The Village of Thomaston’s Tree Committee get together
With Spring in bloom and Summer approaching, the Thomaston tree committee set out to ensure the community foliage is up to par. Two Thomaston members of the tree committee got together to tour the neighborhood, inspect village property trees and make notes on possible improvements.
The committee is only advisory. Based on their tree research and existing tree inspection, the committee suggests improving and maintaining Thomaston trees to the Village Board. Tree committee members Lea Caplan and Victoria Lublin started their walk-through at the traffic island on Avalon Road.
“There are several traffic islands in the Thomaston neighborhood, but Avalon’s is the biggest,” said Caplan.
“Avalon is in great need of being enhanced,” said Luplin. “The center island is an eyesore that needs to be remediated.”
The committee inspected the traffic islands and trees on the village property with a neighborhood map, notepad, and the village code. The committee discussed different plants that would be beneficial to the environment and aesthetically pleasing to improve the large traffic island on Avalon and the other smaller islands scattered throughout the neighborhood.
The two committee members and an interested resident went through the neighborhood, marking down dead village trees to be inspected and withering trees that must be trimmed to remain healthy.
“On Thomaston property, you need permission to take a tree down,” said Lublin. “If it’s diseased, they come and certify it is diseased before taking it down.”
The committee discussed vines and ivy, realizing that the greenery could grow to strangle a tree. Having the village trim the vines and ivy to monitor its growth is a suggestion the committee plans to make.
Beyond inspecting dead trees, the committee also worked to determine private and village property to ensure they make suggestions based on village property only.
Caplan and Luplin both enjoy walks through the neighborhood, as do many residents now that the weather has become warmer. They decided to consider the number of trees that provide shade to walkers and the hanging branches obstructing the paths.
The committee suggests a tree to provide shade coverage on long stretches of bare grass. They also noted the corners where branches blocked the sidewalks and planned to recommend the village trims the trees back.
The first tree committee walkthrough provided reliable information to base suggestions on for the village board to review at next month’s Board of Trustees meeting.
