6.g Green Futures Program
Staff Report
Date of Meeting: July 8, 2021
To: Parks and Recreation Committee
From: Brenda “Bee” Stignani, Office Assistant
Re: Green Futures Program
• Tree Trust’s Green Futures program (https://treetrust.org/non-profit/community-forestry/green-
futures/ ) contact is Karen Zumach, Director of Community Forestry. She clarified a few items:
o Communities DO have a say in which trees are selected
o Most trees are sourced through Bachmans/Baileys Nursery
o Trees are generally 5-7 feet tall in #10 container sizes with 1” diameter trunks
o Few nurseries provide “straight species” of a tree (in response to our comments of desiring
native trees) - instead they are cultivators which Zumach defined as not grown from seed
o They will plant in multiple locations, with limitations
o The number of trees planted is negotiable, they will work projects of less than 50 trees
o Communities do help to provide volunteers on planting day, but they maintain a list of regular
volunteers
o Application deadline is February 15th for spring plantings and August 15th for fall plantings.
However, these are requested but not absolute deadlines.
o The trees must be planted on land public land. The discussed potential location around
Newberry Ct N, Newberry Trail N and Meadowbrook Circle N is owned by Natures Walk
Homeowners Association. Zumach indicates that location is still possible. The HOA and current
homeowners would need to consent and a maintenance plan drafted.
Email communication between Karen Zumach and Bee Stignani, newest to oldest:
Okay. Seems like the maintenance will the big question then.
Karen Zumach (she, her)
Director of Community Forestry
From: b.stignani <b.stignani@ci.scandia.mn.us>
Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2021 3:36 PM
To: Karen Zumach <karenz@treetrust.org>
Subject: RE: City of Scandia Questions
The land where the Parks & Rec Committee wanted to approach the owners to see if they would commit to caring for
the trees is on HOA owned land, between their private property and a MnDOT highway, HWY 97. So State laws apply for
use in the Right of Way areas for snowmobiles or ATV. In that light, everyone has access. But there isn’t a place to park
your car and have a picnic under the shade of a tree that the general public would attempt. Does that help? Bee
From: Karen Zumach <karenz@treetrust.org>
Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2021 2:43 PM
To: b.stignani <b.stignani@ci.scandia.mn.us>
Subject: RE: City of Scandia Questions
Hi Bee…
Is this land accessible to all, or just the residents of the HOA?
I guess that would be the biggest question (in addition to the ongoing maintenance of the trees).
Karen Zumach (she, her)
Director of Community Forestry
From: b.stignani <b.stignani@ci.scandia.mn.us>
Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2021 10:28 AM
To: Karen Zumach <karenz@treetrust.org>
Subject: RE: City of Scandia Questions
As I’m preparing to report back to the committee, I wonder if you would clarify another point. Trees must be planted on
public land, but one suggestion from past discussion is to ask two developments if the homeowners are willing to care
for these potential new trees on property they do not own, but would benefit them as a barrier between their homes
and Highway 97, also called Scandia Trail North. But I just looked it up, and see that this land is actually owned by the
homeowners association! If they supported it as well, is this possible? I’m attaching maps of the area in question.
Thank you! Bee
From: Karen Zumach <karenz@treetrust.org>
Sent: Friday, June 18, 2021 3:25 PM
To: b.stignani <b.stignani@ci.scandia.mn.us>
Subject: RE: City of Scandia Questions
It’s a rolling process. We’d like to have plans solidified by August 15th for fall events and February 15th for spring (but no
true deadline)
Karen Zumach (she, her)
Director of Community Forestry
From: b.stignani <b.stignani@ci.scandia.mn.us>
Sent: Friday, June 18, 2021 3:21 PM
To: Karen Zumach <karenz@treetrust.org>
Subject: RE: City of Scandia Questions
Thank you again! I will update the committee on July 8th, the new Public Works Director should be on staff to have an
opportunity to provide input as he will likely be most responsible in oversite of our care plan. Oh, that leads to more
questions! Is the a time/deadline to apply formally for consideration of our request to participate for spring only
planting? Or other time constraints the committee should know about? I didn’t thi nk to search your site for this kind of
an answer. Bee
From: Karen Zumach <karenz@treetrust.org>
Sent: Friday, June 18, 2021 3:17 PM
To: b.stignani <b.stignani@ci.scandia.mn.us>
Subject: RE: City of Scandia Questions
We will manage the volunteers, but we do ask that communities help us with the outreach to recruit locally…that’s all.
It’s always more fun when the volunteers come from the community as well as from those who frequently volunteer
with us. We always have members of our trained volunteer corps that join us for events to assist with the technical
oversight to ensure the trees are planted properly.
Karen Zumach (she, her)
Director of Community Forestry
From: b.stignani <b.stignani@ci.scandia.mn.us>
Sent: Friday, June 18, 2021 3:14 PM
To: Karen Zumach <karenz@treetrust.org>
Subject: RE: City of Scandia Questions
Thank you so much! One other point to clarify, your voicemail message indicated a need to supply volunteers from the
community to meet for the day of the planting. About how many are needed? There was one who read the information
on your website as volunteers are provided by Tree Trust. It seems that is a misunderstanding. I hope you have a great
weekend as well – a little rain will be welcomed! Bee
From: Karen Zumach <karenz@treetrust.org>
Sent: Friday, June 18, 2021 8:49 AM
To: b.stignani <b.stignani@ci.scandia.mn.us>
Subject: RE: City of Scandia Questions
Hi Bee. Glad we could connect. See my answers below.
Have a great weekend!
Karen Zumach (she, her)
Director of Community Forestry
From: b.stignani <b.stignani@ci.scandia.mn.us>
Sent: Thursday, June 17, 2021 4:40 PM
To: Karen Zumach <karenz@treetrust.org>
Subject: City of Scandia Questions
Thank you Karen for your email address, even though I love games, this round of Telephone Tag was dragging on a bit!
Our Parks & Recreation Committee has discussed possibilities of participating in the Green Futures Program over several
months . The questions I could not get answered on your website are as follows:
• Does the City have any say in which variety of trees are selected? Of course! The limitations are only on
availability and what makes the most sense for the site. If you have a plan already ready to go, that’s great, we
can work with that. If you’d like us to make a plan for you, we can do that too (or any combination therein).
• Where are they sourced from? We source the vast majority of our trees from Bachmans/Baileys Nursery.
(At the May PRC meeting, there were representatives of two other Scandia organizations present who wanted
to know these two answers before they returned to their groups to solicit possible support.)
• Scandia has more than one area of public land that could benefit from additional trees how spread out can these
trees be for one day of planting? Or are different areas prepared for different days? Or is it a requirement that
all trees must be planted in one area only? It’s easiest if they are all in one park, however, we have been know
to plant at multiple locations during one event, as long as we meet in one central location and disperse from
there.
Additionally, from your voicemail message, I recognize we have misunderstood a few points of the program. Perhaps
you would be willing to schedule a call or meeting with the PRC Chair or the City’s Administrator? Our administrator is
also our Interim Public Works Director, the new director anticipates starting on July 6th. Our next PRC meeting is on
Thursday, July 8th at 7 p.m. It would be ideal to have an accurate update for the committee.
Thank you in advance for your clarifications! Bee
Here is the pertinent portion of the minutes to the last PRC meeting that discussed the program on May 3, 2021:
Green Futures Program
Cammilleri presented the concept of the Green Futures Program. It is a grant from Tree Trusts where they supply
technical support and volunteers to plant trees while the City would commit to maintaining and watering a minimum
(we say a minimum as we have seen that less than 50 drives our cost per tree up more than we’d like, but we can
certainly entertain the idea of less than 50 trees) of 50 mature trees (The trees we plant are generally #10 container size
and have a 1” caliper diameter-generally 5-7’ tall depending on species) (approximately 10 ft until well established (2–3-
year commitment.) Cammilleri outlined a few potential locations for trees: neighborhoods and streets where trees are
missing and residents might provide watering, or Orwell Ave parks or Hay Lake Park with commitments from
organizations or residents to assist with watering. Schik questioned if the City would have the ability to select tree
species; as native species are less likely to need as much care (Note on natives: There are few wholesale tree nurseries
that sell the “straight species” of a tree, most of the trees we plant tend to be cultivars -(not grown from seed)).
Rinkenberger stated that each of the new gardens at Hay Lake Park and Wayne Erick son Memorial Ball Field used one
full load of water from the City’s water trailer. Public Works estimated that three loads would be necessary to
adequately water 50 trees. Staff directed to collect more information for consideration including if there is a choice
about species selected and the source of the trees.