The township staff person who is responsible for renting out the Heritage Center looked around and realized there are quite a few types of trees on the grounds. She asked the question, “could this be considered for an arboretum?”
If the grounds were to be certified as an arboretum, the building and grounds could perhaps be advertised more widely and rented both more often and for a higher daily rate.
If a decision was made to pursue arboretum certification, there would be some challenges. For example, about half of the property is protected green space, so any work on that portion of the property is subject to green space policy. Another challenge is that most of the work would need to be accomplished by volunteers. A related challenge is to create a budget for this. What department would the budget come from and how much could be allocated? Who would make the decision first to create the application and then to approve the application before submission? Finally, would the end goal be to merely qualify for arboretum certification, or would there be additional work to capitalize upon that certification and/or make additional improvements to make the land more appealing? Would brainstorming of possible future improvements dissuade decision makers from approving the basic application or motivate them further with the excitement of possibilities?
One of the questions was answered. The staff person brought the concept to the volunteer Tree Committee of the township.
They considered the idea, several members walked the site with an eye toward identifying existing trees, and the committee decided to pursue certification. The Township Administrator and the Board of Trustees then agreed to assign a staff member to work with the Tree Committee to develop an application and, after reviewing the application, agreed to submit it.
Related Link:
https://www.andersontownship.org

Student Questions:
1. Why or why not should this project be selected? If you were a decision maker, what additional information would you like to have before deciding?
2. What is the minimum viable product (MVP) goal for this project?
3. What additional goals may emerge and when?