1. Approve Minutes and Review Action Items from Last Meeting
Kristina amended the minutes, and Libby made the necessary changes.
Mike made a motion to approve minutes as amended. Kimberly seconded.
All voted in favor.
Libby will upload the minutes from 4/13/15 to the City of Ashland Website for public view.
2. Public Participation
No members of the public were present to participate.
3. Review Official Rules of Process for City Committees
Libby summarized the elements of proper committee procedure, based on her informative meeting with Barbara Christensen, City Recorder.
a. We should not hold a meeting unless there is a quorum of people present; this means at least three people plus the staff liaison.
b. Libby will give public notice of upcoming meetings by sending the information to the Ashland Daily Tidings and the Mail Tribune, at least 48 hours before the meeting date.
c. All votes must be taken out loud, and the Yays and Nays must be recorded in the minutes.
d. Libby will put meeting minutes on the City of Ashland Website for public view.
e. As we are representing the citizens of Ashland, all our communications, emails, and any documentation on our personal computers is subject to public records law.
f. Email is never to be used for discussion or debate, but where necessary, Libby should be cc’d on all communications.
g. All members should verbally disclose any potential conflicts of interest, or any monetary gain that they might incur from any committee decision. If this is disclosed, and put into the minutes, the sub-committee is free to move forward as they see fit.
h. Bee City USA subcommittee should check in with the Parks and Recreation Commission, and get their approval our general direction and priorities.
Mike suggests that we put the Bee city USA on the Commission agenda to get the commission up to speed about our priorities. All other actions that would be usually approved at staff level are up to the discretion of Staff and Staff Managers to approve.
The Parks and Recreation Commission meets Monday nights at 7:00. There is a study session July 15th, at the grove, and another meeting on July 22nd at council chambers. The 22nd meeting will be televised, and will allow for more exposure.
Mike will confirm whether a Bee City USA Subcommittee is on the agenda for 6/22 meeting.
Shari won’t be able to make those meeting times. Kristina will likely be able to represent.
4. Discuss BCU Sponsorship of Upcoming Events
Kristina gave us an overview of Pollinator Events for Pollinator Week, and asked whether we can think of any events that need to be added.
Kristina will contact Science Works and ask whether they can do any bee themed programs for pollinator weeks.
The question was put to the group: Which of these activities does BCU want to sponsor? Sponsorship could include branding with the BCU logo, offering non-monetary support, or actual funding.
Libby discussed ways that Parks could support priority events, without a monetary outlay. For example Libby is able to offer printing support, use of volunteers, Park’s avenues of publicity, and free rentals of Parks facilities.
Kristina opened the discussion of upcoming Jacquline Freeman events. She asked whether BCU would want to sponsor Jacquline Freeman lecture/reading, Q&A, workshop, or brunch.
Shari said that use of the printers and putting our name on the event would be sufficient support from BCU.
Libby asked what the FUNDraising brunch would be raising money for. Kristina replied that the funds would be used to pay Jacquline Freeman for her visit, and the rest of the funds would go to the College of the Mellissa.
Mike said that if we wanted to “sponsor” the Jacquline Freeman events we should focus on the educational elements which are open to the public, but that we should avoid sponsoring the fundraiser. And there is no problem supporting activities which are happening in neighboring towns.
Mike reiterated that when anyone is producing fliers for bee related events, they should ask for our permission before putting BCU sponsorship on their marketing materials. Kristina asked for a Motion that BCU “support” the two.
Michael put forward a motion to sponsor the two Jacquline Freeman educational events: June 10th 2-5 field workshop in Natural Bee Keeping in Talent, and a lecture reading and book signing at the Bellview Grange at 6:30.
Kristina seconded the motion.
All voted in favor. Unanimous approval.
Kimberly noted that putting BCU information any publicity that goes out for “sponsored” events would increase awareness of BCU and our programs.
Libby suggested that BCU can show support for the rest of the Pollinator week events by creating a flier that lists the Pollinator themed events occurring in our area.
5. Plan and Delegate the Pollinator Week Events Flier
Kristina went over the potential events and the group agreed to sponsor 8 events.
The committee reviewed the upcoming events and voted in favor of sponsoring the following:
a. Wednesday, June 10, 2:00-5:00 PM - Jacquline Freeman, Field Workshop and Natural Beekeeping at EcoNest, 8993 Wagner Creek Rd. Talent
b. Wednesday, June 10, 6:30-10:00 PM - Jacquline Freeman, Lecture, Reading, Q&A, Book Signing at Bellview Grange, 1050 Tolman Creek Rd. Ashland
c. Friday, June 12, 10:30-11:45 AM - Butterfly Metamorphosis Preschool Puppet Theatre, and butterfly themed crafts, at North Mountain Park Nature Center
d. Friday, June 12, 1:30-3:30 PM - Critical Pollinators, Understanding and Protecting Native Bees, at North Mountain Park Nature Center
e. Tuesday, June 16, 7:00-8:00 PM - Tasting Honey Varietals, at North Mountain Park Nature Center
f. Wednesday, June 17, 10:45-11:45 AM, Children’s Pollinator Day and story time, at Ashland Public Library
g. Saturday, June 20, 9:00 AM - 12:00 NOON, Bumble Bee Identification and Monitoring, at North Mountain Park Nature Center
h. All Week Long - ScienceWorks Demonstration Hive - Get up close and personal with a working colony of bees with our glass sided demonstration hive and zoom camera, at ScienceWorks Hands On Museum
Libby will create a flier that showcases these Polinator Week Events.
Kristina will follow up with the Ashland Public Library Children’s Pollinator Day, to see if it is really happening. If it is, Libby will include on the flier.
6. Review Project Brainstorming From Last Meeting
We discussed priorities established in the last meeting, and Libby’s feasibility and timeline assessment. Time constraints only permitted us to review the “short term” project ideas.
A) Submit BCU article to City Source
Might be good to submit to the City Source in conjunction with an event or success story. Libby suggested that a member of the committee write an article, and she will submit it. Mike suggested that we inform the public about the fact that BCU exists and summarize our mission and goals. This City Source article would also be a good way to publicize the fact that we are public committee that meets regularly. At this point, we have not delegated who will write this.
Libby will add this delegation to the next meeting agenda.
B) Increase publicity and sign-ups for NMP newsletter
Libby will send the NMP newsletter signup sheet to Kristina to be used at any BCU sponsored events.
C) Table at events, and get new mailing list sign-ups.
We already started doing this with the ACP park opening. Do we want a table banner that identifies BCU for tabling? Kristina suggested that this would be good for events or carried in the 4th of July parade. Mike suggested that the parade could be a reason to purchase.
Libby will check with Rachel about the purchase of a banner/sign.
D) Update the city plant list on website to include pollinator friendly plants.
This could refer to two things: the Water Wise landscaping website that is maintained by Conservation, OR a Bee City USA page housed under North Mountain Park’s City web pages.
Kimberly wants to add a “pollinator” criterion or search field to the Water Wise Landscaping website that is managed by Conservation. We would have to ask Julie about this.
Kimberly will email Libby about the specifics of what she sees is missing from the Water Wise Landscaping searchable list
Libby will pass this request on to Julie, and request a meeting.
Kristina also thinks that a pollinator page as part of the NMP website is a good idea.
As to the NMP web page, Libby would be happy to put up a page, but is asking the committee to develop content and web links that they would like included.
E) Plan a 4th of July float, PPRV and/or BCU.
Parks and Recreation will have a float, BCU could be involved.
Libby will attend a meeting about this next week, and will let our subcommittee know about the structure of Park's 4th of July float, and how they could be involved.
F) Pollinator garden volunteer planting parties, especially during Pollinator Week
Kristina and Mike suggest keeping this on the list for next year's Pollinator Week events.
G) Hold a parade during pollinator week
Consider in 2016.
H) Write a new NMP puppet show script about pollinators
Libby asked for volunteers to potentially write new scripts. The group will direct any potential story writers to NMP.
Libby will add Butterfly Metamorphosis to the list of pollinator week events.
I) Design general interpretive signage to identify Pollinator Gardens.
Three signage possibilities exist: 1) informational/ educational interpretive sign, which would need to be garden-specific and developed by NMP interpretive designers. 2) A simple "BCU approved" sign which could be used to identify great example pollinator gardens. (We would need to establish criteria for BCU approval, and run those by Phyllis from BCU headquarters.)
Libby will add BCU garden approval criteria to next agenda.
And 3) Possible plant ID signs showing plant name and the specific pollinator identified.
7. Schedule Week of Next Meeting
Libby will send a doodle poll for our next BCU meeting in August 2015.
8. Miscellaneous Discussion
Shari mentioned that there were three swarms that were found and sprayed with pesticides, in the last couple of weeks. Kristina suggested that we offer swarm education at North Mountain Park.
Mike suggested creating a swarm blurb to put in the city source in February of next year.
Libby will give Ann Seltzer a copy of the swarm press release and ask to plan ahead for City Source release in March of 2016.
Kimberly mentioned that we have to be advocates for the bees to inform people who don’t already know the value of bees and nature.
Shari will write a guest editorial article for the Ashland Daily Tidings, speaking as a citizen about the importance of swarm protection.
Kristina wants to know whether Parks and Recreation is using sheet mulching for weed control. She suggests an educational program on this subject. Kimberly would like to include the benefits of sheet mulching in her upcoming community program class.
Mike suggests going through the rest of the items from the priority list at our next meeting.
Meeting adjourned at 4:45.
Action Items:
Libby will upload the minutes from 4/13/15 to the City of Ashland Website for public view.
Mike will confirm whether a Bee City USA Subcommittee is on the agenda for 6/22 meeting.
Kristina will contact Science Works and ask whether they can do any bee themed programs for pollinator weeks.
Libby will create a flier that showcases these.
Kristina will follow up with the Ashland Public Library Children’s Pollinator Day, to see if it is really happening. If it is, Libby will include on the flier.
Libby will add a discussion of the City Source article the next meeting agenda, and we will delegate who will write it.
Libby will send the NMP newsletter signup sheet to Kristina to be used at any BCU sponsored events.
Libby will check with Rachel about the purchase of a BCU banner/sign.
Kimberly will email Libby about the specifics of what she sees is missing from the Water Wise Landscaping searchable website.
Libby will pass this request on to Julie, and request a meeting.
Libby will attend a meeting about this next week, and will let our subcommittee know about the structure of Park's 4th of July float, and how they could be involved.
Libby will add Butterfly Metamorphosis to the list of pollinator week events.
Libby will add BCU garden approval criteria to next agenda.
Libby will send a doodle poll for our next BCU meeting in the first week of August, 2015.
Libby will save a copy of the swarm press release and plan ahead to send it to Ann Seltzer in February City Source release in the City Source in March of 2016.
Shari will write a guest editorial article for the Ashland Daily Tidings, speaking as a citizen about the importance of swarm protection.
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