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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAugust 2025 MinutesMinutes of the Ecological Advocacy Committee (EAC) Meeting on August 4th, 2025 Committee Members’ Present: Andy Schnabel (Chair) Charlene Rountree (Vice-Chair) Andrew Tucker Brian Will Ronda Spaulding Clay Kusbach John Hamilton Kevin Price Others Present: Garry Harrington — VPA, Rum Village Park Property Manager Barbara Dale – Project Manager, Office of Sustainability Brent Thompson – VPA, City Forester Macey Hanna – VPA, Director of Recreation Michael Schmidt – Attorney, City of South Bend I.  Call to Order – Meeting at Rum Village Nature Center at 8:34am. II. Approval of Minutes Brian Will moved to approve the minutes of June 23rd, 2025, with the amendment of Maddie Busch’s name added to the list of attendees. John Hamilton seconded. The motion passed unanimously. III. Old Business Committee Reports Aquatic Resources Assessment Subcommittee The committee continues to focus on developing a data collection page for field research collection. 35th St. Wetlands Subcommittee Andrew Tucker brought up needing to approach VPA Director Gathers about a 2026 budget for this unofficial property.   Brent Thompson answered that approval of funding would be needed.  Michael S. also commented that appropriate departments need to coordinate this approval of a budget for heavy machinery use and trash socks for sewage drainage containment.  It was noted that VPA would need approval from IDEM in order to do any more herbicide applications.  A request for approval has been made by Public Works, but there is no response yet from IDEM. Park Specific Management Plan Subcommittee - no activities noted. Education Subcommittee Brian Will attended the Project Learning Tree training as an all day program.  He commented that it was focused on training educators for teaching children about the importance and value of trees.  Charlene Rountree mentioned that getting this program approved for teacher continuing education credits may boost attendance and spread outreach.  Barbara D. agrees with this possibility and how this may apply for the tree stewards program, too. Andrew Tucker will be speaking about the 35th St. Wetland property at the monthly meeting of Wild Ones in October.  NRMP Simplified The Committee expressed concerns about understanding the nature of the request from VPA and would like to have a face-to-face meeting with John Martinez and/or Jordan Gathers about the request. Garry Harrington will attempt to organize a such a meeting in the near future. Geese Signage Andy Schnabel and Charlene Rountree brought up the request from VPA 3 months ago for signage regarding coexistence with Canada Geese EAC will need to submit suggested designs for signage to VPA. After approval, Indiana DNR can move forward with ordering the signs. IV. New Business None noted. V. VPA and City Updates Barbara Dale informed the committee about updates to the USDA-funded urban tree canopy project.  The semi-annual grant reporting has been submitted.  An invasive species workshop was hosted by Lang Lab, which resulted in discovery of invasive lantern flies on invasive trees of heaven.  A second workshop will be held on August 16, 2025.  Acorn Landscaping has been awarded the contract for constructing Half-Moon Nursery at Ignition Circle.  It will be a pot-in-pot design for about 4500 trees. VI. Miscellaneous Garry Harrington reported on the meetings about the proposed Continental Divide Trail, a project that is planning for 26 miles of trail and has $10 million in funding from the Indiana state government.  He provided a lot of historical context for the importance of this trail development.  Seitz Park is finally open! The monthly Weed Wrangle at Rum Village continues to be very productive under the leadership of Ronda Spaulding.  VII. Privilege of the Floor None noted. Action Items EAC committee membership will be advertised for October 2025 in preparation for the 2026 open positions.   Garry Harrington will set up a meeting of 3 or less committee members with John Martinez to clarify the request for modifications to the NRMP. Garry H. to coordinate with Andy S. and Charlene R. on sending 2-3 geese and pollinator signage recommendations for John M. to approve.  August 16th, Lang Lab workshop on invasive plant removal with the Community Investment team.    The next meeting will be on Monday, September 15th, 2025; 8:30 am at Rum Village. The meeting was adjourned at 9:41am.