Friends of Dicken Woods General Assembly
Minutes for the Wednesday, January 26, 2005 meeting at Dicken Elementary School
Attending were Amanda Kohler, Leslie
Westbury, Rich Westbury, Deb Norbotten, Stephanie Hunter, Harvey Mieske,
Raylene Mieske, Debbie Johnson, Marlene Gates, Mike Champion, Burt
Perry, Doug Wood, Kay Holsinger, Brian Cressman, Tom Ivacko.
Tom Ivacko chaired the meeting and opened proceedings at 7:00. T
Letters from students. Tom reviewed the set
of letters from Leslie Lawther's 4th grade class, thanking the FoDW for
the grant-funded activities in DW and for the raptor presentation by
Dody Wyman from the River Raisin Raptor Center.
Candlelight walk. Stephanie Hunter reviewed
plans for the upcoming Midwinter Candlight Walk. Lots of advertising
has been done through the school, over 100 luminaries have been made by
the students under Theresa Erickson's guidance, refreshments are
coordinated and volunteers have been lined up. A large turnout is
expected.
Raptor presentation. Stephanie reviewed the
recent school raptor presentations by Dody Wyman. Also, the screech
owl houses have been built (many thanks to Burt Perry!) and the trees on
which to hang the houses were selected by Dody and the students. It is
expected that Dody will release screech owls into DW in August, if
there is not yet already a population in DW.
Budget update. Deb Norbotten reported that
FoDW has $569.16 in the bank account, after accounting for all the grant
funding to Dicken School. There were still some minor expenses related
to the screech owl houses that will come out of that account balance.
Trails and related issues. Doug Wood
reported that all trails work has been completed, though of course there
will be ongoing maintenance such as new wood chips this spring. Doug
noted that plans are moving forward with the city for the installation
of the new fencing at the end of both Dicken Drive and Carol Street.
The fencing will be a kind of split rail synthetic log offset design
that should be visually appealing, low maintanance, and will allow
access for dumping future wood chips close to the paths. Doug also
reported updates on buckthorn removal by a handful of people, and the
understanding that the city is still planning to install signs at DW at
some future point.
Newsletter/announcements Bob Palmer led
discussion of the newsletter, asking questions about our goals, who the
audience should be, etc. Comments were made, including that we should
consider submitting notices for the NAP newsletter, that we should more
regularly update the website, and that we should regulary get updates
into the Dicken Data school newsletter. Also, we should always have an
up-to-date brochure that can be left with businesses.
Survey results. Tom reviewed the results of
the online activities planning survey. 49 completed surveys were
submitted in the 2 week survey period in fall 2004. It was agreed that
FoDW will take its time to assess the results, and rather than make any
quick decisions about future activities, will begin a longer term review
and planning process for future activities, using the survey results to
help inform the planning. One suggestion for next steps focused on
installing directional and informational (i.e., info on the vegetation,
watershed, wildlife, etc.) signs within DW. Stephanie reported on her
meeting with Paul Cousins, including his suggestion that FoDW should
inventory the points of interest within DW to use as part of the
planning process for future activities.
Frog/bird survey. Stephanie has a friend
who is willing to conduct a bird survey in DW. Brian Cressman and
Marlene Gates volunteered to conduct a survey on frogs, salamanders,
etc.
Spring work day. Doug reported that the
spring cleanup/work day in DW will be on Saturday June 4 from 9:00am -
12:00pm. More info on this will be forthcoming.
The meeting ended at 8:46pm.
Minutes by Tom Ivacko