know, interfacing and interacting with you guys. We greatly appreciate that, DPW. And uh like I said, the learning curve on the Arbor Pro and stuff, which I've been trying to work through it and uh you know um I'll talk to Christie about maybe um see what
users are available. Bo Bernardo, he does a lot of our tree work, tree trimming and stuff like that. So I'd like to maybe get him involved with some of this as well. We've been kind of uh giving different employees uh ownership of different aspects of public
works if they have a place to focus some of their energy and ownership. So, you know, he does playground stuff, park stuff, and you know, trying to maybe he showed an interest in the tree stuff as well. So, getting him some additional chainsaw training and some
other stuff. So, just maybe having him look at some of the computer stuff as well. That would be something that we're pursuing internally just to continue upping the game for us. Okay, sounds good. I think that maybe we could um if there's not enough users available,
maybe there's just one. We had talked about maybe having a Shade Tree Commission Gmail, a general email where anybody on the commission could log into Harvard Pro look at it and that way that would free up between Chris and myself like one user.
Yeah. Again, I don't know. We'll see what happens. Even Dave and him might share, you know, use maybe we'll just have it more of like a, you know, DPW kind of miscellaneous one that both of them can use or whatever. But, uh, you know, we're trying to, um, be able to utilize these tools in
the most efficient ways to to be able to document things and also to help in, you know, seeing the big picture from 10,000 ft. Okay. Um, can I ask you a question about watering trees? We're, you know, we're always talking about planting more trees
and we got to get our, you know, acts together and move forward and start putting trees in the ground, but I want to be mindful of, you know, kind of the burden puts on you and your guys to like go out there and water it. like what you know if we were to come up with like
a planting schedule for who knows over the next year what and we trying to use our it's a case by case basis you know obviously if it's in close proximity to you know a residential property or something if if they could help out
that'd be great if you're in the middle of the woods you know I don't know sometimes we can't get a vehicle or access to those locations um if it's an easy location then it's it's an easier lift for us to to to manage and handle. Um it's it's really a case by case, you
know, review and decision. Okay. I know we're going to be looking at like community center field uh community center fields as we were going to talk about later, but and I mean it's not like we're cover the whole place with trees, but I just want to kind of, you
know, be mindful. I know what it puts on you guys and you know it's really becomes an access issue with uh you know whatever equipment that we're going to be using to water it you know so if it's a
it's easy access then it's more the probability of doing it is is higher. Gotcha. Absolutely. Absolutely. Gotcha. Okay. Sounds good. It sounds good guys. All right. Is there anything else or is that you guys are
going to get? Yeah, we got a couple items in building out biters. Sure, we can move on with the any info for the tree binding program. Yeah. So, um no, uh I spoke with Tanya
two weeks ago today. I'm just checking on this morning. um and they were running behind schedule because they hosted a um program on site in July. So what happens
if we benefit is um in July they take an inventory of of what they have and from that they determine what they residents and they come up they you know come up with a list of like um maybe five shade
trees, five evergreen two or three flowering trees and then we determine what we want you know from that like what we are going to offer it to residents and then I put it together in some like document and it goes out there and people and residents have like two
or three weeks to decide whether or not they want to participate. Um the prices range from uh $270 for evergreen trees and like the flowering trees and the shade trees are $385. Um and that includes the planting. Um,
so backing up with, you know, they do this inventory, they figure out what they they have and then we we chat. Normally that would happen by this point in time. Um, but they hosted some I don't remember what event they had there. Watch and learn or something. Yeah. Some like natural Yeah. native
tree thing. Uh, so two weeks ago she said that they were just starting the inventory and she needed two weeks and then she would get back to it. So I I assume that between between us and and and the nursery, whatever the inventory is that's offered to residents, they're appropriate kind of
native species for preparation. Exactly. So they kind of they know where we are. They'll make recommendations based on whether it's the fall planting versus the spring planting. Some trees are better to plant fall versus spring. Um our proximity to
the ocean. Um a lot of the other towns they work with are more like directly on the beach. so they can offer more to us. Um yeah, and then and then we kind of decide through there. Uh we try and steer
the offering to be mostly native. Um but you know, we'll offer a cherry tree once a year because people like them and it's kind of like part of the town too. Um you know, with consideration to like the
deer population and yada yada yada. So um just curious do we do we take into account like for for a particular resident if they want to purchase a tree whether based on their parcel it's appropriate for placement of the tree or do we not as a as a commission do we not get
involved? We don't get involved in that. Um but they're like a really reputable company. So, if they came to a spot and somebody wanted to put something enormous underneath the utility line, they would probably ask them to pick a different
part of their yard or they would recommend a different tree. Um, they guarantee the trees for a year. Uh, so we have had situations where, you know, a tree has died and they come out and the next time they're here, they'll they'll replace the tree. Okay. Um,
but so far so good. Like it's been like I remember I remember seeing as has come out over the last few years. I think it's a great program. Yeah, it's been it's been pretty successful, pretty wellreceived. Um, so we'll just look for as soon as I hear from them. Um, I usually wrote
Bonnie in because she has a strong opinion on this. Yeah. Um, and then I I'll send it to Christie to, you know, to send out to everybody if they if anybody wants to chime in on what the offerings are. Um, so where it's planning for a planting sometime in the fall, September or
October? Yeah, it was um it's usually like end of September, beginning of October. I expect that that might ship. That's what I was going to say. Is the whole time blank shift thing or just the I'm not quite sure. You know, I think we could probably shorten the time that we offer for people to order um because
people wait till last minute anyway. So, if you have like a two week ordering timeline, I don't I don't really think that that's going to be an issue. Um, and then they, you know, depending on how many we ordered, they kind of just put us where they put us, you know.
Um, um, yeah, but yes, it's going to happen. It's going to happen. It always does. It's good. Great stuff. Um, so kind of following that, um,
the, uh, we have the 2025 tree planting locations. We've been discussing uh one of the things I did uh over the break I met with DJ Breenidge uh two weeks ago roughly uh we walked
around the community center fields that area in between the basketball court and that field which is considered the north field north baseball field. It's you know anybody who's stood there and watched a baseball game and you're just blazing
the sun. So there's no no trees there. Um and the uh playground. Um so we were discussing, you know, I was trying to get a feel sense from him, you know, where he thought trees could go, keeping in mind all the activities
that take place there. And um you know, he agreed that you there is a fence line there that the baseball baseball teams use, the umpires use as you know, out of play. And you know, he thought if we followed that line, but and then adding
10 ft, which still left a lot of room between the path and that 10t mark that, you know, a nice row of trees there would be acceptable. You know, he thought it was a good idea. Um, so I met with Sher Spiro this morning, um, you
know, just to kind of, you know, pick her brain a little bit and see what she thought would belong there. But I did mention that we most likely would use the the buying program but not having the list. So when we do get the list, if you could, you know,
make a recommendation because I could ask about that something specific. She uh she talked about the um u tulip tree. Yeah. Um, she also
really she did say it was she was big. She said it was fast growing. She thought that would be a nice one to plant there. Um, you know, of course, you know, some kind of oak would be nice there. But um
how many she started kind of so she was talking about you know landscaping you know planting in odd numbers you know planting threes and stuff like that. So, you know, I think at least six would go there and, you
know, was trying to we were discussing the layout, you know, whether or not we want to do a kind of a street tree line or more of a, you know, maybe do a cluster at the beginning and a cluster at the end and
then a little straighter in between. Um uh so I mean I I mean I think that would be up for discussion once we decide or what we see is available. Well, I think but I think we could put this aside from the what they have to
offer because if we specifically said we want six tulip trees, you know, I could ask them, you know, can we can you bring six tulip trees when you plant these other trees? And that doesn't necessarily need to fit into that because she's going to offer
what she has available because it's an unknown of what people are going to want to buy. Okay. Right. So like if they they want to make sure they have what magic number is, but if they only had six tool trees, they're not going to offer that because what we got eight orders, right? So I mean if there's I think you know we
could put what we want on their truck, but it doesn't necessarily need to come from that specific list. Okay. I I wasn't I wasn't sure about that. So I I'll I can reach out to Sher too and just say, you know, just forward us the list. Yeah. What you think should go there and
we'll also show the list when we can work from whole thing. Okay. But I think that would be a good idea. Um you know, she did mention that um you'd want to do unless you do all the same, you know, split them in half
and don't do like every other tree, something like that. I think you just do that. Just do we want to do all this? I mean, I like all the same ones, but in case like there's some sort of disease or something like that so we don't wipe them all out.
Yeah. No, I I think uh you know, three and three could be something nice. I mean, if we could get more in there, maybe. So, that's where we kind of left it. Well, if the trees are planted on public
property, you can use your tree commission planting budget. Mhm. And you have well it's 8,000 but in the subline item is a software so I would say five. Okay. But that would still be
yeah trees. A lot of trees really roughly about 38500 bucks. Okay. You get the gator bags and the Yeah. The new addons. Are they are they also doing some kind of deer
protection offered? They do offer the deer protection and the gator bags. Bags forward $5 or $5 for the gator bag and $5 for the deer. Yeah, it's Yeah. Is it What was the deer protection? Was it like kind of great or was it like one
of those like I think one of those like netting things around the trunk? Okay. Not many people got it. No, they should. Yeah, I don't get any feedback. I don't know if you did.
Well, does bag and deer those two that we planted last year already and I know Bonnie went out there and put some uh some protective gauge around there. I Mark was involved in that probably
and uh I saw the deer got home. I mean, they're able to I mean, they're just they got before we put that on what that they got to before we could. Yeah. Yeah. But so yeah, we'll definitely plan to do that. Um so if
anybody else uh um you know, I would personally I think we be looking to buy at least six and in addition to if anybody else has any other locations. Do we know what's going on at Sportsman's Field? I saw they were
digging it up, but I don't know what that is. They I think they're they could definitely use some shade cover as well. Yeah, they just removed the largest one of the largest sweet gums in TR last whatever Wednesday or Thursday
and cut down an oak tree to get to it. Um I don't know. I did not, you know, look closely at uh sportsman, but if somebody has an idea prior to our planting, I'm always, you
know, in favor of taking on what we can handle as far as managing them, watering them. And I don't think that we could I don't know that we would be able to execute on sportsman without I mean, that's not Sean. Yeah. Yeah, that would be
school. But he said he wants to plant. You know, there's so many grants for planting at schools available, but it just, you know, when I see those, make up a story for there's a new business administrator um which started a couple weeks ago.
Take that on where at the fairness school district. You know the name? Oh, yeah. Bert. All right, let's um
Yes. public comment. Are you done with the I I don't Yeah. Are we Does anybody want to discuss more tree locations or I mean if we're looking I mean if anybody's in agreement, you know, planning roughly six at community center, I think that's a nice
little project to take on that. I think whatever budget or get out of hand, we should make it look good and we should talk to Sherry about what what the best and sure. Yeah. And then once you know we should have
time we should have time to discuss that I would think at our next meeting. Yeah. If they don't have the list yet I think we we could probably get a little over time. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think so. I just going to give her a heads up that's like, you know, when I talk to her that
there will be this additional add-on coming. Sure. Um, do we have any new agenda items moving on? We um Bonnie had sent an email about um
Shade Tree rejoining the New Jersey Shade Tree Federation um membership. Um they offer bimonthly newsletters, tree talks, um access to grant opportunities, and a discount on the conference.
Okay. So, what is the membership cost? It's $150 for five members and then an addition like $25 for each additional member. So, if that's something you'd like to consider, say that again. It's
so it'll it's individual members. change. They group it as $150 for five members. And if you want to add additional numbers, because some change commissions are larger, like you have nine, you would add four $200 more. Okay. Um, so if that's something the commission
would like to discuss, she is like is it a situation where it's like up to five? Do they have to be specific five people? Like specific because you will get your emails. You will get emails and only they would get the discount to
go to. Yes, that's a good point. Yeah, but you can add your whole commission. It just cost $25 more per month. It's up to you guys. I like to pitch my pet. So, that was something she would like the commissioner to consider because if
No, you're is it so the discount or the conference would be lucrative and it's good timing because we have to register. Sure. or do it like it's 20% off. It's so it's
175 plus 200 375. Is that what you said? 150 for high for 350. Okay. So, we'll take a vote on that. Yep. Is that how we have to do to Yeah. Yes. Okay.
make a motion to spend the $350 to join the Shade Tree Federation. Is that what it's called? What's the name? New Jersey uh Shade Tree Federation. Does every member have every member of Shade Tree have to be um
Maybe not. It is. Oh, we don't have to. But do the local. Why would you want it? It's up to you guys. I think we should do it. You know, somebody can't make something and then obviously, you know, it's, you know, so we'll we'll go ahead and
Wait, so it's $25 for each additional member. Mhm. Oh, so it's not 50, right? It's only 25. Oh, there you go. Even better. We signed more people up.
Um, yeah, we to do that. Everybody in favor? All in favor? I. All of us. It's Chris. There he is.
All right. Motion approved. Let's join. Okay. Um for a new agenda item as well, the Sons of the American Revolution. Uh there is a program
to or an initiative to plant I think it's 250 elm trees throughout the country and we're gonna we're going to plant all right here in but um I know they would like to plant a
tree and um marine is I guess spearheading that and along with many others um she wanted to uh she was planning on coming to the next
meeting to discuss this um and they're looking to plant at community center from what she told me. Um, so I think that could be a new agenda item, but there's a a little bit of a
wrinkle in it that I guess there is already a landscaping plan in place for the community center. Yeah, Councilman Barbara is not here to May I could talk to him while about it. Um, so let's at least put that on the
agenda. Sure. for next meeting, but I'll be talking to Marie uh all time as well in the meantime. I think we all would be in favor of planning said Elm Street, but I guess the location is but I mean we're good
with any location. Um anybody else new agenda items? Anything else we want to discuss? Uh public comment Susan. So I wanted to address sportsman's field
because um when the adjacent property was so divided, what I believe part of the resolution should be that the land the um developer was supposed to replace any trees that were removed along there.
So, I don't know what happened with it, whether they came to an agreement with the school board or um so I'm unclear why there was some additional tree removal.
Uh I think we're all unclear. We weren't really looped in or just this recent tree removal you were talking about. Yeah. Yeah. We But but when they were um building the I
think it was two houses as part of the subdivision. Yep. Um I think that they were going to remove some vegetation and I believe part of the resolution requires the developer who is long gone to
replace some of the trees along there. So, who knows whether it was followed up on anything like that. Okay. I don't think we were tasked to follow up on it at the time, but we could
um but it is school property. So, that's it is the school submitted a tree removal permit to remove that tree. Okay. And it was approved by Sher, but this harks back a couple years when the subdivision was approved. Oh,
and there were requirements as part and and should be incorporated in the resolution that whatever was removed under construction should have been replaced by the developer and I don't know whether it
was because as notes there's not a lot of followup on things right was money was was anything held in escrow for that or like um How about that? I don't know.
A couple years ago and they there was some landscape plan that was approved by planning board associated with that those houses. Yeah. But um that's
I think I feel like I don't want to speak incorrectly but I feel like they they submitted the plan and they followed it which I do kind of remember that which was not like it was like replacement like shrubs were the replacement or something like that
was approved. Yeah. But I think that they they took down a lot of junk trees, thought that they had to replace some of the trees. I think we were all under that same assumption. And then when like we look when I feel like the landscape plan was
pulled like it was turned out to be like shrubs along that that line. I mean this is going back like water. Yeah. Yeah. If if we're talking about the same thing. Yeah. Um but again like because it's not
because that was on school property like that was news to all of us as well at the time. Yeah. That's how I recall it. Wasn't it on private property but it provided shade to school property
for those two the two lots that Susan's talking about. Um, you know, obviously there were a lot of junk trees, but the the there were trees that shaded that field. So, it's, you know, a barren wasteland now. I'm wondering what's being ripped up now. I don't know what
that what that is. Um, or if there was like any sort of planting plan for that. I mean, those point there was a plan the plan was approved. Um and I don't think that that plan would be approved like
today today as we have like more focused on mention to this but this was you know quite some time ago. Um, but we've had we've talked so many times about like what should go in that field, but the
reality is that's that's school property, right? They have to Sorry. Yeah, I think we did also discuss at one point trying to provide trees there and then there was a a plan on the school side of
that field in place, wasn't there? Was there a landscape? Yeah, I feel like there was they were they were getting ready to do Yeah. Right. And they just that we walked away from like the idea what in one of our years of like coming up with a planting plan of like where are we going to plant trees,
right? No, no, you planted we we planted those April 23, Arbor Day 23. And you guys funded Oh, we planted five trees in there and I think you guys funded Y
two of them, I believe. Yeah, I came here. took the sound. Yeah. And I don't think it was more. Was it more than 10? What was it more? It was more than 10. I think he planted four, but I think two
were there and two were someplace else. I believe it was four funded, but and I don't know how I guess we got that to get that approval. Typical of me, I didn't know the rules or anything and just last minute got approval from I didn't know all the time. Yeah, but
she did plan too. Yeah. A sweet gum. Is that the one we're talking about? That's what Susan was talking about. Okay. July. That was approved in July.
Yeah. One 38 inch sweet gun in the back of sportsman. Yeah. Uh Sherry said it was at Hazard Trade. I can't wait to meet Sherry someday and ask her like I took the pictures of the stump. It's completely off. I know what I think I
know what happened. The owner was because we really don't have any clarity on the that area and who's responsible for it and how much we can intervene on it. I guess it's something that maybe we could
discuss in the future and maybe find out get some clarity on it and we can provide some trees or find out whether or not the school was uh going to move forward with the landscaping plan that they said they had. Yeah. Like I said, there's a new business administrator if you want to
meet with them and discuss options. But that's not really under a shade trees program, right? because it's not really it it anytime we kind of sort of poke it around over there got a little murky so so I wanted to say something unless you
want to say something uh Bonnie wanted me to mention that we're going Do you have power attorney um so we tried to do that homegrown oaks thing when we collected acorns from home sickles three years ago
two years ago So, and we brought them down to Nwood and grew them, but we had a very hard time getting to we got them to pop whatever six, eight inches, but we couldn't maintain them. We just struggled um trying to maintain them
indoors. So, now um Amy Romano is like, "Let's do it again this fall. Let's try it." She bought a greenhouse and so she really wants to move forward. One of the things we have to do, you know, first of all, you got to get that
acorn to grow and got to protect it from the chipmunks and the squirrels. And then eventually, 5 years later, you got to protect it from the deer. But so Bonnie found a way to build this thing with chicken wire, very cheap, and we wanted to, that was the whole thing
where she went to you. She wanted to get this. It's not a grant. It was like uh New Jersey Shade Tree Commissioner was just going to write a check, right? But she couldn't do it unless you guys signed off on it, right? So,
well, it was No, see, it wouldn't be able to go on a council meeting in a sort notice. That's right. New York City. Yeah. Wasn't it wasn't you, right? It was council. So, but I'm like fine. We're still going to go forward with um
Marilyn Schwarz and with Amy Romano. We're going to do the acorn thing in the fall. We got some people volunteered to help. We'll build some cages to protect it. We have a a greenhouse. Um and so she just said, "Can you just
present that to Shane?" So I just presented it to you that we're going to go forward grant. No grant. We got volunteer money and we're going to build these things and then we're going to leave them at Neil's house through the winter. So he'll take care of newest member.
So from Argentina says welcome. Gracias. You you also are in charge of all the plantings that are going in. Perfect. there. I swear I made it in. You made it in the minutes somehow. And Sure. Absolutely. Yeah, we can talk
more. Are you asking for money or help? No, but I had them by now. Yeah. All right. Nothing. Any other comments from the public? There are no attendees online.
Just members. All right. Any other? No. No. Sure. Make a motion to adjourn this meeting. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. It's good to be here. Thank you guys.
Thank you.