This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Politics & Government

Shade Tree Commission Plans New Plantings, Ordinance Reviews

The Commission's next meeting will be Feb. 10 at 7:30 p.m. in Town Hall.

Individuals are not alone in making their plans for improvement in the new year; Wednesday night, the Shade Tree Commission met to make plans for how it can improve the number and health of area trees.

Future Plans


The commission plants between 30 and 60 trees a year, working on a $65,000 budget. It usually plants 15 or 20 trees in the spring planting and then another 40 trees in the fall. For trees to be planted in the spring planting, the commission must decide on them by the February meeting next month.

One of the main spring plantings will be additions to the Ridge High School campus, sometime in April. Commissioner Jack Gray began the plan for 12 trees of the same species to be placed between flower planters at the high school. The commission would also plant another couple of trees off to the side.

"In case one of these trees has problems, [or] if one of these trees gets run over by a car, we have a replacement that's the same size," Gray said.

The commission discussed several other locations for new trees as well. Some trees in Southard Park will need to be removed in the near future, so replacements for them are possible. Additionally, the commission considered planting trees along Valley Road to continue an already existing line of cherry trees in front of the Veterans' Affairs Hospital.

The commission plans a presence at Charter Day that will include a tent with brochures, as well as a display about biodiversity and giving away 2' to 3' trees.

"We're trying to get a theme where people wear a costume," said Commissioner Chris McManemin. "You may have to dress like a tree."

Status Reports

The commission is awaiting a response on a grant it applied for last month for $7,400 dollars to do tree trimming through the main part of town. The grant is part of economic stimulus for all towns to spend up to $7,000 for tree trimming.

The commission also heard a report on the status of education efforts. The commission is required by the New Jersey Shade Tree Federation to have at least eight hours of continuing education credits, although the commission always supercedes the requirements every year, according to Gray. Possible classes include the topics of tree identification, alternatives to pesticide use, hazardous tree management and cabling and bracing.

The other aspect to education for the commission is community outreach, which this year could include replacing tree identification tags on trees around town, and putting the map of tree locations on the website.

Reorganization

Another item on the agenda for the evening was the reorganization meeting for the new year.

Mark Harabedian was appointed to another 5-year term, while the commission welcomed Carolyn Gaziano as Township Committee liaison.

Commissioner Charlie Cunion, who has served on the commission since 2002, stepped down from his position to serve on the Parks and Recreation committee. His term will be filled by one of the two alternates, Jonathan Vidler or Michael Viola, who will be appointed by the Township Committee. The commission will be seeking a new alternate for the position left vacant.

The commission also elected a chairman and vice-chairman for the new year. Randy Santoro was reelected as chair, while Harabedian was reelected as vice-chairman, both on a unanimous vocal vote.

The commission voted to reestablish a subcommittee, made up of Harabedian, Gray, McManemin and Vidler to examine all municipal tree ordinances. The subcommittee will consider a possible addition of an ordinance concerning the responsibility of private property owners for hazardous trees on their property. It will also consider amending the ordinance about which trees require approval to be removed. The current ordinance applies only to properties of three acres or more and to trees having a girth of at least four inches.

Any recommendations the subcommittee produces will be given to the Township Committee through Gaziano.

Find out what's happening in Basking Ridgewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?