By Kim Siebert MacPhail
As the Planning Board guides the town through the process of updating the Comprehensive Plan and develops a vision for the upcoming decade, town committees like the Bedford Arbor Resources committee (BARC) have been asked to provide input in an effort to further the Plan’s goal of “devis[ing] practical steps to ensure a strong community with a high quality of life.”
BARC’s stated mission—“To enhance the quality of life in Bedford by protecting and preserving, developing and managing the arbor resources on publicly-owned lands and by encouraging preservation and development of resources on private lands”—bears some similarities to that of the Comprehensive Plan.
From that perspective, and as one of nine committees that has contributed to the Comprehensive Plan, BARC has focused its input on a number of areas, including:
- Encouraging reintroduction of native trees, such as disease-resistant elms, especially in the Historic District;
- Encouraging development of rain gardens to help manage storm water run-off and soften urbanized landscapes;
- Incorporating environmental low-impact measures for new parking lots in order to minimize storm water run-off;
- Incorporating shade trees in new parking lots to avoid heat islands (heat islands are areas where asphalt and concrete are not relieved by cooling, green spaces);
- Incorporating shade trees when possible for outdoor recreation facilities;
- Encouraging homeowners to use rain barrels for irrigation;
- Developing tree replacement policies;
- Encouraging invasive species removal by property owners;
- Reducing roadside signage.
Some of these goals were discussed at BARC’s most recent meeting on August 21st. The idea, for example, of starting a town tree nursery, as reported in The Citizen last week , was touted by committee chair Jaci Edwards as one way to promote the committee’s goal of reintroducing native species, because it would be a way of securing a reliable inventory of desirable trees, like disease-resistant elms.
BARC member Ken Prescott spoke about another of the goals, the replacement or offsetting of lawn irrigation with water collected in rain barrels,saying that the cost of outdoor plant and lawn irrigation continues to be a concern for residents and that rain barrels can help minimize metered water usage. In 2009, barrels were made available through the DPW at a discounted price, but the grant that subsidized the program has since elapsed. According to the DPW, those interested in purchasing a rain barrel should now seek them through local retail or online sources.
The committee also discussed aspects of the proposed tree replacement policy that would require a one-for-one transfer once “a public tree is removed for private purposes.” Other towns, such as Lexington, have this kind of policy, Edwards said at the meeting. BARC would prefer that replacement trees be of a certain circumference and height, but they do not necessarily have to be planted in the same location as the original tree.
The goal of planting shade trees to mitigate heat islands and for wind and sun breaks within outdoor recreation areas was discussed. It was determined that BARC would co-host a talk about shade trees with another group, Transition Towns, sometime this coming spring in an effort to provide information on the subject to the public.
For a list of native trees, visit BARC’s new website:https://www.bedfordarbor.org/TreeList.php
To read the article about the proposed town tree nursery, visit: (https://thebedfordcitizen.wordpress.com/2012/08/23/bedford-arbor-resources-committee-plans-town-tree-nursery/
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