Tree Board

Tree Board Minutes March 10, 2021 @ 2:30 pm Zoom Meeting Attendance: Wes Powell, Joey Redman, Ashlee Evans, Michelle Austin, Brian Beuscher, Dottie Mann, Karla Kean, Ron Erb and Kathrine Killebrew 1. Wes made a motion to hold the meeting virtually due to Covid and Ashlee seconded. Also, Dottie made a motion to approve the minutes from February and Ashlee seconded. Both motions passed. 2. Wes Introduced Ashlee Evans to the Board. She is the new City Council representative that will serve with the Tree Board. 3. City Forester update. Kathrine announced that the Arbor Day tree give-away went amazing. She gave special thanks to all of the volunteers, especially the Master Gardeners. She also announced that the Tennessee Environmental Council will be having another tree day on April 24th. The tree board will again serve as a distribution location for this event. We will be at Pettus Park pavilion again. 4. Wes asked for an update on registration for the Citizen Forester online course. Michelle announce that 19 people have registered so far. The link will be available through April. We will post it again with the fall events in Parks and Recreation. 5. The board reviewed the processes for our tree give-away at Trahern Mansion. The following was discussed. 1. Do this as a drive through every year. 2. Need a ‘How to Plant’ instruction sheet on Facebook and a link to the same instruction on the order sheets. 3. Tape with the tree names on the tables by the bags. 4. A ‘NO MORE TREES’ sign to put by the road for when we run out. 5. A spot for people to put the color and make of their vehicle on the order form. 6. Katie gave an update on the progress on the Urban Forestry Plan. She is 35 pages into a 5-10 year management plan and is working on the opening and closing paragraphs. 7. Tree Board budget request are due April 1, 2021. In years past, we have requested $4,000. ($2000 for tree purchased, $1000 for promotional items, and $1000 for Conferences and travel). Wes made a motion to add $500 to the tree purchase line item to assist in getting more seedlings for the community. Brian seconded and the motion passed with no opposition. The board will also request the funds for a complete city tree inventory with a management software program. The estimated cost for this is $70,000. Total budget request is $75,500. With no further business the meeting was adjourned. Next meeting: April 14th at 2:30pm - Zoom Meeting