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 12th Street was grinded down.
A tree at 207 West 11th 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 15th 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 8th 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 12th 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 8th 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.
