Arbor Day with Seacoast Arborist Collaborative – 2016

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I have noticed myself advocating for an alternative to the over-emphasized notion of economic competition at the micro or community level. I often suggest that it is better and more favorable to cultivate a “rising-tide” approach to social-economic relationships. Of course, competition is and will remain important and shouldn’t be discounted, but at the same time I don’t necessarily believe competition has to be general rule in how I conduct my own business. Perhaps that’s because I feel confident that the services I offer and the manner with which I approach delivering those services sets me apart from many others in my industry.

That aside, I love discovering examples of others putting these same philosophies into practice, so I’ve been following a group of local arborists who get together every year for Arbor Day to give back to the community by offering their services for the maintenance of public spaces. This year, the Seacoast Arborist Collaborative convened at Langdon Park across from the Portsmouth City Hall.

Trees in any public space are in constant need of maintenance. And at the same time they can also tend to be the most neglected. For those of you are familiar with Langdon Park, especially those of you with children, there is a small clump of trees above the playground that sees a lot of foot traffic with kids running and chasing each other up and down the hill around these trees. In fact, Mayor Jack Blalock commented at the invocation before crews fired up their chainsaws that he could remember doing the very same thing when he was a young child. However, this kind of play compacts the soil around the trees and subsequently suffocates them while depriving them of moisture because water never has a chance to soak in. So as part of the maintenance, the crew from Piscataqua Landscaping and Tree Service used a tool called an air spade to loosen the compacted soil without harming the roots. It’s pretty cool. Be sure to watch for those clips in the video above and keep an eye on how the ground seems to inflate.

I love talking about this group of arborists as an example of how businesses in a competitive industry are better off when they find ways to work together. But I’m always looking for more examples so if you have any to share please send them my way. Until then….

Participating Tree Services:

Northeast Shade Tree
Seacoast Tree Care
Piscataqua Landscaping and Tree Service
The Organic Arborist
Cornerstone Tree Care

Supporting Businesses:

Beach Pea Bakery
Serenity Café
Portsmouth Brewery

Remembering Jeff Ott, founder of Northeast Shade Tree and a pioneering arborist in the New Hampshire Seacoast.

Portsmouth needs a design guide for Historic District

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barn
Do you live in Portsmouth? Do you have a few choice words about the Historic District Commission? So do I.

**Don’t have cable? Watch online
***Real Player needed

Did you also know that there are no clear guidelines to help historic district homeowners as they plan improvements to their homes? The most recent is as old as I am… dated 1977. Tonight at Portsmouth City Hall, at 7pm, the city council will hold a public hearing to address the allocation of funds to create an updated design guide to help explain to homeowners what the Historic District Commission is looking for when you want to update windows, change the style of your front door, or (in my case) change the material used on the roof.

It can be expensive to appear in front of the commission. It cost me nearly $170 to hear that I could not put a metal roof on my 180 year old barn. Would a design guide have helped? I’m not sure either way, but what about the woman who wanted to replace old, single-pane windows with more energy efficient windows. She was also denied because she did not have the answers to the commission’s questions. She didn’t have a guide, which would have explained the difference between a casement and a replacement window, what material should be and how the trim should look.

A design guide is nothing more than instructions for maintaining a look & feel that reflects a brand’s image. In this case, the brand is historic Portsmouth, NH. It is an expensive proposition to learn your lesson at the hearing. And that’s just what Portsmouth homeowners are up against when they spend their time dreaming up improvements to their homes; improvements that will make their space more useful, more energy efficient, more livable.

During the recent election, one city councilor who will be seated this evening told me, “The design guide is not ready for prime-time.” As though work has been done to create such a guide and all was required now was approval to accept. That’s not where we stand.

Portsmouth’s historic district property owners deserve to have the same resources available to communities across the country – a current and updated design guide that clearly explains each and every point that will fall under the scrutiny of the city’s Historic District Commission. A resource that is readily available AHEAD of submitting their application and paying the exceptional fees associated with the process.

Should the Portsmouth City Council vote down this initiative, it should be so noted, in order for city residents and property owners to direct their complaints and frustrations appropriately, on those councillors who have continually delayed action.

*****
Dan Freund is a tax-paying, Portsmouth resident.
In the Fall of 2013, he applied to replace an asphalt roof with a metal roof, and was denied. Color, shape, even the durability of modern coatings were given as cause for denial. The fee to apply was $50. The unexpected fees for postage, notification, and an ad in the local newspaper amounted to $114.67, and notice of additional charge above the application fee was not readily given ahead of receiving the bill. It cost nearly $165 to be DENIED. While unclear whether or not a design guide would have resulted in a more favorable outcome, it certainly would have helped in the planning stages.

Where do gift baskets come from?

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Do you ever wonder where those wonderful gift baskets we sometimes receive actually come from? I mean, who is it putting those things together? I suppose I never really thought about before spending the day with Jim Brennan, founder of PS It Matters and featured driving in the following Vine I tweeted earlier today.

[tweet https://twitter.com/MyFriendDan/statuses/362242919199014912]

I didn’t begin the day believing the act of giving a gift basket could really ever matter all that much. But that’s exactly what I discovered as Jim and I drove from Portsmouth to Portland speaking with some of the folks who have given his baskets as gifts to their clients, customers, and friends. Here’s the way it works: you purchase a basket or a gift cube and fill it with items you feel are appropriate for the situation, and 15% of the purchase price is donated to a food pantry of your choosing. Yeah, seriously… and you’re not paying marked up prices either. You’re paying the same price as you would find those items anywhere. So why wouldn’t everyone do it this way? Good question. I guess it’s up to you and me to help spread the good word and give a few of these ourselves.

[vine size=480 type=postcard]hqZlUm2gujA[/vine]

PS It Matters
York, ME
or call (855) PSITMATTERS

NOTE: This project is just one of many worth-while reasons why I love working at PixelMEDIA