Beautification & Tree Commission

Edwardsville Beautification and Tree Commission Meeting: July 30, 2019 Called to Order: By Clint Soldan (for Benna Denue) at 6:32 pm Present: Clint Soldan, Chris Farrar, Bob Pfeiffer, Becky Standefer, Dennis Pluta, Kim Schoenfeld, Jeanie Umbaugh, Larry Lipe, Jeff Papajcik Reports: Minutes from July - motion to accept by Kim; Commission votes to accept Budget started 5/1/19; 19% spent - spending on track Ongoing Business: Green Thumb project was successful Heritage Tree project - Susan Bautsch not present to report Vadalabene Park project - concrete planters installed for traffic protection & beautification; Girl Scouts, Public Works, Bring Your Own Bag assisted 8/10 Market Day - Jeff volunteered to assist New Business Artisan Bakery requested a pot in front of their store. EBTC does not put them in front of business, but we can provide planting list Web site - Did You Know. Updates are constrained by Becky's time devoted to other job duties. We explored ideas such as getting a volunteer to be able to assist. Expanded web site pages could be list of Green Thumb winners, links to additional resources, etc. Clock Tower - have not been able to get feedback from SIUE Successful Communities Collaboration (SSCC) regarding SIUE students to help; waiting for this information before getting bids on work. Chris Farrar suggests earmarking money from this year's budget to be spent next summer on this project. Target City Welcome sign trees are infested by bag worms (Dennis pulled off 2 gallons). It was noted that people are taking advantage of Welcome signs and placing inappropriate signage in front of them. Any of those signs can and should be removed. Clint thanks volunteers for clean-up at Tower Park Chris brings up the idea of a Community Garden on the land by Columbus School owned by the School Board. Bob points out that gardens are successful when their are community partnerships and other organizations involved. What facilities are provided (e.g. irrigation, fencing); is there a fee; how is it funded? Can we do a survey at the next Goshen Market to get input from the community? Meeting adjourned at 7:19 pm To Dos Becky - discuss with IT about how a volunteer could assist with web page updates/maintenance Susan B - contact SSCC