Procedure modification

My daughter, almost a second grader, takes care of our paper recycling at home. This time I was very pleased to double check before curbside pick up. Among old homework and junk mail I found June 25th Verona Observer newspaper with the article "Tree removal complains initiate procedure modification" in the front page.

After a petition with 124 signatures was given to the Township Council at the June 15 meeting, Township Manager Joseph Martin speculated that perhaps the process for tree removal in the township should be modified...
Councilwoman Teena Schwartz says she thinks adding the review and comment of the shade tree commission will help and should be done before bids for any street project are released. If healthy trees can be saved by using smaller equipment on the job or some by other modifications that may effect the total job cost, the net effect should be a wash. “If we spend a little more to save trees, we will obviously spend less to replace them,” Schwartz said in an interview Tuesday.

Based on Shade Tree Commission information available at the time, petitioners stated that Verona spends $10,000 annually to plant new street trees. There are additional expenditures such as tree pruning and tree removal associated with tree replacements. During the last council meeting Councilmember Teena Schwartz, liaison with the Shade Tree Commission and Environmental Commission, gave a detailed report about resident's concerns regarding tree removals. Mr. Joe Martin, Town Manager, explain in detail that there are extra trees added all the time that are not part of the roadway projects. He mentioned that money from the capital budget is allocated to undertake the purchase of trees, and also tree replacements are paid from project dollars out of public works. Mayor Ken McKenna explained that most of the towns in New Jersey do not have a Shade Tree Commission.

During public participation Morningside resident Mrs. Laura Morowitz presented the petition. Mr. Dionigi Maladorno added that perhaps more involvement from the Shade Tree Commission should be allowed in the whole process. The Mayor and the Town Manager explained that Caputo Brothers Tree Service is the company responsible for our general tree maintenance program in town but the contractor hires another firm for tree removals on specific road projects. Mr. Joe Martin added that we will learn from the Morningside experience and that he is confident, as well as Mr. Jim Helb, Town Engineer, that we can do better. Deputy Mayor Jay Sniatkowski encouraged residents to call Public Works and request trees to be planted in front of their homes assuring that Verona is more than prepared to plant public trees. He also mentioned that living in the Forest Avenue School quadrant he knows the impact of trees taken down in the community. Referring to the petition he pointed out:

We certainly need to improve the process. You certainly have valid points and we are going to work to improve them.

I also called for major involvement of the Shade Tree Commission before any tree removals and added that I do not want Verona to become another gray sad town like many others. Councilmember Santi Condoerelli explained that "no net tree loss" had been Verona's policy for years but its current enforcement is not clear. He suggested that knowing the annual amount spent on tree planting versus tree removals could help the residents. Mr. Ben Blinder, councilmember candidate in the last elections, asked:

Serving on the Landmark Preservation Commission we have to issue an annual report on our activities for the previews year. Does the Shade Tree Commission complete an annual report? Are they required to? And if so, is that report available for the public to review.

The answer from Councilmembers and Town Manager was yes and the report can be requested at Town Hall. Cinzia Cortese, member of Verona Environmental Commission, spoke as a Verona resident and long-term tree advocate:

I am happy that you are going to look into this because Morningside in my opinion is really a disaster.

She called for tree diversity instead of monocolture and explained that 3 trees were sick on Morningside Rd., 2 were butchered by PSE&G and the other 7 where the "oops!". Mr. Joe Martin answered that the tree list for removal was prepared before the trees came down and that when public service comes to town we should do a better job coordinating with them. Mrs. Laura Morowitz made the point that she and other neighbors received a letter saying "a few trees may be taken down in the course of the construction", and that's not really what happened. Finally, Mr. Jim Helb, Town Engineer noted that he can not give an exact list of trees that will be taken down until the sidewalk is exposed. And that one of the biggest limiting opportunities for replacing trees is the utilities. Trees can not be planted where the water and gas services are or sanitary sewer. Deputy Mayor Jay Sniatkowski added:

And if you put one of those service walks then you do not have any opportunity so it makes sense to take those out.

Mayor Ken McKenna invited the Town Manager and Town Engineer to come back to the council the next meeting on July 20th with their findings and proposals on the matter. Mr. Sniatkowski concluded:

We have a couple of groups working in different directions, we need to bring it all together, and a little bit of finger pointing, and this is certainly the first time it really came out and I've been doing this for 8 years and we never had this reaction. You are not been a pain in the neck, we thank you because where there is a fault in the system we need to find out...we owe to everybody to come up with a better system.

I think that we should all thank our township authorities for taking environmental concerns seriously and for their professionalism and expertise. It is clear that they are already working on improvements to replenish our urban forest.