Westminster Tree Commission

TREE COMMISSION MINUTES OF MEETING NOVEMBER 19, 2014 The meeting was called to order at 4:40 p.m. by Chairman Steve Allgeier. In attendance were Chairman Allgeier, members Cindy May, Roland Backus and non-voting members Brian Rhoten and Eric Schlitzer. Marge Wolf served as City staff. There being no outstanding minutes to approve, the Commission recapped the 2013 Urban and Community Forestry Workshop which was attended by approximately 100 participants. The comments from the participants gave very high marks for the speakers, workshops and food. The Community College facility has been reserved for the 2015 Workshop on Friday, October 2, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Brian is trying to get Dr. Edward Gilman, Professor of Urban Trees and Landscape plants from the University of Florida for the keynote speaker next year. Other possible workshops suggested were Steve Koehn on seed storage banks and the BGE electricity demonstration. Brian turned over the completed forms for helping reach more participants next year and the Department 4 Extension newsletter was also suggested. Other suggestions included receiving CEUs at the end of the session and announcing no wrap-up at the end. Under new business, the Commission reviewed the BGE Vegetative Management plan for 2015 and had no substantive comments to suggest. The Commission discussed the Heritage Tree Area expansion to the new portion of the trail between the Bennett Cerf Park and Sunshine Avenue. QR Codes will be placed on the trees to be accessible to smart phones and saving the production of printed brochures. Heritage Trail Markers will also be placed at the beginning and end of the trail. There will be no meeting in December and the January meeting will start the second Wednesday of the month schedule for 2015. Respectfully submitted, Marge Wolf City Administrator