HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-STAC-2015-08-12City of Ithaca
Shade Tree Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes
August 12, 2015
Present: Teagen Barresi, Nina Bassuk, Laurene Gilbert, Judith Maxwell, Debra Statton, Keith Vanderhye
Teagen made the Forester’s report since Jeanne is on vacation: the crew has been doing hazardous tree
removal and getting the sites ready for fall planting. Need suggestions for varieties both underwire and tall.
Next meeting will have list of sites and availability from Schichtel’s; Teagen will email the sites earlier if
possible. Schichtel’s availability list has come in. The crew has been putting in catalpas and river birches.
On the Commons all trees are planted and come with a one‐year guarantee. All the watering bags are on
and drip irrigation is set up. The Commons crew is watering. Bonded aggregate is not going to be used on
single trees after all ‐‐‐too expensive‐‐‐so Flexi‐pave will be used in fall around the trees.
Of the eleven scavenger hunt questions on the Commons paving, five were found to be misspelled.
Budget requests: Jeanne is asking the Committee for a letter of support for a seasonal (8month—from April
to fall) forestry technician at a cost of $19,600. One person has been doing the work since she was hired of
what two used to do, and now her department is also responsible for Commons maintenance and for the
Creek Walk. Luckily there is some seasonal money to keep Teagen on until December.
Jeanne requests we send another letter in support of an additional $3,000 in tree money. If we have
to replace every tree that’s been removed as is standard policy in the City, then need this extra.
Nina will draft the letters once she’s confirmed some supporting information with Jeanne.
Old Elmira Road: it will be safe to put the remaining trees in in September if they are watered, otherwise
should wait until October.
Teagen is inventorying the City cemetery to see how the hemlocks treated last year for woolly adelgid are
responding. He’s also working in Cass Park where a part of the softball field has not been inventoried in two
years.
Some dead trees are noted: four between Fulton and Purity on Rt 13, lots dead on State Street between
Rt 13 and Fulton. Since the tree lawn there is less than four feet wide, soil remediation is needed. And on
South Cayuga by Coltivare there’s a dead parvifolia.
Keith is having a hard time getting to talk to Greg Wilder at the Trust Company about the dawn
redwoods by the bus station; he will email him. He suggests for the herbicided area by the railroad that
Paulonia trees could be planted and if killed back in winter would regrow luxuriantly every year
Site Plan review of our revisions to review criteria: still have to go through the Planning Board again. Lisa
had to see if anything in our revisions contradicted anything already in the law before we’d be ready to go to
the sixth committee. She and JoAnn said earlier in the summer that they would have to delay a meeting
about this with us until the fall. Nina will write this week to Lisa and JoAnn to say that our Committee hopes
to finalize the process as soon as possible and to offer dates for a meeting with them.
Fall Creek Ash Identification Effort: Nina looked at a 60’ ash in a yard on Aurora, and she and Laurene
looked at five huge white ash on Linn Street in response to requests by owners for help with identification.
Mark Whitmore says people are having good luck with treating big trees, also that there’s another product
on the market cheaper than Triage.
Next meeting Wednesday Sept 9 2015 4pm at Cooperative Extension
Minutes respectfully submitted by Debra Statton