HomeMy WebLinkAboutSeptember 9, 2025 Tree Board Minutes from the
Jeffersonville Tree Board
September 9, 2025
In attendance: Jeff Cover, Carol Dunn, Bob Hill, Chloe Motley, Chad Reischl,
Not in attendance: Eric Bitner, Kelli Jones, Amber Powell; Paul Reid, Derrick Wiest, Youth
Advisor (vacant)
The meeting of the Jeffersonville Tree Board was called to order by Jeff Cover at 4:05 pm
on September 9, 2025 in the Planning/Building/Parks conference room at the Jeffersonville
City Hall
The agenda was approved by assent. Minutes from August 12 were also approved as
written by general assent.
Unfinished business:
Chad is still working with the Jeffersonville High School Eco Club to set a date for the tree
planting at the Jeffersonville Township Public Library. He said that the trees were getting
delivered on October 21, so it would be after that time, probably a late afternoon or
Saturday. More info to come
Committee reports:
Education/Programming/Tree Planting Committee:
Carol reported on the committee's desire to hold the DNR's tree steward program in the
area. She has had conversations with the DNR and it seems like New Albany is also looking
to host the program. She will continue to coordinate on this effort.
Bob gave an update on his work with the News and Tribune to create a regular column in
the paper. His initial story about favorite trees will run some time in the next week or so. Bob
said that he was going to list his email in the column for folks who wanted to reach out to
him about their favorite trees, but wanted to know who he should put as Tree Board
contacts. Chad said it was ok to use his contact info for now.
Carol also reported that Eric Bitner indicated that he'd be willing to hold a tree pruning
workshop, but that it might be best to do it in the spring.
Marketing/communications:
The primary members of the committee were not in attendance, but a few items were
brought to the attention of the Board.
First, Kelli is working on ordering T-Shirts. Jeff has agreed to cover the setup fee, but then
they'd be about $20 each for the Board members.
For the Steamboat Nights table: Bob is working on getting a tree, Carol is collecting pine
cones for art, Chad is working on business cards, and Jeff is working toward contacting all
the members in order fill all the slots at the booth. Jeff also said he'd work on getting some
signage with our logo on it.
Chad stated that he'd updated the website.
Jeff brought up Chad's tree giveaway on September 27th. He wanted to know if the Board
needed/wanted to be there. Chad indicated that while there weren't plans to have a tree
board table, if folks wanted to help out, it would be appreciated.
Funding committee:
Chad indicated that councilwoman Amy Semones is authoring a non-reverting fund
ordinance so that the Tree Board would have a place to collect money. This was welcomed
as a great thing. Chad said he'd let the board know when it would be on the docket, so we
could have a good showing of support.
Carol brought up the next round of DNR community urban forestry grants and said that we
should be looking into it. Chad indicated that he recently got an email about them and was
giving it some thought. He and Carol volunteered to meet and take a closer look at the
opportunity. Finally Chloe talked briefly about her desire to create a legacy/memorial tree
program. This will take a lot of further discussion in order to make it a reality, but it could be
a good source of income.
Executive Committee:
Jeff indicated that there was nothing to report at this time.
New Business:
Jeff asked if there was any other new business, but seeing none, called to adjourn the
meeting. It was adjourned by common consent at 5:07pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Chad Reischl
Secretary,
Jeffersonville Tree Board.