(A) Pruning and removal.
(1) No topping or dehorning of trees shall be permitted except by written permission of the Village Forester. Proper cabling and bracing shall be substituted for this practice wherever possible.
(2) All large established trees shall be pruned to allow free passage of pedestrians and vehicular traffic at least seven feet over sidewalks and a minimum clearance of 14 feet over all streets.
(3) It shall be the policy of the Village Forester to cooperate with the Village Engineer and vice versa regarding placement and selection of lighting standards and the selection of a system of tree pruning that will give effective sight elimination.
(4) All cuts shall be made with a saw or pruner and only at collars or crotches. No stubs shall be left. No spurs or claws shall be used in the trees.
(5) All dead branches shall be removed.
(6) All wounds over three inches in diameter shall be covered with a suitable tree-wounding dressing.
(7) To prevent the spread of infectious diseases, all pruning tools must be disinfected before being used on a new tree.
(8) Whenever streets are to be blocked off to public service, all police and fire departments shall be notified of the location and length of time the street will be blocked. Notifications shall be given these departments upon the removal of such barriers or if such barriers are to remain longer than originally expected.
(9) To protect the public from danger, suitable street and sidewalk barriers, highway cones, or signs shall be used when pruning a tree. Signals, flares or flasher lights shall be placed on all barriers or obstructions remaining in the street after dark.
(10) The stumps of all removed trees shall be cut to at least six inches below the ground level. The soil cavity shall be filled with soils and the area leveled.
(B) Spraying.
(1) Suitable precautions shall be taken to protect and warn the public that spraying is being done.
(2) Spraying shall be done only for the control of specific diseases or insects with the proper materials in the necessary strength and applied at the proper time to obtain the desired control. All spraying practices shall conform to federal and state regulations.
(3) Dormant oil sprays shall not be applied to sugar maple, Japanese maple, beech, flowering dogwood, hickory, walnut, and most crabapple trees. Dormant oil sprays shall be applied only when the air temperature is at least 40 degrees for a period of 24 hours after spraying.
(C) Fertilization.
(1) Fertilization of public trees shall follow the recommendations of the Natural History Survey or other accepted arboricultural standards.
(2) Methods of application of fertilizers shall be specified by the Village Forester.
(D) Cavities. Extensive cavity work should be performed on trees only if they are of sufficiently high value to justify the cost. All cavity work shall conform to the National Arborist Association or other acceptable arboricultural standards.
(E) Cabling and bracing.
(1) As a general rule, cables should be located above the crotch at a point approximately two-thirds of the distance between the crotch and the tops of the branch ends. Rust-resistant cables, thimbles, and lags should be used. The ends of a cable should be attached to hooks or eyes or lags or bolts inserted near the ends of the branches. Thimbles must be used in the eye splice in each end of the cable. In no instance shall cable be wrapped around a branch.
(2) All cabling and bracing practices with screw rods shall follow National Arborist Association or other accepted arboricultural standards.
(Ord. 07-57, passed 12-17-2007)