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Tree
Board & Tree Warden
 he purpose of the Tree Board is to protect the public health and welfare by improving and preserving the beauty of the city as it relates to street trees and park trees. The Board administers and updates a plan for the care, preservation, pruning, planting, removal, or disposition of trees and shrubs in parks, along streets, and in other public areas. The City Council and the Planning Commission may also request the Tree Board's expertise in special matters which come within the Board's scope of work. The Tree Board and Tree Warden's duties are spelled out in Section 13-301 of the City's Code of Ordinances, which was first adopted in 1972, as well as 24 V.S.A. Chapter 67. The Tree Board's scope of responsibility includes studying, investigating, counseling, and developing and/or updating annually, and administering a written plan for the care, preservation, pruning, planting, removal, or disposition of trees and shrubs in parks, along streets and in other public areas. Also, if requested by the City Council, the Board must consider, investigate, make findings, report and recommend upon any special matter of question coming within the scope of its work. Members & Terms
Tree Warden The Tree Warden is a City official with complete authority over all trees, shrubs, or plants in the public right of way of the city that are not under the jurisdiction of the Parks Commission or Cemetery Commission. The Tree Warden may remove or cause to be removed any tree which is in an unsafe condition, presents a hazard to the general public, infected by insects, or is affecting public utility improvements. The Tree Warden also advises the Tree Board and regulatory boards of the City in matters of tree health, care, and maintenance. The Tree Warden can be contacted through the Department of Public Works at (802) 223-9508 or the City Manager's Office at (802) 223-9502. Norway Maple Tar Spot Alert The Burlington area has experienced a significant outbreak of giant tar spot on Norway Maples. If Montpelier residents notice tarspot please notify the Tree Warden at 223-7335. Residents can also read and act on the research done by Scientists at Cornell University who have done research on the disease. The website for the fact sheet is: http://plantclinic.cornell.edu/FactSheets/tarspot/tarspots.htm In a nutshell, the key points of the fact sheet are: 1. Tar spot is rarely a serious enough problem to threaten the health of the tree. 2. Infection occurs just as the leaves are unfolding, though you may not notice the problem until later in the season. 3. The best management approach is to rake up the leaves and destroy them, but this has to be done throughout the neighborhood, not just in your yard. The spores from next door will affect your tree next year if conditions are right. 4. Mulching leaves is okay IF, the pile is covered with soil or a tarp or something and leaves are turned under or not open to the air before new leaves begin to emerge in the spring. So as long as you know the leaves with spores are buried under other debris or compost, it is okay to compost them. However, if you put the infected leaves in a pile uncovered, the spores will disperse next spring. Considering the wide distribution of Norway maple in the area, it will be difficult to eliminate all of the infected leaves even if you clean up your own yard. The best hope we have is to have a dry spring next year, which will not favor the germination and spread of the spores. Contacts As of March 2006, the City's Tree Warden is: Geoff Beyer, Montpelier Parks Director The Tree Warden can be contacted through the Montpelier Parks Department (802) 223-7335. Email: gbeyer@montpelier-vt.org Updated March 16, 2008 |
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