Somerville Urban Forestry Committee Pushes Mayor on Staffing, Development Tree Oversight

Other Committee · Meeting of January 15, 2026

Somerville's Urban Forestry Committee opens 2026 with a push for a dedicated DPW horticulturalist and closer coordination with the Planning Board and Urban Design Commission on development-driven tree removals. Co-chairs Leah Grossman and Michael Hendricks led the January 15 remote meeting, where Tree Warden David reported roughly 50 trees scheduled for removal over two weeks by contractor Stanley, including a Norway maple at 15-43 Summer Street with advanced decay and a storm-damaged pear at 23 Brooks Street showing new structural separation. Member Tori Antonino called for elevating a current DPW gardener identified only as Rachel, who holds horticultural qualifications but holds an entry-level labor classification, and David acknowledged that DPW arborist positions remain hard to fill due to a small applicant pool and union certification requirements.

Associate member Rob Van Denbeel offered to present Cambridge tree-mortality-by-species data at the February meeting and floated a potential DCR biodiversity grant application for a comparative Somerville-Cambridge analysis. The committee approved its December 18 minutes unanimously and is targeting one Winter Farmers Market tabling date in February or March.

In the full story:

• The complete report — 853 words

Source: the Other Committee meeting of January 15, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.