 |
SHADE TREE COMMITTEE
The Shade Tree Committee met eight times in 2005.
We were level funded again this year and an additional $10,000.00 added at the beginning of fiscal 2006 to compensate for the prevailing wage law which was mandated at the state level. Our request for $10,000.00 for preventative maintenance was denied.
Tree loss for the year was within the normal range of ninety trees, lost because of disease, weather or normal ageing. In keeping with the usual plan of spring planting, we planted 125 new trees of varying variety, including Red Maple, London Plane, Locust and Ash. In addition, we added 10 Red Maples and two Elms to the Claflin Street parking lot. We replaced three Callery Pear along Concord Avenue lost to accidental automobile events and 4 Plum trees in front of the Belmont Savings Bank garage paid for by the bank. The Arbor Day planting was a London Plane tree planted at the Winnbrook School joining several others as part of a design plan. Additionally, a memorial Sargent Crab was planted near the Wellington Station, paid for by a private source.
In March we were visited by Jane Calvin, the Massachusetts State Forester, who spoke to us about State Grant opportunities and other sources of funding for our ongoing projects.
In April, Chairman Simmons and member Ruth Foster attended a symposium sponsored by “Tree City U.S.A”. The Town of Belmont was given the Governor’s Award in recognition of our twentieth year as a Tree City U.S.A. We were also given a beautiful trophy by the National Arbor Day Foundation and a flag to be flown on Arbor Day.
We are engaged in updating our mission statement to ensure that our purpose, entrusted as we are, of protecting our most valuable resource, is understood.
Respectfully submitted,
Laura M. Simmons, Chairman
Lucille Dressler, William Trabilcy, Andres Rojas, Lucia Gates, Ruth Foster, Nancy Forbes, DeNee Reiton Skipper, Sinclair Weeks, Martha Moore, Dorothy Rosales, Peter Castanino (ex-officio), and Thomas Walsh (Tree Warden)
| |
