By Joanne Degnan, Managing Editor
ROBBINSVILLE — Township Business Administrator Tim McGough told the Township Council the more than 2,000 new trees planted throughout town a month ago were “taking a pounding” from the unseasonably hot weather last week.
The trees were paid for under a $1.2 million settlement with the NJ Turnpike Authority, which razed large swaths of woodlands in Robbinsville for the ongoing Turnpike widening project. A state reforestation law requires that when it is not possible to plant replacement trees adjacent to the construction site, the trees must be planted elsewhere in the municipality on public-owned land.
The trees planted in early May represent about half of the 4,166 trees the township is allotted under the court settlement. The municipality plans to seek bids for more trees that will be planted in the fall.
At the council’s meeting on June 9, a day temperatures outdoors hit 100 degrees, Mr. McGough said that some new trees have already died, but the contractor will be responsible for replacing those because he has provided a two-year guarantee on all the trees. In the meantime, the town is doing all it can to keep as many of the remaining trees alive.
The township has two 500-gallon water tanks provided by the contractor that will be used to keep the trees irrigated with 40 gallons of water a week when there’s no significant rainfall. The township will hire part-time seasonal workers, paid for out of the tree settlement money, to do the watering, he said.
In addition, the township is purchasing 500 heavy-duty plastic “seepage bags” that hold 20 gallons of water and slowly irrigate trees over a 12-hour period, Mr. McGough said Friday. The watering bags are being placed at the base of the cherry blossom trees around the lakes because these are planted farther apart and are more difficult for water trucks to access frequently.
The new street trees in Town Center will also get the watering bags because unlike the parks, there are people living nearby that will be able to monitor the watering bags to make sure the curious don’t tamper with or try to remove them.
So far this year, trees have been planted at the four public schools, several parks and the Town Center area. More trees will be planted this fall on public lands near the Turnpike expansion project once the Turnpike Authority finalizes its own reforestation plan for the areas that are in the Turnpike’s right of way.
Kim Johnson, of Windsor, asked the council to commit to reserving some of the trees coming in the fall for her neighborhood. The village was supposed to receive street trees in conjunction with the installation of brick sidewalks about a decade ago, but the project ran out of money and the street trees were never planted once the sidewalks were done, she said.
Mayor Dave Fried noted the state law governing reforestation project mandates that the trees be planted on public land. Ms. Johnson said she was only asking for trees to be planted close to the sidewalks, which is an area within the township’s right-of-way.
Council members said research would be need to be done to make sure the correct species of tree is planted so that the relatively new brick paver sidewalks in Windsor aren’t lifted up by spreading tree roots. Township Councilwoman Christine Ciaccio, who owns a Route 130 garden center, said there are species of trees known for their deep root systems that don’t disturb sidewalks, but even these trees if subjected to drought conditions for several years will develop more shallow root systems that can damage a sidewalk.
The township, along with several other towns, sued the NJ Turnpike Authority and the state Department of Environmental Protection last year, after learning that the state had diverted the reforestation money owed to the towns. The court settlement provides Robbinsville with enough money to purchase and plant a total 4,166 trees, calculated at a rate of $300 a tree.
The township contracted for 1,929 trees this spring at a cost of $175 each. A subsequent change order, approved at the Township Council’s May 26 meeting, purchased an additional 298 trees at the same price for the lakes around Town Center and the base of the berm at the Community Park soccer fields, bringing the total number of trees purchased thus far to 2,227.
Since the township only paid $175 per tree and the Turnpike settlement with Robbinsville provided $300 per tree, the extra money can be used to buy irrigation systems or the equipment needed to maintain the newly planted trees, Mr. McGough said.
”All of the money will come from the tree fund, which is what that tree fund is all about,” Mr. McGough told the council. “There’s $300 per tree and the bid price was $175, so the rest of that money is to pay for just this type of thing.”

