Town Tree Committee agrees to reallocate trees to streets, sets follow-up on building permit and maintenance requests

The Town Tree Committee agreed on informal next steps to reassign trees originally slated for the airport to street and park plantings, and set follow-up actions on a building-permit concern and a resident complaint about a Linden tree.

Dave, Town Tree Committee member, told the group, "Let's just take these trees and make them street trees," proposing the plants be transplanted to locations such as Delta Field and near bleachers. Committee members discussed planting two Princeton homes and three Zillocco species on Milestone and doing two additional plantings at Surfside.

The committee said crews have already begun watering newly planted trees: "We put, like, a 100 gallons on the meter," a committee member said, and the group planned to add at least another 50 gallons this week to keep recent transplants moist. Members also agreed to continue routine watering and to schedule plantings to cover work over the coming month.

Nut graf: The discussion combined near-term maintenance (watering and weekly/biweekly care) with a decision to repurpose trees from an airport allocation into town street and park plantings, and it produced several staff follow-ups: a draft letter to the building commissioner about 43 Union Street, monitoring of NIR property development, and placement of a Linden tree on a biweekly weed/maintenance list after a resident complaint.

Committee members emphasized maintenance and monitoring rather than new policy. Emily, Town Tree Committee member, said she had drafted but not sent a letter about 43 Union Street and told the committee, "I'll grab pull that letter up again and just finalize that and send that to you, Dave, to take a look at." The letter is intended to clarify requested precautions and to notify the building department about the ZBA permit conditions the committee wants enforced.

A written complaint from resident Nancy Martin regarding a Linden tree at the corner of Westchester and North Liberty was read at the meeting. Committee members said staff will add the site to a two‑week weed/maintenance rotation and will monitor whether the tree or nearby vegetation obstructs signage.

Members also discussed removing a stand of dead willow trees in a beach area, noting poor soil conditions may limit successful replanting there. One member said the soil was "so poor" that reestablishing certain species would not be effective, and the group agreed to remove the failing trees and keep the area mowed.

The committee flagged two development sites to watch: 37B Cliff Road and a parcel identified as the NIR property (between Pleasant, Cherry and Bear Streets), where members said Lindens, Japanese pagodas and two ginkgo trees are located and where development activity may affect town trees. Members asked colleagues to "eyeball" 37B Cliff Road and to review forthcoming property plans before work advances.

At the meeting start, members moved and seconded acceptance of the agenda; the motion passed by voice vote with all in favor.

Ending: The committee recorded multiple operational directions—planting and watering plans, a maintenance schedule, and staff follow-ups on permit enforcement and neighborhood monitoring—and asked members to report back as the work and any development filings progress.