91 Rockhurst-Narrative & arborist letter Cheryl Hackett and Win Thomas
91 Rockhurst Road
Queensbury, NY 12804
house phone 518-656-5001
cell phone 802-335-8432
email;
11-14-17
9
To the Site Plan Review Board,
I am submitting today an application to request the removal of a lakeside White Pine tree inside the 35
foot distance from the shoreline of Lake George. The tree is approx. 10 feet in circumference, 3.0-3.5
feet in diameter, and approx. 110 feet in height. It will need to be accessed from our roadside driveway
reaching up over the garage out to the tree. This will be a very difficult tree to extract as the crane will
need to make quite a horizontal reach before it reaches up to start taking the very large tree pieces down
back over our garage roof. We have asked and received permission to use the neighbor's driveway to
the north as Al Tree Works brings wood pieces back roadside into their truck.
Please note: We had three different tree services bid the tree removal and each expressed that this
would be a difficult tree to reach today. If it grows higher they will not be able to crane it out. The only
other option would be to hand cut it and rope it down to a barge. The consensus was pretty consistent in
that the positioning of said tree#6 would not lend itself in an easy fashion to be roped down to a barge.
One service also noted that if the tree begins to deteriorate that they will not climb this tree to rope it to a
barge. This leaves us in a desperate situation where we would now have to wait for it to fall and take the
insurance hit. But if it hits a person ... . not acceptable. Now is our window to remove the tree.
Also, please note that we have 8 other large trees consisting of hemlock, white pine and beech. Bruce
noted that the beech (3 foot.from the giant white pine to be removed) is not in good health. I do not wish
to replant a tree to replace the extracted giant white pine, at this time. Rather, if and when the beech
tree fails I would like to plant a red maple (species recommended by Bruce Frank and we like it) and
would want to get it in the same general area of the subject giant white pine where possible so as to
provide shade to my lot and home. For right now I wish for my beech tree to not have to compete with
either the existent giant white pine tree or a new planting. We love our tree!
Lastly, we request permission to dead limb trees numbered 2,3 4 and 5. On tree number 5 we
request permission to remove one live branch which is positioned over our outdoor fireplace stack and we
feel it its a fire hazard,
The White Pine tree we wish to have removed poses a danger to our house, our boathouse, boats
attached to our boathouse, and potential of upheaval of our bank to the lake and possible disturbance to
our close neighboring beech tree. Worse yet it is a threat to the human and animal life that use said
space near the giant tree.
Please find attached a letter from Martin Seaton from Al Tree works concerning his assessment of
said White Pine tree (noted on the amended site plan and shown as a red dot and named tree#6). 1 was
to understand there is evidence of insect activity due to the sawdust material outside the tree on the
gi'Mind,. Please note that we use our blower about twice a week to remove tree debris and the aftermath
of our two dogs digging. Using the blower most certainly would remove a sawdust pile to an extent,
Bruce Frank did note that this tree was the biggest White Pine he has seen. Bruce noted that it leans
out of vertical towards our boathouse. He did see evidence of sawdust even though not plentiful due to
the gas blower activity.. He was not able to poke his finger into the tree
I am very hopeful that this site review board will empathize with our total terror of this tree. When the
wind howls I move to a more protected position inside my home just in case. We cannot really know
what is going on inside this humungous tree.. We have a window of opportunity to crane it out which
would be less dangerous than manually cutting and roping it to a barge. With climate change in our face
we are experiencing greater numbers of storms, and also greater intensity. I love my trees but this one I
desire out of our picture for safety sake..
My house insurance company broker has requested all paperwork on said request for the removal of
this giant White Pine tree (#6) for our file. Vermont Mutual has already paid out on one tree fall onto a
boat below which amounted to a claim of approx. $8000. We all don't want the next one to be a life.
respectfully sulornitted,
Cheryl Hackett
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To Whom It May Concern:
My name is Martin Seaton and I am an arborist with -1 Treeworks. Recently I evaluated a big white
pine tree for Cheryl Hackett at 91 Rockhurst Road in Queensbruy. The tree has carpenter ants at the
base of the tree. They had already started to make holes in the bottom of the tree. Due to the close
proximity of the house,retaining wall and dock I would recommend to remove the tree before it causes
damage. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at(518)796-1316.
Martin Seaton