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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-26-03 Tree City USA MinWestlak Tree City USA Committee Minutes of the July 26, 2003 Meeting Date: July 26, 2003 Attendees*: Kim Evans Juan Fontanes Barb Griggs Doug Mayer John Macatee Phyllis McConnell *Dawn presented update to Juan on Friday the 25tH Listed below are the minutes of the July 26, 2003 meeting. I have attempted to capture the discussion as accurately as possible. As always, if there are areas where the notes are inaccurate or the interpretation is wrong please forward them to Juan so we can make the necessary corrections. Discussion Items 1. Meeting was called to order at 9:08AM 2. Juan reviewed the July 26, 2003 PowerPoint presentation focusing on updates since the last meeting and objectives for the day. ■ Committee revisited the date of the event due the new news that Southlake will be holding OCTOBERFEST on the same date. ■ However the committee agreed to lock the date of the Arbor Day celebration for October 4th given the availability of all the key participants i.e the committee members, mayor, restaurants, Texas Forestry Service and none of the other local city calendars had anything scheduled on it. 3. 2003/ 2004 Budget Juan informed the committee he submitted a request to increase the 2003/2004 budget request by $1000 to Dawn 4. Tree Species (Corrections to last meeting minutes) ■ Barb as an observance of Native Texas trees and vegetation suggested Eve's necklace, Mexican Buckeye and a Possum Haw Holly ■ Committee agreed to consider these species while investigating other species that may be available through donations 5. Arbor Day tree planting site Minutes July 26 Tree City meeting Page 1 7/28/2003 Wi XE ■ The committee reviewed a site during the park tour at the end of the meeting. The site was deemed acceptable. 6. Site Preparation - Report by Doug Mayer ® Doug reported on the meeting he coordinated with Premier Properties and Haddon landscaping ® John and Juan attended the meeting. ® During the meeting Doug covers o Mowing — more frequent cycles to get the site in shape well in advance min of 3 mowing cycles o Insect treatment - Ants and mosquitoes. ® The agreed approach for ant treatment was an immediate long-term treatment that takes up to 60 days to take effect and an intense `shock' treatment along with the required spot treatment closer to the event. ® Mosquito's discussion was deferred. Juan to speak to Trent on the cities plans for spraying the park and any other public lands o Removal of large dead pecan tree and oak in the park at the end of the bridge o Premier was receptive to the idea of donating the labor to plant any trees that we may be able to get donated to replace the dead and dying sidewalk trees o Doug requested Premier assistance in the event by asking them to donate 10 tables to TCUSA committee o We requested Premier donate a rock retaining wall to make a permanent stage area and park improvement around the base of the small rise just to east of the upper recirculating pond and 2001 Arbor Day tree o David Garret of Premier properties agreed to report back to Doug a cost of conducting a cleanup of the trees including: Clearing dead and broken limbs and limbing up / trimming of trees that require pruning o Kim requested clarification on who pays for the donations and if it is G1enWyck HOA or Premier ® Doug to advise and clarify during the next meeting after Premier responds to him. Doug reported that he had contacted the Plant Shed for a donation and / or support of seedling / sapling sales. Plant Shed is interested in donating something but requested time to respond. o Doug to report progress at the next meeting 8. Donations / Revenue Generation ® Juan reported he contacted Chase Bank of Texas for a donation ® Barb to get a list of business in Westlake so the committee can review it for potential donors ® Kim to reported Solona has donated a 3 month fitness club membership ® Doug — Plant shed: See earlier reports Minutes July 26 Tree City meeting Page 2 7/28/2003 WE E o Barb is waiting on response from landscape contacts for landscape donations. Juan reported that Home Depot had committed to donate approximate $300 worth of goods o The committee tabled the decision again on what to spend it on until the results of Doug's discussion with Premier were completed. Kim — Rock climbing company schedule is booked on 10/4. There would have been a fee for the use. 9. Volunteers Phyllis reported that we had a call from Brenda Gorman who indicated she has 6 — 7 adult volunteers who want to work at the Arbor Day event. Kim reported the Charity League is considering the event and have requested more information about it Barb reported she is waiting on the response from the T shirt company Shazam for quotes and costs of volunteer tee shirts o We tabled discussion on the sale of shirts until a future meeting when all of the cost aspects are known. 10. Entertainment ® Doug to speak to Kirby's on the jazz band for as possible entertainment ■ Kim reported out her findings for Jazz entertainment to the committee and the costs. See the details in the attached PowerPoint. Committee agreed this is a possible option and agreed to wait until the all costs and options are in prior to making the final entertainment decision. ■ Barb suggested contact the Bradshaw's regarding the participation of Rachel to sing. They have an interest and inquired about the PA system's quality and availability. They will get back to Barb on the costs. o Barb to report at the next meeting. ■ The PA system seemed to be a consistent theme for the entertainers. The committee agreed that we should make an inquiry to the city for resolution ideas or if there is knowledge of possible donations for the day. o Juan to make the request of the city o A suggestion was made to contact Don Redding it is believe he helped arrange for the last PA system o Barb to check on the cost of renting a PA system. 11. Marketing ® John reviewed the draft the public interest story for the press that announces the date of the annual Arbor Day festival in a "Save the Date" message. o Committee approved the draft. John to move forward with it in the local papers and striving for front-page news in the Westlake first news. ® Phyllis reviewed draft call for "Volunteers" needed blurb for the Westlake first news o Committee approved the draft. Phyllis to move forward with it. Minutes July 26 Tree City meeting Page 3 7/28/2003 WE E ® Juan to forward draft marketing plan to Phyllis 12. National Arbor Day 2002 Tree City USA Award ® Juan informed the committee that Westlake had won the award for the 3 rd in a row as sponsored by the National Arbor Day Foundation and provided the award letter for the committees review. 13. Handouts ® Juan distributed Marketing flyer handout, Tree City USA award letter and meeting presentation. 14. Education ® The committee ran out of time to fully discuss this, and will pick up discussions again at the next meeting. o Juan and Kim to meet separately o Committee review possible Scavenger hunt sites and activity aspects including gathering key ideas from the trees and writing them down on the site tour of the park. 15. Election of officers ® The committee nominated and elected the following officers o Treasurer — Kim Evans 1. Juan to forward all of the financial records to Kim so that she can start her duties o Vice Chairman — Doug Mayer o Secretary — Juan Fontanes Decisions Made ® Committee agreed on October 4th, 2003 for the Date of the celebration ® Addition of a Pecan Pie baking contest ® Addition of a raffle now that we have some raffle items — This drives the need for unique tickets ® Committee agreed to use the land on across the creek as the kids area and pony ride set-up. o We will need to fashion a walking bridge to facilitate accessibility ® Committee agreed to set the TFS tent and trail walk on the far side of the creek o We will need to fashion a walking bridge to facilitate accessibility Topic for next meeting ® Parking ® Education ® Marketing ® Signage Minutes July 26 Tree City meeting Page 4 7/28/2003 76 WE E o Parking, Sponsors, Directions and Tree Plaque ®pen topics • Time range for the event, concerns were raised that 8:30 is too late and we need to wrap it up sooner ® A tentative site layout was discussed. A layout similar to the one used last year was generally agreed too with the following changes o Relocating the kids tent to a shaded area is required o Addition of an additional food tent o Addition of a Wine Tasting Tent — if we can get the permit to serve it ® Liquor sales permit ® Need to more fully discuss the "Ticket" process of the food operations for the Taste of Westlake. Doug expressed concerns on not having unique tickets being used this year due to the volume of traffic we expect. o Need to address the differing ticket needs of Liquor sales and Raffle tickets ® Need to more thoroughly discuss Education theme To Do agreed on in the meeting but - Still unassigned ® Donation Buckets ® Tree markers for the trail walk trees Meeting was adjourned at 10:15 AM for the site tour. ® Committee toured the site and proposed kids area and pony rides ® John, Barb, Kim and Phyllis and Juan walked the proposed trail walk ® John and Juan toured Barb' property and learned about: o Texas native vegetation and were able to see first hand the suggested tree species that Barb has proposed. Barb has done a wonderful job of landscaping her place and it looks TERRIFIC! o Pony rides and the games she will set up for them to play including "roping" which I think we should highlight in the PR effort. ® We need to solicit volunteers who have horse handling experience to assist on the day of the event, caring for the ponies and helping getting them to and from the event. Minutes July 26 Tree City meeting Page 5 7/28/2003