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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJanuary 9 2023 EAC MinutesMinutes of the Ecological Advocacy Committee (EAC)Meeting on January 9th,2023 Committee Members Present: Steve Sass (Chair) Charlene Rountree (Secretary) Amy Gillan Andy Schnabel Andrew Tucker Others Present: Garry Harrington —VPA,Rum Village Park Property Manager Matthew Moyers –VPA,Partnerships,Community and Standards Coordinator Brent Thompson —City Forester,VPA Emily Sims —Chief Development Officer,VPA I.Call to Order -Steve Sass 8:34 am II.Approval of Minutes Andy Schnabel moved to approve the minutes of the December 5th,2022 meeting.Andrew Tucker seconded.The motion passed unanimously. III.Old Business A.Update on the Leeper Park/933 Bridge Project Garry Harrington provided updates on the progression of construction that may affect Leeper Park.Any construction that affects both Leeper Park and the Rose Garden will be coordinated with park management.Larry Clifford would specifically be coordinated with regarding the Rose Garden.Construction will affect vegetation (trees)in these areas,so oversight of how this progresses will be considered in order to ensure prevention of ecologically negative impacts. Steve Sass noticed in the Michigan Street bridge project that a prohibited species of plant,the invasive plant Miscanthus sinensis,was growing on park grounds.It was questioned how VPA and organizations such as Resurrect the Roses are monitoring invasive species on city property. IV.New Business A.Our Newest EAC Member Matthew Moyers introduced Emily Sims,VPA’s new Chief Development Officer.He also announced that the park board had approved the addition of a 2023 student member,who will be joining the EAC at the February meeting. B.Tree Project Plan Brent Thompson brought up the construction activity at Muessel Grover Park had compacted soil and potentially damaged tree root zones.Brent passed along a proposed tree and soil protection standard to Garry Harrington,but this was not yet sent to the EAC.Garry will be providing this to the EAC shortly. V.VPA and City Updates VI.Miscellaneous The EAC’s secretary position came up for election again this year.Charlene Rountree was once again nominated to be secretary for the duration of 2023.A vote was held by those present from the committee.Charlene was unanimously elected secretary of the EAC again undisputed.She will serve for the year 2023.This would be her second term as secretary for the committee. Andy Schnabel brought up discussions on how both the EAC chair and secretary positions should have role descriptions created to detail both.Steve Sass and Charlene Rountree both informed that following an EAC discussion in early 2022,they each wrote descriptions and placed them in the EAC Drive. Andy Schnabel asked what the EAC’s focues should be for 2023.Steve pointed out that the EAC would likely be afforded input on the MLK Dream Center and Kennedy Park projects and pointed out that the Natural Resources Management Plan contains many actionable items,but pointed out that he wasn’t eager to take on new work because much of the committee’s prior work has languished.Charlene agreed that is might be best to resolve existing completed work before taking on new projects.Andy suggested that there might be workable projects that don’t require VPA staff or city participation.. Action Items ●Garry Harrington to provide EAC with Brent Thompson’s tree and soil protection standards. Next meeting:February 27th,2023 at 8:30am still by Teams. Meeting adjourned at 9:27am.