HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-STAC-2015-10-14City of Ithaca ‐ Shade Tree Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes
October 14, 2015
Present: Teagen Barresi, Nina Bassuk, Cynthia Brock, Judy Fogel, Jeanne Grace, Pamela Markham,
Paul Paradine, Monika Roth, Debra Statton. Thanks and goodbye to Judy who’s moving to Florida.
Forester’s Report:
‐‐the crew is in full stump‐grinding mode and ready to plant.
‐‐the tree order is in. Ordered are Acer nigrum ‘Green Column’, Linden ‘American century’, ‘Espresso’ Ky. coffee tree,
‘Royal Raindrops’ crab and Amur maackia.
‐‐Flexipave will be poured on Friday into tree pits on Aurora Street, the Commons, and Tioga Street.
‐‐Paul was in the Pet Smart parking lot and noticed that the trees around the lot were being rounded off and topped to
all the same profile by Morgan Landscaping. He alerted Jeanne who called the property manager there and talked to
him about what a bad idea is topping the trees. Then JoAnn Cornish called the owner of the plaza and told him that
the 30‐40 trees that have been topped will need to be replaced. The owner will make a map of the topped trees and
give it to the City, then Jeanne will verify that this is all of them, and in Spring the trees will be replaced. The tree pits
there are approximately 8x20 feet and hold 2 trees each; perhaps there is a better selection for the site than Autumn
Blaze maples.
‐‐The land by the Community Gardens has been bought and cleared. All the trees around the community garden
fence were also cut down. When the project comes before the Planning Committee, the committee will ask to have
new crabs and other trees planted around the garden.
‐‐on Old Elmira Road, all the trees for the south side of the road remain to be planted as well as a few on the north
side. Jeanne has some of them (b&b) heeled in since summer waiting to go in, and is expecting the others bare root in
the fall order.
‐‐Nina, Jeanne and Teagen went to look at the trees on State Street by Maxi’s Supper Club. The soil here will be
remediated and new trees planted to replace these. Also, the sidewalk on S. Titus has been extended and includes a
13‐foot‐ wide tree lawn. Nina’s class will plant the trees ordered for both spots on November 12.
‐‐On Thursday, Oct 22, Common Council will listen to specific requests for extra monies to be included in the new
budget. At 7pm there is a public comment period. Jeanne hopes some of us on STAC will go and speak in favor of her
request for money to hire a Forestry Technician. With so much development going on, and trees being planted, it would
behoove the City to make sure with staff oversight that the planting is done right so that the trees thrive.
Cynthia reported on the Sept 9 Planning and Development meeting where she asked about the lack of response to our
August letter offering dates to meet with JoAnn and Lisa to work on finalizing the process for approving our revisions
to review criteria. JoAnn responded that they haven’t had time to review the new specs and that they are very
concerned that Jeanne won’t have time to be there to verify that all planting is going according to specs. However,
the City is sending our draft out to developers who are planning plantings even though it’s not binding since not yet in
the City Code.
Nina suggests it would be good to open up the bricked –over tree pits on Buffalo Street between Meadow and Fulton
and plant trees there.
She asks whether we’ll go for a Growth Award this year. She points to the Masterplan and guidelines as two
accomplishments as well as the postcards to homeowners asking about watering—how much, how frequently‐‐‐of the
new trees planted as part of Nina’s study.
Pamela asks about the trees removed where Floral Ave meets Elm Street on the right of the stairway to the
Alternatives School. It wasn’t NYSEG or the City, perhaps a Board of Education action. It’s too bad to lose the osage
oranges, but can we make this an opportunity to replant?
Next meeting Tuesday, November 10, 2015 at 4 pm
Minutes respectfully submitted by Debra Statton