Minnesota Shade Tree Advisory Committee

Board Meeting Minutes

September 8, 2003 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 p.m.

Tree Trust, St. Paul MN

Attendees: President Lorrie Stromme, Ken Holman, Robert Slater, Kathy Widin, Kimberly Thielen-Cremers, Jim Hermann, Fletcher Johnson

Call to Order. The meeting was called to order at 9:01 a.m. by President Lorrie Stromme, on September 8, 2003

Approval of Minutes. Minutes for July 7, 2003, were reviewed. Mr. Holman requested clarification that the money owed the University (approx. $40,000) would be made up in the next contract cycle. Motion/Second/Approved: Mr. Holman/Mr. Slater.

Discussions:

Introduction of Ms. Kimberly Thielen-Cremers. She is the new Board Member replacing Mr. Hauer, as the representative from the Department of Agriculture.

Mr. Hermann. Update and discussion of the early summer storm damage in SW Minneapolis. Over 300 trees, both public and private, were downed. Costs to the city were around 1/2 million dollars, this was unallocated money or came out of other budgets such as Dutch elm disease (DED). The Veterans’ Administration was accommodating and provided a staging area for chipping and temporary storage of storm debris. The need for a northern Minneapolis debris/staging area was discussed. The Utilization Committee should look at this issue on a wider basis, especially in conjunction with the staging/storage needs of St. Paul's District Energy.

Old Business.

Executive Secretary for MnSTAC. The board discussed having a line item of $5,000 in the budget to fund the position for 2004. Mr. Max, Mr. Holman, and Ms. Lara Newberger plan to meet and work out details of the executive secretary job description. This working group will report back to the MnSTAC board at its October 6th meeting.

The three Scholarships from the U.S.D.A. Forest Service for the September 2003 National Urban Forestry Conference in San Antonio went to Mr. Max, Mr. Jay Meier (Rochester), and Mr. Nick Anthony. There are also 2 scholarships from American Forests for representatives from the SE Asian community. Mr. Tom Dunlap received MN/STAC's $500 scholarship to the conference and will write a short article about the trip for the Shade Tree Advocate newsletter.

New Business

Summary of meeting with Tom Bauman (DNR), Pres. Stromme, Mr. Holman and Mr. Max. Meeting discussed budget for DNR Urban Forestry issues.

· The DNR management has not yet adopted DNR’s Urban Forestry Strategic Plan 2003-2008. Tom Baumann indicated that he would present it to the DNR management team for consideration.

· DNR has a scatter-shot approach to allocation of federal Urban Forestry funds throughout the State, instead of implementing the goals identified in DNR’s Urban Forestry Strategic Plan.

· The DNR appears to give urban forestry initiatives low priority.

· Mr. Holman will provide MnSTAC with the reports that he prepares for internal DNR distribution about urban forestry accomplishments resulting from the federal urban forestry allotment.

· Board members discussed ways to increase support for U&CF

Shade Tree Advocate Newsletter

· Jim Kiehne, graphic designer, is no longer doing work for the Advocate. Instead, the graphics division of DNR will handle the layout and production of the newsletter.

· Summer issue should be mailed right in the beginning of Sept. Fall issue in early Oct.

· Ken will obtain the mailing list before the current independent contractor’s contract for maintaining the mailing list ends.

General discussions:

· Networking opportunities at the National Urban Forestry Conference

· Hazard tree risk assessment workshop on September 3,4,5, 2003.

· Gypsy Moth, 3 breaches. Follow-up work is being done by MDA.

· Emerald ash borer has been detected in Maryland.

· Ms. Widin is writing an article on front-line pests (e.g., EAB, ALB, SOD, GM, etc.) for a future issue of the MSHS Northern Gardening magazine.

Adjournment. M/S/A Mr. Hermann, Mr. Holman, approved. Meeting adjourned 10:30.

Respectfully submitted by Robert Slater.