Friends of Lee Park and Munn Woods Board Meeting

May 10, 2020

Attending: Haldre Rogers, Andrew Somerville, Corinna Most , Mollie Appelgate

Treasurer’s report: $7462.33

  • That takes into account the amount paid for t-shirts. The discrepancy is because money sits in Paypal for a while before it comes to us. 
  • All board members need to pay their 2020 dues.  It is based on the calendar year, not the academic year. 
  • 9 new donations since January, but looks like only 1 new membership.

Membership updates 

  • 2020- base membership – based on calendar year:

$10 – Milkweed – (basic membership) get on email list and be a supporter of the park

$30 – Red bud  – basic + bumper sticker 

$50 – Sycamore – basic + bumper sticker + t-shirt

$100 – Oak – basic + bumper sticker + tshirt + name in Kiosk as park supporter for the year.

$20 – t-shirt

Communication with members about T-shirts and Park visit with Paul

  • Haldre will draft an email for the membership list and send it regarding new 2020 memberships+t-shirts and request questions to ask Paul, the Ames forester on May 15
  • Corinna will still everyone who donated $50 or more in 2020 and say the t-shirts are in and ask if they’d like one and what color and size
  • Corinna will email Megan and Oliver about which t-shirts they want.
  • Andrew will mail entire mailing list that these are available.
  • Send Donna Cohen an email about t-shirts – she donated $500 and was a former board member
  • Post a flyer in the kiosk with directions about how to become a member.

Invasive Plant Species Task Force

  • Mira and Corinna had planned a spring day to pull but weather was bad on that date
  • Got disheartened with large amount of invasive species – AS asks if the problem has become larger than the task force
  • HR – Worth encouraging people to do because it gets worse every year, we need to pick an area and keep working on that.
  • Bill – suggested focusing on an area for invasive species too.

Management Plan

  • Due to an agreement with city/judge after EMLP rejected the volleyball courts the Friends group was asked to manage 4 acres
  • Paul, Ames City Forester, has put together a forest management plan for the park
  • Questions to ponder and discuss with Paul, Ames Forester on Friday, May 15.
    • Is there value to keeping that same 4 acres as was in the plan?
    • Is it the same area? Is that a good place to focus invasive effort? 
    • What type of seed was sprayed by the sewer contractors for regrowth?
    • What are the plans for the trails?
    • What is the big picture plan for the future? Where are the stepping stones?

Kiosk and Restoration Thoughts

  • Talk with Joshua about a garbage can by the kiosk.
  • We talked about plants by the kiosk when the construction equipment is gone.
  • Trail map or trail signs might be nice but the city may be able to do that.
  • Ada Hayden used goats for restoration once and we have heard that they once used a controlled burn in EMLP.

Gardens

  • They seemed to be looking good.

Playground

  • on backburner because they are closed and it was driven by Sue.

Next meetings

  • Keep in touch about weeding in our garden.
  • Figure out the area to focus on for removing invasive species.
  • Decided to have a June 7 summer meeting when we have more actionable information about the park and the forest management plan from Paul, the city forester. Plus, we will use that time to add information to the park kiosk.
  • August 30 meeting to plan for All-Member Fall meeting