Taking a Stand on Washington St. Project

Janet Taisey Craft
62 East Street
Ipswich, MA 01938
978-356-0334 jtcraft@comcast.net

March 5, 2011

Charles Surpitski, Chairman
Board of Selectmen
Town of Ipswich
Ipswich, MA 01938

RE: Washington Street Project

Dear Mr. Surpitski,

I am writing to the Board to express my concern regarding the planning and scope of work for the Washington Street Project. Of particular concern is the planned removal of twenty (20) mature trees from the streetscape.
As President of the Ipswich Garden Club, I represent an organization that for eighty-one years has devoted its efforts to the beautification and environmental preservation of our town. The planting and preservation of trees has been an important mission of the Garden Club. In 1976, a trust was established, The Helen W. Ross Fund, for the sole purpose of purchasing, planting and maintaining trees and other plantings for the beautification of the Town of Ipswich. Since that time over a hundred trees have been planted in the town along streetscapes to enhance the beauty and provide shade.
The Washington Street Project specifies the removal of twenty trees. These are mature trees that are over thirty years old and provide a beautiful canopy and add to the aesthetic beauty of the streetscape. The plan calls for re-planting new trees. But new trees will take twenty to thirty years to mature if they survive. The survival rate for the first three- four years of streetscape trees can be as low as 10%.
I request that the Board defer final action on the Washington Street Project until alternatives can be explored to save the trees. Several members of the Ipswich Garden Club with landscape design expertise can be helpful to the town and are planning to attend your March 7th meeting. I also request that no final action be taken until the Town’s Shade Tree and Beautification Committee (of which I am a member) can review the plan and make their recommendations to the Board of Selectmen.

Cordially,


Janet Taisey Craft
President, Ipswich Garden Club
Member, Ipswich Shade Tree and Beautification Committee