Minutes of Parkwood Park Committee Meeting of 03/31/11

Parkwood Park Committee Meeting Minutes
March 31, 2011

In Attendance:
Sheri Kennedy, Park Committee Chair, Vice President, notetaker
Jim Jarboe
Karna Candler
Steve Elmore
Jim Kennedy
Susan Stewart
Rebecca Kerimbaev

1. Discuss Feedback
   1. Sally Sears and Susan Stainbeck (see separate write-up)
   2. Joe Burgess (Forestry Grant) (see separate write-up)
   3. Jim McKinney (DeKalb County R&D) (see separate write-up)
2. Discuss action items from the March 10 meeting and overall impressions
   1. PPC committed to create a vision and mission statements for review with the neighborhood to help everyone better understand our goals and the steps needed to meet those objectives.
3. Discuss March 19 work day
   1. The work day was difficult and most of us got a good case of poison ivy.  Pulling the English Ivy proved to be a lot more difficult that we thought.  The W Ponce area is much improved thanks to Karna and her ‘team’.  We cut and treated about 1/2 of the park for invasive woody plants and cut ivy off the trees but the ivy on the ground still remains.   We also were very successful in our stream clean-up.  Joe Burgess agreed with our changes.
   2. In order to continue work over the summer we discussed a Adopt-A-Plot suggestion from Joe Dicks.  We may split the park into plots that can be adopted for the summer in order to continue to work and remove invasive plants.  We all agreed that the PPC needed to provide direction and a to do list.
   3. (AI) Rebecca will work on a proposal with the details for the next PPC meeting with plans to introduce to the neighborhood at the May meeting.
4. Develop a mission statement
   1. (AI) Sheri and Susan will develop a mission and vision statement for the park.   The statements will help the neighborhood (and others) better understand our objective and provide a framework going forward.
5. Discuss next steps. Let’s get a plan with dates together for the next steps
   1. W Ponce area
      1. Stump grinding – Steve Elmore has hired a stump grinder to grind the big tree on W Parkwood as well as the hollies.  Steve said they would have to be very careful with the hollies in order to not impact the existing tree roots.  Steve also suggested we go ahead and cut down the tree at the traffic circle since GA Power moved the power lines and would continue to top out the tree year after year.  Steve ‘volunteered’ to remove the tree prior to the stump grinder’s appointment next Wednesday, April 6.
      2. Wood Chips – Joe Burgess agreed that non-diseased tree wood chips would be a good mulch for the W Ponce area until we get our design together (we can talk to Camille about our plans at our appointment on Tuesday, April 5.  We can call Appleseed Tree Service when we are ready.
      3. Landscape Plan – PPC decided to hire Camille Harvey to put together a design for W Ponce area.  DeKalb county has approved the replacement of the chain link fence.  Before we make any changes or talk to the county about perhaps assisting us in our chain link fence we want to have a good idea of a plan for the area.   (NOTE:  I have an appointment with Camille for Tuesday, April 5 at 1pm to discuss the traffic circle and the W Ponce area).
   2. Traffic Circle
      1. We agreed to hire Camille Harvey to design the traffic circle for $100.  We may not be able to plant at this time but decided to go ahead and meet with Camille to discuss a plan to perhaps present at the next neighborhood wide meeting.
   3. Trees along E Parkwood Rd
      1. Joe Burgess provided feedback concerning trees along E Parkwood as well as inside the park.  He pointed out several trees along E Parkwood that were compromised since a large % of the base of the tree is exposed and the tree is not able to grow roots to support the tree.  He suggested we call GA Power and explain to them he recommended the trees be removed and contact him with any questions.  The trees in question lean over E Parkwood Rd and are large enough if they fell they would impact the GA Power lines across the street from the Park.
   4. AI:  Sheri agreed to contact GA Power but PPC did not want any trees removed just because they might cause a problem.
   5. 501(c) 3 Bylaws.
      AI:  Sheri agreed to contact Scotty IV to set up a meeting to review issues with applying for 501(c)3.
   6. Fundraising and Publicity – We agreed to wait to discuss until we had a better handle on our Mission/Vision statements and our next steps.
6. Our next PPC meeting is Thursday, April 21.Tentative Agenda:
   1. Review Mission Vision statement (Sheri/Susan)
   2. Review Adopt-A-Plot proposal (Rebecca)
   3. Create  Date/Agenda for May neighborhood meeting and date
   4. Review GA Power Update on E Parkwood Trees
   5. Review Camille’s feedback (and perhaps plan for W Ponce and Traffic Circle