“REPLANTING MONSON” TREE COMMITTEE
Minutes of July 10, 2012 Meeting
Members In attendance: Nicholas Beaudoin, Valarie Beaudoin, Leona Brahen, Leslie Duthie and Audra Staples
Absent: Nancy Dahlen and Bill Dominic
The minutes of the May 8, 2012 meeting were reviewed and, after motion duly made by Ms. Duthie and seconded by Ms. Brahen, were approved.
Appointment of Officers
Ms. Duthie made a motion that Ms. Beaudoin be elected Chairperson, Mr. Beaudoin be elected Vice Chairperson, Ms. Brahen be elected Secretary and Ms. Duthie be elected Treasurer. The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
Discussion of Class of 1962 Planting Proposal
Ms. Duthie reviewed the vision for Veteran’s Field. She mentioned that a scenic walkway was being contemplated and that there would be planting opportunities behind home base and along the bank area. The Committee discussed the possibility of a fitness trail with various tables and benches provided by the various groups in town that have requested specific planting sites. The proposal was made that the money would be donated, the Committee would select and purchase the trees and the various groups would provide the volunteer workforce for each project.
Donations
It was mentioned that a donation from Wing Memorial would be forthcoming. We were the recipients of a raffle that the Hospital held at Summerfest. All Committee members expressed their appreciation for the donation. Ms. Duthie also mentioned that she had recently followed up on the Federal Garden Club donation that would be forthcoming in the near future.
Discussion of Potential Planting Areas
The discussion turned to the various groups that had approached the Committee regarding planting. It was decided that the Committee must retain oversight of the planting. Selective areas will be designated for various groups but the Committee would continue to handle all aspects of tree selection and planting. It was decided that the groups that had approached the Committee would be contacted to find out their interest in selecting a site for planting. The site that would be best suited for fall planting is Mt. Ella. Ms. Duthie was to follow up on the timeframe to ensure that it would be ready for fall planting and then select a possible date for planting on Mt. Ella.
Administrative Issues
The Committee then began discussion of administrative issues relating to the upcoming planting season. It was decided that private homeowners would be restricted to 10 tens trees. This will allow the Committee to continue to offer trees to private homeowners who may not be ready for planting at this particular time. The Committee then turned to a discussion of subsidies for private trees. The private trees would be subsidized up to the cost of what the Committee paid for a comparable size tree. Subsidies were then discussed for private homeowners who did not purchase trees through the Committee. Ms. Staples offered to draft a subsidy form for review by the Committee. It was decided that homeowners would submit receipts with the form and reimbursement would be considered on a case by
case basis.
It was decided that at the next meeting the Committee would ask the new Tornado Manager to address the Committee on possible planting sites and dates for potential planting. There are several grants that were explained that need to be disbursed within time limits and these would also be discussed at the next meeting.
Ms. Duthie provided the details of the tree purchase that was made possible by the Monson Rotary Club. The status of the NPR trees was discussed and potential planting sites were proposed. It was decided that a September 1 deadline for tree orders would be instituted in order to properly prepare for the September planting. Farmers’ Market coverage was discussed for the second Thursday of each month and various members of the Committee agreed to provide coverage at the Market. Site visits for trees orders will be scheduled as orders are received and a database will be maintained of all orders.
It was announced that the next meeting of the Committee will be held on August 14, 2012 at 6:00 p.m. at the Town Offices.
After motion duly made and seconded, the meeting adjourned at 6:58 p.m.
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