Bridgeville Shade Tree Commission holds inaugural meeting, elects officers and readies Nov. 1 planting

Jennifer was elected chair of Bridgeville’s newly formed Shade Tree Commission at its inaugural meeting, where members also confirmed a partnership with TreeVitalize for a community tree planting and discussed volunteer recruitment, training and the limits of borough authority over privately held 'paper streets.'

The commission voted by voice to elect Jennifer chair after nominations from BJ and other members. Courtney was elected vice chair and Alison was chosen as secretary. The mayor administered an oath of office to new members at the start of the meeting.

The meeting centered on a TreeVitalize planting the borough won through an application process. Staff said TreeVitalize — working with Tree Pittsburgh and the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy — awarded a planting scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 1; volunteers will meet at 9 a.m. at the Borough Building and crews will plant sites including Baldwin Street (corner of Margaret and Baldwin), several borough-owned lots and McGofflin Run Park. "We applied essentially on public properties continuing what we started on Baltimore Street," staff said, describing an arborist-led site review and an outreach plan that will include the borough newsletter and social media.

The commission heard operational details and next steps. Staff said TreeVitalize maintains sign-in records for volunteers and can share contact lists; they also said the program can fund plantings on private property if homeowners participate, but those trees remain the private owner's responsibility, not the borough's. "The ordinance that created the commission defined that our authority is only within municipal own properties," staff said when explaining the commission’s legal limits.

Commissioners asked about timelines, training and grant administration. Staff said TreeVitalize has spring and fall cycles and typical turnaround for awards can be about six months; the borough will check the spring-application timeline and report back. On training, staff and commissioners discussed hosting a local Tree Tender course and noted TreeVitalize indicated a minimum of roughly 15 participants would make an on-site course feasible. Staff also said Tree Tender certification is commonly used to designate the named applicant for TreeVitalize grants: "It has to be under a name of a tree tender," staff said, identifying a prior local tree tender used on earlier grants.

Budget and equipment questions followed. Staff told the commission there is a small line item in the general fund for tree maintenance — approximately $5,000 to $10,000 annually depending on need — and that the borough owns forestry equipment, including a tree truck, and can do some in-house work; however, larger removals after storms have required contractors.

Legal and property issues drew sustained discussion. The solicitor and the manager explained the concept of "paper streets" — alleys shown on original plats that were never developed — and how long nonuse can extinguish municipal rights, leaving maintenance ambiguities for residents and the borough. Staff warned commissioners not to promise borough maintenance for locations that may be privately controlled without formal legal steps such as quitclaim deeds: in those cases, adjacent property owners typically retain responsibilities unless the borough reacquires rights.

Before adjourning, commissioners agreed to solicit interest for training and to request a map and inventory from staff and TreeVitalize showing borough-owned planting opportunities. The commission tentatively discussed holding regular meetings quarterly, with a proposed next meeting on the first Monday in February; staff will prepare agendas and post meeting materials and a video to the borough website.

The meeting closed after a motion and second to adjourn.