Cool Cities grant helps to pay for tree planting

JEFF GRANIT staff Kevin Summonte, 12, of Boy Scout Troop 155, takes a break from digging holes for trees being planted along Wemrock Road, Freehold Township, on April 4.

FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP - The Shade Tree Commission is planting 107 trees in the township after being awarded the 2006 Cool Cities Municipal Tree Planting Grant from the New Jersey Community Forestry Council.

The grant in the amount of $25,000 was applied for by the Shade Tree Commission in November 2006 as a 75/25 percent cost share sponsored by the Board of Public Utilities, and awarded in January 2007.

A total of 73 trees were planted at the West Freehold School during the week of April 2, with the approval of the Township Committee and in partnership with the Freehold Township Board of Education. Twenty-one of the trees, approximately 12 to 14 feet in height, were planted by Boy Scouts and volunteers from Troop 155 and Troop 18 along Wemrock Road and near the school's new basketball court. The remaining 52 trees were contracted out and planted by Bahr's Landscaping of Neptune.

Trees were planted on east/west exposures to shade heat sinks like asphalt paved parking lots, paths, asphalt paved basketball courts and play areas, and block walls of the school itself to reduce the heat island effect of those areas, according to a press release.

Thirty-four of the 107 trees are to be planted by the Shade Tree Department in the grassed islands on Stonehurst Boulevard during the week of April 9.

The Freehold Township Shade Tree Commission has a 27-year ongoing relationship with the Board Of Education, and as a Tree City USA for 26 years. The commission celebrates Arbor Day with each school by planting a tree and distributing seedling trees to students of various ages, and assists in the schools' Arbor Day educational programs.

The goals of the Cool Cities Grant are to promote energy conservation in residential areas through tree plantings, to reduce the heat island effect and to support municipal community forestry programs that have a state-approved Com-munity Forestry Management Plan.

According to the press release, the Shade Tree Commission and the Board of Education are prepared to provide the necessary resources to carry out the three-year maintenance plan to see that the trees reach their full potential.

"The Board of Education is excited about this opportunity and the long-term cost saving potential for the school district and the community as a whole," said Sean Boyce, business administrator for the Board of Education.

"The Township Committee would like to stress the cooperative link between the township and the Board of Education, and especially the direct impact the cooling effect of planting trees will have on the neighboring subdivisions, including Raintree, Oakley Estates, and Stone-hurst. The savings in energy will impact all residents, the Board of Education and the taxpayers who send their students to that school. It will be a beneficial situation for everyone," Township Commit-teeman Anthony Ammiano said.