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The Marietta Tree Commission is ready to begin using its $300,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds to attend to lots of needed tree trimming and tree removal.
Marietta Tree Commission Co-Chairmen Dennis Cavalier and Grady Smith attended the Thursday meeting of Marietta City Council's Streets and Transportation committee to discuss their next steps.
The commission spent the past summer inventorying the city's trees, Cavalier said, and they have put about 300 on their priority to-do list. Of those, they consider 63 of them, mostly maples and a few sycamores, to be dead or dangerous. Those will require removal rather than trimming.
Council's original plan was to approve $275,000 for tree care and $25,000 for a stump grinder. The intention was to help the commission reduce the cost of outside contracts for stump removal and enable the commission to do the work itself. That plan has been scrapped, however, for a number of reasons dealing with training, liability and safety.
The total $300,000 is now available for tree care. Council is expected to approve an amended ordinance that reflects that change in designation.
In the near future, Mayor Joshua Schlicher said, the tree commission will come up with parameters to bid the work, based on the detailed list they have prepared and shared with Schlicher. Then they'll meet with him to ensure that the correct bid language is in place for the work the commission wants. Council can then consider an ordinance to authorize the tree commission to seek bids for the work.
Cavalier said the group hopes to get the work accomplished this winter.
Smith questioned whether there were restrictions on any money that might be left over, or could it be kept in the tree fund. Council members did not actually address the question, with several saying they were skeptical there would be leftover money. Councilman Harley Noland did suggest that the tree commission promote funding trees as good Christmas gifts.
Smith said the small amount of "new tree" work in the coming year would be cheaper than in the past for a couple of reasons. The commission will be doing the tree planting work with their own group of volunteers, not contractors. Plus, the 19 trees they're buying, split between local nurseries Thompsons and Greenleaf, can be "park grade," which indicates minor blemishes.
Cavalier did bring up one other tree-related goal of commission members. They want to apply for an Ohio Division of Forestry grant for planting trees and obtaining a contract arborist. It's a 100% grant with no matching funds required, Cavalier said. Costs incurred are reimbursed in approximately six weeks. The city will need to generate a resolution to allow them to apply for the grant, he said.