I hereby announce that this meeting is being held in accordance with chapter 231 of the public open meeting act. Proper notice of meeting dates has been given to the Morris newsby. The Morris County Daily Record and posted on the bulletin board in Bur Hall. Roll call,
please. Notice to members of the sha tree commission and the burough staff any use of electronic devices during this meeting shall be used solely for the purpose of burough business. >> Roll call please. >> Okay. Mrs. Dy
>> present. >> Mr. Dutler >> present. >> Mr. Lombardi >> present. >> Mr. Mleier >> here. >> Mr. Steer I mean M. not here, but I'm >> She still calls me Mayor Drestler, so don't worry.
>> Oh, I did. I called you mayor. >> Should I start again? All right. And I'll say that Mr. Jubie is here and at the moment, Mr. Councilman Cortez is not. >> Sorry about that.
>> Uh, the next order of business is the election of the officers for the 2026 year. I turn this meeting over to our secretary. >> Okay. Thank you. May I have a motion for the chairman? >> I move that Mr. Michael Lombardi be
nominated for chairman for the year of 2026. >> Okay. And can I have a second? >> Second. Second. >> There being no f is there any more nominations for chairman?
There being no further nominations. Nominations for chairs will be closed. Can I have a roll call? Okay. Mrs. >> Yes. >> Mr. Drew. >> Yes. >> Mr. Lombardi. >> Abstain. >> Um, Mr. Mle.
>> Yes. >> And Miss Miss Mrs. >> All right. Now, can I have nominations for vice chair? I'd love I'd like to nominate Marian Ster for vice chair.
>> Okay. And um Okay. Is there any more? There have been no further nominations. >> I'll second it. >> Okay. Second it. Thank you. Okay.
I close this section. Roll call. >> Mrs. Dy, >> yes. >> Mr. D. >> Yes. >> Mr. Lombardi. >> Yes. >> Mr. Mir. >> Yes. >> And Mrs. Okay. Okay. Ar. I believe there's two chairs
for Arg. >> Okay. All right. So, can I have a motion to nominate the chairs? >> Yes. I move motion to continue with the same two chairs that we've had in the prior year, Mr. Frankler and Mardi.
>> And can I have a second? >> Second. >> Is there any other nominations? There being no further nominations, the nominations for arbit chairs are closed. Roll call. Okay.
>> Okay. Mrs. Dy, >> yes, >> you can vote for yourself. You can vote. I should have thought about that. >> Okay. All right. >> Mr. Dusler, >> yes. >> Okay. >> Um, Mr. Lombardi. >> Yes. >> Mr. Mleier. >> Yes. >> And Mrs. Steer.
>> Yes. >> Okay. >> All right. >> Before I move on to the uh resolution of the minutes of meeting dates for 2026, uh, I would just like to take the opportunity to thank Mr. Mleier uh, for
serving as the vice chair of this committee. We really appreciate your efforts and so does the burrows. Thank you very much >> everybody has a copy. Maybe they just want to read it >> and then we can vote on it.
>> So there was a resolution um I'm not going to read this whole thing but just a kind of to the point piece. Um this puts forward the meeting dates for the uh 2026 year that will include the meeting in January of 2027.
Uh just some key takeaways from this. Um there is a change to Monday uh just for the month of December. Normally the shade tree meets the first Monday of each month except July. Um in December we will meet be meeting the
first Tuesday of the month. Um uh also July and September it will not be the first of the month due to the two holidays that intertwine with the first Monday of the month. We do not have a meeting in the month of August. And uh
moving forward all meetings will move from 5:30 p.m. till 6:30 p.m. Good. Can I have a motion to approve the resolution? >> I'll move it.
>> Second. >> All in favor? >> I >> I motion car. >> And I would like to congratulate everybody on their seats until next meeting.
Okay. >> Uh so the the next topic is uh our minutes from the December 1st, 2025 meeting. Um there was just kind of some back and forth on these minutes. I I know that and there just was uh a small issue just the fact that the audio
equipment in the burough chambers was not working. So this was the best estimated uh minutes and recap of the meeting. I have a motion to move the minutes of the prior meeting. >> I move that the minutes of the regular
meeting held on December 1st, 2025 be approved and circulated. Okay. Second >> second. >> All in favor? >> No, I can't I can't
unless some sort of things are not accurately accurately reflect what happened because there's a whole section of the meeting that's left but I can't actual meeting.
>> All right. So then I'll do a roll call. >> Mrs. Dy, >> yes. >> Mr. Dler, >> yes. >> Mr. Lombardi. Yes, >> Mr. >> No. >> And Mrs. Steer. >> Yes. >> I open the comments from the public
section of our meeting. >> Jason Carr, Mayor Burrow Forest Plains. First of all, I'd like to congratulate everybody on your appointment. Mike is being chair again and Maryanne vice chair. Thank Rob for being vice chair
last year and to Ro and Frank for stepping up and doing tree farmer day. So, so as I've done since I've become mayor is just come here and say thank you. Uh you guys are all volunteers and uh that really makes Mars plans go
around is is the volunteers. Uh people don't understand the time and the uh uh dedication that it takes to to be on anything, whether it's a board or commission or volunteering for baseball at the snack bar or whatever. But it's so so very important and really part of
our makeup here in Morris Point. So, uh I appreciate the work that you all do and uh been out there looking at trees, making suggestions, keeping it within budget. I think that was very good this year. You guys worked hard to do that. And uh the plantings I
remember uh Pearl Law, a long time member of the shade tree told me, "Plant more trees. Plant more trees." And we've been trying to plant trees. Unfortunately, we had some diseased trees that we had to take care of for a few years. And uh so it seems like we're
back on our way to Pearl's wish and uh and my wish uh is to planting more trees here in town. So, I really appreciate those efforts and and putting, you know, quite a bit of effort and time and money into planting trees wherever they are in town. Uh, trees are very important and
make our town look absolutely beautiful. So, happy new year to you all. Thank you again for volunteering and stepping up and I wish you a a year of good luck and happy planning. So, >> thank you. >> Thank you. >> Happy new year. Before
we start the meeting, I just like to know that I gave you a sheet that gives you all of the members, their telephone number and their website, you know. Uh I just want to make sure just confirm that everybody's name is correct. I think I
gave it to you also and uh if there's any problem just let me know, okay? So I can change it and issue All right. >> Okay. Thanks. >> Seeing as there's no additional comments
from the public, I close this part of the meeting. >> Moving forward, the the next uh line item is the budget. Uh the budget that you see in front of you is what we've proposed. This is not the official budget for 2026.
It's pretty much in line within a few hundred dollars of what it was in 2025. Uh this won't be finalized until um it down does their budget process. >> Mike, I had asked you to send a
rationale around for this budget. Um and I I also followed up with an email to you when I hadn't received it by December 20th and I never heard back. Is there any way we could get a rationale for this, but we're voting on it. >> Sure. What's your questions regarding the budget? >> Thank you. >> I'd just like you to last time I asked
you if you could explain how you came up with the number for us. >> So, I I kept the budget pretty much in line to what it had been the prior years with some puts and takes. Uh main puts and takes was additional money into um
planting uh more than 2x what we had always had uh in the past. uh additional money into Arbor Day as we are planning to do something special with the 100redy year anniversary of the town and for the school. Um outside of that uh just some
movement through some of the lines but pretty much same budget outside of those two line items. >> So that's that's the >> correct I want to have more discussion about it than that. Is when is this due?
>> So, this isn't really our final budget. This is just what what we've proposed to when the councilman's here and when they do the the budget discussions in the burrow. Um, as of right now, our budget uh to
start the year is 25% of the prior year budget. So, this is pretty much, like I said, pretty flat the prior year. >> I just know that the council had had some questions about our budget and I think um it makes sense to try and, you know, go through it as a commission and
have a rationale for each of the budget lines and why we need that amount of money and why we're putting that amount there based on, you know, the work that we've done, what our expectations are for this year's work. I think that'd be good for us to be able to give to S when he goes to the budget
hearing. And I think for me, you know, just looking at the numbers on the page, like I said last time, I mean, it's not it looks reasonable enough, but I think that, you know, in order for us to present our best face at the council, we need to have more than just a line of
numbers for given the scrutiny that we were under last year for our budget. Just my opinion. So, if we don't have to have it this week, is there a way that we could get that from you and then we could have a discussion about it next meeting? I
don't know when we have to have it in, but >> March. Um, with that being here to answer that specifically, that I'm not 100% sure on, but sure, that's fine. >> I appreciate that. Basically, it's gone
to the treasurer. The treasur I'm not even saying I want to change something. I want us to have before we vote on it, I want us to have a rationale so that when it goes in front of the council, we can explain why it is that we're requesting what we're requesting. Um, you know, we can say, you know, we
did this last year, we expect that to stay the same. X many trees we took down. That's the that's the average of for the last five years. Whatever it is, whatever our rationale is. >> Yeah, I'll provide documentation for that next month.
>> Thank you. >> You're welcome. Seeing as there's no communications moving forward to the forers report. >> Thanks, Mike. It's brief. I believe there's only three memos. There are a few carried over from December.
2594 the Presbyterian Church. Uh some women that were hanging in Jupen DPW did take care of this to the best of my knowledge. >> 93. >> Oh, I'm sorry. I started with 94. I apologize. 2593
uh 29 Harrison Avenue. Um that is a dead tree. It's actually rotted and broke at the base in the green uh green acres space behind this property. So that should be removed 12 to 24 in uh no stump on that.
And then I had 2601 um pruning a few trees at Brier Cliff Road and Windwood Road. Um I would suggest to go ahead with pruning three trees. Um they're all 24 to 36 inch diameter. >> 24 to 36.
>> Yes. Three trees at 30 24 to 36 inch diameter. I believe that's all the memos I have. I'm missing some. >> Do I have a motion to move the foresters
report? >> Second. >> Mrs. >> Yes. >> Mr. Mardi. >> Yes. >> Mr. Mir. >> Yes. Mrs. >> I wanted to talk about two items that were on the worksheet previous.
>> Yes. >> Wait till business. >> Yeah. No, we're in old business now. >> Okay. >> Um, so the first one was 87 Silvin. Ro asked me about this before the meeting. Uh, this was the house that had the
insulators on it. I don't know if anyone else here talked to JCPO. I I I did not I um had asked Bill Houston to do it and before he had a chance to do it, they the wires removed. So, >> I don't know. There's a new poll in the
electric wires moved. Now, it's up to I guess the cable company and Verizon. >> Did you take care of that, Frank? I didn't take care of it. >> I just called when they finally came out here. I have to tell you this. I
thought, "Wow, that's a bad >> Yeah, I didn't expect it. I thought >> and so I thought that was good. And I I don't know whether this means anything, but I see that looks like the phone company is in town. Whether we're going
to work there, I don't know, but I've seen him in town." Should this be removed from the worksheet? >> What's that? >> Should 87 be removed from the worksheet? >> Yeah, I think it can move it. I mean, the other wires aren't going to be
sparking. >> Yeah, but I don't believe that. >> So, I can remove >> I spoke to the resident and she was she was grateful and said, "Thanks for being persistent and taking care of it." >> Very nice. >> She was pleased with the outcome. So, Unless
something further happens there, I think we can close that. >> Okay. Are we going to do the worksheet or no? >> Okay. Well, 130 that was going to be deferred to January. Um
train was deferred to this. >> Correct. >> You still had something else. >> That's right. We can do this. Well, I can I mean I can ask if you want. So my question is about southern juniper. I want to know what happened there. >> Okay. >> Because my recollection is that they
called about two town trees. Our arborist went out and said they were healthy. Frank I think called them specimen trees in the meeting. We all agreed we wouldn't remove them. And then last week I walked by and one of them was removed. So when I called Karen she said it was approved to be removed by
the res. The resident paid for it. >> Right. >> So paid for it. So yeah. So I want to know who approved. We didn't vote on this. I want to know how it was. What what happened? How was this approved that resident was allowed to remove a tree that our arborist had said was health?
>> Sure. I talk about this. So the resident pulled in multiple times and sent multiple notes to myself and the mayor and toal as well providing a lot of background uh regarding his >> Oh, okay. Um
Someone's phone. >> It is. It's my phone. Not very loud. >> Little background. >> All right. >> Should we lower the lights? >> Um, he had had a lot of issues with
getting his insurance reuped because of shade coverage. Sent me multiple communications on this. Um myself and the forester did go back out there and take a look. Um the main concern there uh was where the tree was located in
front of his property. The issues that he's having has had with his insurance company. The tree that was removed was really butchered by JCPNL. I gave him a one-time exception for the removal of this tree seeing as he was going to pay for it and in return he
will be planting trees in its place. >> So can I just I just want to understand what happened. So did did that happen after our last meeting? >> Correct. >> Okay. So there's a process in our town ordinance for removing or when a resident wants to
remove a tree. Okay. So maybe you weren't aware of it, but it's I I I got the citation. It's 23B-8. Removal of trees permit applications. It says, "No tree upon municipal land shall be removed until a permit has been
obtained. Applications for permit shall be made in triplicate and submitted to the shade tree commission. Each application shall state the name, address, and telephone number and give the location and reason for the removal. The shade tree commission will then take such a request under advisement and
notify the applicant. So there's a clear procedure in the code for how this should have been dealt with. I don't understand if it wasn't an emergency why it wasn't why we didn't you know I don't need it in triplicate but we should have had you know that explanation the
documentation and it should have been brought to the meeting and voted on. This isn't the first time that something like this has happened. I just don't understand why we're not voting on removals if they're not emergencies. >> To be honest with you, I did the homeowner a favor and to keep our
residents happy in town. I understand that this is there. I wasn't aware of this permitting u piece of that. But this won't happen again. But the resident for me making resident happy was the determining factor here. Well,
Frank, I want to ask you about your opinion about it because you said if we cut these trees down, you don't want to ever hear about canopy again. So, where do you land on this? You call them specimen trees, I believe. >> I did. >> And I agreed with you. >> Yes. There's nothing you're going to do
about it now. Unfortunately, the trees down and gone and mistake happened and we learn from it. That's about it. What else can we do? Well, I think what one of the things we need to do is we need to have some sort
of bylaws on this commission that spell out the process for some of these things. I think we should work with the the chair and the vice chair can work with the town attorney to come up with those bylaws so that we're aware of what the process is for
any of these issues that come up because things are being done kind of fast and loose and it doesn't look good. You know, I understand that maybe there was no ill will there, but from my point of view, you know, just because a resident complains doesn't mean we should cut the
tree down. So, I want to see documentation and have us make a decision because it's hard when the resident's there and they're pressuring you to say no. But that's our job. That's what why we're here. Our job is to say no. To hold the line and say the tree is healthy, our arborist says it's
healthy. We understand you don't like the leaves on your lawn or whatever the problem is, but we're not going to cut it down. It's a healthy tree. So, we need to have some bylaws. And I I think that I would like for the the chair and the vice chair to talk to the town attorney about coming up with some
bylaws that spell out what our procedures are. >> Why do we need bylaws if it's in the documentation? >> Because this is not >> we need another >> I apologize for speaking. >> Yeah. If it's already there, it's fine. I think what we should what we can do is right this was a mistake. We'll make
sure that you know I'm committed to making sure I read through it and making sure that going forward we have an understanding and ask all the commissioners to do the same. Just read the documentation again. It's been a while since we looked at it, but I don't know that we need another thing to
restate what's already in there. So, >> bylaws aren't restating. So, the council has all sorts of ordinances. And they still have bylaws. The bylaws are to govern the way that we do things here. It's not it's not a law about what trees are cut down. Bylaws govern the
commission, the committee's behavior, our voting process, what things have to be put to a vote, what things don't have to be put to a vote, what things have to be on the agenda, what things don't have to be on the agenda, how far in advance we need to see materials before we vote, things that have all been issues over
the last year. >> Before committing to that, I would um I'll take this next month to review what's in there already and we can come back and put it on the agenda for next month. >> So, we can come back with the we, you
know, let's take a look at it, see what's there. The next bylaws, whatever. Let's Let's talk about it. >> I I appreciate you entertaining it, but I just like to clarify what's where. Take a look and see what's where. >> We're going to look at the what you just read from. Familiarize ourselves. See if
Michael and I will get together, see if there's We think bylaws. It makes sense. Let's give us some time to take a look at it first and then we can discuss it next meeting. >> Okay. So, next meeting we'll have a discussion about bylaws. >> If yes, we'll all discuss it and figure
out if we think bylaws are necessary or if there's another form of documentation whatever it would be I think it's a I think it's a good discussion to have >> I think we need to have because we need also you know it needs to encompass more than just this particular issue in my opinion
>> so thanks for the discussion >> this res that we're talking about did she not send pictures last year of the trees right it was last year >> there was additional things that were not sent to everyone one on the
commission that were discussed between the the homeowner and myself. >> Okay. >> I take this on myself then. Um just going through whatever uh the other open items that are on the uh just the worksheet. Obviously, we always have the f pearl law tree that that's on here to
be fertilized. That'll be done later in the spring. >> Yeah, that's >> um say we took 87 off uh 57 styles. Uh there's really nothing refer till January. This we need to go through the
the growth season of the the tree to see if there's any damage that was done. >> So spring, >> I would say spring. Um the one regarding the park plan that runs parallel uh to Port Road and the train path. Uh this is something that
DBW is currently working through. Uh when they have the opportunity, they're going through there and uh trimming when they can. And then as far as uh 130 Glen Brook Road, um I know we had some discussion about
this last time. Um fell outside of the 10 foot mark. Um as far as I'm concerned, we just remove this from the worksheet. Moving on to the new business portion of the meeting.
>> Are we still Are we in old business? Old business first. Anything else? >> Oh, I didn't I didn't even think we're in old business. I thought that was still the worksheet we were working on. But anyway, yes, I do have something else. >> Part of old business. >> Okay. Um yeah, my other item that I have
that I wanted to discuss tonight is um uh natural climate solutions grant. So um this was the uh grant that the commission voted to advance uh to the council last meeting and I went to the council meeting to see what would happen
and uh this is uh the grant that um was for $260,000 uh what the application was for um and the plant I found out last meeting 400 trees. the council tabled the grant because um they said they did not have
adequate details on costs from us. So uh I just wanted to ask a little bit about this because you know I left the meeting and I was just confused. So I want to ask a little bit about what happened here because the details of the the grant was put
together in September. The details of the gr the grant were never discussed at any meeting. There was no input from the public for four 400 tree locations as to how that $260,000 would be spent.
I asked for the application materials on three separate occasions since September. And each time I was told I would get them, but I never did. So I want to ask, did anyone else on this commission see the application materials besides
Chairman Lombardi or did they discuss the application? You looked at it online. It was available online. I looked at it online. >> I'm talking about the materials that he had, the sheet that he handed me last time, like the planting locations
and the amount of money that we're requesting and the details that he gave me on the sheet. >> Did we see it in advance? >> Did anyone else see it in advance? >> I I saw that in the summer when it was being put together. Um, and but it
doesn't seem like there's any support. I mean the way I heard there was no support of the governing body. So I mean this will take a great effort over three years by the by the commission here and have people
aren't going to support it. I as far as I'm concerned you can just forget it. Maybe there's no support in the governing body and you don't really support it. are we having for three years trying to
get this money uh which will talk about which would lower our budget because we wouldn't have to buy trees in our budget. We'll use that uh by getting basically 400 trees is a lot of trees but it's doable because it's been done
before and uh you could uh you know get the community involved. to get the school system, perhaps Robert's Garden, some other organizations and and do a a wonderful thing for the
for the town. Um, but it's going to take an effort and there's no support from the governing body and uh, you know, I come to the conclusion this is the second time governing body
just let's forget it. So the push to get it in front of the governing body was this is a rolling grant and we wanted to try to get something in as an application for funding right now. That was the push for this. >> So Frank, I don't disagree you said and
I'd like to on record to say that I'm not against the grant. I said that last time. Um I disagree with the I should say I disagree with the part that you said the council. It's not what I heard at the council. What I heard is that we did not first of all the grant writer was there instead of someone from this
commission to talk about the grant and we did not have the details that they needed in order to make a decision because there's costs associated with this grant and there was a feeling that maybe and this is something that chairman Lombardi said himself last meeting that there's a low chance that
we get it and that we should know what the costs are before we apply for it and weigh the costs and the benefit. But my question really is, Frank, you saw the application beforehand. Did anybody else see it? Because I'm trying to understand
why it is that people on this commission are okay with voting for something that they haven't seen. So either you're okay with voting something for something that you haven't seen or you already saw it and I'm the only one who didn't. So which one is it? >> Did you see it, Maryann beforehand?
I just told you I looked at the grant online >> and I knew enough about it to know that our grant writer >> in conjunction knows what he's doing and builds out a grant appropriately for submission to the council. My impression
at the council meeting was there was no support and the council drew conclusions about expenses that were part of the grant that were not part of the grant were not included in the grant because it wasn't it wasn't anything that was going to be in there. So I agree with
Frank's assessment that it didn't appear that there was support for it at the council. We've got if there's a low propensity for us to get this grant, I we have a grant subcommittee, right? I would rather us spend our time on grants
that we have a higher propensity to get than spend a significant amount of time on a grant like this that we know it's slow to right. We know urban areas are going to get grants. Who knows how much money is given out of this grant
already? And as Michael said, chairman said, it's a rolling grant. We don't even know how much money is left in the grant by the time we, you know, submit it. Anyway, so that's just my let's came from the grant person at town
suggesting that perhaps we would like to look at it. Michael did a bunch of work looking for spots. I saw a little bit. Did I see all things about the grant? No, because it hasn't all been filled out. The grant committee would be
working with the grant writer. >> But you saw what Mike's proposed locations were. >> Yeah. >> Okay. So, why didn't you give those to me, Frank? >> I didn't have them. I saw them. >> You were in politics for 30 years. Did you regularly vote on things that you
hadn't seen? >> No, I didn't. >> Okay. So, why would you ask me to do the same thing? >> I thought you you saw it. I don't know. I don't know. >> Okay. I don't know. I don't know why you don't see it.
>> This is why we need bylaws. >> I have some additional thoughts about this grant because there's two things that we should do regardless, but if we're going to apply for this grant, we certainly should. So, I went after the meeting and took a look. All right. I want to call everyone's attention to the
title of the grant, natural climate solutions grant. The project type is urban canopy and water quality enhancement. Why is that important? The purpose of the grant is eligible products will establish and maintain trees and reduce imperous cover and
storm water runoff while promoting groundwater recharge in urban areas. So the reason for the money is being given up for the grant as part of climate solutions is because planting trees reduces the amount and speed of storm water runoff. The trees suck up some of the water and they also delay some of
the water from going into our storm drains. So the difference between a normal storm and an excessive storm is slowed down by trees. All right. So there's an environmental impact here. So the grant is offered by the Department of Environmental Protection.
This is the same Department of Environmental Protection that has required that Morris Plains have a tree removal and replacement ordinance for private property for groundwater recharge since 2024. We do not have that and we're not in compliance with that. You remember the
tree removal grant that we that we all talked about in 2024? It was never followed through on. We're not in compliance for our storm water permit. So, I find it highly unlikely that if we don't work with the council to develop that tree removal ordinance that we get any money from this grant.
>> So, first of all, or I concluded, forget it. You're beating a dead horse anyway. I mean, the council was was negative to it. So, just it's over. >> It's over. It's no use talking about it
or going back or anything else. It's over with. Boom. >> Our council leazison isn't here to speak on this. I know they've tried to work on different ordinances for for the town regarding the trees. Nothing has moved forward as far as that's concerned, but
that's on the council to figure out, not us. >> I agree that it's for private property, but we were asked to consult last time. And I think that we should say to the council, hey, you know, one of the reasons that um we wouldn't qualify well to go to your point, Maryanne, for the grant is because we're not in compliance
with the Department of Environmental Protection regulations that groundwater and we're going to ask them to give us 400 trees when we're not even in compliance with what we're supposed to have complied with um almost two years ago. >> That is your opinion. It's >> not my opinion. know it is your opinion
because we did get a grant and we did plant 48 trees and we are Tree City USA coming on 50 years and we certainly have a tremendous record and to say that we
wouldn't get a grant we won't get the grant if you don't make an effort and nobody wants to make that effort >> what am I doing >> until until we people decide that it's worth an effort instead of bringing up
all these other things. But we're not going to go into >> these aren't all other things. These are application details. Frank, the other part of the application, you have to follow the 20 10 2030 rule. I think you talked about that when you came back. Okay. It says in here for the the tree planting product that you have tree
planting guidelines. Sorry, that you have to follow the 10 2030 rule. And then it says, "Ideally, applicants should be evaluating their existing species composition when making planning decisions. We don't know what our species composition is because we don't have a tree inventory. It's now been
more than a year that I've been trying to get us to apply for the free $20,000 from the state to write the community forest management plan and to do the tree inventory. Can we please make it a priority, chair and vice chair, to do this right away?" because the idea that
we, you know, it's the council that is somehow holding us back. It's us not doing the work we need to do to get accredited to set ourselves up well. And I want to say one thing about the Tree City USA. I'm glad we're at Tree City USA. There's four requirements to be a
Tree City USA. Okay. First one is that you have to have some sort of shade tree commission. Second one is that you have to have a tree ordinance. The third one is that you have to have an Arbor Day celebration. And the fourth one is that you have to spend $2 per resident. Population of Morris Plains right now,
what around 6,500. So that's $13,000 if my math maths right. We'll call it 15. So I'm not saying that it's nothing, Frank, but just because we have that, we need to go beyond that. We need to get accredited. We can't just rest on our laurels. All right? That isn't that hard
of a bar to hit for a community like ours. We should be doing a better job. So I think what I take away from this is first of all, we need bylaws. so that information is shared. Okay? If you don't like something that someone has to say, vote it up or down, but don't not give them the information before the
vote. That's not right. And second of all, I think we should work with the council to develop this tree removal and replacement ordinance. And we should apply for the free money first and then see if we have time to get our application in. We probably won't be able to do the whole inventory before this application is due in August, but
at least we could say, "Hey, we're starting to do it." Maybe that would help our chances if people want to reply. >> So, we will prioritize based on what the asks are and come up with a prioritization. >> As far as the tree ordinance goes, obviously our council leazison isn't
here to see where that stands with the council. So, I can't comment on that. >> I I as far as I'm concerned, I would never vote for that tree or is just a tax on on people. That's all it is. It's a tax. >> So, it's required by the state for our
>> because it's required by the state. Does it mean it does that mean that everything is good? That the state knows everything? >> No, but it's good. >> It does mean that we have a storm water permit that could be denied if we don't we're not if we're not in compliance. And as I said,
>> we have a storm water and we have to every you have to take do that every year. It's done every year. And one of the requirements that we are not currently in fulfillment of and as far as I saw the 2025 stormwater permit information is not posted which would be
the first year that because Frank you said we applied for 400 trees before but this this ordinance wasn't required when we when we applied last time >> we've been doing storm water for many many many years and >> so there's a new requirement and we are not if you go to the website you'll see
that information is not posted there as it's supposed to be and we're not compiance for that. >> That does that necessarily mean it doesn't exist? >> I mean, I think before we start saying things don't exist, we should >> I question. >> So, >> it could be that it just didn't get posted. I don't know.
>> The the or the tree removal ordinance. >> Well, the tree removal ordinance is not done. It's held up. So, that doesn't exist. So, that's what I'm saying. We're not in compliance. >> What you're talking about storm water. >> This is tied to our storm water. This is what I'm trying to say. It's all of a piece, guys. Okay. They're giving you the Department of Environmental
Protection is saying you need to you need to regulate to some extent tree removal because it affects the storm water discharge. And then this grant now, this grant that we just had this big kuffle about is also saying we'll give you more trees if you're meeting
the criteria for storm water management. It's there's a whole section in here that you have to meet the storm water management guidelines, >> right? But Rob, again, the propensity of us getting this is low. It doesn't matter if we have the storm water in America or not. I don't know what
that means. >> It doesn't matter. It doesn't mean we're going to get it, right? >> I didn't say it did. >> I I'll take it upon our council leazison regarding the storm water management order. >> Yeah. Let's see where we're at
and then we will Michael and I are on the grant grant committee and we'll take a look at what out there, you know, and we will say, "Hey, here's a list of things. Let's prioritize. There's no way we're
going to get to everything." And based on what the requirements are, there's some that we may have a higher propensity to get. Look, we can't even get the $2,500 quarter award. We've applied for that for two years. I read the first one. Steve wrote the second one. We haven't even gotten that one
yet, >> you know. So, those are small grants. So, this is baby steps in terms of what we have to I have to disagree with you somewhat because the the grant the green communities grant is a grant they want to give you because they want you to do a good job managing your urban
>> urban we don't qualify for a lot of the urban stuff we detail >> we first of all we already have qualified for this grant we have a we we got this grant before this is part of the grant that Frank's talking about they had to write that management plan in order to get the trees that they got
so we've already done that so we do qualify okay I've already done a I don't know that we qualify because I don't know that the requirements are exactly the same as they were but it's a whatever we're talking about a grant >> that doesn't even have support for from the trade uh the shade tree commission
at this point. So, >> you know, let's let's >> let's just >> the community forest management plan grant, okay, is for $20,000. There's a $5,000 match. I did hours and hours of
research on this. I presented it to the council two or three different times. Okay? I went and I talked to people who could do this work for us. I got it down from where we'd have to spend money to figuring out how we could spend zero money. So, we didn't have to ask the council to include any more money in our
budget. Although, I think it might be a good idea to ask them for some because a complete tree inventory would be more helpful. We could do a partial inventory. I've done all the leg work. We approved this last July and we haven't done anything on it. Okay? So, it's not a matter of we're going to take a look, we'll figure it out, whatever.
No, we we voted that we were going to do this. That was what we all voted for. I've done all the research. I'm happy for you to do your own research. That's fine. But let's not sloww walk this and say we don't have it. We need to take our time, whatever. It's all there. All we have to do is get together, all look
at the application material at the next meeting or in the March meeting. You guys can look at it if you want. I'm happy to send you anything that I research. Okay? and then bring it in and we'll figure out this that and the other and we'll send it to the council. That's all you got to do. It's not that hard.
>> Again, we talked about prioritization. So, we'll put this on the list and if we all agree that this is we still want to pursue this, then we'll go ahead and pursue it. >> That's all I have. >> Moving forward to new business. There's nothing on the agenda, but does anyone
have anything? Seeing as there is none, I ask for a motion to adjourn this. And all in favor, >> I voice