ALLENTOWN – Following the adoption of an ordinance that replaced Allentown’s Shade Tree Advisory Committee with a formal Shade Tree Commission, the Borough Council has transferred the membership and terms from the former advisory committee to the new commission.
Officials said the ordinance was adopted to provide more structure to the local group that cares for Allentown’s trees.
Residents who will serve on the Shade Tree Commission are Robert Mayer, Jason Cincotta, Terry Brown, Robert Kline, Suzanne Valpreda, Kathy Fidler (alternate No. 1) and Lisa Strovinsky (alternate No. 2). Don Stein, who is not a borough resident, will be the commission’s consultant, according to the municipal officials.
The ordinance adopted by the council states that the commission “is established for the purpose of regulating, planting, care and control of shade and ornamental trees and shrubbery upon and in the streets, highways, public places, parks and parkways of the borough.”
Among the duties of the commission are the following:
• Move or require the removal of any tree, or part thereof, dangerous to public safety
• Administer treatment to or remove any tree situated on private property which is believed to harbor a disease or insects readily communicable to neighboring healthy trees in the care of the borough and enter upon private property for that purpose, with the consent of the owner
• Encourage arboriculture
• Work in cooperation with the Environmental Commission and other such borough agencies in regards to the encouragement of planting and preservation of shade trees.
The Shade Tree Commission will be funded through an annual appropriation provided by the council, according to the ordinance.
