Committee

In 2018, the Town of Bethlehem was awarded an Urban and Community Forestry Grant by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. NYSDEC’s Urban and Community Forestry Grants Program helps communities develop and implement comprehensive tree planting, management, maintenance, and education to create healthy forests while enhancing quality of life for residents. The award from NYSDEC of $35,000 allowed the Town to hire a professional consultant to complete a town street tree inventory and a community forest management plan. The Street Tree Advisory Committee appointed at the March 27, 2019 Town Board provides guidance to town staff and the selected consultant during the process.

Project Status

Davey Resource Group conducted the inventory from August to October 2019 and processed the iTree inventory report in early November 2019. Davey Resource Group then attended a Street Tree Advisory Committee meeting in December 2019 to discuss the inventory findings and committee aspirations for the management plan.

In Spring and Summer of 2020, Davey Resource Group and Town staff worked alongside the Street Tree Advisory Committee in preparing a public draft of the Street Tree Inventory Analysis and Management Plan for public review and comment. The draft Street Tree Inventory Analysis and Management Plan is available below for download and review. Community members can submit questions and comments to Nate Owens at nowens@townofbethlehem.org. The deadline for submitting comments on the draft will be October 21.

Staff, the Street Tree Advisory Committee, and Davey Resource Group held a lunch-hour web forum on October 14 to present the plan, answer questions, and gather feedback.  Watch the video of the meeting to hear the presentation from Davey Resource Group and Question and Answer session. 

After the comment deadline, Davey Resource Group and staff will be revising the plan so it can be presented to the Town Board in November for approval.

Documents

Bethlehem Street Tree Inventory Analysis and Management Plan PUBLIC DRAFT

Memo from Staff to Town Board; March 6, 2020
Presentation to Town Board; March 12, 2020
Street Tree Inventory Narrative Report
Street Tree Inventory Map* https://townofbethlehemny.treekeepersoftware.com/

*Please note that the locations on this map are not survey-grade and are not an official Town determination of presence within public right-of-way.

Request for Proposals: Street Tree Inventory and Community Forestry Management Plan
Update: Revised to correct typo in cost estimate table (tier threshold changed from 4501 to 4001 for consistency.

Grant Presentation to February 13, 2019 Town Board

Regular Meetings

• Meets as necessary via Zoom
• Last Meeting:  Tuesday, August 25, 2020
• Next Meeting:  TBD
• Most recent agenda

Members

• Gabrielle Sant'Angelo, Pine Hollow Arboretum
• Bonnie Fahey, Community Member
• David Kvam, Community Member
• Scott Lewendon, Landscape Architect
• Carolyn Steadman, Bethlehem Garden Club
• Alison Yovine, Landscape Architect

Town Representatives

• Robert Leslie, AICP, Director of Planning
• Nate Owens, Senior Planner
• Marc Dorsey, Superintendent of Highways
• Pete Schmidt, Highway Foreman
• Robin Nagengast, Street Tree Program Coordinator