At the Sept. 20 meeting of the Town Tree Preservation and Protection Committee, Vice Chairwoman Judy DiBello urged members to remind residents that the Town Forest Volunteer Cleanup Day is at 8:30 a.m. this coming Saturday, Sept. 24.

She noted that Rotary Club members were ready and willing to help in any way they can, and that flyers, posters, and buttons have been distributed to remind island residents and environmentally responsible volunteers of the annual event.

The only open forum item was from committee member Emmet Turley who requested that a diseased tree be removed from the front of his house. Secretary Bob Dolan volunteered to notify Department of Public Works and ask them to fulfill his request.

In unfinished business, Barry Holland, liaison from the Planning Commission, raised the subject of revisions for tree trimming permits. “The item of concern is who should be the correct person to issue the permits,” he noted. “Public works does the trimming, but that’s not who issues the permit.”

Holland went on to say, “Arlene (Town Clerk Arlene Petit) was taking the orders and bringing them to public works. The idea was to cut out the middleman and have public works handle the permits directly. Committee Chairman Frank Andres was drafting the changes to the permit and was going to make inquiries about the matter. However, since he was absent, the status of the project was unknown.” The committee voted to put the issue on the agenda for discussion at the next meeting in October.

Dolan suggested an amendment to a draft the committee has been considering concerning its bylaws, rules and regulations. “I would like to make an amendment to the draft that relates to the issue of attendance. One of the principal reasons for us to create these bylaws is to set some kind of standard for attendance to establish with new members what is expected of them.”

Dolan suggested the following sentence be considered at the next meeting: “While absence at a rescheduled meeting will be recorded, it will not count as an absence in assessing attendance performance.” The committee voted to put the item on the agenda to be addressed at the October meeting.

Dolan noted that the following requests were scheduled to be fulfilled. Removal of a:

• Dangerous limb at 45 Walcott.

• Dead tree at Fort Getty, which will be replaced.

• Dead pine at the water tower, which will be replaced.

• Large Scotch pine infected by the turpentine beetle at the townowned golf course before other pines around it are affected.

In new business, Emmet Turley asked how many permits have been issued for tree removal on Seaside Avenue. He said had seen an unspecified number of trees being removed, and he questioned whether the people removing them had permits. Dolan said that he would look into the matter.

Dolan suggested the tree inventory usually scheduled for September be postponed until spring because it is too late in the year to organize taking an inventory before the leaves are gone, which is prohibitive to accuracy.

DiBello suggested talking at the next meeting about raising funds for scholarships to be offered by the committee for students entering arboricultural collegiate studies. The committee voted to put the item on the October agenda.

Vice Chairwoman Judy DiBello, Secretary Bob Dolan, Arborist Matt Largess, committee member Emmet Turley, and Planning Commission Liaison Barry Holland attended the meeting.