12-09-15 Street Tree Committee MinutesKALISPELL STREET TREE COMMISSION
MEETING HELD December 9, 2015
Present: Members: Dave Jones, Andrea Davidson, Bette Albright, Terry Richmond, Tony
Nelson
Staff. Fred Bicha and Lisa Simmer
The meeting was officially called to order at 4:10 pm by Andrea Davidson.
Agenda Topics:
Public Comment
Approval — November minutes
Strategic Plan
Arbor Day Planning
Public Comment
There was no one present and/or comment from the public.
Approve Minutes
Members approved November 2015 minutes unanimously.
Old Business
There was no old business.
Current Business
Strategic Work Plan - 2016
Fred distributed copies of the Kalispell Urban Forest Committee Work Plan 2016 draft, compiled
and based upon November meeting brainstorming and input. Fred said the group needed to
review, revise if needed and identify leaders for goals/projects. The group reviewed the
priorities and identified the following goals/projects and leaders:
Goals & Priorities:
Goals
Task
Lead
1.) Host increased Arbor Celebration
Plan Arbor Day celebration
Fred
2.) Submit four Urban Forest related
newspaper articles to paper
Create list of purposed news articles
& identify lead authors
Andrea
Submit four articles related to Urban
Board
forestry quarterly to paper written by
board members
3.) Host Community Tree Bike/PED
Develop route, brochure and lead
Tony
ride
community on a bike ride to look at
notable trees of Kalispell
4.) Promote and assist in the
As needed provide input
Board
development of an urban forestry
management plan
5.) Present "State of the Forest"
Gather data and formulate
Bette
address to the City Council
presentation
6.) Host meetings and talks with
Marcus
civic groups about Urban Forestry
7.) Check up on tree planting as part
Re -Inventory trees planted through
Dave
of ARRA
the ARRA program
8.) Provide recycling opportunities to
Pursue the possibility of aluminum
Fred
benefit tree program
can collection site
Comments for each topic included the following:
Host increased Arbor Celebration
Dave noted that he has ordered the 330 tree seedlings for the students from the state nursery.
Submit four Urban Forest related newspaper articles to paper
Members agreed to submitting articles quarterly to start with and possibly increases that number
as time allows. Andrea suggested the group write and have a bank of articles that can be updated
and revised as needed. Andrea will compile a list of four topics and members who might draft
the articles by the January meeting. It was suggested that a lead time of two months be
scheduled to allow for four weeks for members to proof and edit and submittal four weeks in
advance to anticipation of publication. It was noted that the Daily Interlake will run the articles
at their leisure and when their space allows.
Host Community Tree Bike/PED ride
Fred told members he has bumped the date a week later, with the hope of catching more of the
autumn color change. Andrea made a suggestion that the brochure include a brief blurb on each
tree. Fred told staff that former board member Dawn Tacke took the brochure and walked the
Tree Cycle route and made comments and suggestions for pictures to be included to make it
more user friendly to locate trees. Fred said he will be revising the brochure based on comments
and input from people. Members discussed changing the route up in the future based on locating
additional noteworthy trees.
Promote and assist in the development of an urban forestry managementplan
Fred explained to the board that the city received notice of funding through the DNRC Program
Development grant for contracting the writing of an OF management plan. Fred said members
will need to assist in the way of meeting with the person writing the plan for idea sharing, etc.
Terry emphasized that staff and board members keep in mind the need to limit the amount of
time a consultant spends in meetings so that the money is better spent on a well -written
document. Staff acknowledged that it is a limited amount of money allotted to the writing of the
plan, it will be tight and that not all items on the wish list will be completed.
Present "State of the Forest" address to the City Council
Bette encouraged all members to attend this presentation which will be at the second council
meeting in April, right before Arbor Day.
Host meetings and talks with civic groups about Urban ForesLU
Fred explained this topic is regarding board members being given the opportunity to network and
talk to groups about Kalispell's urban forest. Fred gave an example of having just attended the
Women's Democratic luncheon and speaking on urban forestry. Andrea suggested that staff put
together a PowerPoint presentation so that board members have a basis on which to present.
Fred agreed, noting it's a very good idea and staff would put one together for members to use.
Terry suggested this presentation include the 50/50 tree planting program, as clubs and civic
organizations might be interested in contributing towards this program. Dave explained that
Jamie Kirby the state Urban Coordinator has a vision of doing this on a state wide level, however
she is focusing more on the eastern side and a possibly location of Great Falls, as it is centrally
located. Dave said it would be similar to the Small Town Tree Board retreats that used to be
held every couple of years. The focus of Jamie's presentation(s) will be about what the state has
to offer in assistance to cities and towns.
Check up on tree planting as part of ARRA
Members agreed that they would look at these tree plantings in May, instead of the regular
meeting. Staff members will provide the addresses of the tree plantings. Members agreed that
in addition to looking at ARRA trees, it would be good for the group to get out and look at the
urban forest first hand.
Provide recycling opportunities to benefit tree program
Fred told board members he would bring information to the July meeting on what he has
researched and discovered as possibilities.
Additional strategic review
The group reviewed the members contact information, making changes and revisions as
necessary and the upcoming 2016 meeting dates, 2016 forestry events around the state and the
potential partners list. Fred asked members to email him the names of any other potential
partners they might think of
Arbor Day - 2016
Fred summarized and reviewed Arbor Day 2015 for members who are new and members who
could not attend. Fred provided a brief overview of the 16 stations of organizations and groups
who had educational booths, the agenda, various activities and tree plantings, that 330 students,
chaperones, teachers, high school volunteers, dignitaries participated in. Dave mentioned that
each child got a litter bag with swag and a seedling tree. Fred noted that the City of Kalispell
was able to accomplish this large Arbor Day celebration with funds from the Montana Tree City
grant and donations of food from local businesses. This grant funding will not be available this
year and some items such as t-shirts for all the volunteers may not be doable this year.
The group discussed the pros and cons of different locations for Arbor Day 2016 or using
Lawrence Park again.
Fred reviewed notes taken after last year's event which included:
• Happy no one got hurt.
• Want Barb Anderson on committee earlier. Dave and Andrea are trying to locate a phone
number for Barb.
• T-shirts were awesome, however lacking the word Kalispell.
• Start at 9:20 am instead of 9 am it, was a little rushed. Bette suggested talking to the
school regarding times for the next event. Bette asked if evaluations included anything
regarding the starting time. Fred replied he will review before the next meeting.
• Booth signs need to be up earlier at next event.
• Need a spot for students to put their lunches. Possibly big appliance boxes, labeled with
each classroom, located in pre -determined spots to spread the classrooms out.
• Bus turn arounds should be given serious thought
• More shovels per class for planting
• Better PA system
• Invite County Mosquito department
• Invite Imagine IF library
• Better prepare for media with talking points
Sponsorships for 2016. Fred explained it is a huge job to get community buy in to Arbor
Day, however they did it in Billings and were able to raise about $8,000 specifically for
Arbor Day. Members discussed that without sponsorships a number of items would need
to be eliminated from the celebration, such as t-shirts, lunches provided for volunteers,
etc. Bette asked how sponsors would be advertised and acknowledged. Lisa explained
that a portion of the sponsor acknowledgement would include the sponsor's name/logo on
PSA's/mailchimps which go to all media and 2000 customers, the city's social media
posts and could include laminated signs on site acknowledging sponsor. Bette suggested
sponsors could be included on the correspondence to the school. Andrea suggested that
possibly the woods shop could engrave the logos of sponsors on wood signs. Fred said
that tiers of sponsorship work the best. Terry suggested solicitation through the Chamber
of Commerce. Fred said you can also get in -kind donations of trees from nurseries.
Dave said in -kind of that nature really scores well on grant applications, as it shows
community support of forestry programs. Terry asked how much was spent last year, to
which Fred replied he would total the amounts and get that to members. Terry asked if
$5000 would be enough and Fred stated he felt it would cover costs sufficiently. Terry
said he felt that that getting 10 sponsors at $500 each is easily accomplished and he
would be willing to do his part to seek sponsors through engineering and architectural
businesses he is familiar with. Terry said he also feels the nurseries are another great
source. Fred said money aside getting nurseries involved really helps both their business
and the Arbor Day celebration. Bette mentioned that last year we hosted all the third
graders in School Dist 95 which was approximately 330 students and teachers from
outlying county schools had expressed to Barb Anderson that they would have liked to be
included. Members discussed increasing the number of participants by inviting other
elementary schools, however decided that it is outside of the realm of possibilities unless
we were able to get more environmental stations, partner with the county, large
sponsorships, etc. It was noted that adequate space and parking is always a
consideration, especially when increasing participation of stations and participants. Other
park possibilities were discussed, however only a few of the city parks would be of
adequate size. Bette stated she does have an updated list of all the School Dist. 95 third
grade teachers and their emails.
Misc Business
Fred provided a very brief update on the Applied Material agenda item. Fred explained that
Applied Materials are giving KPR $7500 (pass through funding through Montana Conservation
Corp) for planting of trees at Kidsports.
Andrea commented on how nice she thought it was that Trees For Life volunteered time to prune
trees in Woodland Park on Veteran's Day.
The meeting adjourned at 5:10 pm.
Next meeting scheduled for January 13, 2015
Minutes approved unanimously by the Street Tree Committee January 13, 2016.