Meeting Minutes 8/27/15

Tift County Tree Board

August 27, 2015

Board Members Present:  Joe Laforest, Michael Mitchem, Liz Moss, All Potts and Jeannie Rigdon.

Visitors Present:  Duncan McClusky and Al Potts son.

INTRODUCTION

Liz Moss is a new board member coming to Tifton from West Virginia.  Her husband is teaching forestry at ABAC.  Liz has an urban forestry background and was working with communities throughout WV with their tree populations.

TREES REMOVED

A stump on 12^th Street was grinded down. 

A tree at 207 West 11^th Street was removed on Monday.

FOLLOWUP ON TREES

The tree at 805 North Park has an old historic fence next to it which causes concerns about removing this tree.  Other locations already evaluated include 1010 North College, 111 West 15^th Street, 3005 Clover Circle, and two trees in front of Heyward Fowler’s house,

New places to check include three oak trees at 408 North Tift Avenue, trees across from the Baptist Church near Three Graces Manor,   and a dead tree by the HR Block office on 8^th and Central.  .

TREE INVENTORY

Davey Tree performed three surveys of trees in the city and this information was available for an annual fee.   During the surveys a number of trees were judged to be hazardous and needing removal.   There was a question if the city has continued to pay this fee allowing access to the site.  

Liz Moss suggesting having volunteers trained to evaluate trees [at a basic level].  These volunteers could be ABAC Forestry students and/or interested people from the community.  The USDA has a program called Itrees [www.itreetools.org] that is a free inventory program that can be used.  The information can be updated when a tree is removed or a tree planted.  

ESG Inc. has their own software program for inventorying assets in the city.  Their IT person, Shawn, has discussed transferring the Davey Tree inventory information to the ESG program for Tifton.  Having the tree inventory on this system would allow work orders and inventory to be followed.  Liz Moss will talk to Scott Murphy at ESG about the use of this software for a tree inventory.  There is a concern whether non ESG employees would be allowed access to the software. 

TREE CITY

Tree city applications are supposed to be turned in by mid-December.  Last year the Tifton application was turned in late and Al Potts didn’t receive the recognition items until after the tree program.  

FALL PLANTING

There were some trees planted at the old Anne Belle Clark School that were on top of water mains.  Typically a call is made 3-4 four days before a planting to locate underground power and water lines.  Scott Murphy can give an overview of an area some time before this. 

Residents in the historic district have provided funds to plant trees in this region of the city.  Scott Murphy has indicated ESG can do everything except pay for the trees.  It is important to have volunteers to water the trees.  

Trees planted previously that have not done well include some by a water tower, and some at the ball park.  Another location to consider includes 12^th Street between Hall and Murray on the south side but have to be careful how close trees are planted to an intersection.  No tree should be planted within 30 feet of an intersection.

There was a question about along the railroad tracks on Forest Drive.  Three trees have already been planted in front of the fire station.  The railroad uses a strong herbicide so don’t want to plant too near the railroad tracks.  The railroad also has rules on how close trees can be planted to the railroad tracks.  

Tift Avenue has areas that are bare and could use some trees.  

There is an open area at 8^th and Prince Avenue that is city property and trees could be used here.  

An adopt a tree program was tried with little success in the past.  Residents were offered an opportunity to have a tree planted in the right of way in front of their home if they would care for it.  This didn’t work out well.  Liz suggested having the residents have a financial stake in the tree and they could dedicate the tree to someone.  

 

Superior Trees [http://www.superiortrees.net/] and a plant nursery in Lake City, Florida were used in the past to purchase trees.  [“Gainous Shade Trees in Cairo, Lake Tree Farm in Whigham, an Superior Trees in Lee, Florida are all good sources for trees.  Superior will have the best selection of natives, whereas the other two are to of our best “tree” growers in containers.”]  These trees were delivered to Tifton at a cost.  The cost was the same for one tree or many trees so would like to have a number of trees delivered.  The trees in burlap root balls didn’t do well so only want trees in containers.  Dr. John Ruter was the contact who knew the nurseries and the best locations to obtain materials.  Liz will contact Dr. John Ruter in Athens to check on nearby tree nurseries.  

EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH

Liz indicated she would help with educational outreach programs.  

DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

The Downtown Development Authority (DDA) has several phases in fixing up the downtown area.  The Bradford Pears along Commerce Way have been removed.  The Bradford pear trees across from the museum will be removed in another phase.

OTHER CONTACTS FOR LIZ

Karen Rawlins in the Center of Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health for native plants. 

Evaluation of oaks at 408 N Tift Ave

These three older oaks are on city property in front of a home along busy Tift Avenue, and have taken a beating over the years due to storm damage and some improper pruning practices that left large branch stubs.  As a result, a lot of decay has occurred in their remaining branches, causing them to fall apart slowly. 

Although the trees may stand for another 20 years or more, they are a serious hazard in that the dead branches they are shedding are quite large.  The city has the option of pruning out the "deadwood", but this would require drastic work and the march of decay will continue nonetheless.  Therefore, the Tifton Tree Board has recommended the removal and replacement of these particular trees.

For more information on common tree hazards and how decay works, see the following links:

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ep507
http://www2.ca.uky.edu/agcollege/plantpathology/ext_files/PPFShtml/PPFS-OR-W-1.pdf

 In the following photos, the considerable large deadwood is highly visible hanging over the property and street.

External staining indicates a column of decay inside this codominant branch which would weaken its branch attachment.

Minutes from the September 24, 2013 meeting

Board Members Present:  Brenda Douce, Joe Laforest, Michael Mitchem, Al Potts, and Jeannie Rigdon.

Visitors Present:  Duncan McClusky

SAVANNAH LAWSUIT
A woman in Savannah was awarded $12 million in court when she was hit by a falling tree limb.  http://savannahnow.com/news/2013-08-22/jury-awards-woman-12-million-against-savannah-fallen-limb-case#.UkLgBD-GdI0

TREES
There is a tree at 10^th and Tift where the base of the tree looks bad.  Davey Tree may not have surveyed this tree and the thought was that this tree is on the list to be removed.

There is a large pecan tree across from First United Methodist Church on 12^th Street that has been reported to be leaning towards the street.  The person is afraid the tree will fall over. 

There is a large pine tree in the middle of the old Anne Belle School with a branch that has broken off and is hanging.  The tree is not on the right of way but could be a hazard with the number of children playing in the playground. 

An oak tree at 614 Ridge Avenue has been dropping limbs

A limb fell out of an oak (?) tree at 710 Park and landed near the garbage can.  The homeowner wants the tree removed. 

Joe will email the board the addresses of the trees to be reviewed.

BOARD MEMBERSHIP
The board heard a report that Victoria Watson has submitted a request to be released from being a Tree Board member. 

GEORIGA URBAN FORESTRY COUNCIL MEETING

The Georgia Urban Forestry Council (http://www.gufc.org/) will be meeting on October 23-24, 2013 in Columbus, Georgia.  Tree Board members can write an essay about why they want to attend this meeting and what knowledge they hope to bring back to their job.  The people selected from these essays will receive a $135 scholarship to pay their registration for the meeting.  No one from the Tift County Tree Board was interested in attending.

DOGWOOD TREES
Jeannie Rigdon has marked a couple dozen dead dogwood trees around the old Anne Belle Clark School that can be removed.  Joe Laforest is going to contact the wood turners in the area to see if they would be interested in the larger pieces of wood.  There was a discussion about how to dispose of the remaining smaller pieces of wood. 

ABAC TREE CAMPUS CERTIFICATION
ABAC has been working hard on receiving the Tree Campus Certification.  They have completed most if not all the requirements and the report should be submitted by December. 

LIABILITIES
There was a short discussion about who would be liable if a tree or part of a tree caused damage by falling in Tifton.  The city has known about the hazardous tree situation for some time due to the Davey tree inventories.  However, the Tree Board has no authority and can only recommend actions to the city.  The Tree Board should not be liable if anything did happen. 

Minutes from the August 27, 2013 meeting

Present:  Joe Laforest, Michael Mitchem, and Jeannie Rigdon.

Visitors Present:  Duncan McClusky

TREE REMOVED

A tree near the intersection of 12^th Avenue and Ridge. 

TREES TO BE REMOVED

Another tree at 1019 Ridge Avenue will be removed soon. 

There is a tree across from the American Legion on Moore Highway that was looked at and should be taken down. 

HISTORIC DISTRICT

An anonymous person provided $9,000 for the historic district.  One suggestion is to use these funds to remove dead dogwood and maple trees.

FUTURE PLANTINGS

The suggestion was made to only use containerized trees next time and to choose one or two streets in the historic district to concentrate on.

The green menace strikes again! Human health effects of Emerald Ash Borer

PBS NewsHour just published a piece on How Removing Trees Can Kill You as related to the loss of ash in Detroit, Michigan as a result of Emerald Ash Borer. 

Geoffrey Donovan noted "Increased rates of death from cardiovascular and lower respiratory mortality in the counties with emerald ash borer. And interestingly, what we found was the effect got bigger the longer you had an infestation, which makes sense because it takes two to five years for a tree to die typically."

I've always touted the fact that trees in urban environments make it a better place to live. It takes something like this to make you appreciate just how important they can be!

Minutes from the May 28, 2013 meeting

Board Members Present: Joe LaForest, Michael Mitchem, Al Potts, and Jeannie Rigdon.
Visitors Present: Duncan McClusky

HOLLY TREES
The holly trees have been replaced with two trees waiting to be planted. The remaining two trees will be planted when the locates have been completed. Joe LaForest, and Jeannie and Steve Rigdon will remove the burlap and wire to plant these trees.

TREE WATERING
The city is watering the plants twice a week. Jeannie and Steve Rigdon have been carrying buckets of water in their truck to water the new trees.

TREE CAMPUS
ABAC is interested in the Tree Campus designation. Al Potts and Joe LaForest have been invited to attend one of the campus meetings regarding this recognition attempt.

TREE INVENTORY
The city has the Davey Tree Inventory and information on new trees being planted has been added to the inventory.

JUNE MEETING

The June meeting will be cancelled.

Minutes from the April 23, 2013 meeting

Members Present: Brenda Douce, Joe Laforest, and Michael Mitchem.
Visitor Present: Duncan McClusky

HOLLY TREES

Very few of the holly trees that were planted recently for Arbor Day have survived. Joe Laforest has discussed the situation with David Cleveland of Cleveland Tree Company and the trees will be replaced with another holly variety. Due to scheduling conflicts the week of May 11th will be the first available time to replace the dead trees. However this may be getting too warm to plant so may have to wait until next spring. Next year the recommendation is to only transplant trees that are in containers.

  DAVEY TREE INVENTORY

The Davey Tree electronic inventory has not been updated to show locations for trees planted during Arbor Day or trees that have been recently removed.