April 22, 2008

Members present: Bill Ruppert, Susan Renard, June Hutson, and Judy Wickersham.

Guest: Alan Hopefl.

I.                    Call to order: the meeting was called to order at 7:07 pm.

II.                 Citizen comments: none.

III.               Secretary Report: Judy Wickersham. The minutes from January and March were approved as emailed.

IV.              Chair Report: Bill Ruppert

A. Kirkwood’s new mayor and council members will be sworn in Thursday night. The new mayor is going to have a lot on his plate. We need to regroup with the new leader. Bill would like to put together a list of topics to discuss.

B. The top priority for KUFC is to fill its vacancies. Bill Ruppert passed around a draft of a recommendation report he plans to give to the mayor regarding diverse representation on KUFC. Eleven people submitted Volunteer Profile Forms indicating an interest in volunteering with KUFC. Judy Wickersham volunteered to write thank-you notes to them.

C. TRIM Grant for Kirkwood tree survey. There will be a meeting Friday, April 25 with Bill Ruppert, Mark Petty of Kirkwood Electric, Todd Reh of Public Works, Skip Kincaid, and Josh Behounek who works with tree inventories for Davy Resource Group. Josh Behounek will give a presentation about what they can provide. Bill Ruppert said Kirkwood can get $10,000 maximum from the TRIM Grant, 25% of which must come from the municipality. Susan Renard said that cities holding a Tree City U.S.A. designation can qualify for additional 15% funds. June Hutson asked if the grant proposal would have to go to city council. Bill said it would have to go to council since it would be a city expenditure.

V.                 Council Liaison Report: Councilman Joe Godi was absent. Judy Wickersham asked about the status of our liaison due to Councilman Godi’s continuing medical problems. Bill Ruppert said he needs to pursue that.

VI.              Guest Introduction: none.

VII.            Featured Discussion Topic: none.

VIII.         Activity Reports

A.     Jr. Treekeepers Program: Paul Loida

In Paul’s absence, Bill Ruppert reported that some contributions have been received, $1,000 from the Twenty-Five Gardeners Club and $200 from the Rowena Clark Garden Club. We still need $235. Bill has spoken with Ginger Fletcher, the Public Relations Director of the Kirkwood R-7 school district. He gave her a list of our meeting dates and asked if she and the district science coordinator might be able to attend one of our meetings. He said he also wants to discuss their art programs participating in a poster contest for tree planting.

B.     Education and Outreach. Bill Ruppert said the Master Landscape Design class in the Horticulture Department at Meramec is working under Paul Roberts right now redesigning the City Hall landscape. Bill thinks that having a tree care clinic and using the trees around City Hall would be a good event, especially if we make it part of a bigger event, perhaps something in conjunction with the Downtown Business District.

C.     Planning and Zoning: Roger Vonder Bruegge told Bill Ruppert that there is nothing currently to report.

D.     Kirkwood Tree Survey: Susan Renard. Action awaits the TRIM Grant. (See IV-C above.)

E.      Tree City USA/Growth Award Submittals: Judy Wickersham said she will prepare a time line for preparation of these applications at the next meeting. She sent a memo in March to Public Works, Electric, and Parks department advising them of changes in the applications and requesting they keep a tally of the items needed, such as number of trees pruned.

F.      KUFC Annual Report: Judy Wickersham had nothing to report. She will compile a list of duties and a timeline for the next secretary.

G.     Kirkwood DRAFT Tree Code/Tree Manual: Bill Ruppert said this is a topic he plans to discuss with the new mayor.

H.     Greentree Festival: June Hutson said we need to upgrade our booth, both in the way it is decorated and in the information we provide. Bill Ruppert said we may not have the Gardeners Village this year, but he thinks the St. Louis Arborist Society could be next to us or share a booth with us since their organization is information based.

IX.              Commission Items

Bill Ruppert said he received a public tree impact request from a homeowner at 425 N. Taylor. He advised the homeowner to submit a formal request to the Director of Public Works.

X.                 Old Business

XI.              Bill Ruppert showed a draft of a redesigned booklet for “Recommended Kirkwood Street Trees.” He said there is a difference of perception of expenditure in the city administration. Electric rates are due to rise, and the city administrator thinks it would not be a good time to have the Kirkwood Electric Department sponsor the cost of a new brochure. Bill said this is another thing to take to the mayor. Bill prepared a draft of additional copy he would like to include in the brochure indicating recommendations for planting trees under power lines and referring to the city department that oversees street trees. A discussion about including a diagram about tree planting followed.

XII.            New Business

A.     Judy Wickersham gave a brief summary about the history of KUFC.

B.     Judy Wickersham asked about the status of the Advocate’s Award.

XIII.         Next Meeting: the next meeting will be held Tuesday, May 27, 2008.

XIV.         Adjourn: the meeting was adjourned at 8:20 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.