By Emma Jones
Amateur arborists abound at the Plandome Heights Board of Trustees monthly meeting on Monday.
In light of the storm last Wednesday, which resulted in fallen tree branches, Mayor Kenneth C. Riscica said t it is residents’ responsibility to take care of trees on their property and to clear the sidewalk of twigs and branches on the sidewalk in front of their homes.
Rosemary Mascali, president of the Plandome Heights Civic Association, reported a tree on Bourndale North Road in front of a resident’s house that had been “topped,” a practice that involves removing large portions of branches and leaves from a tree’s crown.
The board had discussed topping the tree at its May meeting. Mascali presented images of the tree and voiced concerns that the practice is both visually unappealing
and ecologically harmful.
She explained that arborist websites discourage the practice.
“When you top a tree. . .the new growth that comes in comes in with excessive growth and new shoots, causing them to grow rapidly, often with brittle branches,” she said.
Trustee Norman Taylor voiced strong support for tree topping if done properly.
“God is going to make that tree grow the way it wants to grow,” he said.
Mascali suggested that the board may consider exploring other options for tree cutting in the future.
Taylor argued that while topping is not the best method, it is the only option in many circumstances for trees on residents’ property.
“What happens when people look out to their front yard, and the whole thing is overgrown, [is] they’ve got to cut them back,” he contended.
In wind storms, he added, trees that have not been topped can become “big sails.” He stated that the village should limit the planting of trees that often lose branches in storms, such as cypress trees.
The mayor pointed out that most pruning services are not run by arborists.
“I understand and agree with your point of view—” Riscica began, turning to Taylor.
“I doubt that, no,” Taylor said, cutting him off.
At the outset of the meeting, Riscica suggested using approximately $18,000 total for two projects: road maintenance on Bay Drive, and replacing street signs that are faded or damaged.
Riscica then reported that $6,000 from the Local Government Records Management Improvement Grant was used for scanning documents, including historical records.
Another $7,000 went toward tagging scanned documents, allowing residents to search the digitized archives.
The village initially received approval for the $50,000 grant from the New York State Archives, a unit of the state Education Department, in August of 2022.
The work was set to be completed by June 30 of this year. The final report will be completed by the end of July, allowing Plandome Heights to receive reimbursement by
the fall.
The mayor also reported that the village closed the books early last week. The auditor will begin their review tomorrow.
“That’s better than the last two years when we fell behind in the reporting calendar. We should have no problem reporting to the state by the end of July,” he said.
The board then moved into executive session.
