Community Tree Council

1 Community Tree Council (CTC) Meeting Minutes Meeting Date: April 8th, 2019 Location: Planning Department In Attendance - Nina Wurzburger, Mary Attaway, Myung Cogan, Members: Joseph Bates, Rodney Walters, Joe Perloff, Pam Knox, Phil Hale Absent: Joe Perloff (taking professional exam), Shawn Doonan (attending ISA conference), Staff, Guests, and Ex-Officio Members: Seth Hawkins (GA Forestry Commission), Sherry Lizotte (GA Power NE Regional Forester) Call to Order: Nina Wurzburger the meeting was to order at 4:00 P.M. A quorum was present. Housekeeping (Secretary) Rodney Walters 4:05- 4:25 PM ● Roll Call Sign In & Membership Roster Updates: (roster was distributed for updates) ● (Action Item) Minutes - The 3/18/2019 minutes were submitted by Rodney Walters (Secretary) to CTC members on 4/8/2019 for review and edits. A motion was made to pass the minutes. The motion was seconded and the 3/18/2019 CTC minutes were approved (after corrections were made) by unanimous vote. ● (Information) Required Business - The ACC code (sec. 8-7-10) was discussed to address the CTC’s authority and responsibilities. The CTC mission was also discussed. - Open information requirements for governance were reviewed - CTC will put its meeting agenda and minutes onto the ACC Boards and Authorities website - Meeting times, dates, and locations will be posted on the ACC website. - The ACC website will also have a CTC page where the agenda and minutes will be posted. - Roberts Rules of Order (or other meeting protocol will be applied to the meeting process. - Discussions will be recorded and dissenting opinions will be facilitated and recorded in the minutes - The CTC will advertise countywide to select nominees who represent a diverse range of the ACC citizenry and interests. ● (Discussion) Public Communication Considerations: Discussion touched on whether or not continue the current CTC website (Run Ruffian = $90 per hour–Website needs maintenance and management). - Possible alternatives to current website include: - Employing a different company to maintain a CTC website - Utilizing a Google Page - Piggybacking on the ACC webpage - Questions include: - May the CTC employ social media? If so, may any member manage the social media? - The secretary will follow up with these questions after discussing them with the ACC Public Information Officer late in April. ● (Discussion) Advertise for open CTC positions: Advertise in June (1st Tuesday is regular session, 3rd Tuesday is the agenda setting session) (Information) Special Guest: Sherry Lizotte, NE Regional Forester for Georgia Power (attending as an ex-officio member). Sherry provided information about GA Power line maintenance operations and answered questions. Highlights include: - GA Power utilities are generally maintained on a 3 year cycle  2 - Athens is at part of a pilot program involving LIDAR surveys and maintenance. As a result, GA Power utility lines are being maintained on a 12 month cyle in Athens. - GA Power has an educational website the discusses planting the right tree in the right place (Generally, trees that reach a mature height of less than 15 feet are appropriate for planting under power lines). A suggestion was made by a CTC member to put the GA power educational materials on the CTC website as a link. - GA power has a customer service number. When concerns are called in, a ticket is generated. A Georgia Power representative goes on site to evaluate the concern and to determine if further actions are needed. - GA Power contributes to community projects (such as tree plantings). GA Power has a division that works in partnership with state and local communities. - In some cases, upon request, GA Power will remove an inappropriate tree species that has been planted under power lines Treasurer’s Report: Pam Knox 4:25– 4:30 PM Treasurer’s Treasurer report was given. Old Business: Volunteers for watering the trees this summer at Rocksprings and Broadacres. On some level the AHA staff will assist but not sure if we can count on it. Need to procure gator bags. New Business: Nina Wurzburger 4:30– 5:55 PM ● Action – 5 minutes): A motion was made to vote on creating a Trees for Tomorrow subcommittee to manage TfT planting commitments and is associated budget with Phil Hale, Rodney Walters, Nina Wurzburger, Joe Perloff, Mary Attaway, and Pam Knox as the subcommittee members. The motion was seconded and passed by a unanimous vote. ● (Discussion – 30 Minutes) CTC Tree Planting Commitments, Donations, and Requests: - Trees for Tomorrow (TfT) program currently has commitment to plant 35 more trees on the Firefly trail for the Carl Jordan Grove. - Dog Park tree planting is currently getting no traction because funding does not currently exist for planting trees on that location. - Athens schools could be a very good location to develop new TfT groves and to provide opportunities for tree education for students. - (Action – Vote): A motion was made for the CTC to vote to drop the dog memorial fund raising concept for the Dog Park (at Clarke Park) and pass the Dog Park tree planting project on to the TfT subcommittee. The motion was seconded and passed by a unanimous vote. ● Fundraising (Discussion – 15 minutes) - Tree sale option was discussed with possibilities of utilizing social media, garden clubs, preorder sales, consignment, and attending various local events to sell trees from a booth or tailgate a booth was explored. - Idea to seek out corporate sponsors and donors was presented and well received (Synovous & Caterpillar were mentioned as prospects). ● Other (Discussion and Action item – 10 minutes) A need exists to review ordinance and make recommendations to the Mayor and Commission. Motion was made, seconded and passed by unanimous vote to reformulate the Policy subcommittee with Shawn Doonan, Joseph Perloff, and Joseph Bates as subcommittee members Adjourn Nina Wurzburger 5:55 – 6:00 PM ● The next CTC meeting will be held on 5/13/2019 at 4:00 PM in the ACC Planning Office. ● The meeting adjourned at 6:00 PM.  3 Trees for Tomorrow (TFT) Subcommittee meeting minutes, 4/8/2019 ● (Action) At the ACC planning Dept., 6:00 PM Nina Wurzburger convened the TfT subcommittee and made a motion to designate Phil Hale as the subcommittee chair. The motion was seconded and approved by unanimous vote. ● (Discussion) Current and possible tree planting projects that may work well with the TfT grove concept were presented and listed as follows: - Firefly Trail Carl Jordan Grove (current project) - SE Clarke Park dog park - Public School groves The composition of maps depicting the TfT groves could be an excellent planning and public relations tool ● (Discussion) Accounting: Desire to have each project carefully accounted for to monitor the donations and budgets for each project was discussed and well received. ● (Discussion) Fundraising: Subcommittee members agreed to contact a potential sponsor or donor. Organizations were discussed as potential contacts and included: - Athens Realators Association - Georgia Power - Georgia green builders association - Synovous - Caterpillar - Dog Park - (Discussion) The AHA has hoses available for use and we just need to let them know the day before our arrival and they’ll set them out. -(Discussion) Will the landscape plan developed by Jeanne of LMD will be utilized? Primary factor will be the fundraising needed to purchase the plant materials. How will funds be raised to purchase materials for the dogpark? - (Information) Idylwood & Friends Garden Club (donation for nuttal oak at Dog park) – wants a follow-up as when planning for dog park have occurred. ● TfT Memorial Grove (s) - March 15th Memorial Grove Planting at Sandy Creek Park follow up - Make sure the names of the donors have been placed on the plaque at the Sandy Creek Park Visitor’s Center (Sean Jeankins and Gloria Miller Bruce). ● Ongoing Business items: - The Tree Legacy Book is showing some age and could benefit from some restoration and care. - This planting will fill the grove. A new grove location will need to be planned (Partner with Leisure Services and/or other entities) - Donations of $150 are no longer covering the costs of planting 2” caliper trees, $250.00 or more per tree is a more realistic current price. ● Meeting adjourned at 6:15 PM