Promises of greater communication were made during the Winamac Town Council meeting, Monday night.
The Council met with a member of the Town’s Tree Committee, for all intents and purposes, is acting alone in the role. Several meetings have been held between the Town Council to discuss the future of the committee.
Town Council President Kenneth McFarland says he’s thankful for the work being done for the town.
“We’re satisfied with the work you’re doing,” says McFarland. “What we’re asking is to keep us informed of what’s going on, if you would.”
Although plenty of work has been done in the way of planning trees and managing plant life in Winamac through the committee, Town Council members desired improvements in the areas of paperwork.
During Monday night’s meeting, the Town Council largely said they expected regular communication from Zhart, as well as financial reports about the comings and goings of the committee’s funds.
Even more pressing for the Town Council was how exactly the trees are purchased in the first place. Tree Committee member Fred Zhart says he tries to pre-sell the trees to homes with vacant space on their lot.
“I apply for a grant through [Resource Conservation and Development] and between the grant money and the adoption money, we get a sum. And this last grant was for 21 trees,” says Zhart.
Among the changes that the Town of Winamac needed to make was the official name of the tree committee. Members voted to approve renaming the committee to “Greenspace Winamac.”
The Town will be working in the near future to attract additional members to serve on the committee.
