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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEAC Meeting Minutes_February 2025Minutes of the Ecological Advocacy Committee (EAC) Meeting on February 24th, 2025 Committee Members Present: Andy Schnabel (Chair) Charlene Rountree (Vice-Chair) Andrew Tucker Brian Will Kevin Price Clay Kusbach Ronda Spaulding Others Present: Garry Harrington — VPA, Rum Village Park Property Manager Barbara Dale – Project Manager, Office of Sustainability Mary Wojcik – VPA, Horticulturist Michael Schmidt – Attorney, City of South Bend Macey Hannah – VPA, Director of Recreation I. Call to Order – Meeting at Rum Village Nature Center at 8:34 am. II. Approval of Minutes Brian W. moved to approve the minutes of January 13th, 2025. Kevin P. seconded. The motion passed unanimously. III. Old Business Indiana’s Open Door Law Michael Schmidt, the assistant attorney for the City of South Bend, held a special discussion with the committee on Indiana’s open-door policies for citizen committees. After introducing himself and his role for the city, he gave examples of what constitutes proper procedure to ensure we adhere to legal protocol. Specifics included informing the city clerk of when and where EAC members will meet, and how to communicate among the group. Although our committee has never been considered not meeting standards, it is always good to be reminded and refined how to ensure adherence to our laws. Approval of Wildlife Coexistence Plan Andy Schnabel requested the committee to consider the changes provided to the updated WCP directive. Discussions on ideas regarding effective methods such as egg-oiling occurred and were reflected on. Ultimately, the focus of the directive was to present the top 3 low cost and easy methods as options for city grounds crew to implement. Kevin Price motioned to approve; Brian Will seconded. The Wildlife Coexistence Plan directive passed unanimously. Now to present to Director Gathers once more. Review of Tree Ordinance Andy Schnabel attended a Park Board meeting and inquired about the Tree Ordinance being reviewed. After discussion with Director Gathers, Andy was told to acquire a legal response from city attorney Michael Schmidt or similar. The latter informed us that this ordinance was being reviewed by multiple departments. USDA Grant Update Barbara Dale commented on how the recent flurry of federal executive orders from President Trump and his administration have made significant changes to USDA and the tree grant from last year. Fortunately, the grant funds were already dispersed to local levels and so tree planting preparation continues unabated. She and Brent Thompson are working on preparing for planting in the spring. Provided a Tree SB print-out that shows how educational promotion is coming along. Environmental Research Coalition Update Barbara Dale reported further updates with the ERC. Specifically, April 12th, there will be an ERC event where everyone can sign-up to attend and listen to various speakers. EAC members are most welcome. More information will be presented through a website link. IV. New Business Review of Sub-Committee Plans and Progress Aquatics Resources – preparing for amphibian field data collection once again in March – April. Will be collecting on the 9 park properties containing wetland habitat, focusing on 35th St. Wetland, including the public in data collection, and developing a uniform set of sampling protocols that can be repeated annually. Parks Specific Management Plan – focusing on Rum Village this year. 35th St. Wetland – Strategizing with Garry Harrington on meeting with Director Gathers to work on how establishing as a formal park property is possible. Mary Wojcik reported that her team has been removing honeysuckle; negotiations have been ongoing with Public Works about tree removal. Education – Looking into many opportunities involving public education and volunteers. Updates from City Horticulturist Maddeline Busch is the new assistant horticulturist working with Mary Wojcik. We are delighted to see the team expand. V. VPA and City Updates No new updates. VI. Miscellaneous Garry H. informed the committee that the state champion Ironwood tree is in Rum Village. More fun facts about the history of this old park property and its ecology! Action Items March – April: Aquatics Resource Subcommittee to be performing amphibian field data collection. April 5th, 2025 – 35th St. Wetland litter pick-up from 9am to 11am. April 12, 2025 – Environmental Research Coalition event from 10am until afternoon. April 25th, Arbor Day, has a big tree planting event. Next meeting will be Monday, April 7th, 2025; 8:30 am at Rum Village Meeting was adjourned at 9:59 am.