COMMUNICATIONS AND NEWS FROM THE WEEK: September 22, 2023
Meetings and Announcements:
Our next Council meeting will be on Monday, September 25th. We do not have a workshop planned for the 25th.
ADMINISTRATION
Cultural Agility Training
On Wednesday and Thursday of this week our employees participated in Cultural Agility Training. Jeannette Grace with Expressive Communication Consulting and Training assisted us as we continue our Cultural Agility Journey. Over 126 employees participated in this important training this week and more are scheduled for next week as we continue to act on one of the six strategic priorities within our community: Community Inclusiveness.
Create a city where everyone is valued and respected, and celebrate our strengths as a diverse multi-cultural, multi-lingual community. We recognize that our different perspectives and experiences bind us together to make us stronger.
PARK AND NATURAL RESOURCES
University of Minnesota Ecological Restoration Planning and Management Student
Service Learning Scheduled at City Hall Campus
Dan Shaw, Minnesota Board of Soil and Water Resources, will be bringing his Ecological Restoration Planning and Management Course Students to work on the pollinator restoration project at Maplewood City Hall. Sara Nelson of Great River Greening will lead the project, scheduled for the morning of September 18. Students will gain experience through hand-seeding native plants in bare areas and removing invasive plants such as yellow nut sedge. Thank you to all involved in our continued restoration work!
Follow up video from Communications Team
You might have noticed the landscape around City Hall and wondered, “what’s going on here?” Well, Prairie Restoration, that’s what’s going on. Turf grass that we have come to accept in most of our suburban landscapes is taking out critical food sources for the pollinators that contribute to our bio diversity.
Watch the video to see how we’re working to transform the City Hall campus back to its natural form.
City Hall Campus Courtyard Update
The Green Team continues to tidy up the City Hall Campus Courtyard in preparation of spring plantings. During this week’s service project, the team tackled the spirea bushes, removing all 20 bushes despite the hard rock and soil. The team took a moment for a photo opportunity, with City Councilmember Juenemann playing along with a parody on the famous American Gothic painting.
City staff met with the Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District to begin drafting the native planting plan for the Courtyard. The Green Team will share that plan once complete. The work will continue in the spring with an employee volunteer planting day.