Treemageddon!

East Hadley Road 10/30/11

Trying to get Amherst citizens to think positively about trees right about now is kind of like a perfume company trying to market the scent made by a dying skunk, but the Public Shade Tree Committee will do their best to remind citizens of all the positive things trees bring to the table even though Chair Hope Crolius admitted, "Animosity is going to be high; it is trees that did the damage."

This morning's meeting, with the agenda headline "Tree Calamity," was requested by member Nonny Burack who wants the committee to "make noise," as she has had what she described as "otherwise thoughtful people" disclose their plan to clear cut all the trees from their property. Yikes!

The brutal storm affected thousands of trees, hundreds came down, hundreds more will still have to come down because of significant damage received. But if the damaged tree is in the public way (even if near a private home) homeowners cannot trim or drop the tree without permission of tree warden Alan Snow. And based on how often his cell phone chimed or vibrated during the course of the one-hour meeting, he may not be all that available over the next few days.

Committee Chair Hope Crolius, Tree Warden Alan Snow

Snow told the committee that as of this morning 3,000 cubic yards of debris had been picked up off the public roads by town crews and will be turned into biomass, mulch, or animal bedding. The town has a contract with Wagner Wood to haul it away.

I asked if the 75% FEMA reimbursement for cleaning up municipal debris would be jeopardized if private material made its way into the waste stream, and it appears that the Feds would not reimburse for private debris but would still cover the municipal waste. In other words, it is not an all-or-nothing deal.

The town could schedule alternating odd/even days to distinguish between municipal and private debris, making accounting easier.

Presumably Wagner Wood, since they are home based in Amherst, is giving the town a decent disposal rate, so why not leverage that to benefit private homeowners burdened by the unprecedented fallout?

Termination

Atkins Corner trees on West Street

Two of the least surprising official decisions to emanate from Amherst Town Hall so far this week are--in chronological order--the Select Board's unanimous vote on Monday night to kill the Committee on Homelessness, age four, and this afternoon's decision by the tree warden to allow termination of 15 more trees around Atkins Corner, some of them age 40-something.

Although in this case the Shade Tree Committee voted unanimously not to vote on the permit application because they considered the process a charade. In a previous round their unanimous vote to deny the permit was overruled.

Hwei-Ling Greeney Committee on Homelessness Chair

Since Atkins Corner construction is a state project the town and its committees have no power. So why even bother voting?

Shade Tree Committee. Alan Snow, 2nd from left, Tree Warden

Ah, if only passion was the paramount factor in deciding these controversial cases--a stay of execution would be guaranteed.

Lorax wanted

Big Ol' Oak Tree on West Bay Road

"Yes, I am the Lorax who speaks for the trees, which you seem to be chopping as fast as you please. But I'm also in charge of the brown Bar-ba-loots, who played in the shade in their Bar-ba-loot suits and happily lived eating truffula fruits. Now, thanks to your hacking my trees to the ground, there's not enough truffula fruit to go 'round! "

Twin Oak on West Street

Red Maple on West Street looking up...not so much for this particular tree

Official subpoena leading to a death sentence

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Public Shade Tree Committee

September 13, 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM

First Floor Meeting Room, Town Hall.

PUBLIC HEARING: to review the proposed removal of the following public shade trees: one oak tree on West Bay Rd and one twin oak and one red maple on West St. Tree Warden will post signs on the trees during the weeks of 9/1/11. Trees: a. One oak tree, 28.3" DBH. b. One twin oak tree, 24" & 21" DBH. c. One red maple tree, 18" DBH. Tree locations: a. On the south side of West Bay Rd across from the new addition to Atkins Market. b. On the west side of West St across from Mountain View Cir. c. On the west side of West St across from Mountain View Cir.

Standing in the way of progress

A mighty oak stands tall (for now)

Two siblings not far away

Two Maples who will not be very merry

"You're in charge of the last of the Truffula Seeds.

And Truffula Trees are what everyone needs.

Plant a new Truffula. Treat it with care.

Give it clean water. And feed it fresh air.

Grow a forest. Protect it from axes that hack.

Then the Lorax and all of his friends may come back."

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Public Shade Tree Committee

MEETING TIME: May 19th 3:00 pm. LOCATION: First Floor Meeting Room, Town Hall. LIST OF TOPICS: Review April minutes; Tree Warden’s Report; Vote on Atkins Corner Tree Removal; Presentation of New APSTC website; Arbor Day and Faith Planting wrap-up; TreeCity USA Celebration Report. The meeting will be followed at 4:00 PM by a hearing on tree removal for the Atkins Corner project.