Rich Parrish, a Tree Northampton volunteer, presented a plan at the Nov. 5 meeting of the Northampton Urban Forestry Commission to enlist volunteers in routine maintenance of the city’s young street trees. The proposal would assign volunteers to neighborhood zones, provide printed maps and task lists, and rely on the existing Tree Northampton volunteer list to recruit participants.

The proposal is designed to limit city costs. “This plan should take minimal, if any, city resources,” Parrish told the commission, saying volunteers would carry out low-skill work such as weeding around tree bases, removing or reorienting decayed stakes and trunk guards, pruning water sprouts and reporting streets completed to a volunteer coordinator. Parrish said structural pruning would remain a separate, winter program handled by trained crews.

Commissioners and members of the public pressed for details on logistics. Questions included whether volunteers would work in groups or independently, how zones would be assigned, whether the city could supply mulch or buckets, and how removed materials would be collected. The commission said mulch is available at the DPW transfer site on Locust Street during its seasonal hours and suggested Spring Grove Cemetery as an on-call drop-off location for debris when appropriate.

Tom Bassett, a public commenter, urged the commission to back the plan, calling it “well thought out” and noting Village Hill cohousing runs a similar maintenance model. Commissioners and staff discussed recruitment options including the Tree Northampton lists, Master Gardeners and Friends of the Trails, and recommended starting with a small pilot group rather than a citywide rollout.

The commission asked Parrish to produce a revised task list and a printed map of zones and to return with a flowchart and timeline. Parrish said he would refine the document and bring it back at the next meeting or in about a month. The commission did not take a vote on the program at this meeting.

Next steps: Parrish will prepare a more detailed plan with a proposed pilot period, a zone map and a task checklist; staff will clarify DPW mulch availability and the volunteer release process for setback properties.