Bee City USA

Bee City USA Committee June 12, 2024 7:00pm Term Exp. Members Present Absent 6/30/2026 Maria Ulloa-Bustos X 6/30/2025 Anahi Espindola (maternity leave) X 6/30/2025 Ariela Haber X 6/30/2026 Valerie Novak X 6/30/2025 Terra Virsilas X 6/30/2026 Frank Cifaldi X Staff Liaison Janet McCaslin X Staff Liaison Jon “Dutch” Nagelvoort X Also present: Lindsay Barranco and Jay Richardson, UMD Bee Campus; Jewel Tomasula, resident and potential new Bee City member; Sheryl DeWalt, contract secretary. The Bee City Committee meeting was called to order by Ms. Ulloa-Bustos at 7:05 pm. We welcome Jon “Dutch” Nagelvoort, who has been hired as the Assistant Director of Landscaping and Greenspace and will be the staff liaison for Bee City. 1. Review and approval of agenda Mr. Cifaldi motioned to accept the agenda with amended changes and Ms. Novak seconded. Motion carries 5-0-0. 2. May 2024 minutes Ms. Novak motioned to accept the May 8, 2024, minutes with amended changes and Ms. Virsilas seconded. Motion carries 5-0-0. 3. Xerces Society Annual Report It has been accepted for the past year. Bee City re-certification is intact. 4. Bee Hotels There are two bee hotels left. One will be placed at the Cherokee Pollinator Garden and the suggestion was made to place one on the rear part of the fence at the Davis Field Community Garden. Ms. Virsilas made a motion to spend up to $150.00 for materials to mount the bee hotels. Mr. Cifaldi seconded. Motion carries 5-0-0 5. Municipal Scene The July article was completed by Ms. Espindola on how lights affect pollinators. August – Ms. Novak will write a text for a story map of the pollinator gardens and bee hotel locations in the City. Ms. DeWalt volunteered to pull the list from the past minutes. 1 6. Bee Lab update Bee Lab is open for transplanting on Thursday and Friday. Last Saturday, Cameron, a volunteer that came from Baltimore helped us transplant 240 blue lobelias. Maria and her husband spent 4½ hours working on weeding, adding wood chips, and organizing the pallets to avoid walking on muddy soil in our pen. So far, our group has transplanted over 1,500 seedlings into larger than 4-inch pots. We also have several 1-inch flats that will be ready soon. We have two species that we must wait until they bloom to identify because the germination tray tags fell off. We also have a donation from the Bee Lab of plants that were potted last year by a group that is no longer active to use at the Farmers Market giveaway for pollinator week. 7. Seeds Ms. Novak made a motion to spend up to $600.00 on seeds to give away at events. Ms. Virsilas seconded. Motion carries 5-0-0. Ms. Ulloa-Bustos made a motion to spend an additional $200.00 for the Bee Lab plantings for next year. Ms. Haber seconded. Motion carries 5-0-0. Discussed getting seeds for Oak Leaf and Golden Alexander. 8. Cherokee Garden A workday has been scheduled for July 13 at 8:00am to clean up the Cherokee Garden. 9. Pollinator Week . Pollinator week is June 17-23, 2024. Bee City will celebrate by having a table at the Hollywood Farmers Market on June 22, 10:00am-2:00pm. Plants from the Bee Lab will be brought for complimentary giveaways. This will be publicized in the Weekly Bulletin. Ms. Haber will send a request to Lori Waltz to send out an email. A native plant list, Xerces coloring books and brochures used at College Park Day will be at the table. Ms. Ulloa-Bustos made a motion to spend $100 on refreshments for the Farmers Market event. Ms. Novak seconded. Motion carries 5-0-0. Volunteers at the Farmers Market will be Ms. Virsilas, Mr. Cifaldi, Ms. Haber, and Ms. Ulloa-Bustos. 10. Lake Artemesia planting The committee will need City Manager approval to work with the County. Further discussion at the August Bee City meeting and try to schedule a September date. 11. No Mow April The committee would like to have a few questions added to the survey. Ms. McCaslin asked the committee to send the questions to her by Friday and she will work with the Communication department to make the additions. 12. Trees Ms. Ulloa-Bustos made a motion to spend $275 on native pollinator trees. Ms. Virsilas seconded. Motion carries 5-0-0. Mr. Nagelvoort has a contact at a 2  nursery in Spencerville and will assist in the tree purchases. Suggestions were Hickory, Native Dogwood, White Oak, Chestnut Oak, or American Wild Plum. 13. Ms. Ulloa-Bustos announced that her husband and she are moving back to the West Coast in early Fall. August will be her last Bee City meeting as Chair. 14. July Meeting The July meeting will be on July 10, 2024, at 7:00pm via Zoom. Ms. Virsilas motioned, and Mr. Cifaldi seconded to adjourn the meeting at 8:45pm. Motion carries 5-0-0. Respectfully submitted by Sheryl DeWalt, contract secretary. 3