HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-STAC-2015-07-08City of Ithaca
Shade Tree Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes
July 8, 2015
Present: Nina Bassuk, Cynthia Brock, Laurene Gilbert, Jeanne Grace, Paul Paradine, Debra Statton, Keith
Vanderhye, guests Val (NYSEG intern) and Teagen, summer forestry intern.
Forester’s Report
The Commons: scarlet oaks were planted, not Shumard oaks as the plans called for. These were planted too
deeply so Jeanne had them raised. None look too good. They’re from Northern Nursery, a wholesaler noted for
being hit or miss. The committee has concerns about the scarlet oaks since they need acid soil, and if the soil is
not acidic then the trees will show chlorosis. Structural soil has a pH of 8, alkaline, so the scarlet oaks won’t like it.
Jeanne will follow up with Mike Kuo, Project Manager, about the soil pH, the original plant specs and why scarlet
oaks were substituted. It’s not too late to switch them out. The Kentucky coffee trees don’t look good either.
Flexi Pave: flexi‐ pave is made from ground tire and gravel, l00% porous, and is used instead of metal tree grates in
tree pits. It costs less than metal grates. Jeanne has contracted with Environmental Paving Solutions for flexi pave
to be applied on the restaurant block of Aurora and on the post office block of Tioga in October around the trees
there. It is poured by the company and looks like a mat. The trees in front of the post office will be replaced in
September with trees in containers so as to be ready for the flexi pave in October. Frontier elms would be good
replacements here.
Dawn Redwoods at the bus station are mostly dead, probably killed by railroad herbicide application. This is such
a prominent location that although the trees belong to the bus station or to Tompkins Trust, they need to be
replaced. Keith has worked extensively with the Trust Company branch there and will talk them into taking the
trees down and planting something else.
Other Dead Trees: the Acer campestris near Magnolia house and near Agway are dead. The Zelkovas near the
fireplace shop are buckling the brick. (In 1997 they were mis‐ ID’ed and planted as Accolade cherries!)
The Homestead elms are starting to look better, they had a mast year for seeds. The Siberian elms around the
county look bad. The Southern magnolias in the City are coming back after the hard winter.
There’s a lot of verticillium in Norway maples, redbuds and smoke bush due to all the water this summer.
Old Elmira Road: we have the trees but they are buried in mulch waiting until later for planting. Some of the
crabs are planted. The soil there is pretty good, deep. The spec for the soil was close to our master plan, Jeanne
thinks.
Tree Report from this Spring: bought more than 100 trees, and did about 120 removals‐‐‐ this is about average
for the year.
Site Plan Code: Jeanne is unsure where we are with getting approval for our revisions to site plan review criteria.
Mike Thorne, the new Superintendent of Public Works, suggested focusing on the specific policies we want
followed for development in city right‐ of‐way when new trees are going into tree lawns and get the Board of
Public Works to okay this simpler package, since changing city code is such a big deal.
The committee doesn’t think this is necessary since our revisions have already been approved by DPW and
by Common Council. The code revisions are needed for private property development, and since there’s so much
of this development going on, approval of our revisions would seem urgent. Laurene and Nina will write a letter to
JoAnn and Lisa to try to move approval along.
Japanese Stilt Grass: Residents on West Hill thought perhaps an herbicide spill had happened on Elm St/Hook
Place/Haler Blvd. It turns out to be a 1.5 acre patch of Japanese stilt grass, seed borne, all on private property.
What to do? The committee thinks a group of 25 or more volunteers could pull it in late summer. It senesces in
fall and looks dead.
The email we sent to Common Council for distribution to Fall Creek, offering help in identifying ash trees in
anticipation of the arrival of emerald ash borer seems not to have gone out. Jeanne will remind the Fall Creek
council members.
Next meeting Wednesday, 4pm, Aug 12, 2015 Cooperative Extension
Minutes respectfully submitted by Debra Statton