July 24, 2007

Members present: Bill Ruppert, Paul Loida, Judy Wickersham, and Jenny O’Toole. Councilman Joe Godi, as city liaison, was also present. June Hutson and Roger Vonder Bruegge were excused.

Guests: Al Hopfl, Jane Quinn and Ted Quinn. Ted was observing the meeting as part of his requirement for a communication badge for Boy Scout Troop 300 in Warson Woods.

I.                    Call to Order: the meeting was called to order at 7:05 pm.

II.                 Citizen comments: Al Hopfl distributed copies of an article from the July 2007 issue of the Missouri Conservationist magazine titled “Treemendous Benefits.” He said it points out the importance of commissions such as ours to the community.

III.               Secretary Report: the minutes from 6-26-07 were approved as written.

IV.              Chair Report: Bill Ruppert

A.     Committee Leadership/Committee Chair assignments: Bill Ruppert presented a recommendation to designate each member of the KUFC as a leader of each of seven principal activities involving the KUFC. He suggested the following:

1.      Planning & Zoning Liaison: Roger Vonder Bruegge

2.      Junior Treekeepers Program: Paul Loida

3.      Education & Outreach: Jenny O’Toole

4.      Kirkwood Tree Survey: Susan Renard

5.      Greentree Festival: June Hutson

6.      Tree City USA/Growth Award Submittals: Judy Wickersham

7.      Kirkwood Tree Code/Tree Manual: pending

Judy Wickersham said someone should also be assigned to submit an annual report of the KUFC as required by the board guidelines. Bill Ruppert said he would work with her to prepare this.

V.                 Council Liaison Report: Joe Godi

Councilman Godi said he talked to Ken Yost regarding the latest draft of the Tree Code. Ken Yost wants to review it and discuss it with Councilman Godi and the KUFC before we go to the city council.

VI.              Community Department Guest – [see X “New Business”]

VII.            Activity Reports

A.     Planning & Zoning: Roger Vonder Bruegge thinks the proposed development of St. Joseph Hospital property presents an ideal opportunity to showcase the coming Tree Code. He said there are some big trees involved. He is attending the P & Z meetings and will keep us informed. Councilman Godi said the developers don’t have a landscape plan yet. Bill Ruppert said the big issue is the grading and tree preservation. He said he would like to see a plaque or a small monument placed on the property telling the history of the place.

B.     Jr. Treekeepers: Paul Loida said he is pretty sure they have the necessary funding to start the coming school year. All the volunteers from the past year are coming back. Jenny O’Toole said she definitely wants to volunteer this year, even if Robinson school doesn’t participate. Bill Ruppert said Norm Kleber, one of the judges from America in Bloom, repeatedly asked about how engaged our schools are with the community. He said the next time we enter AIB, he really wants to get the schools involved and not just in things like flower planting. He said he will get a copy of the AIB Brag Book to the schools’ leaders. Councilman Godi asked how much time the teachers have to devote to Jr. Treekeepers. Paul said not much really. It’s just a question of giving up regular classroom time to let the Jr. Treekeepers volunteers teach. Jenny O’Toole said that’s the big issue because extracurricular time is very limited.

C.     Greentree Festival: Bill Ruppert said he received a letter from Mayor Swoboda regarding a change in this year’s booth organization. There will be a combined booth of all the city’s boards and commissions. Bill Ruppert said he liked the idea for several reasons. It will look like the KUFC is a part of the city instead of an isolated entity, and it will alleviate booth staffing problems. There will be two booths put together to allow more space, and it will still be located in the central area of the main walkway. The Horticulture Co-Op is going to have a gardeners’ exhibit this year, and the area arborists are very interested in participating. They can display a lot of the pamphlets and other information we’ve had in our booth in the past. Judy Wickersham expressed concern about the need to identify the people in the booth so there is no confusion. Bill Ruppert said everyone will wear a name tag with the board or commission they represent. He also said he would like to display the America in Bloom poster and take orders for copies of the Brag Book. The theme of the Greentree Festival this year is “A Celebration of Heroes.”

D.     Tree City USA/Growth Awards: Bill Ruppert asked Judy Wickersham to develop a spreadsheet of items that are included every year on these applications to facilitate the preparation.

E.      Tree Code/Tree Manual: Bill Ruppert said we are at the point where we’ve got questions, such as legal issues, and we need answers before we can go on. The other issue pertains to revenue generating issues, and we need some input here also before we can go on. He said he would like to hold a roundtable discussion so we’re not piece-mealing this, so we’re doing it all at one time. This discussion has been going on since 1998. He said he is going to summarize some of the questions. Until we get this input, there really isn’t much more we can do as a commission.

VIII.         Commission Items

Bill Ruppert said Roger Vonder Bruegge thinks the KUFC should be tuned in with Ameren’s program for tree management. Bill Ruppert said he attended an event at the Missouri Botanical Gardens hosted by Ameren. All the mayors and tree professionals were invited, and Mike Miller was the keynote speaker. Ameren presented their $52 million plan for tree management for next year. Bill wonders what impact this will have on Kirkwood and whether the city council has been briefed on their plans. Councilman Godi said he’s sure Mark Petty [Director of Kirkwood Electric] knows what’s going on.

IX.              Old Business

A.     America in Bloom: Bill Ruppert said there is a master plan for a wetlands area of Greentree Park. Ameren is interested because there are high power lines going through this area. A presentation about this project was made to the judges of AIB by Ted Spaid of SWT Design, the largest landscape architecture firm in St. Louis. Bill Ruppert said Ted Spaid is very knowledgeable about soils and plant communities.

B.     A review of the draft of “Care of Public Trees in Kirkwood” has been tabled until the next meeting.

X.                 New Business

Bill Ruppert said he would really like to start a practice of establishing a theme for each regular meeting of KUFC and inviting an interested guest to that meeting. The guests could be city administrators, staff or council members as well as others associated with special interest groups such as the

business district, even school administrators. Paul Loida said the science coordinator for the R-7 School District would be a good person to invite. Judy Wickersham suggested we establish an activity calendar and use that to plan which guests would be appropriate to invite to each meeting.

XI.              Adjourn

Next meeting: August 28, 2007. Councilman Joe Godi is invited.

Respectfully submitted,

Judy Wickersham, Secretary

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.