jamaica estates gardening club meeting 2: i am now the club secretary

Club business

A day after the annual LIDS barbecue, we had the second meeting of the embryonic Jamaica Estates Gardening Club.

The first meeting (which I wrote about here) was a month ago, at the home of Mohsin Patwary (who originally suggested having the club. The second meeting was at our house, simply because no one else volunteered theirs.

We proceeded through this meeting still a bit unsure of the direction we want to take the club. Ed Morrill was there, since he's on the Jamaica Estates Association board. He's in charge of Parks and Landscaping, so when the board got Mohsin's suggestion that a gardening club be formed, it went to Ed and the club is now under him (in some form I don't quite understand). But Ed made it clear that he's not there to run the club. He can provide some support and guidance, but we have to set our own agenda.

So we faced the really important business of setting a leadership structure. By acclimation we chose Mohsin as our Chairman and me as our Secretary. Three other members agreed to make up an executive committee. At this point, I don't fully know what my job is, but I did email minutes to the group (including those who were there and those who have expressed interest in the club). I'm also keeping the list of interested parties, and will be sending out meeting announcements. Mohsin and I need to get together and agree on a calendar of future meetings.

Marilyn shows off her garden

I forget how we got onto the topic, but Ed explained what exactly constitute "city trees" that the homeowner can't cut down. For those not familiar, in New York City some trees in yards are designated as "city trees" (that is, trees owned by the city). If you cut down a city tree you may be subject to huge fines as well as the cost of replacement. I'd always been under the impression that trees in the grass between the sidewalk and the curb are city trees, and those behind the sidewalk aren't. Of course, I am aware that some blocks don't have sidewalks, but I never worried about that wrinkle since it doesn't affect me. Ed explained the rule: trees that are within thirty feet of the center of the street are city trees. So, in practice, the city's domain extends a few feet past the sidewalk. I'll have to be careful.

Afterwards, Marilyn and Michael invited us all to tour their garden, which was quite the treat. I had been nervous about volunteering our place for the meeting, since our garden isn't really up to par. So their invitation saved the day.