Community Tree Council

ATHENS-CLARKE COUNTY COMMUNITY TREE COUNCIL AGENDA MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14TH, 2020 4:00 – 5:30 P.M. Meeting to be conducted on Webex (Cisco virtual meeting platform) and broadcast on You Tube You Tube Streaming link: https://youtu.be/PKutOYfO878 Call to Order and Welcome: Shawn Doonan 4:00 - 4:05 Introductions/Welcome: Housekeeping (Secretary) Rodney Walters 4:05 - 4:10 ● Roll Call Sign in (3 minutes): Attending members written on attendance list ● (Action Item: Vote to approve August CTC meeting minutes and the August CTC Committee Meeting Minutes - 2 minutes): Information- 2 Minutes: Review motions that were passed during the August meeting: ● Action Item - Vote to a dissolve the CTC Ad-Hoc Interview Committee and Replace it with a CTC Interview Work Group: Motion was passed unanimously to dissolve the Ad-Hoc CTC Interview Committee and Replace it with a CTC Work Group of 3-4 CTC members who will advertise open CTC membership positions, conduct interviews to select member nominees, and report directly to the CTC.  Action Item- A motion was passed by unanimous vote to dissolve to dissolve the TFT Ad-Hoc Committee and replace it with a work group to administer the Carl Jordan Grove tree planting obligations and other ACC tree related planting groves. Treasurer’s Report (Information – 5 minutes) Pam Knox 4:10 – 4:15 CTC Committee Reports (Information and Discussion) Shawn Doonan 4:15 – 4:30 CTC Executive Committee {Shawn (chair), Joe Perloff, Pam, Rodney – 2 minutes -Priority of funding sources (such as grants)  2 CTC Steering Committee {(Shawn (Chair) Executive Committee and Standing Committee ● (See Fundraising detail in Promotions Committee) ● Committee Meeting agendas and minutes back to the secretary on time 09/23/2020, which the Wednesday following the committee meeting. ● Educational Short on a tree related topic (5 minutes) (1-3 slides, 5 minutes) ● Forester’s section and also a contribution of other members which will allow CTC members to describe what they do on a daily basis { A Day in the Life (of a CTC member)} (Action Item and Discussion – CTC agreement to be involved with Involvement in the ACC iTree Eco Study as a partner to communicate some of the analyses findings to the public) ACC iTree Eco project: CTC becoming a community partner in the ACC iTree Eco statistical analysis project. The grant Rodney is writing for the iTree Eco study is strengthened by the collaborative engagement of partners. I would like to ask the CTC if they would commit to engaging in community outreach activities to communicate findings from the study. I am happy to be involved in outreach as both the ACC Community Forester and CTC secretary. Motion for the CTC to officially accept the invitation to become a partner in the ACC iTree Eco project by committing 10 hours to a community outreach activity(s) to communicate selected findings from the study. CTC Interview Work Committee Meeting {Shawn (chair), Phil, Pam, Marc, Mary Attaway}-5 min. (4:35) Discussion: ● Who will serve on the work group? [Shawn, Edith, Jim and Rodney] ● Advertise For Openings [WUGA, CTC Website, Flagpole, ACC Public Information Outlets -Create verbiage for the advertisement. ● Revise the interview questions, currently redundant. -Distribute information prior to the interview. Change interview questions into CTC member expectations as part of the interview letter. Include CTC Mission and By-laws as a prep for the interview. CTC Trees for Tomorrow Work Group Committee {Phil Hale (Chair), Mary Attaway, Nina, Joe, Rodney} – 5 min (4:40) ● Who will serve on the work group? Phil, Nina, Joe Perloff, Mary Attaway, Rodney ● Explain to the CTC the importance of Mayor and Commission agreement for TfT program ● Firefly Trail -Funds exists in TfT account specifically for this purpose - many planting opportunities with more sections of the trail completed ● Dogpark - CTC decided it would plant trees outside the fence as funds become available (each year) until intended design (outside the fence) has been completed - Trees planted inside the fence will be much more expensive (due to necessity of tree protection fencing or boulders that need to be installed until the trees become established (still an option for planting but will require this explanation) ▪ Finding a Memorial Grove? – not at this time  3 CTC Promotions Committee {Mary Attaway, Joe Perloff, Phil Hale, Jessie} -15 min (4:55) ● Joe is working on carbon offset calculator for website (Mary will reach out to him for update). ● Website: - Page for Programs (TfT, future tree fair, green life expo, etc) - Embed link to county videos of Arbor Day plantings on past projects page - Bios completed- Mary has organized bios in doc for Jessie to put on website - Tree Benefits page- including iTree tools link, carbon offset info, social/ societal benefits of trees - Past projects page- to commemorate past projects- Date, funding (grants and donors), number of trees planted, location and photos - Donor page- goals? temperature gauge? Allow anonymous option for donors ● Organizing a timeline with past projects to post on website - "project completed page" (Tori) ● ACTION ITEM: vote on approval to spend $250 on promotional materials (prints of Tree that owns Itself, stickers, pens) ● Find a source for stickers, pencils, thank you note cards with logo. ● Update on Social Media plans- start releasing bios / photos of members. CTC Policy Committee: {Shawn, Joe Bates, Lea Clark, Mary Songster, Marc Beechuk, Rodney Walter} - 10 min (5:05)  (Action Item and Discussion – Select new Promotions Committee Chair) Rodney is no longer to serve as Chair for the Promotions committee. Who will serve as Promotions Committee Chair? Motion to accept _________ to lead the Policy Committee as the CTC Policy Committee Chair  Questionnaires asking “What do you want and why?” from both an Athens Tree Ordinance perspective and from a strategic perspective were sent out to all the CTC members. Responses were only received from 3 members (Jim, Edith, and Joe Perloff). Provision of feedback is critical for a community organization to be able to take a seat at the table and participate in the process of advancing positive change. If the CTC does not demonstrate leadership in civic engagement, how may the CTC, citizens, and stakeholders have a voice in the management of the Community Forests? Policy Committee Activities/Goals ● Begin planning of organizing discussions and gathering data about larger code changes to find out what changes may be needed ● Explore the merits of the creation of a Tree Bank (positive and negative aspects of a tree bank) ● Strategic Management Plan suggestions (goals derived from stakeholder and citizen feedback) Information/Discussion: What changes may be needed: Homework - Read the Tree Ordinance and carefully write down thoughts for discussion, read selection of historical ordinance development materials  4 Discussion: Possible changes that may be needed and why: (What do you want and why? - possible larger code changes) ● What does the ACC community want? Who may be effected? Engage Stakeholders and Gather Citizen Feedback (Legitimacy) -Begin by formulating and organizing a basic feedback response. Create a process first to elicit feedback and information from the CTC as a practice run and to gather the first set of data. - Prepare questionnaire asking “what do you want and why” for CTC members to answer as a practice run example of a possible approach and to develop an initial dataset. ● Who will be engaged in the process of gathering this feedback? (Justice-fairness) Who does it effect? Who gets a say in the process? ▪ Original Ordinance Stakeholders? (Provide stakeholder list – discuss) - May be some limitations in eliciting feedback from this group alone ▪ Community Groups? ▪ Citizens (important to gather information from this sector) - Commissioner districts (commissioners) - Neighborhood Notification Initiative (Marc) - Human scale notion of city building (tree walk to citizen representation) (Mary) - Questionnaire attached to water bill (social distancing method) (Joe Bates, Marc) ● (Effectiveness) Once goals/changes are identified, ask the question – Is an ordinance change the best way to achieve this goal? Why? Education committee: {Stacee Farrell, Lea Clark, Edith Jackson, marc beechuk, Seth Hawkins} – 10 min (5:15) ● Materials (Stacee, marc) a. Pamphlets – Discuss what marc found i. Dr. Gilman, UF – Not for school, can get a little heady. Some might be better for the website as background info. GATrees – one pagers. ISA trifolds – packs of 50 for ~ $17. find items geared toward 8th grade learning level to appeal to larger audience b. Presentation Materials c. Green School Curriculum – Discuss what Stacee found – Tree lessons for in person classroom visits, elementary, fun activities. Wasn’t a ton, we currently have 2 activities. Stacee will get materials to marc’s office New Business: Shawn Doonan 4:15 – 5:29 Fundraising - 15 minutes (4:29): ● Begin a discussion to establish an Ad- hoc grant work group consisting of 3-4 members where each person would seek out potential donors and fundraising. Assign advertising opportunities ● Review old files to find old donors. Parking Lot Items ( ) Presiding Chair Meeting Wrap up – (1 minute) Presiding Chair 5:30