Minutes of 5/17/04
Meeting of
Present: Heidi Koester, Chair; Mike Conboy,
Bram & Lia van Leer, Cathy Behrent,
Janet Beatty, Jim Breck, Beth Caldwell, Neal Foster,
Penelope Moskus, Katie Richter, Dave Szczygiel, and Georgia White-Epperson.
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The meeting was called to order by Heidi at 7:02 PM. A
quorum (five members) of committee members was present. The revised minutes of
the April 19, 2004, meeting as recorded and emailed by Katie Richter were
approved.
Katie Richter introduced Penelope Moskus,
who does watershed modeling and assessment for the
Communications: Cathy Behrent
(cmbehr@comcast.net) said a new issue of the Orchard Hills-Maplewood Homeowners
Association newsletter would be coming out soon and she would welcome
submission of articles related to TNC. It was suggested that Neal Foster and
Bram van Leer might put together an article about the mystery of the
disappearing Canada Geese, and Bram and Neal volunteered to do so.
Neal reported on his plans for updating the TNC website, (http://www-personal.umich.edu/~nealfost/TNC-info.htm)
Heidi discussed action on the Three-Part Pond Restoration
Document that was sent out to TNC members on May 7. The third part of the
document, entitled 'Actions for Thurston Pond', was then approved by TNC
Committee vote. The document describes possible actions that could achieve the
goals outlined in our previously approved Goals Statement, but does not
explicitly recommend a specific solution.
Tonight's agenda: Status of the Watershed.
Dave Szczygiel commented that
Randy Trent (Position Title?, AA School System) has been working on plans to
keep snow and storm runoff water on the property of the proposed new high
school (in northwest Ann Arbor) as long as possible. This approach might also
indirectly help our interest in conserving or even enhancing the amount of
water flowing into Thurston Pond from the immediate neighborhood. Randy has
been getting copies of all TNC emails, but we don't know to what extent he has
had time to read them. Randy has been getting a review of Scott Dierks' Report.
Penelope asked what was known about the hydrology of
Thurston Pond. She also asked about the purpose and goals parts of the
statement and volunteered to coordinate an informal outside review of the
3-part document that Heidi and the committee have prepared. Penelope also asked
about funding possibilities. Need to get the 3-part document to Randy well
before June 14 voting day for the new school.
Neal recommended that we work toward some sort of
partnership with Pfizer, Scott Dierks, and Randy
Trent
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LAND REPORT by Mike Conboy
[scanned from Mike's handout]
Prescribed Prairie Burn: Thurston Prairie was burned on
Tuesday, March 23, 2004 at 5:30 to 7:15 PM. The prescription was submitted to
the Fire Department on, February 27, 2004, and a permit was obtained for a
March burn when weather and biomass conditions were favorable. Conditions on
burn day were checked with the Natural Areas Preservation group for humidity
and west wind at (5 to 15 MPH). Phone calls produced 6 volunteers. The Fire
Department was notified by phone on the burn day before the fire was set and
after it was out. Site preparation in advance included brush cutting and
removal of trash, especially paper which creates a danger of spreading the fire
to other areas by blowing away. Follow-up work involved removing briars, brush
limbs and unburned invasives. Copies of the
prescription and permit are available for future reference.
Signs for Trees and Flowers: Signs were renovated or
replaced for trees and flowers along the path from the bridge around the east
side of the pond to the amphitheatre The work was done by a family of three
home schoolers using a mobile work bench for
printing, wire bending and nailing. They have offered to complete the work on
another day.
Wood Chip Grooming of Paths: Five loads of chips, (25 cu. yds.) were delivered to two sites. (Yorktown and Prairie)
by Ann Arbor Forestry Dept. Five cubic yards were moved by trailer from Prairie
St. to the Bluett stairway entrance for better access
to the Northeast paths. A total of 50 volunteers worked on Saturday and Sunday
and the following Thursday to complete the paths using the chips. Five Cub
Scouts and their parents finished the trails on Thursday evening.
ADOPT-A-TREE Program: Ten families have agreed to adopt
trees in the past month, and fifteen more families hav( indicated interest.
Sixteen Brownie Scouts have adopted six trees and have scheduled Monday
evening, May 24th to do the work. A small number of endangered trees have been
selected for high priority attention. A list of Adopted Trees with family names
will be posted in the Kiosk
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East Shoreline Naturalization Plan:
Erosion Control Project on eastern side of Thurston Pond:
Mike, Tom Edsall, and Dan Koester have been building
rip-rap structure with large rocks to reinforce the shoreline against erosion
by the gentle, but fairly constant wave action at that location. Sixty feet
needs to be done, 40 feet done so far. Orchid Hills Athletic Club mowing, which
is contracted out to someone, is being done right up to the shore of the pond,
an undesirable situation. Some vegetation needs to be left unmowed
along the edge of the pond. This raises the issue of how to arrange to have a
naturalized "lawn" area inside OHAC's
property. Katie Richter volunteered to prepare plan for such a natural lawn and
to take charge.
Year-end Wrap-up:
Heidi reminded us that this was our last meeting
(essentially coinciding with the end of the Ann Arbor School System's year) and
led a discussion of what we had accomplished:
1. Developed firmer policies and procedures.
2. Increasingly focused on enhancing long-term future of the
pond itself.
3. Better appreciation of impact and need to control
invasive/nonnative species.
4. Adopt-a-tree and other volunteer programs up and running.
5. Communications new and somewhat updated website,
information kiosk.
6. Two Scout community service projects building picnic
bench, information kiosk, trail and vegetation cleanup, planting new trees.
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New Business: Lia and Bram van
Leer, who live right next to Thurston Pond and have closely observed the birds
and other wildlife there for many years, discussed some aspects of Canada Goose
behavior and brought up the issue of the abrupt disappearance of whole goose
families (parents and goslings) in recent years. For example, Bram noted that a
pair appeared on the lawn today with four goslings, and commented that this was
about the time that disappearances of individual goose families had occurred in
previous years. Neal volunteered to work with Bram on investigating this
mystery. Ideas ranged from nocturnal "goose-nappers"
to the possibility that geese might suddenly leave TNC of their own volition
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Election of Officers for the 2004-2005 School Year
Heidi commented that she has been Chair of the TNC for two
years, and suggested there might be other members of the TNC who would like to
serve in that capacity. No one volunteered and Heidi--after admitting that she
was eligible to run again--was warmly cajoled into doing so and was unanimously
reelected to the post. Next Heidi reviewed the duties of the office of
Secretary-Treasurer, reporting that Vicki Botek had
asked not to be nominated for that office. Georgia White-Epperson, who is
secretary for an investment company, volunteered to be nominated. This was
promptly done, seconded, and she was unanimously elected forthwith.
Finally, Heidi asked who wanted to continue serving on the
TNCC. All of those present indicated that they were interested in continuing to
serve in 2004-2005.
Our next meeting will be held on the third Monday in
September unless TNC members are notified to the contrary.
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--Respectfully submitted by Neal Foster, temporary secretary