Regular Meeting — April 20, 2026

Present: Sarah Shewmaker, Jessica Bessin, Ruth Webb, Laura Baird, Allen Bush and Suni Ashton Hernandez. 5:05 p.m.- Meeting called to order 03/16/26 meeting minutes: Motion to approve by Ruth Webb and seconded by Allen Bush. Motion passed. March 2026 Financial Report: Motion to approve by Jessica Bessin and seconded by Allen Bush. Motion passed. Round Robin Allen: A few of the trees planted at West Lane Park were root bound and will need a bit of extra care. For future plantings we will take time to address these issues with our volunteers and show them how to help root bound trees. Mike Hayman is a possible speaker for the Tree Board. The Tree Board discusses holding an event at the library with Mr. Hayman as our featured speaker. Mr. Hayman’s speech would be followed by the discussion of “How to kill your tree”. TheTree Board would also have informational handouts regarding Tree Tips and Facts. Laura: The Board needs to work on keeping a better track of our volunteer hours on our Google Docs sheet. Jessica: I will check our online applications to see if we have any hits on our Tree Board Member applications for our 7th member. A visit to the Cherry Tree Planting is needed to check that there is enough dirt surrounding the trees and to tighten up any loose ropes. The Cherry Tree Grant Report has been completed and delivered to the Harrodsburg/Mercer County Tourism Board. KU/LGE grant report will be due in the Fall. WE used the $2,00.00 grant to purchase the West Lane Park trees. The Tree Board has planted 82 trees in a year. ● Spring 2025- 20 trees ● Fall 2025- 29 trees ● Spring 2026- 33 trees The game plan for the Fall 2026 planting is to plant Ginkgo trees and order more Fruit and Nut seedlings from the Kentucky Department of Forestry. Said seedlings will be added to our Native Fruit and Nut Trees Orchard. Other Business Tree Maintenance ● Ruth- Water bags for Cherry trees @ Anderson Dean Park. ● Sarah- Water bags for Fall 2025 plantings @ Soccer Field. ● Jessica- Order 20 more water bags for West Lane Park trees. ● Mulch Fruit and Cherry Trees @ Anderson Dean Park. ● Ask the City of Harrodsburg to help water trees @ West Lane Park. ● This fall we will take a look at the Chinkapin Oak @ ANderson Dean Park and treat it for Winter Creeper and Honey Suckle. We will keep “Tree Maintenance Schedule” on every meeting agenda from here on out. The next meeting will be held on Monday, May 18, 2026 @ 5:00 p.m. [Note added to this record: at its May 18, 2026 meeting the board corrected these minutes. The Tree Board has planted 102 trees in a year (Spring 2025: 40 trees; Fall 2025: 29 trees; Spring 2026: 33 trees), and the Fall 2026 plan also includes replacing plants at the Veteran's Park Bataan War Memorial. See the May 18, 2026 minutes.]