Minutes of a meeting of
The Old Lyme Tree Commission
February 20, 2014
Attendance:
Regular members present: Joanne DiCamillo, Anne Bing, Emily Griswold
Regular members absent: Gerry Foster
Alternate members absent: Joan Flynn
Ex-officio members absent: Tom Degnan, Tree Warden
A quorum being present, Chairman Joanne DiCamillo called the meeting to order at 4:13 P.M.
The commission has openings for two members.
REPORTS
Clerk’s Report – The minutes of the 1/16/14 meeting were reviewed.
MOTION: Anne Bing made a motion, seconded by Emily Griswold, to accept the minutes as presented. All present voted in favor, motion carried.
BUDGET REPORT
Balance
The Finance Department did not provide a budget report this month.
NEW BUSINESS
Election of Chairman
MOTION: Anne Bing made a motion, seconded by Emily Griswold, to elect Joanne DiCamillo chairman of the Tree Commission for 2014. All present voted in favor, motion carried.
Review/edit homeowner notification of tree trimming
Mrs. DiCamillo handed out copies of the sample form letter, drafted by the First Selectwoman. It can be utilized by Public Works to notify homeowners of upcoming tree trimming on the town right-of-way, adjacent to their property. The members agreed that the notification should be in the form of a postcard, should be mailed three weeks before the work commences and include the contact information (phone number and email address) for Public Works. The three week timeline will give a homeowner ample opportunity to discuss questions and/or concerns about the upcoming work. Anne Bing suggested posting the notice with details about when/where the trimming will take place on the town web site.
Mrs. DiCamillo will communicate the members’ ideas to First Selectwoman Reemsnyder.
OLD BUSINESS
Planning Commission’s updating of existing Regulations for Public Improvement
Last month Mrs. DiCamillo emailed the members with the sections of the regulations that relate to trees and asked for their input. No comments were received.
Mrs. DiCamillo handed out the Planning Commission’s current regulations to the members. She reviewed with them the changes that she and the Tree Warden, Tom Degnan, are proposing.
Section 40B.10 Landscape Plan– “Landscape Plan should be reviewed by the Tree Commission or the Tree Warden.”
Section 70I.6 Trees-added “Tree Warden” to the first line
Section 70M.2 Nature-added “Where valuable trees or their root systems may be directly or adversely impacted by lighting placement, an alternative location should be considered.”
Section 70Q.5 - added “valuable shade trees”
Section 80B.3 Trees-added “Any such tree shall have the root system, stem and branching effectively protected…. Prior to accepting the road as a town road, the Old Lyme Tree Warden may inspect the trees within the proposed right-of-way for purposes of assessing tree health and compliance with these regulations. The Tree Warden may reject trees deemed to be in poor health, damaged or otherwise impacted by construction. The Contractor shall remove rejected tree(s), grind the stump(s) to 6 inches below the ground, fill with top soil and seed prior to the town accepting as a town road.”
Section 120C.1-“All landscaped areas shall be inspected after planting by the Tree Warden or his/her” designee. “These areas and all areas stabilized by vegetation shall be properly maintained”….by the person or firm constructing the road…..for a period of one year after planting with all subsequent maintenance becoming the responsibility of “the Town of
Old Lyme.”
Mrs. DiCamillo submitted the documents to First Selectwoman Reemsnyder and Kim Groves for the Zoning Commission to review.
Town Hall- proposal to trim Kousa Dogwoods
Jonathan Parker (Yankee Tree Service) will be pruning the trees on February 29.
Town Hall- discussion of removal of white birch clump
The white birch clump growing on the front lawn, northeast side of the building, is leaning toward the building and could cause considerable damage in the event of a major storm. One of the three trunks was completely removed when the building was remodeled in 2007. Since that time, branches have been periodically removed because they were impacting the new wing. The tree’s growth habit will always be affected by the very small space it occupies, the competition for nutrients with the adjacent river birch and the close proximity to the new wing of the building. The tree warden agrees that it poses a danger to the building and should be removed. There was a long discussion among the members about the long term health of the tree.
MOTION: Anne Bing made a motion, seconded by Emily Griswold, to remove the white birch clump in front of town hall. All present voted in favor, motion carried.
MEMBERS’ REPORTS –none
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Communication
1 Portland Avenue-residents’ copy of letter to CL&P regarding proposed tree removal in front of property
Mrs. DiCamillo read a copy of a letter from Jim Lampos and Michaelle Pearson to Tom Degnan protesting the removal of a sassafras tree in front of their house. The tree shares a root system with several other sassafras trees in their yard and they are concerned about the impact on the remaining sassafras trees if one tree is removed.
Carolyn Harvey-17 Library Lane-The Tree Commission’s response letter was returned by the Post Office. 17 Library Lane does not have a mailbox.
83 Shore Road-Peter Chadwick phoned town hall about CL&P’s proposed vegetative work in front of his property. After receiving the message from town hall, Mrs. DiCamillo followed up with Mr. Chadwick. He reported that he called the phone number printed on the consent form. He told an employee of Asplundh Tree Company, he refused to give permission to trim the vegetation growing along the state right-of-way front of his property and would not allow the use an herbicide to treat the stumps. The invasive vines and shrubs provide him with privacy from Route 156. The employee told him to write a letter to the Tree Commission. Mrs. DiCamillo informed Mr. Chadwick that the tree warden and the commission do not have jurisdiction over trimming on a state road. She also explained that there is a new protocol, established
by CL&P, for residents to follow when trimming will take place adjacent to their property. All concerns and questions should now be directed to CL&P. The tree commission is no longer a contact source. Mr. Chadwick was clearly upset.
Mrs. DiCamillo told Mr. Chadwick she would try to have someone from CL&P respond to his complaint.
She phoned the CL&P community representative for Old Lyme at his Waterford office to report the phone call and relay Mr. Chadwick’s concerns. She asked him to follow up with a phone call. She also stated that the new protocol was not being implemented by Asplundh Tree and stressed that a thorough review of the new procedures with them is imperative to prevent problems such as this one from occurring in the future.
228 Mile Creek Road – The chairman read a copy of a letter to the tree warden, written by Gretchen Knauff, objecting to CL& P proposed tree trimming and tree removals in front of her house. The extent of the tree trimming will impact her privacy and will severely affect a lovely old apple tree that was trimmed only two years ago.
REMINDER
The Tree Commission will not meet in March.
Next scheduled meeting is Thursday, April 17, 2014 at 4 P.M. at the Town Hall.
ADJOURNMENT
Motion: Anne Bing moved, seconded by Joanne DiCamillo, to adjourn the meeting at 5:13 P.M. All present voted in favor. Motion carried.
Respectfully Submitted,
Martha Hansen, Clerk
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