Attending: Bob Gray, Chris Hoess, Anna Hull, Liz Johnson, Rachel Ralls, Tracy Raymond, David Ross in person; Molly Anderson and Kent Wagner via phone 2:00pm at Lincoln University.

A) Key Dates
1. Our next board meeting is scheduled for Sunday, April 10, 3:00-5:00 at Lincoln University, Room 235
Conference Dial-in number: (716) 748-0224 (potential toll call)
Host Access Code: 445962*
Participant Access Code: 445962#

2. Hikes, Talks, Work Days and Other Commitments
Sunday, March 20, Oxford Public Library/Ware Talk, 2pm – Chris
Sunday, March 20, Lower Chrome Work Day, 9am – Molly leads
Tuesdy, March 22, Lower Chrome, Barrens Brook Restoration Meeting, time TBD
Friday, March 25, GH Work Day, 9 am – Anna leads
April 1, Oxford First Friday
Saturday, April 9, Themed Hike (spring ephemerals) – NCP – Chris,1-3
Saturday, April 16, Upper Chrome Work Day, 9am -- Kent leads
May 6, Oxford First Friday
Saturday, May 7, NCP Work Day, 9am – David leads
Saturday, May 14, Themed Hike (birds) – Goat Hill,
Saturday, May 28, New Texas, 9am – Chris leads
Friday, June 03, GH Work Day, 9 am – Anna and Henry lead
Friday, June 10, Deloitte Work Day at GH – Molly leads
Saturday, June 11, Themed Hike (TBD) – Chrome
Saturday, June 25, Lower Chrome Work Day, 9am – Bob leads
July 1, Oxford First Friday
August 5, Oxford First Friday

B) Action Items Going Forward
Agenda Items Tabled to April
Upper Chrome Trail Maintenance
Review 2014 goals in preparation for 2016 goals discussion.
NCP Shed Project.
Finding Eagle Scout partners.

Molly Anderson
Will lead March 20 Serps Day at Lower Chrome 1pm to prepare for spring mowing.

Mike Bertram:
Point person for our history initiatives

Bob Gray:
Point person for strategic planning initiatives.

Chris Hoess:
Will work with Tracy to maintain contact database.
Sunday, March 20, Oxford Public Library/Ware Talk, 2pm. Will ask Carey for copies of
their promotional material to share with Tracy.
Saturday, April 9, Themed Hike (spring ephemerals) – NCP – Chris, 1-3
Will lead May 28 work day at New Texas
Will lead July 2016 fame flower walk at Goat Hill

Anna Hull:
Negotiate equipment purchases under PPFF grant.
Talk to Jay about how to best proceed with NCP shed
Leads March 25 work day at Goat Hill, 9-2 and co-leads June 3 work day there.
Point person for science and education initiatives.

Liz Johnson
Will explore (for Tracy) potential leads for our bird-related hike on May 14 at Goat Hill.
Will identify time for March 22 stream restoration site tour at Lower Chrome.
Will provide mowing BMP guidelines/talking point handout we can use with mowing
volunteers.

Tracy Raymond
Will complete preparations for April 1 Oxford First Friday tabling and provide Chris with
itemized receipts.
Tracy will arrange with Henry to obtain enough Rose and Chrome brochures for First
Friday tabling.
Will pin down details for themed hikes.
Will confirm April 10 meeting date with Harold Sweetman.
Will work with Chris to maintain contact database.
Point person for membership and outreach initiatives.

David Ross:
Will work with Henry to contact Jim Herr about Goat Hill mowing.
Monitor that SerpsDay leaders have correct liability forms.
Point person for administrative initiatives.

Kent Wagner:
Will inspect Upper Chrome trail on March 20.
Leads April 16 Upper Chrome Work Day
Point person for recreational uses and trail planning initiatives.

Henry Whitesel:
Will work with David to contact Jim Herr about Goat Hill mowing.
Will contact Wilson King (and others mowing at Chrome).
Leads work days at Goat Hill to prepare for March mowing.
Will provide Tracy with additional Chrome Trail maps before April 1 First Friday.
Will follow up on Scout projects.
Co-leads June 3 work day at Goat Hill.
Point person for conservation/maintenance planning

C) Agenda Items Considered
Welcome, Meeting Minutes and Agenda
We welcomed our TNC partners Liz and Rachel to our meeting.
Approved February 7 Board minutes and today’s agenda as circulated
Next Meeting Date
Agreed to Sunday, April 10, 3:00-5:00 at Lincoln University, Room 235

TNC
Stream Restoration Strategies and Opportunities (TNC)
TNC is excited by the potential to do a stream restoration project at Lower Chrome. Bob reports that PaDEP has been collecting good water quality data for Barren Brook entering and leaving our site.
Two new fresh water restoration staff (Brad and Mary Beth) are being funded for Chesapeake Bay-related projects.
We plan a site tour with them at Lower Chrome on Tuesday, March 22. Liz will circulate the meeting time.
Mowing grassland and trails (Molly, Henry)
Liz is working on final details of lease agreement with Bob Foulk at Lower Chrome, including mowing BMP’s. Liz will pull out that language into a set of guidelines/talking points we can use more generally to use in conversation with folks who are volunteering to help us with mowing.
Molly has rescheduled Lower Chrome workday to 9am on March 20 to remove the remaining brush so that Bob Foulk can move forward.
TNC goal guidelines is to squeeze mowing between the point where ground has dried out in late March and birds begin nesting.
At Goat Hill we face the additional constraint of meeting Bureau of Forestry concerns with protecting green snake.
Pal Durborow will approach Chris Fowler about mowing NE corner at Upper Chrome.
Henry and David are trying to connect with Jim Herr about mowing at Goat Hill.
Trail restoration (Henry, Anna)
It appears that Pal is planning to move forward with rerouting around the swampy conditions at start of Upper Chrome trail.
Between Kent’s experiences on Horseshoe Trail and TNC’s trail maintenance work, we have access to a good deal of expertise in addressing poor drainage conditions. We need to schedule opportunities for a longer discussion of this topic.
Kent will check out conditions at Upper Chrome on March 20.
Other TNC items
Liz will explore potential leads for our bird-related hike on May 14 at Goat Hill.
Workday leaders will use the FSLSB liability forms at Chrome as well as making sure that we have an annual TNC liability form on file. David will provide the updated liability form for each work day.
CONFIDENTIAL: To facilitate unified management of the Goat Hill site (reflecting the goal of returning to controlled burns as a restoration strategy), TNC will be negotiating with the Hunt Club and Bureau of Forestry over transferring much of the current TNC land to Pa Bureau of Forestry. TNC has not yet had a chance to approach Hunt Club to find ways of making this transition as attractive as possible for club members. Both Liz and Anna report that Bureau of Forestry remains “delighted” with its partnership with FSLSB and looks forward to maintaining that relationship following the transfer. For example, transferring the Goat Hill shed would facilitate storage of Bureau of Forestry equipment there.

Outreach and Education
Banners, Brochure and Budget Approval (Tracy)

We congratulated Tracy on her design work on the banner and brochures and approved an initial outreach budget of up to $201 to cover the costs of a 2x4 or 2.5x5’ banner ($54-$75), table cloth ($45), 125 brochures ($45) and 124 bookmarks ($33). Tracy to request reimbursement from our PPFF account through Chris once she has itemized receipts.
We will base discussion on the desirability of investing in a canopy on our April First Friday
experience.
First Fridays – update, staffing and fundraising (Tracy)
Tracy and Bill will take primary responsibility for the four hour window around the 5-8pm
First Friday slot. Chris will join them as soon as he is able.
Tracy will obtain a transient vendor license that will allow the sale of a variety of items.
Joe Frassetta will drop off additional Rose Trail brochures at Henry’s house.

March 20 Serps talk at Ware (Chris)
Library and Ware are promoting the talk, which will occur in the Ware auditorium.
Chris will ask Carey for copies of their promotional material to share with Tracy.

Hikes
Tracy asks us to keep eyes and ears open for potential hike leaders. She is hoping that the
June hike can have a photo theme, tied in with the PPFF photo contest.

Summer Fundraiser
Tabled to next meeting

Grant Update (Anna)
Equipment purchases
PPFF has received permission to use $5280 in unspent grant funds from McLean Contributionship to cover equipment listed in the grant application Anna drafted. In reviewing the options available to us we agreed to proceed with requesting:
26” Billy Goat
One Stihl professional grade weed trimmer (lighter than the 550 initially specified)
PPE equipment consisting of 2 helmets and chaps.

Anna will make the case that because the grant is insufficient to cover the trailer, we’d like to use grant funds to cover gravel needed to store the equipment at the Goat Hill shed.
Anna will ask if the grant can be used to cover extended warranties for the equipment.
Other potential grants (internships, NCP shed, outreach)
Anna will talk with Jay about next steps on the shed.
Other items tabled.

Next Stewardship Days
As scheduled

Other Business, Adjournment
Adjourned at 4:03pm with thanks to Anna for hosting.