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MINNESOTA SHADE TREE ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Board Meeting Minutes
April 8, 2002, 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 p.m.
Twin Cities Tree Trust, St. Paul MN
Attendees: Kirk Brown, Rich Hauer, Jim Hermann, Ken Holman, Gary Johnson, Michael Max, Robert Slater, Lorrie Stromme, Kathy Widin, Don Mueller
Call to Order. The meeting was called to order at 9:10 a.m. by President Lorrie
Stromme, on April 8, 2002, at the Twin Cities Tree Trust, St. Paul, MN.
Approval of Minutes. The Minutes of the 3-11-2002 Board meeting were reviewed. Motion/Second: Mr. Johnson, Mr. Brown, Approved
Announcements:
Mr. Hauer announced that 150 people turned out at the Crookston Tree Inspector Workshop.
Mr. Hermann discussed the damage from recent ice storms in Kansas City. A general discussion of the need for a MnSTAC-like organization in Missouri
followed. Tree-topping is still a common practice in Missouri.
MnSTAC and MSA should consider recognizing people nearing retirement who have contributed to UC&F. For example, Mike Zins was recently acknowledged
by MnSTAC, when he received the Distinguished Service Award. Some other people mentioned were John Johnson of Thief River Falls, Ken Simons of
Ramsey County Parks, and Glen Shirley, City of Bloomington.
Dakota Electric has sent a nice thank you card for its recent MnSTAC award.
Old Business:
The MnSTAC membership census is still getting occasional hits on the website. What is the next step? The board will go over the non-response list at the May
meeting. Decisions will then be made whom to contact by U.S. mail regarding continued membership.
Advocate Update. The contract for the new editor for The Advocate newsletter is
being written now. The freeze on state contracts does not apply in this case since the money is federal.
Gary Johnson, U of MN, expects to hire a new Research Specialist by April 12, 2002. Work on the MnSTAC website should resume when all is settled.
Legislative fact sheets. The first example of the fact sheet was distributed for
review by the Board. Some wordsmithing was recommended. The fact sheet should be distributed to legislators and communities in mid- to late-April.
New Business:
CEU's for MN/STAC meetings. Pres. Stromme discussed the possibility of seeking Certified Arborist (among others) CEU's for presentations at MnSTAC
membership meetings. Motion was made to pursue this idea. Motion/Seconded: Mr. Holman, Mr. Hauer, Approved.
Arbor Month Committee Report, Don Mueller, Chair: Arbor Month (AM) mailings now top 5,000. The cost is going up because
the package is now too heavy for bulk mail. As a result, future mailings will be sent at book rate. The Teacher’s Guide is a total rewrite. This was
needed to conform to the Profile of Learning requirements. A new Teacher's Calendar will likely be produced next year.
Who is on the Arbor Month Partnership Committee now? Mostly DNR staff, Paul Buck (City of Plymouth) and Terri Heyer (US Forest Service).
They would like to broaden out the membership of the committee. This work is also at risk of cuts due to budget concerns at DNR.
How is the success of the Teacher’s Guide measured? Surveys have been done to get feedback from teachers.
Is there anybody who can take this up at national or regional level? Discussion followed as to whether tech transfer grants would be available
for this type of work and whether they should be pursued.
Tree City USA awards. Do they need to be tied to the day after the Shade Tree Short Course? There was general concurrence on separating the
events, based on a poll Don Mueller conducted at the March Tree City Award luncheon.
Cuts in budget have resulted in fewer regional Arbor Day ceremonies. Discussion followed on considering getting a state rep to some of the
ceremonies.
It was agreed to ask the chair of the Forest Health Committee to the next Board meeting.
Adjournment. Motion/Second: Mr. Hermann, Mr. Brown, Approved. The meeting was adjourned at 10:45 a.m.
Respectfully submitted: Robert Slater