St Charles County Master Gardeners

St Charles County Master Gardener

 

Steering Committee Meeting Minutes

 

Friday 14 February 2020

 

Attendees:  Kevin Minard, Jan Carron, Rebekah Davis, Joe Walker, Justin Keay, Alex Reichert, Cindy Platzer, Mary Medina

 

Call to Order:  Kevin called the meeting to order at 9:05 AM

 

Secretaries Report:  Steering Committee Meeting Minutes for 10 and 24 January were approved as written.  It was agreed upon by the Committee that both the Secretary and Treasurer’s Reports would be reviewed prior to the meetings via email and physical copies would no longer be preprinted. 

 

Treasurer’s Report:  The numbers in the books for the Treasurer’s Report were inaccurate at the time of the meeting due to an incident of double-billing which will be corrected.  Joe reported the net monthly change for January ($-4,531.72 per books, $-1,881.72 actual).  End of January 2020 cash in bank was identified.  Unallocated dollars were shown.  Unallocated number reflects transfer of $5,000 for erosion pledge to new class account. Remaining Demo Garden allocation was shown.

 

MU Horticulturalist Specialist:  The Sustainable Garden and Kitchen Seminar on 14 March was discussed.  The 2020 Master Pollinator Steward Program is scheduled for 26 February through 8 April, the group discussed the possibility of organizing to offer the program in St Charles County for the fall.   

 

Justin is going to schedule a “Focus Group” session to occur before the February monthly meeting.  The goal for this group will be to provide Master Gardeners an opportunity to share ideas and opinions in lieu of a written survey to address any issues with retention, obstacles to volunteering, etc. 

Regarding the other SC action items for our goals:  Justin reported work has started with St Joachim and Ann, he and Kevin also met with St Charles County Parks.  Mary suggested creating a tri-fold on Master Gardener programming with contact information.  Justin mentioned creating kits of materials for outreach and events. 

 

MU County Engagement Specialist:   Alex reported the Creek Bank Stabilization Project is moving forward. “No Rise” Analysis is underway.  Barring any issues found by the analysis with the current design, the project is expected to go out to bid and selected by the end of March.  The current fundraising target is $18,000.

 

The Community Council is seeking nominations for their “Community Builders Award”.  Alex suggested spreading the word to the members asking if they would be willing to nominate the Extension Office. 

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Committee Reports-

 

Membership:  Awards were received and issued.  There was some confusion regarding hourly requirements and how hours are/are not adjusted.  The Steering Committee will be reviewing the volunteer requirements and conversion chart on the website to ensure consistency and better transparency going forward.

 

Demo Gardens:  Cindy provided an update on the library classes.  Scheduling to host library tours at the Extension was discussed.  Current dates for tours are 23 and 30 in May, along with every Saturday in June.  Cindy will ask the Leads at the next Leads meeting if any would be interested in having their gardens featured or to guide the tours.  Other planned events include a work session at Forest Releaf for the Trainees and other interested MG’s (11 April tentative date), a “Landscape Plan” class for the Leads, and an Open House for the Master Gardeners in May.

 

Results of the first Think Tank session were discussed.  Areas covered were: 1.How gardens are managed,  2.How to get more MG’s involved,  3.Using the gardens for education.  These results will be discussed in greater detail with the Demo Leads.

 

Demo Garden Update- Need a new lead for Trees and Shrubs.  Another mower is needed, Kevin will help setup a mowing schedule.  Cindy would like to provide a PowerPoint on rules and safety to review every year through our website.  Joe suggested providing a quiz or workshop on the PowerPoint for extra credit hours.  Justin would like to show this to the trainees at their class.

 

Greenhouse:  Amy reports all equipment will be tested and south side exhaust fan thermostat replaced on Saturday 15 February.  A small group of volunteers will help organize and clean the greenhouse. Provided all goes well, plants will be moved in as early as Wednesday 19 February.  Sign-ups are currently being taken for daytime “operations”, both day leads and volunteers needed.  Evening volunteers will be asked for at a later date.

 

Plant Sale:  The next Seeding/Transplanting Party is scheduled 19 February.

 

Speakers:  A report on the latest schedule of Speakers and Hosts for the monthly meetings was shown.  Kevin is investigating possible offsite meeting locations for the summer.

 

Hort Line:  Patti reports the Hort Line is still in call-in mode.  Judy, Laura and Bonnie are handling 1 to 2 contacts a week.

 

Education:  Mary reported on the progress of the Dig-In preparations.  She suggested having the Dig-In alternating locations each year and allowing St Louis, Meramec, and others to host, allowing more opportunities for library classes to be held through the winter.  

 

Justin plans to invite a group of potential members for the Education Committee to meet sometime in the next several weeks. 

 

 

 

New Business:  The Committee approved of making meeting minutes available to all Master Gardeners through the Monday Newsletter.  Cindy recommended discussing important minute topics and decisions at the monthly meetings in addition.  Another tour of the St Peters Earth Center will be scheduled again for sometime this summer.  Another offsite meeting spot Kevin will look into is Rolling Ridge Nursery.

 

Good of the Order:  The Mentor’s meeting held on 11 February was discussed.  Further discussion will be had at the next SC meeting to determine our communication/social media needs and regulations to utilize volunteers to help.  Joe suggested getting a college class to use our gardens as a project subject for learning how to make Youtube videos. This would provide us with a series of virtual garden tour videos.

 

Meeting was adjourned at 11:51 AM

 

Respectfully submitted, 

                                    Rebekah Davis

                                  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AS APPROVED   13-MAR-2020