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HomeMy Public PortalAbout02-15-2017 Minutes Tree Board Regular MeetingPage 1 of 3 MINUTES TREE BOARD Wednesday, February 15, 2017 9:00 p.m., Town Barn Present: Chairman Andrea Lewis, George Campbell, Casey Collins, Bryan Stuart, Tim Logue, Liz Waters, Ex Officio – Karen MacAulay, Ex Officio – Greg Yavelak, Absent: Vice Chairman France Harris, Ex Officio – Dana Dannehower Staff: Stephanie Trueblood Guests: Chris Apple, Sarah Meadows Item 1: Call meeting to order, roll call, and confirm presence of a quorum Chairman Lewis called the meeting to order at 9 a.m. Ms. Trueblood called the roll and confirmed the presence of a quorum. Item 2: Consideration of changes or adjustments to the agenda There were none. Item 3: Approval of minutes from January 18, 2017 Motion: Ms. Waters moved approval of the January minutes. Second: Mr. Campbell seconded. Vote: Unanimous Changes: none Item 4: Discuss Bee City initiatives- Review Bee City USA resource materials and develop a list of ideas, projects, and outreach opportunities Sarah Meadows with the Hillsborough Garden Club introduced herself and noted that two of the Tree Board members are also Garden Club members. Bee City will be one of the major activities of the Garden Club this year. They intend to invite speakers to talk about pollinator gardens. They had a fantastic speaker last month, Debbie Roos a Chatham County agricultural extension agent. Chris Apple with Orange County Beekeepers Association (OCBA) introduced herself to the board. The main goal of the beekeepers association is to help beekeepers in the community keep honey bees correctly and safely. The association doesn’t focus so much on the native bees but honey bees and native bees require many of the same plants. The association has talked about placing honey bee hives in Gold Park and in front of the Visitors Center. She said if the Tree Board isn’t interested in that, then she recommends placing the native bee dwellings that Roos has in the Chatham pollinator garden. She encouraged getting school groups involved. Ms. Trueblood reviewed what the town has done in the past including: planting the pollinator garden in Gold Park (maintained with a partnership with the OC Master Gardeners, which organizes work days), highlighting pollinators with an education table at Last Fridays including a bee keepers suit and free honey, and installing a new pollinator garden in the Bank of America parking lot behind The Wooden Page 2 of 3 Nickel and La Place (also a partnership with the Garden Club). Ms. Trueblood said there are additional islands in that parking lot where she’d like to expand the pollinator friendly plantings. Also, this spring the town will retrofit the stormwater engineering at Cates Creek Park and plant a pollinator friendly rain garden. Ms. Trueblood asked Tree Board member Casey Collins to help with design and plant selection. Ms. Trueblood will be seeking volunteers for the planting of the garden. Ms. Trueblood reviewed that the new ground maintenance crew is using best practices, including limited chemical applications. Chairman Lewis added that the Tree Board considers which trees are beneficial to pollinators when choosing what to plant. Ms. MacAulay suggested educating the public on trees that attract honey bees. She added that she would like to have a pollinator garden at Turnip Patch Park. It was originally planted with three gardens. Two were ornamental. The third one, she created as a Monarch butterfly way station. She planted Milkweed and other pollinator plants. She would like for it to remain native and she is ready to turn it over to someone else. She would also like to turn the other two gardens there into pollinator gardens. There was discussion about needing a better strategy for sharing information about all that’s going on with bees and colony collapse. Ms. Trueblood brainstormed hosting a joint effort at Last Fridays with the Beekeepers Association and the Tree Board and perhaps a craft activity table where kids can make a native pollinator habitat. She encouraged the board to think about all the town’s property as public space, not just the parks. Mr. Yavelak suggested observation hives. Ms. Apple said she has one and OCBA has two. Showing up with an observation hive is contingent on good weather. Ms. Trueblood also suggested reaching out to groups like the Arts Council that would bring a different perspective and could possibly partner on pollinator projects. There was brief discussion about the positive benefits of honey (allergy reduction). Ms. Apple said there’s a woman who lives in Hurdle Mills who is a wonderful speaker on this subject. Ms. Trueblood also brainstormed reaching out to farms. There was an idea to hold an art competition for a bee hotel. Perhaps a local gallery could sponsor a competition. Hillsborough parks have a lot of bamboo that could be used to create native bee hotels. There was discussion of where to get the pollinator plants that are not located at the big retail stories. There was an idea to ask the Arts Council to choose a pollinator theme for the next handmade parade. There was discussion about borrowing the box of pinned native bees from the Durham agricultural extension for a Last Fridays event. Ms. Apple shared that if Hillsborough was ever interested in placing a Page 3 of 3 honey bee hive on town property, a good spot would be in the pollinator garden in Gold Park facing the berm so that the bees fly up and aren’t crossing the paved greenway. Ms. Trueblood expressed interest in having hives at Town Hall. Ms. Apple suggested two hives and explained the town would need to make a financial investment to sponsor a hive. There was discussion about the environmental situations facing native bees, honey bees and amphibians. It was noted that there are alternatives to Roundup. Ms. Apple with OCBA and the Tree Board agreed on having a table at Last Fridays on April 28. Ms. Trueblood said the Bee City USA is holding a training in the North Carolina mountains for four days this spring. It’s intensive and packed full of information. Two people from Hillsborough can go and it’s free, covered by a federal grant. She can send someone from the Garden Club or Master Gardeners as well as Tree Board. She would hope the two people who go could then make presentations locally to share what they’ve learned. Item 5: Review annual plan and set priorities for FY18 Ms. Trueblood reviewed the annual plan. There was discussion of reducing the Treasure Tree picks to one a year instead of two. The board agreed to make it an annual spring article. Ms. Trueblood reviewed many of the accomplishments of the Tree Board, too, including plantings and becoming a Bee City USA. The board is interested in asking the Arts Council to get involved in creating some native bee hotels. The board talked about visiting to the Chatham pollinator garden together in May or early June. Motion: Mr. Campbell moved to approve the list of priorities for FY18. Second: Mr. Stuart seconded. Vote: Unanimous Item 6: Updates/Ongoing Business:  Garden Club update: Andrea Lewis Chairman Lewis passed around a four-page article from Birds & Blooms about groundcovers. She’s gone through her copy and marked out some non-natives. The garden tour is May 20, 21. The plant sale is May 19 and May 20 and the Passmore Senior Center.  Staff Updates: Cates Creek Park Item 7: Adjourn Chairman Lewis adjourned the meeting at 11:21 a.m.