Vernon hires forester for tree grant

VERNON — The Vernon Township Council on Monday night voted to bring in a professional forester to help manage tree plantings for its No Net Loss grant.
Under resolution 16-185, the council hired Ronald Farr to advise the township how best to execute the remainder of tree plantings for the grant at a cost not to exceed $32,000. Farr, who holds a master's degree in Environmental Management from Montclair State University, is licensed by the Society of American Foresters and is a New Jersey State Approved Forester.
According to the council, Farr will conduct soil tests and make recommendations about which types of trees are best suited to a given area in effort to help ensure they survive past the period of liability associated with the grant. Farr will also oversee planting of the trees, the council said.
Last year, Vernon secured a No Net Loss grant totaling $354,960 from the Department of Environmental Protection to replace trees lost in the construction of the Tennessee Gas Pipeline several years ago. The grant is meant to cover the cost of planting and maintaining more than 1,000 replacement trees.
But the grant has a catch — officials said the township is responsible for making sure the newly planted trees survive for the grant term or they'll be on the hook for the cost of those trees.
“There's so much liability with this grant because of the trees,” Mayor Harry Shortway explained Monday. “If they die, we're responsible for $200 to $300 per tree.”
Shortway said Farr will help oversee the grant for the next two to four years until the township is past its repayment obligation.
Farr is also supervising a separate No Net Loss grant in West Milford totaling more than $620,000 for the restoration of more than 2,000 trees over a period of 54 months.
The council said Farr will only be paid for the work he completes. The money to pay Farr will come from the No Net Loss Grant, Shortway said.
The council on Monday also awarded contracts for the milling, paving, striping, reclamation and guiderail installation for Section III of Lake Wallkill Road. The approval followed pleas from Lake Wallkill Road residents in June asking the council to fix areas of severe deterioration on the road that were making passage through the corridor dangerous.