Clean City Commission

Bee City USA-Hampton Committee Thursday, July 21, 2022, 1:00pm HCCC Office 1296 Thomas Street Meeting called to order at 1:01 pm Those in attendance: Barb Abraham, Melinda Webb, Al Banwell, Gayle Mooney, and Wendy Iles-HCCC staff. A quorum is present. Motion made by Al to Approve of June Minutes with no corrections. Motion seconded by Gayle. All were in favor of approving the June minutes. Motion made by Al and seconded by Gayle to allow April Receveur into the meeting via zoom. All were in favor of the motion. Barb has a suggestion for a new meeting time. She has a class that will conflict with the current meeting time. She is sending her schedule to those not in attendance via email. She would like to vote on a new time for the next meeting. New Business/Discussion & Voting Items ⦁ Plan for the city for pollinator gardens- City would like to know where our pollinator gardens are and who maintains them. Jan maintains the one at her church. Bee City maintains the one at the HCCC office. Wendy has submitted the gardens to the city. ⦁ New sites for gardens- Wendy suggested 2 properties to the city. There is a property in Phoebus near the community garden. ⦁ A map needs to be created. We have discussed making a map of the pollinator gardens in the certification program and if they would all like to be on that map. We need to have release to clarify who would like to be on any map we may make public. It was suggested that we do not put private properties on the map for simplicity. So the map would be only public or public access properties. ⦁ Langley Air Base asked Wendy to put a pollinator bed on base. Codi Wallisch is the head of the adopt a spot space on Langley. She got approval over by the dental office near the trex bench. The beds are 2 ft squares. She has two beds. She has plants. She and her staff will plant and maintain the garden. ⦁ North Phoebus Community Center: program with the kids in the summer programs to work on the beds out front. April will check with Anita and see if that is a possibility. ⦁ Gaylynn needs to be contacted to see if Bee City activities can be put on better impact. We need to email Joann to see how it needs to be set. Barb is going to talk to her about education and outreach activities for Bee City. ⦁ Virginia Beach Bee city is looking for a speakers or a partnership with Bee City USA Hampton since they are a new affiliate. She wants to meet via zoom or come to our pollinator gardens here. She wants us to come to VA Beach. Barb would be willing if someone drives her. We need to consider partnering with VA Beach. Al made a motion that we partner with them. Gayle seconded the motion. All were in favor. ⦁ The membership roll needs to be updated. Wendy will craft an email to ask each member if they are still interested in being on the bee city committee. It is advised that we remove the list of members from the website. ⦁ Melinda asked what education information is on the website and if we continue to create and update information. Wendy wanted to mention any time we spend creating that information and power points go toward our volunteer hours. It is suggested we all send our information from our webinars to be included. ⦁ Wendy suggested we use some of our funds to pay for the potting used for those who donated plants for the sale. Al made a motion to give Melanie funds for her pro-mix and pots for this year depending on what she is comfortable since she donated the majority of the plants for the sale. Gayle seconded the motion. All approved. Wendy is going to check what works best for this reimbursement. ⦁ Barb asked for an account update for all of the funds in the Bee City Acct. Wendy stated $1064 is in the account as of June 30th, the end of the fiscal year. It includes the signs, but not the plant sales. Old Business/Updates ⦁ Last webinar in this series: Pollinator Trees by Debbie Blanton on July 21 at 7 pm. If anyone needs the link let Wendy know. ⦁ Report on Pollinator week activity: Loyle Spencer took the demographics from those who attended the farmers market. In attendance were George, Marty, April, Loyle, Melanie, Wendy, Al, Cynthia, and Chris Grady(I think that was everyone.) 215 people came by the booth. The full break down is as follows: White Adult Males 39, White Adult Females 69, Black Adult Males 10, Black Adult Females 30, Black male children 9, Black female children 12, White male children 12, White female children 11, Asian adult male 3, Asian adult female 2, Hispanic Adult Male 3, Hispanic Adult Female 11, Hispanic Male children 2, and Hispanic Female children 2. $390 in donations were made at the plant sale. 12 signs have been picked up and paid for $240 in sales. ⦁ Kim Bryant still needs Tuesday July 28th helpers at Little England Community Center. They can pick up trash or any program. No one volunteered. Public Comment Melinda has a friend, Tish Lanza, that might want to give garden talks. She will speak with her. The Bee City info cards will be included at Mercury Mulch Garden center. They will put a stack at the register for anyone wanting information. August 18th at 1 pm is the next meeting. Barb asked that everyone try to make it so we can vote on a meeting time change. Meeting adjourned at 1:53 pm.