HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-STAC-2016-01-13City of Ithaca Shade Tree Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes
January 13, 2016
Present: Nina Bassuk, Laurene Gilbert, Jeanne Grace, Beverly Hillman, Pamela Markham, Debra Statton
Guests: 3 students from Ithaca High School, Jay, Jenjay and Silvia
Forester’s Report: the crew has done lots of tree removals at two sites where, to accommodate sidewalks,
the trees had to go. 1) on Rte 13 between MacDonald’s and the Asian grocery. Took out box elders and oak
there. 2) on Hook Place, the Norway maple which had lifted the sidewalk, was decayed so had to be
removed. The sidewalk crew is open to using Flexipave where we want to leave tree roots. Nina suggests
that maybe these sites are candidates for breakout zones and structural soil.
DeWitt Park, Update on Jeanne’s idea to trim the yew hedge lower along Buffalo. It will be next winter
before anything is done on the yew hedge. We’ve done some other things first to address problem areas; if
these efforts alleviate the problems then won’t trim. Will readdress issue late fall.
Wooly adelgid update: Jeanne and Teagen looked at the hemlocks in the cemetery. After treatment last
year, 10% of the trees still have a branch infected with adelgid. This shows that the bark spray used had
incomplete vascular movement of the imadacloprid. For heavily infested trees they used Safari Dinotefuran,
a systemic insecticide with very quick uptake.
Homeowners can do a soil drench, “wash” with imidacloprid. This bonds with organic matter so have
to pull back the tree mulch. Jeanne and Nina will find a link to a site on adelgid and put it on the city website.
EAB Management Plan: If Jeanne’s report to the Board of Public Works and Common Council gets picked up
by the Ithaca Times, include our offer to help identify ash trees on residents’ property. Jeanne will do a
power point presentation highlighting the main points of the management plan. Good to include photos
from devastated areas.
Jeanne says there is still a movement to consolidate City committees so it would be good for STAC to do a
summary to the Board of Public Works/Common Council about what we’ve done and discussed in the past
year, including trees planted and removed. Nina will draw up this summary, committee members please
send her what we can think of. (The Board of Public Works meets 2nd and 4th Mondays.)
Beverly reported on the crabapples funded by the Garden Club and planted along the inlet in 1973. Many
are diseased. Beverly is in favor of planting tall, disease resistant cultivars next fall bare root. On the 20th of
this month she will propose to the Garden Club to purchase fifteen at $80‐$120 each from Schichtel’s. Nina’s
class goes to Schichtel’s at the end of September and could choose the actual trees
For spring we’d like to plant the dawn redwoods at the bus station to replace the dead and dying ones.
Keith needs to make it easy for the bank by offering his crew to cut the trees and volunteering STAC members
to plant the trees. Also in spring we’ll make sure to post “no pesticide” signs by the bus station so the area
doesn’t get sprayed by the railroad.
In spring at DeWitt Park the junipers in the planter box with the Japanese maple need to be replaced.
The Society of Municipal Arborists voted ‘Musashino’ Zelkova the tree of the year for 2015.
Next meeting Wednesday February 17th, 2016 4pm Cooperative Extension
Minutes respectfully submitted by Debra Statton