March 25, 2008

Members present: Bill Ruppert, Roger Vonder Bruegge, Paul Loida, June Hutson, Susan Renard, and Judy Wickersham.

I.                    The meeting was called to order at 7:02 pm

II.                 Citizen comments: none

III.               Secretary Report: the minutes from Feb. 26, 2008, were approved as presented. Judy Wickersham is still trying to resolve a technical glitch in the minutes from January 22, 2008. She expects to email corrected drafts to the commission members by the April meeting for their approval.

IV.              Chair Report: Bill Ruppert

A.     Bill Ruppert had a meeting on March 10 with Mark Petty, Todd Rehg, and Susan Renard to plan writing a proposal for a TRIM grant. Skip Kincaid is ready to start later this week writing the grant proposal. Bill said the proposal might end up being driven by the Public Works Department because the GIS system is in their department.

B.     The 2007 Annual Report was submitted February 27. It should be up on the city website tomorrow.

C.     Bill talked to Councilman Joe Godi about the concept of a memorial tree planting. Joe Godi seemed to favor the area around the Farmer’s Market instead of the ground around City Hall. Bill also talked to Councilman Iggy Yuan. Bill decided to delay any further action on this matter until after the coming municipal election.

V.                 Council Liaison Report: Councilman Joe Godi was absent.

VI.              Guest Introduction: none.

VII.            Featured Discussion topic: none.

VIII.         Activity Reports

A.     Jr. Treekeepers: Bill Ruppert updated the budget and passed out copies (see attachment). There is $5.15 left in the budget. Bill said it was good to list the sources of contributions in the past. Bill and Paul plan to contact previous donor groups.

Paul Loida said seedlings will be delivered on April 1. Paul said Keysor couldn’t find anyone to package the seedlings, so he needs volunteers to prepare them. Plans were made to meet on Saturday morning at 8 am at Paul’s house.

Bill Ruppert said he has a call into Ginger Fletcher’s office with Kirkwood Public schools. She is the head of community relations for the R7 school district. Bill plans to discuss Jr. Treekeepers with her and wants to invite the science coordinator to one of our meetings.

Paul Loida said graduation certificates are being prepared.

B.     Education and Outreach: no report.

C.     Planning & Zoning: Roger Vonder Bruegge had nothing to report.

D.     Kirkwood Tree Survey: Susan Renard will be waiting to see if the TRIM grant is awarded.

E.      Tree City USA/Growth Award submittals. Bill Ruppert said he received word that Kirkwood’s application for Tree City has been approved by the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) and has been forwarded to the Arbor Day Foundation. He has observed that letters from the Arbor Day Foundations and MDC are mailed to the Superintendent of Parks, but since Curt Carron no longer serves as liaison to KUFC, Bill would like to request the Arbor Day Foundation and MDC direct future mailings simply to “Mayor.”

F.      KUFC Annual Report: see IV-B above.

G.     Kirkwood DRAFT Tree Code/Tree Manual: Bill Ruppert had nothing to report due to pending changes in city council and administration.

H.     Greentree Festival: no report.

IX.              Commission Items: no public tree impact requests have been received.

X.                 Old Business

Bill Ruppert passed around a brochure about seasonal community gardens designed by Dave Burella to give an example of Dave’s work. Dave Burella will be giving Bill estimates for the design and printing of the “Recommended Street Tree Selections for Kirkwood” booklet.

XI.              New Business

A.     Bill Ruppert said we will soon be making recommendations to the new mayor for filling two KUFC positions. Judy Wickersham brought up the Advocate Award and said no one was given this award in 2007, and the 2008 deadline for nominations has passed. She would like to see this award revived. Several candidates were discussed.

XII.            Next Meeting: the next meeting will be held Tuesday, April 22, at 7 pm in the main floor conference room at City Hall.

XIII.         Adjourn: the meeting was adjourned at 8:07 pm.

The City is interested in effective communication for all people. Upon request, these minutes can be made available in an alternate format, such as audio tape, by calling 314-822-5894.