Community Tree Council

1 Community Tree Council (CTC) Meeting Minutes Meeting Date: July 8th, 2019 Location: Planning Department In Attendance - Members: Nina Wurzburger, Rodney Walters, Pam Knox Joseph Bates, Joe Perloff, Phil Hale, Mary Attaway, Staff, Guests, and Ex-Officio Members: Stacee Farrell (Director-Keep Athens Clarke County Beautiful), Larry Morris, Marc Beechuk (ACC Arborist/City Planner) Absent: Myung Cogan, Shawn Doonan, (traveling out of town) Call to Order: Nina Wurzburger called the meeting to order at 4:00 P.M. A quorum was present. Housekeeping (Secretary) Rodney Walters 4:05- 4:30 PM ● Roll Call/Sign In (2 minutes): Sign-up sheet was distributed ● (Action Item -3 minutes): - The 6/10/2019 CTC meeting minutes were submitted by Rodney Walters (Secretary) to CTC Members by email mid-June for review and edits. A motion was made to pass the minutes. The motion was seconded and the 6/10/2019 CTC minutes were approved (after corrections were made) by unanimous vote. ● (Information-1 minute) Reviewed “parking lot” approach to help keep members engaged, discussions on topic, and the meeting on schedule. ● (Information- 2 minutes) Reviewed CTC committee structure from the CTC by-laws. ● (Information, Discussion, and Action Item – 15 minutes) CTC member applicants (Selection Work Group-Rodney and Phil) - Jessica McClellan: Discussed favorable interview and qualifications. Motion was made and seconded to vote on approving applicant as a nominee for CTC membership. Jessica McClellan was unanimously approved by the CTC to be submitted as a nominee to the Mayor and Commission for CTC membership. - Lea Clark: Discussed favorable interview and qualifications. Motion was made and seconded to vote on approving applicant as a nominee for CTC membership. Lea Clark was unanimously approved by the CTC to be submitted as a nominee to the Mayor and Commission for CTC membership. - To date, one other individual has expressed interest in becoming a CTC member, but has not yet submitted an application ● (Information- 2 minutes) Updated CTC on process of the ACC Community Tree Program’s process to formulate a partnership with the Warnell School of Forestry at UGA and begin employing interns. Treasurer’s Report (Information - 10 minutes): Pam Knox 4:30 – 4:40 PM Pam Knox distributed the July, 2019 treasurer’s (attached at the end of this document) and answered questions about CTC accounts  2 CTC Committee Reports (Information and Discussion): ● CTC Executive Committee (Nina, Shawn, Pam, Rodney) - No report given ● CTC Policy Committee (Shawn, Joseph, Joe, Marc) - No report given ● CTC Trees for Tomorrow Committee (Phil, Nina, Joe, Mary, Pam, Rodney) - No report given ● CTC Promotions Committee - Social Media and Public Information Work Group (Mary, Larry Morris, Joe Perloff) Larry has been finding the work around to be able to make Facebook members editors on the CTC Facebook identifyer associated with the CTC. This involves having the Facebook site editor friending people and then making them editors once they appear as a friend to the CTC identity. Ongoing Business (Information and Discussion- 10 minutes): Phil and Stacee 4:40 – 4:50 PM ● Phil and Shawn have been watering the trees at the Broad Acres site. They will send out an email requesting help if it is dry and the trees need to be watered. It takes one person 2-3 hours to water the newly planted trees. There has been some discussion about getting a key to the community center to store garden hoses there, so watering duties may more easily be passed on to other people who are willing to help out. Currently, Phil is hauling the garden hoses with his pickup. ● The follow up report from this years Keep Athens Clarke County Beautiful UPS grant funded tree planting event at Broad Acres has been accepted and an the additional funding for the project will be available for the CTC. ● The due date for this year’s UPS grant has passed. However, if the State of Georgia is a recipient of this grant, there is a possibility the CTC could apply to the State for the grant award. ● The general consensus among the CTC is that the real cost of planting a 2” caliper balled and burlapped tree is $500 or more once planning, design, tree stock, mulch and coordination of labor, equipment, and aftercare (watering during establishment, protection fencing, etc.) are accounted for. Use of tools and equipment may be estimated by comparing usage values for equipment at the community tool shed at KACCB. New Business: Nina Wurzburger 4:50 – 5:10 PM ● (Discussion – 15 minutes)) Fundraising and new funding opportunities: ▪ A Google doc has been established and CTC members should have access. They will be able to collaborate in the development of fundraising literature and see what has been composed for that purpose so far. ▪ The current focus for funding includes grant applications to Synovous and Georgia Power. Shawn has agreed to apply on behalf of KACCB and Nina is leading the application to Georgia Power to provide funding for community improvement based planting projects for the CTC. Please assist Shawn and Nina with information when they ask for it. ▪ A donation from a private citizen was made as a carbon offset for her aviation travel. She worked with Andrew Saunders at Sustainability who helped her to quantify the value of a tree compared to her estimated carbon footprint for air travel. She suggested the CTC could promote itself as an organization as a good resource for carbon offsets. The CTC could set up a program with online tools to accept donations from citizens, businesses, and organizations for carbon offset donations. VENMO and Pay Pal were discussed as possible online tools. The need for a strong CTC online presence was discussed. ▪ Possible sites for planting projects were discussed. Athens Housing Authority is a great opportunity to elicite tree planting project grants and they are an enthusiastic partner. Nellie B is a strong contender as a site for the next planting project.  3 New Business: (Continued) ● (Discussion – 5 minutes) Advertise for open positions and new member recruitmen: ▪ Rodney agreed to check with ACC Public Information to see if the vacancy notices that are given for other County council organizations may be able to also include the CTC. ▪ The general consensus is that an online presence is needed to effectively elicit applications from Athens citizens Adjourn Nina Wurzburger 5:10 PM ● The next CTC meeting will be held on 8/12/2019 at 4:00 PM in the ACC Planning Office. ● A motion was made and seconded to adjourn the meeting and the meeting adjourned at 5:10 PM. Athens Community Tree Council Treasurer’s Report: July 8, 2019 submitted by Pam Knox Money Market Account Beginning Balance as of 04/08/2019 $12,020.24 Interest 04/30/2019 0.29 Interest 05/31/2019 0.31 Interest 06/30/2019 0.30 Ending balance as of 7/8/2019 $12,021.14 Checking Account Starting balance 04/08/2019 $384.80 Deposit 5/30 350.00 Ending balance 7/8/2019 $ 734.80 PayPal Account Beginning balance 04/08/2019 $0.00 Ending Balance 7/08/2019 $0.00