of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all. I hereby announce that this meeting is being held in in accordance with chapter
231 of open public meeting acts. Proper notice of meeting dates have been given to the Morris newsby the Morris County Daily and post it on the bulletin board in front of the hall. Roll call, please. Mr. President, Mr.
President, Mr. President, Mrs. President, Mr. Judy is here and Councilman Cortez is here.
approval of the minutes from our July 14th meeting. Uh, anybody have anything on the minutes? I do. Um, there were a couple of things, but as a whole, it seemed like there were some things missing out of here.
So, I'm wondering if we can table it while we do a revisit to the minutes. What rushing? There's there's a couple of things. Um there and it looks like maybe there was a placeholder in here on
page four and page three. Yeah. 63 and 64. Oh, the ones we printed out don't have Oh, yeah. They don't have the numbers on those. the ones that I gave you tonight. One thing is an old business
on page 65 this is the same place you're thinking of it says John working on this and then the work should be updated Mr. No awareness of this is this under contract. So that's in reference to the
tree memo in reference to the DPW. So there's something missing there. There's a motion that Frank Can you guys speak louder please just for the Oh, okay. So, is Mr. Bear stated
is that supposed to go after Mr. something missing? There's a bunch of irregularities, I guess, is what I would say. It needs to be I will check it out. Yeah. That the minutes of July 14th be tabled until next meeting. Okay. Yes. All right.
Mrs. Yes. Yes. Mr. Yes. And Mrs. Yes. I open the comments from the public section of the meeting. If you have a question, please come forward and sit
down and state your name and question. [Music] Hi, Lee Connor to Tower Hill Road. Just um and speaking about the minutes in in terms of a timely notification to
the public of what this committee or any committee is officially doing. It's a minimum of 30 days if you have monthly meetings and then if there's an occasion where as in August I believe there wasn't a meeting and now it's postponed again. So, it'll be quite a while till
the July meetings are up on the website for any citizen who might be interested in knowing what this committee is doing. So, I wonder if you could consider ever um perhaps an an AI transcription of minutes might be a faster way to do
things or um if there's any way to speed up the process. Just wanted you to put that bug in your ear because I think that's an issue of public uh interest. Sure. So, I know the the meetings are recorded. You can come in and get a recording of the minutes anytime you want. Okay.
Sure. And you can have it for you. Uh the only thing I can say is is that if the meeting happens, takes a while to get them and we normally have a meeting every single month, right? So, it's, you know, it's not that easy
when you have three meetings to get the minutes out, you know, within two weeks. I I didn't mean that as a criticism of abuse. That's the system. I just want to explain to you that sometimes it's taking a long time. I think the uh public records act says timely notice and they don't say what it
is. I don't know. But I don't think if it's 30 to 60 days. The question here is is that these minutes were postponed. Now maybe I don't know how they can get these minutes to you faster. All right. Now they're being tased. But normally this would be the time that the July minutes
are done. It would be it' be 60 days. Well, the problem is no meeting in August and they have to approve of Exactly. Okay. And we do have our unofficial um recording of it now done by volunteers which I could also go and look at but in
terms of the official approved is my point. That's it. Thank you. Absolutely. Any other questions from the public? Okay, seeing there's no other question. I think Mr. Gentleman from 10.
Yes. I had a question whether or not I can take down a tree that's on my property but within the buffer zone of a ride away. And I sent you the pictures showing that
that's 10,000. So, can you just confirm where ex is the tree in the front of where exactly is the location of the tree? The tree is in the if you were standing in front of the property, it's at the far right of the property and it was
a stable tree, I guess, at one time before we did the construction. And it's at the corner where there's an electrical power box which we needed to access. And in order to access it, we had to trench a 4 foot trench basically
around that tree. So you see, yes, you'll see the the tree, the stem, the base of the tree is evident in the picture where it's one foot away and there's no roots anymore. They're all disturbed and ripped up. So if you look at I sent some new
pictures in just a little while ago. I took them just now and they show the angle of the tree is not straight. It's it's actually pitched towards my house. Okay. So given the fact that the disturbance of the ground, the lack of
root system, the height of the tree, which is about 100 ft, it is potentially a danger to hit my house and I spent an awful lot of time and money in construction for the last year, three months to take down or you're going to take
I would be responsible to take it down all the way. And I would propose also that I know as part of my obligation in building the house was to put two more trees up in the front, which I intend to do, but I also intend to put at least a dozen
more. So I'm I'm just more concerned about safety because I know we just we have to get in the roots to get the power lines down. So that was the reason why I'm here tonight to see if we can
get acceptance to do that because it's in that little buffer zone from the right away within 10 ft. I think it's like 9 ft. Okay. And then so I I want to make sure I do everything in compliance with the board members. Okay. Sure. We'll we'll discuss it in
the no business section. Okay. So then you'll let me know in a future date. You'll have an answer by tomorrow. Absolutely. Have any other questions? Well, hope thank you so much for coming in and for the pictures. It helps u you
know describe what you're speaking. Mr. Chair, who's the citizen? The name of the citizen. Sir, what is your your name? My name is Charles Lcastro. Thank you. I'm the owner of the property. Okay. Yeah, you're supposed to give your name
and address. Oh, I'm sorry. Forgive me. I didn't know that. That's fine. Procedure 10 kowski drive. Give us the address. Let me know what that topic is. Seeing there's no other uh comments from the public, I close this portion of the
meeting. Okay. Seeing there's nothing to discuss via the budget or communications to move forward with the forest report. Thanks. Um going back to memo 2555
18 road. Turns out this is not a town tree. So we do not have to do anything with that. Memo 2556 at 29 North Drive. This was taken care of by DPW. Yeah, DPW took care of this. Uh there is
a plot of town owned land that's behind this homeowner's home. Um it's all taken care of. Excuse me. The one on Okay. Okay. Who's going to tell John Oliver that?
I've already spoken to him and I checked with the zoning official to ensure that there was no uh town property there. He was concerned because there is a small creek that comes uh off the map up there. Okay.
Mike, can I can I just make a a point here, which is um I think it would be good for us to be alert of this because I drove up there and spent time walking around behind these people's houses and the tree had already been removed and I I didn't know that. So, I think we need to be uh do a little
bit better with communication in terms of what's going on. I know you're trying to be efficient and get things done. Personally, I think they should be voted on. I guess that's an open matter if it's DPW and we're not allocating money. But in any case, if you could just as courtesy let us know, I'd really
appreciate it. Sure. No problem. You didn't mean it to be rude, but because I was walking around in our backyard looking for looking for trees, too. 2557. This is one Trobridge Road. This is also
taken care of by the DPW 2558. Um there's a few questions or few areas of concern. One is the tree on the corner winding away. Um this is a tree that was previously prone if I'm not mistaken. It's a lower limb they're
talking about. Okay, I'll put that on my my work order. It makes sense to me. I mean, it's pretty low pushing on the line quite a bit there to Yeah. So, they previously
like two months ago. So there's just one little correct. I will Yeah, I'm making a note right now. Um I guess the other questions was Parker drives and planting along the
right along the path to the pool. Um I thought it was a good area until I found out there's a drainage there. So I don't know how wide that drain is or it's a water line. Well, that's why it was open. put a
water line to tie in community park and Parker and to help pressure and out of township. Okay. So, it's not an option, I would imagine. Okay. And then the last concern on this work
order was 57 styles. Um I know there was a lot of utility work done on the street. Um it's unfortunately until unless we open the ground up, I can't determine how much damage was done. I think we do put on a worksheet though and keep our eye on it especially next spring if the canopy starts especially
dying back the top third I think we know extensive root damage um and then we'll address it from there jump me 2559 court west this is a tree that's pulling up the driveway and what I understand they're
about to redo the driveway. So, I think the tree should be removed. Um because once they do the driveway, they're going to kill the tree anyways. That's a 12 to 24 inch tree. Dave, I just have a question. We looked at this. We looked at the tree property. Yes.
And was there a bunch of trees in the front? Is this on the left side of the driveway? This trees on the right. It's Yeah. Street. It's on the right side over here. Okay. So also right to the right to the
left of that tree it is starting to rip up the driveway. Yeah. Yeah. We only looked at the tree the roots. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. It's kind of precarious there anyway. So yeah. So that was a 12 to 24 in the stump was the same size.
Oh removal of the stump too. Same size. Yes. Uh 520 for the tree removal and 265 for the stump. 2560. This is Central Avenue in Glen Brook on the corner there. There's a a sugar
maple sits on top of the BM. The tree is hollow in several sections and should be removed. It's going to cause a safety issue, I believe. Sure. That's a 24 to 36 in
as well. 830 for the tree and stuff. Yes, it is. 2561 Court Road Park. There's a large dead
oak tree. I think Councilman South could please confirm that tree. unfortunately. Um, but yeah, it's a shame that there's a big oak that has to be removed there and that's a 36 plus. We looked at this. There's nothing that can be done. I mean, it's such a
it's a heritage. There's nothing I mean, I don't know if you've been by it recently. There's nothing on it anymore. Now, it's still I mean, there's nothing. Okay. Unfortunately, it's a shame. And the stump also. Yes.
Now that it's fireplace time, do you leave some small pieces up here or take everything? More than happy to leave somebody wants. No, if anybody wants, we can cut them up and leave them at the curb. I request. Okay. Send residents ask me because they know
it's coming down. Okay. Yeah. I mean, we'll definitely send a smaller We can cut it up and stack it part there. We can take nothing out of the way. Just whatever. Yeah. No, it's got to go either way. So I see somebody use it. They want it for sentimental or they
sentimental value or firewood or sentimental value. That's it. I bet you you're going to find that trees hollow inside. I can feel it because I went across this tree very similar to it and just fell down. No wind just
the age with it. I wouldn't doubt. There's definitely some decay in there. 2562. Um, this is going up Central Avenue near the brook. There's a couple two dead trees. Um, they're covered in poison ivy. So, the trunks are totally green.
You can see the canopies. So, yeah. So, they have to come out. They're both 24 to 36 in. And we do not have to do the stumps on those. But there is two existing stumps. You
guys saw them further up. Okay. Good. All right. And those stumps, there's 112 to 24 and 124 to 36. I just have an address for those other stuff. Is it not going to be
is that it shelter shelter line. Okay, thank you. 2563 25 Harrison Avenue. Um I think we discussed this a little bit. I know they've called before, but I think we
really need to determine the property lines out there. So, I I have a note um that first I'm going to go and look at the property with the homeowner and then check property lines with the zoning official. Okay. This is something we can probably table and action for next month. So, you put
this onto the worksheet as well. This is one4 U to the side of the house in the culdeac. There's several Atlantis trees, the tree of heaven that being infected by the lantern flood. Um I spoke with Anna and it sounds like there is a grant
still available to treat for the lantern flood. Um so I should be getting sounds like any day approval to do that and we do we'll take care of that as soon as we can. Is the grant to spray them or does it move the trees?
So basically what it is, it's a front that's kill. It's actually going to kill the tree. So eventually we will have to remove these trees. So we're helping build the land. Yes.
So let's because this is halfway treatedly different because it's coming out of the ground money. So he's he's working on that with regarding the spraying piece. Uh the trees in question, I believe there's two or there um at that address. Can you just work
those? We're going to work those. Yeah, we're going to work because the grant is just for spraying, not removing. Okay. So, I'll put another worksheet and you will work with that and on that. Yeah, I'll keep you posted. Okay. Thank you.
You're welcome. 2565 125 Grand Avenue. Uh the homeowner took care of There's two trees on their property and one street tree and they took care of all three of the trees to clear the wire back. So there's nothing
that we have to do. 2566 a few areas with some stump grinding. Um 120 Sun Valley Way there's a stump 12 to 24 in stump 124. Yes sir.
and at Memorial Park along the sidewalk there's a stump 12 and 24 in stump and then there's at the end of Franklin Place um on the burrow lot there's a dead locust tree that needs to be removed
24 to 36 inch And the stop is the same size on there. 2567 43 Locust Drive in Hanover Township where backs up the community park. There is a dead beach tree there that needs to
be removed. Um 24 to 36 in tree. No stop writing on there. And I me 2568 32 Headley Avenue big dead oak tree that hangs right over the street and mainly the primary wires.
I don't know if Rob can contact your contact for Jersey Central. want me to contact them if you don't mind. Thank you. Then I had on the worksheet part. So one did come through just later on in
in the day. Um You got a copy, too, I think. Oh, you know what? I actually even looked at it. Thank you for Yeah, no problem. So, uh 20 memo 2569 uh 7 Juniper Drive. Uh the homeowner sent in pictures of uh two large oak
trees on her property asking us to remove them. Um the trees have been reviewed. Um one of them is a completely fine, healthy oak. The other one does just have some of the oak fungus on there, but most oak trees do get that. Uh this is We'll just have to keep an
eye on and put on the worksheet. Did we look at this last year? Correct. Yeah, we took down there was a decay one or two dead decay maples there at the time. They wanted to hold trees down. Yeah, I keep it on a work. I don't see
anything with those trees right now. And then you were saying, "Oh, part two trees mentioned." Yeah. The one in the corner. Is that on our property or it is both those trees
there are on burrow property. Um Yeah. So one's a 24 to 36 inch removal. The others are 36 plus removal. [Music] 36
and the other's 24 36 any. So between the work from the memos and the worksheet work, I ask for a vote on the approved
spending of 10,305. [Music] Yeah, just have to have a motion. I move a motion to uh vote on this. Okay. Can I have a second? Second. All in favor?
Thank you. Uh there's none old business listed on the agenda. Move forward to new business. Uh first thing on new business is just uh an update on uh some of our grants that we've been applying for. So
the first one is the uh John Porter grant that we should have a decision on that by the end of the month. I believe the decision will be after September 28th. that is in the amount of $2500
uh for replanting of trees on the strip of property on Silvin Drive and Mount and then uh an update regarding the larger grant the NJ urban community forestry plan uh grant. Uh this was
brought in front of the council for resolution last week. It was tabled. Uh a discussion was had earlier today. is in line and uh we'll be read at the next council meeting. We'll be read
will be read for resolution at the next meeting. Yes, Mike. Was this the grant that appeared on the draft agenda but not on the final agenda? Correct. It was pulled um it was pulled from the
final uh agenda. There was some questions uh the council. I think that that grant had a different name than this grant. I think there are two different grants. There's the this grant which um I had proposed and that
Frank proposed last time and then there is a grant um that had to do from the Department of Environmental Protection. It's going to phase two. I know like Berkeley Heights just got a bunch of money for it for it or whatever.
Um they're two Just want to make sure that the council's clear on what we're there's there two separate grants. I had never heard anything about the second one. This one we talked about last time. So there's the um the green communities
grant. Is that the one that's going to be on there or is it current? It would be this one. Okay. So it was just an error in the on the agenda of the title. Is that what happened? Correct. And there was just like I said there was just some questions that had to be ironed out prior to that meeting
ironed everything up. Um so the other thing is I didn't get a chance to talk to you um about the cost for this and it was something people had expressed concern about when I had originally proposed it. So I just wanted to let the public know too um what the
cost is. So uh the the difficulty here uh with this grant is estimating the number of trees. So our old community forest management plan estimated that we had 2,000 uh public trees in the borrow. So I contacted two
companies to get estimates, Arbor Pro and Dave uh in order just kind of do the groundwork for this because the cost was something that um people were expressed concerned about. Arbor Pro estimated 3,500 trees in the borrow and Davey
estimated 6,000 but that includes uh vacant planting sites. So it's not quite apples to apples there. Uh so cost the important part arbor um for a complete inventory and a community forest
management plan was 32,000. Now this grant only covers up to 25,000. So uh I asked both Arborrow and Davey, well if we only have 25,000, what do we get for 25,000? Right? because we don't know how much money um we're going to
have allocated for this. So, uh the Arbor representative told me that they could get uh 2,460 trees inventory and RCF MP written for um the 25K and that would be you know
completely covered uh out of pocket. I guess the only thing is that we have to do a match. So, we have to match it in either our own money volunteer hours um for Davy came in quite a bit higher. Of course, they had a lot more tree sites, 77,000.
So, um for the partial for 25,000, they said they could do 1,350 trees. So, I tried to, you know, get what the the complete project would be and then a partial because under the
uh the grant you can do a partial inventory. You're not required to inventory all the trees on public land. So, I guess one if that allays some worries about the cost, I think that, you know, we can they're willing to work with us in terms of the cost depending on what our budget is. Obviously,
there's a floor there, but so I don't know if there's any questions about that. I prepared that last meeting and didn't get a chance to say it. I know council will be discussing a little bit. Absolutely. enough information talking about it and no one's against the grant
that's for sure. Last time in case you got that grant we got a grant we did a lot of inhouse work uh and that uh we can use that cost uh to offset some of those costs. That's
what we did last time and I think one let's get the grant and we'll see see where it comes where we're going. The the good thing with this grant, the minimum requirement uh to put in for is $250,000. The good thing with this grant is that
it's a scaling grant. So, if you don't qualify for everything, there's still an opportunity to get some type of funding. Thank you for the clarification. I still think we're maybe we need maybe you and I need to get on the same page. I think there's a little confusion about
the two different That grant is for the tree replacement grant from the Department of Environmental Protection. This is something different and it only goes up to 25,000. So it wouldn't be that larger project. They're two
separate. I think we should do the the um green communities grant. Absolutely. Because in order to get other grants like that larger grant that that you're talking about that I just saw Berkeley Heights, I know some other municipalities get it as well. In order to do that, I think we probably need to have kind of some of our our groundwork
covered. Um, and I know there's some, you know, a lot of requirements in order to be competitive. But I think personally, I think if we can get this grant, which is the, you know, just to get our, as Frank said, to get our management plan written and get a tree
inventory, we would be doing we' be doing well. So, I don't know, maybe we need to have a discussion. Sure. Yeah, that would that be good. send me an email. I just had a quick question. Do both grants require accreditation
and are we where are we with that aspar? So that's part of the the one the cycle the 25 the the green communities grant is um in
part so that we can get accredited. So the we have to we have to inventory and the management plan. I mean, I guess theoretically you could get accredited without going through their grant, but the money's there. Of course, we would try and also call home for what 400 treat or
something that one the same talking about. So, there two there my understanding is those are two separate grants. There's there's that grant and then the other one. Um, I think sometimes there's a little confusion because I know when when when Frank I don't know, but I think from reading that when when it was
applied for last time, Frank, you can correct me. Um, this community forest management plan was applied for in order in part to prepare um the way for the grant to replace the trees from Hurricane Sandy. Um, but this grant stands on its own as sort of like best
practices for what to do with community and urban forestry. However, um, one would think that the people reading the applications would be more likely to, you know, award you points and whatever rubric they use if the if you are accredited like this. So, I think
unfortunately we may have to before we can get our the trees, which I wish we could get it. I mean, but we I don't I haven't looked at the particulars if we can apply without being accredited S, but it seems to me like it would probably affect our the whole landscape plan design, watering the plants, maintenance.
Yeah. something that the council asked. I can tell now this is not part of the grant. We have to come up with that money. It wasn't for Sandy. It had nothing to do with Sandy. It was for no net loss of trees. Uh the state of New Jersey didn't
work on Route 53 and they cut a lot of trees down and they have to replace those trees plus and that's how we went through that process with the forest. state forestry department as did Pipany
because part of it was in Pipony and we got the grant and uh it was like over 400 trees we planted and we did a lot like I said work in in through the uh through the town. Uh
let's let's not get confused. Let's they got a application for a grant. Let's get that done. If there's another grant just then we can go for another grant but let's do one at a time and so we get this thing going
well in front of the council there's one application for clarifying all the uh all the discussion that the council had so it'll be back on the the agenda there'll be some discussion but again I don't foresee anybody going
I I don't want to belver the point but just to clarify at least is my understanding unless I'm completely wrong and overly adult. The grant that Frank uh proposed that I had previously proposed last time is the is the green communities urb urban and community force grant. That's just for a
management plan. The plan that um you guys are talking about with the site plans and things like this. That's a different grant from the So that was not one that we have talked about in terms of our commission. Should that be the one that was there be taken out and the green communities put
in? That would be that's what he's saying. That's what we approved last time. That was what Frank's motion was for. Good thing we didn't know. Yeah. You know, that could be I couldn't I would have to double check. But since they're putting a $250,000
grant on there, let's see if we can get that grant. And that's we can go make an application for if there's the other one once we get this one done moved. But what became the grant that was proposed in the
resolution for the council is should not be there should be the green communities one. That's all I'm trying to say. So we would have vote got the good thing we pulled it otherwise we voted on something that you guys didn't approve. So let's I'll make that correction. we'll put on the on the agenda for next meeting and we'll have discussion and
I'll get back to you guys. Again, I shouldn't say but I don't foresee I don't can't see anybody agree. They better not run for free money. The best money is free money. I agree. So I think then even this one in particular then if that was the other
grant that we talked about we should vote move a motion to vote on this because it's already done from the grant writer of the town so we could apply for both. No, that's that's already done. This other one that's on the new business
here, the title of the one on the new business is the one that Frank proposed, I believe, isn't it? Yes. Which is for the management plan, I believe. So,
personally, I feel if there's a grant with $260,000. I need to look at the application and and think about it a little bit more before I'm ready to vote on it. I'm not against voting on it. I just I don't have enough information at this time to make that vote. Seems like a large We haven't talked about it
before. What's the um what's the deadline? It's a rolling uh deadline. There is no deadline. I could provide the information to you and then we could vote on it for next month's meeting so that it could go in front of the council in October.
I need a motion to table this to the next meeting I don't know the New Jersey urban community forest voted on that correct we have the other grant that's at the council am I correct correct
okay so we have that's not table. Sorry. Okay. No, we'll bring that information and vote on it in October then so that could be given to the council in October to move forward with. Um so then next on the uh new business
line would be implementation of fall tree planting phase one. So, as part of phase one, um two pieces here, uh one, um including the trees in front of the homes that were voted on
this month, uh can we please send a letter to the homeowners to see if they would like a tree and give them a deadline prior to next month's uh meeting? what's been removed. So these people's
homes. You can also go back to 2024 since uh only some plannings were done. If you want to go through the 2024 list as well, I'll be happy to help. Okay. Okay. What do you want to do? 20
letters phase one or what? Phase one. Uh let's do uh 25 letters for phase one, please. Okay. Y. So, we're going back to 25 25 and 24.
24. We'll start working our way backwards. And then uh for a test study um we were asked by the uh town's uh safety official for the schools for the school
uh for burough school. There is the the field in the back. There are trees along the parking lot there. If the shade tree would be willing to plant additional trees in between the current trees that are there now to add additional safety
so that the trees would act as a buffer to deter anyone from possibly driving onto the field while uh school was in session or while anyone was playing on the field. Um my thought on this is let's do a test uh
for five trees. Um, I know the location's a little tougher. Uh, I I did ask Dave to take a look at the the location and uh give some recommendations on possible trees. Thanks.
Yeah, I mean there it's a lot of unlus trees if you guys are familiar with that. So there's a few options I think we can go with. Um, we want a mature tree like they have there or we can do an undisturbed tree which probably will be better suited but unfortunately I don't
think will give the protection put a smaller story like an ornamental tree. I mean ideally it's protection because you don't want a car driving through there. Um so I would looking at a mature native tree put in there locus
American sycamore in there or some maple trees might tolerate as well. So something that will tolerate that area but give us some trunk barrier look at that. I'm also going to reach out to servos see his thoughts on that
as well I just have a question. So in the past separate from our budget for our kids are it just this or we going to know budget for school grounds in the future.
So, we've never really been asked for anything regarding the schools as far as school grounds. So, this was uh a oneoff, I would say. So, I wanted to do a test to see if the trees would take um to be honest since there are, you know, mature trees already there. So, which is
why we could try a test of five uh to start and then we could continue if successful. So then for for this Karen, so 25 uh letters to homeowners regarding trees that were removed in 25 and then going
on to 24 removal as well. You don't need to put that include These are just 25 letters to homeowners to see if they want a tree. Y um once we have some more information back from the nursery, we can make a
better determination on what specific tree to fill in there because, you know, we don't want to fail with our test, but we also want to see what's best for the nursery. Are we um we had gone around at the beginning year and made a note of some
locations for trees. Are we going to say phase one? There's a list on the on the worksheet proposed planning location that was from I think it was Frank and
some of something that I had or two. The reason I asked is because we had talked at the beginning of the year about wanting to plant in places where there weren't overhead wires so that we could establish larger trees. I think Frank had brought in an article about pin oaks
being like a forest or something like this. So, I just wanted to make sure that we were still allocating according to that priority. Yeah, you want to have smaller trees the wires. I think we ought to think about
the tree also besides those trees trees right there. Yes. Without wires. I guess my my thinking is like some of the take down locations are under overhead wires so they wouldn't be
actually I went around and looked This has wires. This doesn't. So, I think I got a rough list on it. So, all right. Good. So, can we maybe can can we just change the motion to only send out to places that Frank's list doesn't have doesn't have wires first
and then we can let's just do 25 because somebody's people have been waiting since last. Okay. I'll compromise on that. I just wanted to make sure that we're going around and everyone wants a cherry
tree and we had talked about how that's not really replacing our canopy. So, I just wanted to make sure that we were staying true to that, but the commission feels that we'll do 25 then that's fine with me. I think the number of people who have been accepted is pretty low.
So, you might issue So, back in May, I had put a motion on to consider uh creating working committees and I wanted us to reconsider that because I I think it would really help
us um fulfill some of our responsibilities with the committee. So if you'll indulge me just for a minute minute or two I just wanted to explain a little bit about why I think this is necessary. So Marian you asked me in May when I originally proposed this what things you weren't doing.
So I put together a partial list and I want to know everyone to notice so that isn't taken wrong that when I give this list I'm saying we are not doing these things. So that includes me and to speak to you directly last meeting I think I don't know if you felt like I was accusing but I was the vice chair when
when we had the budget over so I'm just as implicated as you were so so so it's not it's not an attack it's it's trying to make sure that we're doing the best job that we can and if
we're alerted to that changing so that's the impetus behind this it's not anyone personal. All right, we're all here volunteers. We're doing the best we can. So, here's a list of things. Okay, in terms of records, transparency, and and policies, I put them in three different categories. You could split
them up differently. Um, we don't keep a tree inventory, and we don't even complete the yearly windshield survey that we say that we should complete in our in the management plan. We don't keep a joint database of what trees we cut down and what we
plant, which includes species, size, and reason for removal. I've said before, I don't think Karen, she has enough to do, should be responsible for all the recordkeeping. I think that we should create some sort of spreadsheet or some sort of shared record. We don't have a prioritization policy for tree work despite it being suggested by the
council, which I discussed last time. We don't have a policy for where when we prune trees near power lines or prune back abudding trees on municipal lots. These are all things that seem important to me like they need to be done. In terms of planting and pruning, we don't prune on a regular cycle as is
recommended in our forestry plan in order to maintain clearance from infrastructure. We don't do formative pruning of trees to ensure their health and shape. We don't keep an accurate record of which trees were pruned. We don't have a planting plan that prior prioritizes areas of most need. We do
not prioritize planning for species diversity and disease management. We don't have an adequate watering plan for the trees we plant on public land or install fencing to protect our trees from deerville. The last section, outreach, accreditation, and grants. We've not kept our accreditation current. We're
not attending continuing ed and tree seminars to educate ourselves. We've not informed the public of our mission, the value of trees to the public, or the regulations governing the borrowed trees on their lot. We miss grant opportunities because we are unacredited, unaware, or unaccountable
when we're applying for them. We do not work with members of the community to organize events like work days that would help us get work done and take some of our lighten our load and also raise awareness. So, this is a partial list and I know it seems a little oppressive, but my point is is that there's a lot of things that we're not
doing and I don't say that we need to do all of these perfectly. We all have limited time, but I really think it's necessary that we talk outside of just our meetings in order to make a plan to at least improve in some of these areas. It happens that we discuss things in meetings and without any discussion
outside of the meeting. Things are discussed, but then they don't get done because there's no it's not assigned to anyone and no one's accountable. So, I hope with that that we will consider this at least as a trial run and see if it helps us get more of the work done that we need to do.
The second part of my question to you was about our mission and what was in the mission because the scope of this is tremendous and I'm not sure it's within the scope of the street tree commission and so clearly some of those things I
agree with. Some of those things that you said on the list I don't agree with that we have done some of them but irregardless I think we need to look at the mission what the this shade tree not a shade tree generally but what this commission is charged with doing and
look at that in the context of these things that appear to be best practices that we may or may not be doing in total or in uh in part. So, I don't know if you were able to overlay our mission and see what's within scope on that list.
Well, maybe you could do that. You know, I'm happy to give you the list if you're concerned about it. To me, it seems pretty self-evident that there are things that we need to done. We need be done. We have trees over in community park that are dying because we were not watered, right? I mean, we have stakes that are all around town. We talked about pulling them up. They're not being
pulled up. These are just basic things. I don't think this is like scope scope. I'm not saying what I'm saying is your plan in there has some very extensive work to be done. We're a very small community. We're a small shade tree. We
have limited budget, right? We don't get grants because we are not an urban community and therefore we don't qualify for a lot of grants and we've been I think we've been stepping up and have been applying for grants which we think we you know some of them are long shots some of them you know we just cross our
fingers and hope we can do it. So, I'm not against it. I'm just saying let's not add more than what's outside the scope of what we're expected to do. So, sure, if you want to share that with me, I can overlay it with the with the mission. I mean, I think if you go and look, I don't know what you're uh talking about
for the mission because if I've been on this commission, we've never approved a mission. If you're talking about the mission statement in that 2014 plan, then this stuff absolutely is part of that. Well, the town commissioned, right? I'm going to get this wrong. I'm not statute
how yeah when the shade tree commission right came into being and frank it was I don't know it was probably under your yeah the or the ordinance tells you the ordinance creating the shade tree commission in 1928 uh will tell you the mission and we'll
do those things okay now you know u Rob I I will look at anything to make an improvement okay but to come in with a saying this hasn't been done and that hasn't been done.
It is a very negative approach. And I'm going to tell you, I don't see the trees at community park dying. And if there is any stakes, you should let someone know. I don't see any stakes. When I see them, I I I I make sure they
are are not done here. Mars Plains did not become Tree City USA for 49 years because they did nothing or they didn't have anything done. It's because people worked to make it that way.
I I know when I first got on a committee, my goal was I just want to do one thing to make the town better. If I can do one thing, next year there'll be another thing. and before you know it, you've got a lot of things done. And
instead of telling us that we are no good and all that bad, I that's not a positive thing that you try to create as far as our budget. No one's criticizing our budget or our
spending. And the council did not give us all the money that we requested. We have, you don't know if next week we have a hurricane here, we won't have any money probably left in our budget. Uh,
as far as a windshield survey, I drove all through town and look at the trees and saw the trees. And let me tell you, when you drive through town, you see some wonderful specimens on our streets and our residents.
Some people don't want a tree. You can see that also. But our some trees are gigantic here in town. I even have lived there a long time. I I was really just amazed and so happy to see
it. Honest to God. And as far as pruning, we did pruning all the time. We don't do pruning this year because our budget won't let us. And as you're absolutely right, the the uh the grant we got said,
you got to do pruning. You got to have all the trees pruned in 10 years, a 10year cycle. But we're not doing it. We don't have the our budget and and that's council's decision. We can't help that. We asked
for the money. We didn't get it. And I will say just regarding the the pruning, if there's sections that you have concerns on, we can have DPW help us out with pruning as they do do stuff um at hop throughout the year and do do
pruning. That's the best way that we could attack the pruning is that whatever that they can do, they'll get done and then whatever else that we need to do, we'll budget the funding for it. Um, as far as a budget standpoint, you
know, from where we were last year to this year, just this increased partnership with DPW has made a tremendous difference in the budget. We're $16,000 higher this month than where we were last year. And we'll
continue to have a good surplus of money to do all the planning that we want to do. Ideally, the the next two months, I'd love to 40 trees planted in this burrow and with the budget that we have that's going to be done.
So those are nice speeches, but I'd like to see us do some of the things on the list. Excuse me. I sat here very patiently, Frank, while you talk. I have been discussing these things all year. Okay? And I didn't come in here at the
beginning of the year and make a long list. And I did my best to say that I am implicated in this, too. I'm a member. I sit here Okay. But to me, it's embarrassing some of the things that we don't do. I don't say that we have to do everything perfectly or that we do nothing or that
we do nothing well. What's been frustrating to me is that there seems to be no interest in improving. So, if you want to pick one or two things that we want to work on, then that sounds great to me. Let's start there and we'll see what else we can do.
But just because we've done something one way doesn't mean there isn't another way to do it. So I would be happy to share the list and we can look at Mary and where it overlaps with the mission and we can think about which of them seems us to be the biggest priority and then we could do it. But without
communication outside of here, it's not going to work. There's not enough time in these meetings. And to be honest, I think it would help the meetings if we had some communication outside. That's my opinion. So
I think what would help is if we build consensus for some of these things get, you know, you use words that are very emotive and and not very kind to your fellow colleagues that are on the committee. And so I think that building consensus
would be really helpful into making a better dynamic and that's just my opinion. I don't know if anybody else feels that's that is my observation about the the dynamic and I would love to see conversations in here
before something goes to motion and have a conversation so we can figure out what the best way forward is. And so it's not a reactive thing. It's a very proactive approach and I you know that that's my two cents and we can't do emails that will violate
the open public meeting act. We all can't talk to one another without meeting elsewhere. We're up to 69 people residents that we have answered their request. I don't know. We're
volunteers. We're volunteers. So we all drive around. We the houses. I have pictures on my phone. I don't know if they're made or not, but anyway, I take the pictures. I don't know what more you want. I mean, we're I thought we were doing a great job. I don't see anybody
complaining, but that's me. I don't see anybody coming here saying, "Oh, you should prior. You should do this." And I don't know, Wow. frustrating. I don't know what we're doing wrong.
I think it would really help if we talked outside of the meeting if you want to have consensus. Um, but in any case, I've said what I had to say, so I'm sorry if it came across as negative to you, Frank. Um, but I had tried to say it positively for a long time, so
sometimes it has to be made more clear. So, I'm looking for a second for my motion. give us that list then it's all debated to look at it consider and Rob if we meet outside the meetings we have to advertise
can't be sorry I I I intended it to be last time I was going to be two people meeting together for each of these working committees so that we could you know have areas that we work on and then those two people could talk and then that way we would hopefully build consensus before
we came in the meeting so we have to be trying to discuss all of our business just in our meetings. I mean, I think lots of other committees in town have, you know, what I call it working committees because I think subcommittee might be an official word, but they have
they have a committee where people get together and work on something and then they present that back to the whole group. It seems like a pretty uh standard practice to me um from my experience being on various committees. So,
So let's if you share that I will look at the ordinance. Absolutely. Thank you for being willing to look at it. I appreciate that. There's no motion. Chairman, can I say something? Yes.
There's nothing wrong with two people getting together because you guys are five. So three is qualum. Two can get together and have what's called a workshop. And that will help you a lot with the meetings. The more you guys communicate before get
a lot more done. I mean Rob and I met we there were some issues. We clarified everything like half an hour just but not in public. We did it in private public issues that were were in public but we clarified them in private not to waste people's time.
So as a laz do you feel we're not doing enough? No, never. I I I I think Mark Springs is the most beautiful tree city in America. But can you do more? Yes. Is there a grant out there where you can grab some money and make things nicer? Absolutely.
And I think you guys are on the right track. But I think and again, this is an opinion you asked me for. I think by you guys having these workshops outside of the of the meeting be a lot more productive and I think it'll be more
nicer. put you that way. No one should come here and have to uh say things and sometimes you know you get carried away what when one person says and one person interpret is always the
you know can be can be detrimental to any board but having workshop like I did with Michael tonight was half an hour boom business done we're ready you know and you guys can can achieve a lot of that these workshops
and I hope that uh you guys go on that route because I think it's very productive and every board does that don't make it sound like we don't talk or something like that when we do arbor day and I talk all the time I mean my
god almighty here come on she asked my opinion first of all said she can't get together I had to correct her because she can get Okay, that was number one. Number two is
communication is is everything. Beautiful sun. Thank you. That's why our trees are so good. We got great sun. Hope that answers your question. Yeah. So I just wanted to um the next motion is a motion to cease planting calorie
pear trees. Uh last meeting there was a a vote and there was a memo from Langan Engineering which I did not have a chance to read before the vote was called. So I just wanted to read a portion of that memo. The memo notes that the borrow had requested white flowering trees in the site plan
approved by the planning board and then reads as follows. Quote, we note that the existing trees are a type of calorie pair which is an invasive species with weak lions and have planting prohibitions in many municipalities. So I think that when a private engineering firm is questioning our
choice of tree species, we should think about it ourselves. So I just wanted to read to the commission a short excerpt on calorie pairs from the New Jersey Tree Foundation in the US. Calorie pair is considered an invasive species. The features that originally made the tree so attractive,
adaptability to a wide variety of conditions, res resistance to disease, no natural predators are what enabled it to spread rapidly. Individual culture cultivars of calorie pair will produce fertal seeds if a different cultivar is planted within several hundred feet, which was quite a common occurrence as
several different cultivars were developed for particular features. These seeds are then dispersed by bird and each resulting tree is genetically unique, able to reproduce when other genically unique pair with other genetically unique pear trees. This has led to fields and street sides full of
street sides full of calorie pears which while pretty for a few weeks in the spring are crowding out native species and reducing biodiversity. Oh, and the wild pairs often have thorns making them extra irritating move. But we can see these when it's flowering time. If you drive down the interstate, you can see
the calorie pears that have um I'm sure not been planted there that have invaded there. But it goes on to make another about the calorie pear trees. It says, "On top of spreading like wildfire, calorie pears and their many cultivars are not so great trees for other reasons, too. They are notorious for losing limbs during
storms as they have a poor branching structure. The trees are often composed of many vertical limbs that have weak units, excuse me, and the fast growth rate of calorie pairs leads to weak wood. The limbs are often unable to support their own weight and end up splitting off from the main trunk. This is especially troublesome as many pairs
are planted in yards and along roadways posing risk to houses, vehicles and power lines. So I also just wanted to note that there was a lawsuit um in I think Sesville that uh where someone sued um because horribly someone was
killed when a calorie bear fell on them um and they sued the town Sha Tree Commission um for this. did not win the lawsuit. Um, partly because the shade tree commission was accredited and was protected under the New Jersey law. So, I think that's another reason I'm glad
that we're going to be trying to get accredited. I also think that sometimes when we're planting calorie pair trees, there's a missed opportunity to plant native and larger shade trees. So, I hope that we would reconsider this. I know that it's been a little bit of a tradition and that may be a difficult
change. There are other white flowering trees I'm sure Dave could recommend that we might be able to use. So, let me just say a couple things to this. So, I did some research on my own as well. The the trees that Lang uh came forward
with for us to vote on last time were not the pear trees. Um so, that's there. Um, also as far as the county repair goes, we have not really planted new ones in quite a while as a shade jury or as a
town. Uh, what's here is what was planted prior to it being deemed invasive. Um, so we're not, you know, there are municipalities that have given the okay to remove these trees and replant. I'm not gonna motion that piece of this,
but I I will say I know for a fact and we could probably all agree that we're not planting any more of these. We're just taking care of what we have in the community. Yeah, that'd be great. I thought the ones that we had planted on 53 um Honey
Well, I think we just replanted one last year, didn't we? Yes, we planted a couple there that because there was a stretch of calorie pair that were planted there that died and we replanted them, but I want to
point out that they the developer did did ask for different trees. You may not have voted on supporting it, but the four people did. the other four members of we are open to change. We are open to
do things and that's proof of it right there. And I might point out that the trees on the avenue st tradition started in 1967. Mars Township followed followed it
because it looks good. Mars Plains is noted for its trees on the avenue. Can we put another treaty there? That's something that we have to look at. Okay. Maybe we can form a committee to look at
that. Uh, you know, but we already opened that door up last meeting by saying yes, Langden, plant those 18 trees on Route 53.
So, it we are doing those things. So, um I I purposely didn't mention the the trees that were planted because that wasn't really what's an issue for me. Um I can talk more about that, but I'm not going to. But I think that Thanks for being open to it, Frank. And I think that we could have a discussion. Maybe
there's parts uh of town that we want to maintain this or not, and we can decide if it's a characteristic that's noted in the master plan or something like this. Um I think that that would be, you know, make sense to do. Uh I think that the um
issue for me really comes more down to you know part of the speaking back to the mission part of the mission that is at least on the website I don't know if it's in the statute is that we're supposed to be consulted um on site plans when there's trees that are in the
municipal right ofway and um so partly my impetus for making this motion is that if we have future site plans um that we don't plant calorie pairs there that we make a different choice. Yeah. Well, the site plan did come to this
board in 19 2023 and we that's what we said, but we did we're open to change. You know, we look at things. Great. Glad to hear it. Thanks. I'm glad glad we agree. So, we're going to approve the motion to
second for my motion to no long cease planting repair trees. Second your motion. All in favor? I not in favor. Of course.
You never know when there's a missing decision. individually and probably get a whole list of trees. That' be a good idea. Seeing there's no other new business, I
move to make a motion to adjourn the meeting. Second. Yes. All in favor? I Okay, motion accepted. See you all in