Arborist Advisory Council Meeting Minutes, February 26, 2007

Members Present

Ted Armstrong, Wes Davis, Lois Stack, tish carr, John Lamanna

Members Not Present

Art Batson, Dave Newell

Staff Present

Debbie Davis, Ann Gibbs, Bob Batteese

Reading/Approval of Minutes

Lois called the meeting to order at 11:15 a.m. and served as Chair until tish arrived at noon. The minutes from the September 18, 2006 meeting were approved as distributed.

Program Update

Debbie reported on the numbers of exams administered and licenses issued. In December 2006, 19 of the 21 people taking the exam passed with scores ranging from 61-92. Six applicants failed to show and never advised they were not going to take the exam. In January 2007, 15 of the 16 people who took the exam passed the exam with scores ranging from 69.5 – 92.5.

Debbie also indicated 539 licenses had been renewed while 88 people still need to renew their license. The latter includes 19 people who have submitted their renewal form and payment but have not yet submitted proof of insurance.

New Coucil Member

The group introduced themselves to John Lamanna since this was his first meeting. He in turn introduced himself as a logger/arborist from Rangeley who is filling the position of an arborist from the northern part of the state.

Complaints

Ann reported that they had received several complaints regarding ads published by unlicensed arborists. She also gave an update on the Gil Lamarre situation pointing out the Department did receive proof that payment had been made to the customers listed in his consent agreement. However, there were some outstanding payments of interest because two of the complainants had small claims judgments against him. She noted Lamarre has indicated interest in becoming licensed again and has been advised that this will be discussed when he has fulfilled all the requirements listed in the consent agreement. Armstrong mentioned that he had seen a yellow pages ad for tree work by Gil Lamarre that he will send to Gibbs.

Distribution of Brochures

Ann informed the group the Department had printed 1000 black and white copies of the brochure explaining why members of the general public should hire a licensed arborist. She asked the group how they should be distributed. Lois and tish took copies for distribution at Cooperative Extension and NRCS offices respectively. Ann indicated she would supply copies to folks exhibiting at the Portland and Bangor Flower Shows. Debbie and Ann also volunteered to contact the Maine Municipal Association and the state Realtors Association to determine the best way to get these to town offices and new homeowners.

Phone Book Public Service Announcement

tish reminded the group they had previously discussed having a notice in the yellow pages in the arborist section alerting readers to make certain they were hiring a licensed arborist. She stated she had been in contact with Kristie Laetner at Talking Phone Books who was interested in printing a PSA. Lois stated she had left messages with folks at Verizon, but had yet to get a call back. tish reported she had developed wording for the PSA that could be used by all the phone book publishers who expressed an interest. Debbie asked if there was a cost to print the PSA and there was consensus they would go ahead if it were free of charge, but would have to regroup if there was a cost. Lois agreed to continue trying to contact Verizon and Fairpoint (a company buying up a lot of the independent phone companies in Maine) while Wes mentioned that Fairpoint was buying the wires currently owned by Verizon. tish promised to continue her discussions with the Talking Phone Books.

Survey of Arborists Regarding Education - Results

Debbie distributed a handout summarizing the results of the survey questions included on the renewal application for 2007. Two questions were asked: (1) Where do you get information regarding working as an arborist and (2) When looking for more information, what topics are of interest? She noted the results were varied but most people included magazines as their primary source of information and they were looking for information on all the topics listed. tish thanked her and observed this information should be useful to MAA and other groups when planning training for arborists.

Insurance Certificates

Ann reported that the Department wanted to revisit the practice of requiring insurance certificates to be submitted with each renewal application. She explained this is the second year of requiring this paperwork and it is creating a lot of extra work to issue licenses. She also questioned if there is a benefit other than the Department is listed as additionally insured on the certificates and does get notified if an arborist cancels the policy. Debbie outlined the process involved in issuing the licenses and mentioned that about 100 licenses were not issued for two months because the insurance certificates had not been sent. She instead suggested that the Department do random checks, similar to what is done regarding background checks, so a selected group would be required to submit an insurance certificate. Debbie pointed out that most arborists have the certificate sent from the insurance company and pointed out a benefit of this process has been that insurance companies are now reminding clients that they need to be licensed to do arborist work in Maine. A poll of the other members revealed they would support the Department requiring about 100 randomly chosen arborists to submit insurance certificates with their 2008 renewals.

Agenda Topics for Next Meeting

Ann noted she was unaware of any urgent topics for the next meeting so the group agreed the June 11 meeting should cancelled and the next meetings be held on September 17 and November 19, 2007.

Meeting adjourned at 1:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by,
Ann Gibbs & Debbie Davis

Division Info

Programs

Boards and Councils

Connect!