Franklin City tree advisory committee recaps Arbor Day planting, plans fall festival booth and pamphlet

The Franklin City Tree Advisory Committee on Tuesday reviewed Arbor Day activities and directed staff to add a fall festival outreach item to the special meeting agenda, asking for a pamphlet or booklet distilled from the tree care manual for distribution at the festival.

"It went really well," Committee member Joanne Cummings said of this year's Arbor Day, reporting roughly 10 participants from the committee and the public who helped plant a sugar maple (marketed as a "maple legacy" type). Members discussed possibly moving next year’s planting to the arboretum because several ash trees there have been removed and the site could benefit from replacements, though they noted parking could be an issue.

Committee members said they hope to expand participation next year — "we're shooting for 15 people next year," a committee member said — and flagged the arboretum's twentieth anniversary as a possible tie-in for a larger planting event.

On outreach to the public, the committee discussed materials for the fall festival and asked staff to prepare a smaller pamphlet or booklet version of the tree care manual for handout. Members suggested using QR codes to link from a short brochure to the full manual online and noted the marketing team could help create a condensed graphic layout of the manual. Chip and Jason were named in discussion as points of contact to collect materials and coordinate with the arboretum society and the marketing staff.

The committee asked Brooke to add a second item to the committee's special meeting agenda related to the fall festival booth and a list of desired pamphlets for distribution. Committee members indicated the fall festival will take place on a Saturday in late September (committee discussion referenced Sept. 27) with booth hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; they asked staff to produce materials in time for the festival.

What the committee decided at this meeting: staff were directed to add the fall festival booth/pamphlet item to the special meeting agenda (scheduled for June 3) so committee members can approve final outreach materials. The committee did not finalize pamphlet content at the meeting and will review proposed materials at the special meeting or a later meeting.