Minnesota Shade Tree Advisory Committee

Board Meeting Minutes

April 7, 2003, 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 p.m.

Tree Trust office, St. Paul, MN

 

Call to Order.  The meeting was called to order at 9:00 a.m. by President Lorrie Stromme, on April 7, 2003, at the Tree Trust office in St. Paul, MN.


Approval of Minutes. The Minutes of the March 10, 2003, Board meeting were not available.  Ken Holman said that he would prepare the Minutes for review at the next board meeting.


Announcements:

The annual MnSTAC awards ceremony will be held at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum on April 16, 2003, at 9:30 a.m.  The Tree City USA luncheon and awards program will follow.

 

Rich Hauer will ask Anne Selness and Geir Friisoe at the MN Department of Agriculture about designating Rich’s replacement on the MnSTAC board after he leaves to take his new job in Wisconsin in August. 

 

Lorrie Stromme asked board members to review the “Ask the Tree Expert” list on MnSTAC’s web site and get back to her with corrections, additions, updates, etc., by April 18th.  Lorrie plans to email media contacts about the list prior to Arbor Day. 

 

Old Business:
Legislative Report.  The Legislative Report is nearly ready for distribution. Ken Holman said that he would check with the graphic designed about replacement photos for the front cover, as well as the production status of the STAC Fact-sheets we decided upon last Fall. 

 

Membership  and Mailing Lists.  Ken Holman agreed to check with Don Mueller on the status of the contract between the DNR and the contractor who handles MnSTAC’s mailing list for the Shade Tree Advocate.  Ken thought that the contract would expire soon.  Given the large number of Advocates returned because of bad addresses, the MnSTAC board would like to look at alternatives for handling the mailing list.  One suggestion was to have the DNR handle and coordinate all of MnSTAC’s lists (Advocate mailing list, membership list, email list, etc.).  However, a few board members expressed concern about privacy issues and whether the lists would be “in the public domain” once the DNR maintained them.  Ken said that he is meeting with DNR’s IT staff about data practices issues.

 

2003-04 Budget.  Ken Holman said that we would discuss including a line items for a contractor to maintain the MnSTAC membership and email list(s).  The MnSTAC Constitution provides that the annual budget is presented to MnSTAC members at the June membership meeting each year.


New Business

Scholarship or Stipend for National Urban Forest Conference.  The board supported the idea of providing a $500 scholarship or stipend to a MnSTAC member to reimburse some travel or tuition expenses for the National Urban Forest conference in San Antonio in September 2003.  The $500 would come from the account held by Tree Trust in trust for MnSTAC.  Lorrie Stromme agreed to contact Ralph Sievert, chair of the MnSTAC Scholarship Committee, about the scholarship, details of which will be posted on the MnSTAC web site.  The scholarship recipient will be asked to write a short article about the national conference for the Shade Tree Advocate in exchange for the scholarship. 

Annual Report.  Michael Max is working on a draft of MnSTAC’s Annual Report.  He has contacted committee chairs for updates. The Annual Report will be presented at the May membership meeting.

 

Speakers Bureau. Lorrie Stromme asked the board for feedback about her idea to have a speakers bureau on tree topics.  The purpose would be to accommodate the public’s request for speakers on tree care, tree diseases, storm damage, etc.  The public wants “101” information, not technical treatises.  Examples include: “When and how do I prune my trees/shrubs?”;  “What kind of tree should I plant in my yard?”; “ What should I do if my tree is damaged or wounded?”; “How much water does my tree need in the summer?”  Board members were encouraged to get back to Lorrie with their suggestions.

 

Adjournment.  Motion/Second/Carried:  Rich Hauer/Michael Max.  Approved.  The meeting was adjourned at 10:30 a.m.