REGULAR MEETING OF November 20^th, 1997

IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE OKLAHOMA OPEN MEETING LAW THE AGENDA WAS POSTED November 18th, 1997. IN THE MUNICIPAL BUILDING AT 723 SOUTH LEWIS

The meeting was called to order at approximately 5:30 pm

II. Approval of Minutes of Sept. 18th, 1997 and Oct. 16^th, 1997

Jack Moore made a motion that the minutes from Oct. 16^th be approved. It was seconded by Helen Gorin. Motion carried with all vote yes. Minutes from Sept. 18^th will be redistributed to allow the board to review them again before approval.

III. Miscellaneous Items from the Public- none

Discussion

Bob Gaiko announced that a sponsor had been found for our Stillwater Neighborwoods program. Henry Wells has agreed to be our sponsor. Carrie Tomlinson presented the Neighborwoods program to the Board in a Power Point presentation. The program was then discussed in detail. The project implementation deadline has been tentatively set for Arbor Week in March, 1998. Bob Gaiko suggested that the Tree Board think of areas in town that we could use for our next Neighborwoods project. He suggested that we try to do two Neighborwoods projects per year. The Board made the suggestion to make color pictures of the trees offered in the Neighborwoods project so people can get a better idea of what their tree will look like. Suggestions were made to ask Greenleaf Nursery to supply colored tags, or to use the Tree Tips Live booklet by PSO for color pictures. Discussion was also made on whether mulch and staking should be provided to each person along with their tree.

Outcome

The Board is going to think about other possible locations for the next Stillwater Neighborwoods program and suggest them at future Board meetings. It was also decided that staking would not be provided since the trees will not be large enough to catch much wind. Mulch would be provided at one central location for people to pick up and use in the planting. Carrie is going to work with the sponsor on getting logos and door knockers made for the project. Carrie will further investigate if information regarding the tree selections can be provided in color.

B. Discuss the possibility of granting two new trees to Sunset Park to replace the two dead ones.

Discussion

Carrie explained that David Heller wants to plant two more trees in Sunset Park to replace the dead Caddo Maples between the tennis courts. The Board discussed the possibility of buying two more Caddo maples.

Outcome

The Board approved the request to buy two Caddo Maples on the condition that the Tree Board can provide planting advice, and also that the cost not exceed $200.

C. Discuss the possibility of changing the ordinance to allow Tree Board members to live outside of the city limits.

Discussion

Steve Hess discussed the fact that his term on the Tree Board was going to expire in April, 1998. He is interested in staying on the Board even though he lives outside of the city limits. He suggested that the Tree Board try to change the ordinance to allow people living outside the city limits to contribute to the function of the Tree Board. He questioned why limiting the Board members to those residing inside the city limits was considered beneficial to the Board. Bryan Brown answered that the city limits have always been a boundary which was used in selecting participants on most Boards in the City of Stillwater. It was considered unfavorable to have a Board which controlled and ran a function of the City to consist of people that don’t even live in the City. Bob Gaiko suggested that since Steve had been a contributing and beneficial member of the Board for three years that he be "grandfathered " back into the board because of his pre-existence as a resident inside of the city limits when he was first appointed to the Board. Bryan mentioned that we should do more research on whether we should change the ordinance including calling a City Commissioner to get their response on the subject. He suggested we table the discussion of changing the ordinance until we can get an idea of if we can change it and what kind of effect it will have on the Board if it is changed.

Outcome

Bob Gaiko motioned that Steve Hess be "grandfathered" as a candidate for membership on the Stillwater Tree Board pending approval by the Mayor and City Commission. Bryan seconded the motion. Motion approved all votes yes. The issue of changing the ordinance will be researched further and brought back for a discussion at a future Tree Board meeting.

VI. Miscellaneous Items from the Staff-

Discussion / Decision

Carrie reported $6592.85 left to spend before the end of July, 1998. She said that our work plans include planting trees at the Airport this Spring and possibly do another round of Street vouchers before the end of the budget year. The seemingly extra amount of money that we have left is due to the amount budgeted for our Utility Line voucher program. She suggested that Tree Board members think about possibilities for making a proposal to a business or company that has some obvious tree conflict problems with utility lines.

B. Christmas tree recycling

Discussion / Decision

Carrie mentioned that the she is going to try to get a Christmas tree recycling project together with Stillwater Electric. She said that it would amount to having an Asplundh truck at a central location on a certain day so that the trees could be ground up, and also advertising the service in the paper. She said that when she first mentioned it to Gary, he wasn’t too enthusiastic, but she said she is still working on it.

VII. Miscellaneous Items from the Board-

Discussion / Decision

Helen has spoken to Carmen Doris recently. Carmen is concerned with the weed eater damage that she had seen at Stillwater High School. Helen put her in touch with Carrie. Carrie and Carmen talked about the situation and decided that as a part of the "Clean Up Day" that is scheduled for January at the High School, we would also put the drainage pipe weed eater guards around each tree. Carmen has already purchased the pipe and is in the process of cutting it into 100 pieces.

B. The Highway Tree Program

Discussion / Decision

Tom Hennessey discussed the ODOT / UCFC grant application that he had received that day. He said that the grant being offered was the one that we had discussed last summer for an entry way planting along a state highway. He explained that the grant process was being rushed for this year. The applications are due by Jan. 5^th, 1998. The total amount that can be awarded for this grant is $18,750. This amount can be used for plant materials and an irrigation system. Since the time period allowed for the preparation of this grant is brief, Tom is going to see if the Landscape Architecture Dept. at OSU has already worked on a project like this so we could use their plans for the grant. Otherwise, we don’t know if we will have enough time to complete this grant.

VIII. Adjournment-

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 7:50pm