Chicopee City Council questions funding on tree program

<couponp>CHICOPEE - City Councilors criticized the way a program to evaluate trees was handled but will allow it to continue.

Early this year the city received a $23,500 Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation Urban Forestry grant to inventory the location and type of all trees in the city. Councilors, who were hesitant to approve the grant at first, later learned the cost of the program more than doubled.

In a routine review of city expenses, councilor Gerry Roy discovered that an additional $38,500 was withdrawn from a forestry department account to finish the inventory.

Recently Councilors asked the Community Development Department, which is overseeing the project, to explain the cost overrun and why the department had not requested the transfer from the City Council as is routine. This week they submitted a report of the discussion.

"The problem is they did not come to us for a transfer," Roy said, adding the money was taken from an account for tree trimming and related expenses such as police details.

"It just wasn't handled right. I hope they will come to us in the future," Councilor James K. Tillotson said.

The overrun was caused in part by the fact that the original grant and the department figured the city had 5,000 trees on public ways. When the count began, it was discovered the number was seriously underestimated and the city in fact has about 15,00 trees.

The city was also supposed to use a number of volunteers but then it hired Davey Resource Group and no volunteers were actually used, Roy said.

"It made sense but it took on a life of its own," he said.

Along with counting and mapping the trees on a GPS system, the city also recorded the overall condition of each tree and set priorities on which needed to be removed, pruned or treated for disease.

The program gives the city a record of what type of species are planted in different neighborhoods so the city can diversify the species so, in the case of disease, all trees on one street are not killed.

It also shows city officials there is a lack of trees so they can plant more when they have an opportunity.

Source: Masslive