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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-10-17 Town Forest Committee Minuteso�, exGa Town of Reading Meeting Minutes� Board - Committee - Commission - Council: J'Li h..: -4 iL 2b Town Forest Committee Date: 2023-10-17 Time: 7 PM Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Berger Room Address: 16 Lowell Street Purpose: Town Forest Management Session: Attendees: Members - Present: Tim Kirwan, Kurt Habel, Bill Sullivan, Bill Hughes, Nancy Docktor, Tom Gardiner Members - Not Present: Jeff Lamson Others Present: Remote: ]ane Kinsela, DPW; Chuck Tirone and Martha Moore, Conservation Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Nancy Docktor Topics of Discussion: Meeting was held in-person and by video conference • Invasive plant control o Essex Horticulture won the contract. Work has begun in Area 3. They noted that deer has grazed some of the plantings in Area 3. o K. Habel suggested testing the Area 3 soil to identify what to plant there. o Work will need to be ongoing for buckthorn removal. • Discussed Phase 4 dead tree removal. The Pine Ridge Trail (Area 5) has many dead trees that could fall onto the trail. The steep terrain makes Area 5 inaccessible with logging equipment. The committee decided to propose cutting the trees and leaving the downed trees in place. The Yellow Overlook trail, near Area 2, also has dead red pine trees. It was suggested that a drone be used to identify if there are any other areas with dead trees. Bill S. will contact forester Phil Benjamin about the preparation of the Forest Cutting Plan. The schedule is to seek funding at the November 2024 Town Meeting and to perform the tree removal in late 2024 or early 2025. • Reviewed Town Forest Appreciation Day. Future events should focus less on outside groups and more on education and invasive plant removal drives. • Discussed dog waste bags. Providing bags has helped reduce the amount of dog waste in the TF. It appears that bags are being taken for use outside of the TF as the number of bags found in the TF trash barrels does not correlate with the number of bags supplied. The budget for the bags is needed for other TF activities such as the Forest Cutting Plan and invasive plant control. The decision was made to phase out supplying bags. • Voted on TFC positions: o Bill Sullivan re-elected as Chair o Kurt Habel re-elected as Vice Chair o Nancy Docktor re-elected as Secretary • Meeting minutes for the September TFC meeting were approved unanimously. • Next meeting was scheduled for 11/14/23 Page 1 1 Topics of Discussion: Meeting was held in-person and by video conference Discussed progress on the invasive plant control contract. The focus is on the Blazed and Spurs trails. A site visit to review the work is scheduled for 11/15. Most of the buckthorn removal work in this contract has been completed. Discussed the importance of raising public awareness of the work and the need for a long-term plan to control invasive plants in the TF. Essentially all of the $100,000 in ARPA funds approved by the Select Board for dead tree removal and invasive plant management has been expended. Discussed Phase 4 of the dead tree removal program. o Area 5 that contains the Pine Ridge Trail is narrow and does not allow access for the logging equipment used in the first three phases of this work. Discussed if cutting the dead trees down and leaving them in place might be preferable to closing the trail. o Area 11 is bisected by the Overlook Trail. It has good equipment access from the north end. o Area 12 near the Esker Trail has poor logging equipment access. Only the trees at the north end of the dead tree zone pose a risk of falling on the trail. The consensus was to close the Esker Trail until the trees fall on their own. Discussed portable toilets in Town Forest including the pros and cons of a permanent toilet. One idea was that group users of the TF pool their funding to support such a permanent structure instead of requiring groups to furnish a toilet for each event. Site concerns raised as well. Plan is to return to this topic at a later date. Eagle Scout project was presented by John House. The project consists of planting 10 native trees, each over 12 feet tall in Area 10 that was cleared of dead trees in November 2022. The trees will come with a one-year guarantee from Mahoney's. Planting is to take place on 11/18/23. TFC commended Mr. House for project and its benefit to the forest. The Committee expressed its gratitude to DPW Director Jane Kinsella for her great support to the TFC over the years, and congratulated her on her upcoming retirement. Thank you Jane! Chris Cole will take over as Jane's replacement. Page 1 1 r Town of Reading Meeting Minutes fQ�NIN[OP>PP / �i Board - Committee - Commission - Council: 11024 MAR -4 Nii 2:27 Town Forest Committee Date: 2023-11-14 Time: 7 PM Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Berger Room Address: 1n Lowell Street Purpose: Town Forest Management Session: Attendees: Members - Present: Tim Kirwan, Kurt Habel, Jeff Lamson, Bill Sullivan, Bill Hughes, Nancy Docktor, Tom Gardiner Members - Not Present: Others Present: Steve Gousie and John House, Scouts Remote: Jane Kinsela, DPW; Chuck Tirone and Martha Moore, Conservation Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Nancy Docktor Topics of Discussion: Meeting was held in-person and by video conference Discussed progress on the invasive plant control contract. The focus is on the Blazed and Spurs trails. A site visit to review the work is scheduled for 11/15. Most of the buckthorn removal work in this contract has been completed. Discussed the importance of raising public awareness of the work and the need for a long-term plan to control invasive plants in the TF. Essentially all of the $100,000 in ARPA funds approved by the Select Board for dead tree removal and invasive plant management has been expended. Discussed Phase 4 of the dead tree removal program. o Area 5 that contains the Pine Ridge Trail is narrow and does not allow access for the logging equipment used in the first three phases of this work. Discussed if cutting the dead trees down and leaving them in place might be preferable to closing the trail. o Area 11 is bisected by the Overlook Trail. It has good equipment access from the north end. o Area 12 near the Esker Trail has poor logging equipment access. Only the trees at the north end of the dead tree zone pose a risk of falling on the trail. The consensus was to close the Esker Trail until the trees fall on their own. Discussed portable toilets in Town Forest including the pros and cons of a permanent toilet. One idea was that group users of the TF pool their funding to support such a permanent structure instead of requiring groups to furnish a toilet for each event. Site concerns raised as well. Plan is to return to this topic at a later date. Eagle Scout project was presented by John House. The project consists of planting 10 native trees, each over 12 feet tall in Area 10 that was cleared of dead trees in November 2022. The trees will come with a one-year guarantee from Mahoney's. Planting is to take place on 11/18/23. TFC commended Mr. House for project and its benefit to the forest. The Committee expressed its gratitude to DPW Director Jane Kinsella for her great support to the TFC over the years, and congratulated her on her upcoming retirement. Thank you Jane! Chris Cole will take over as Jane's replacement. Page 1 1 Town of Reading Meeting Minutes • Dog waste bags were discussed. T. Kirwan is retiring from restocking the three dog bag dispensers. No one on the Committee volunteered to assume the responsibility of filling the bag dispensers. No decision was made as to what should be done with the remaining bags. • Meeting minutes for the October TFC meeting were approved unanimously. • Next meeting was scheduled for 12/19/23. Page 1 2