11-15-11 Street Tree MinutesKALISPELL STREET TREE COMMISSION
MEETING HELD November 15, 2011 --- 4:00 p.m.
Present: Bette Albright, Andrea Davidson, David Jones, Rebecca Bodnar, Chad Fincher and
Lisa Simmer.
Next Meeting Date:
January 10, 2012 - 4 PM — Kalispell Parks and Recreation
Items of Discussion:
• Mission Statement
• Miscellaneous Business
• Possible New Project(s)
• Growth Award Criteria & Mission Statement
• Miscellaneous Business
Mission Statement
Lisa handed out copies of the mission statement Rebecca had written (previously sent to the
group via email) and copies of email comments from Dawn regarding the statement. The group
praised Rebecca's work and efforts for a well written statement. The group reviewed and
discussed the statement, with the following changes:
"for the benefit of the people of Kalispell" to the Mission Statement and removed "entrusted with
developing" from the Purpose.
The group made a motion to accept the mission statement with incorporated changes for a period
of one year, at which time they would review it again. All members present voted in favor.
The new mission statement is as follows
MISSION STATEMENT:
To promote the planting, preservation, and care of trees on Municipal property for the benefit of
the people of Kalispell.
PURPOSE:
The City of Kalispell Street Tree Commission's purpose is to celebrate trees, demonstrate a
commitment to a sustainable urban forest and engage and guide the City in environmental
stewardship. It is the intent of the Commission to share information with the local community
and City Council in the protection and maintenance of the City's urban forest. The Commission
promotes the best management practices related to Kalispell's urban forest management.
OBJECTIVES:
1. Educate the public on the important role trees play in the urban environment.
2. Encourage and promote stewardship of public right-of-way trees and private trees.
3. Increase canopy cover on street parkways.
4. Review and advise City Council and City staff on various tree -related issues.
5. Hold an annual Arbor Day tree planting.
6. Conduct two trees -to -paper -to -trees recycling events.
7. Maintain Tree City USA compliance.
Miscellaneous Tree Business
David announced that KPR were successful with their DNRC 2012 grant and passed around the
DNRC FY 2012 Montana Program Development Grant Scoring Sheet. Lisa noted the members
will have participation responsibilities with this project. Group members will be asked to
volunteer time to knock on doors of residents receiving new trees to help promote ownership and
stewardship of trees and the urban forest and to hand out information. Chad explained to the
group what tree watering gators are, as they are a part of this project.
Chad briefly answered questions about the leaf pickup by public works (streets) and KPR (parks)
and the leaf compost pile by the sewer plant. Chad noted that these leaves are free to the public
and are used for specialty projects such as the development of Lawrence Park.
David brought Tree City USA bulletins to the meeting for those interested in reading them.
Chad informed the group 4 KPR staff people will be attending a TreeWorks workshop in
Missoula. He noted the cost was per city and therefore it made sense to take more people and the
four people going are the four that currently use the database/inventory sofware.
Possible New Projects
The group again discussed the possibility of a new project. Lisa stated she would email them the
Tree City USA Growth Award criteria information for their review. New projects will be on
future meeting agendas.
The group decided that due to the holiday season and busy schedules, they would not meet in
December. The next meeting was scheduled for January 10, 2012 - 4 PM — Kalispell Parks and
Recreation.
There was no other business and the meeting adjourned at 4:58 p.m.