Hanover Township Shade Tree Commission Meeting

September 23, 2002

The monthly meeting of the Shade Tree Commission was held at 6:45 p.m. at the Hanover Township Municipal Building, 3630 Jacksonville Road, Bethlehem PA 18017.

In attendance were Joan Witiak, Daniel Roman, Jeff Waldron, and David Zakeski

  1. Upon motion of Jeff Waldron, seconded by Daniel Roman, the commission approved the minutes from the Shade Tree Commission meeting dated August 19, 2002.
  2. Permits: All expiring permit holders were given until October 31 to plant trees because of the drought conditions.

    3. We have been asked by the Supervisors to inspect areas in Stafore Estates for evidence of missing trees. Jeff Waldron will help with this.

  3. Park Tree Pruning: Dan Roman reported that he received 4 cost estimates from four out of five arborists for pruning the young park trees. The estimates were delivered to the Township Manager with the recommendation that we go with the lowest bid.
  4. Drought, Tree Planting, and Watering: We discussed the need for a water tank and a certainty of watering the newly planted trees next summer, if we have drought conditions again. We cannot constantly ask the Volunteer Fire Co. to assist us. We will ask the Supervisors at their meeting on September 24, 2002, for help with this matter. We will be unwilling to plant any more trees if we cannot be assured of watering during the summer months.

    5. If we get an assurance of water, we will go ahead with the planting of trees near Merrivale and replacing some trees that have died in the parks. This will hopefully take place during the winter months, weather permitting.

  5. Budget: Our budget for 2003 will include expenses for park tree mulching and pruning, and watering during the summer months, if the Township Public Works crew is unable to do it.
  6. New Business: Our meeting schedule for 2003 will be based on the Planning Commission’s meeting schedule, in order to have Shade Tree comments on construction projects submitted to the Planning Commission before their meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:20 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Jeff Waldron