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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOct. 28th MinutesMinutes of the Ecological Advocacy Committee (EAC) Meeting on October 28th, 2024sa Committee Members Present: Andy Schnabel (Chair) Charlene Rountree (Secretary) John Hamilton Lori Checkley Brian Will Others Present: Garry Harrington — VPA, Rum Village Park Property Manager Barbara Dale – Project Manager, Office of Sustainability Mary Wojcik – Horticulturist, VPA I.  Call to Order – Meeting at Rum Village Nature Center at 8:35 am. II.  Approval of Minutes Charlene Rountree moved to approve the minutes of the September 16, 2024 meeting. John Hamilton seconded. The motion passed unanimously. III.  Old Business Weed Wrangle in Rum Village Park Andy Schnabel informed the committee on the Weed Wrangle event at Rum Village Park led by Ronda Spaulding (EAC member) again.  It was a great success with large amounts of invasive plants, especially honeysuckle, removed.  Ronda Spaulding is organizing routine invasive plant removal efforts.  Overall, a lot of progress has been made, which will make a difference to Rum Village long-term. 35th Street Wetland Clean-Up Brian Will let the committee know how the 35th Street Wetland Clean-Up went. Approximately 20 bags of trash, tires, and metal scraps were removed from the area.  John Hamilton discussed how the budget allocated during the Park Board meeting was able to dedicate some funds for improvement of the wetland area in both trash removal and invasive species removal.  Mary Wojcik commented that the hiring of a second horticulturist by VPA will have a major impact on both.  Wildlife Coexistence Plan (WCP) Charlene Rountree opened up discussion on preparing the WCP for Director Gathers to review.  The committee discussed realistic options with Garry Harrington. for input.  After some brainstorming, it was determined that Andy Schnabel’s suggestion of turning the original 35 page plan to a 1-2 page directive of the top 3 most effective recommendations for Canada Geese would be the best path forward. Charlene Rountree will write this for the next meeting.  IV. New Business Horticultural Activities at the 35th St. Wetland Mary Wojcik and Brent Thompson (City Forester) have marked all of the invasive trees that need to be removed in winter. Invasive plant removal has continued with Reed Canary as the main species of focus in late Fall. Native plants are scheduled to replace the invasives removed. Barbara Dale will coordinate on native tree stock for Mary Wojcik and Brent Thompson to use.  Black Oak Savanna at the Motor Speedway John Hamilton reported on a successful lobbying effort from a large number of people concerned about the loss of rare ecological habitat.  Steve Sass (Indiana Nature LLC) did a marvelous job of bringing public attention to this 34 acre remnant of rare savanna habitat. The development has stopped for now, but now they are in need of an angel investor for a currently unhappy land seller to preserve this habitat.   USDA and EPA Grant Updates Barbara Dale and fellow Office of Sustainability members updated the committee on how a landscape contractor will be helping to design tree nurseries with their office to focus on effective, educational, and aesthetic functions.  They have placed their first order of 1,000 trees with the Indiana DNR and are happy to get started with the tree grant project!   A new arborist apprenticeship program has begun with Brent Thompson being the mentor to train. Everyone is excited to see the development of this for furtherance of city environmental goals.  Climate Action Plan Update Barbara Dale and the Office of Sustainability are preparing this plan for public viewing October 30th.  They will welcome public comments to: cap2024@southbend.in.gov V. VPA and City Updates No updates. VI. Miscellaneous Seitz Park – Garry Harrington updated the committee on how this park was supposed to re-open after being closed for 5 years this October 2024.  Unfortunately, this has been delayed to spring 2025.  Mary Wojcik discussed how this park property was arranged to use mostly native plant species in its landscape with some cultivars and the Martin Luther King Jr. Dream Center is going to incorporate native plants from the onset in contrast to how Seitz was handled.  Action Items EAC should have a person at many of the Park Board meetings as suggested by John Hamilton to ensure presence and involvement when possible.  The Park Board meeting calendar for 2025 being shared would help.  Charlene R. will write the 1-2 page WCP directive for the top 3 low cost and highly effective solutions regarding Canada Geese for the committee to review at the December meeting.  Next meeting will be Monday, December 2nd, 8:30 am at Rum Village Meeting was adjourned at 9:45 am