Michael Karam, director of the Department of Parks and Parkways, told the City Council on the afternoon the department faces growing maintenance needs even as it secures large federal grants for tree planting. "We're here today to continue the department's chartered mission to manage, develop, beautify, preserve and protect public green space," Karam said, adding that green spaces "matter at a time like this."

Karam and Rebecca Grubbs, the department's budget coordinator, outlined a set of 26 departmental goals emphasizing tree planting, maintenance and staffing. Karam said the department is working with the Office of Resilience and Sustainability on three federal grants: an $8,000,000 USDA grant, a $3,500,000 HUD grant and a $7,500,000 EPA grant focused largely on tree planting, some tree maintenance and concrete removal. The department also administers an annual tree-planting grant started by the council, hosts public mulch and tree giveaways and plans to use remaining ARPA funds to supplement tree maintenance work.

At the same time, Grubbs told the council that Parks and Parkways faces a continued hiring freeze and a roughly 25% reduction in some operating budgets. She warned those cuts will increase the department's tree-maintenance backlog and lengthen the neutral-ground cutting cycle because fewer contracted hours will be available. "If we're being cut on one side, we would need to increase staff on the other to make up for that," Grubbs said. She also noted that ARPA funding that previously boosted tree maintenance will be exhausted this year and that the fund balance was exhausted in 2023.

The department described its contracting picture in detail. It has two large turf-management contracts with a single contractor, H and O, valued at over $1 million and covering about 750 acres; in-house teams cut roughly 800 acres citywide. Bayou tree maintenance was funded in 2025 at about $320,000 and $150,000 for trims and removals to complement in-house crews. Karam urged the council to consider development of an urban forest management plan and to fill vacancies in the forestry division to keep up with canopy growth tied to the city's climate action goals.

Council members questioned a range of operational issues. Council member Thomas asked about the restaurant and food-and-beverage operator at the Joe Bartholomew Golf Course in Pontchartrain Park, noting the current operator and past renters had raised concerns about a sizable rental increase in a new RFP. Karam said the RFP adjustments followed a market study and that negotiations with the incumbent tenant failed, returning the contract to a third RFP. "The information that's in the RFP is available to the public," he said, and offered to provide the market study and RFP documents to Thomas.

Council member King raised illegal parking and damage to neutral grounds on corridors including St. Claude and Esplanade, asking the department to quantify costs. Karam said remediation of a two-block stretch previously cost about $20,000 as a test case, and he flagged limitations on installing physical barriers where corridors are state highways. He said Parks and Parkways is part of an interagency effort with DOTD and others to address safety and parking on the St. Claude corridor.

Several public commenters addressed related issues. District E resident Artree Abraham urged creation of a centralized grants office and asked for a list of properties in District E maintained by Parks and Parkways; he also asked whether Entergy's fee agreement includes foliage maintenance obligations. Karam and other officials directed residents to public records and the department's website for park-by-district listings and said they would follow up on contractual questions.

Karam and Grubbs also reviewed park and capital projects funded or underway, listing playground and park upgrades at Coliseum Square, Lawrence Square, Brechtel Park, Elysian Fields and others, and said the department is pursuing equipment upgrades and small tree teams. They highlighted plans to electrify golf carts at the city's courses and to hire a consultant for turf and greens management.

Discussion items that did not become formal council actions included exploring unified contracts for green-space maintenance across departments, expanding volunteer or adopt-a-neutral-ground-style programs subject to law and risk-management review, and continuing work with the city's asset-management system to improve forestry inspection and maintenance operations. "We're excited for the process to be onboarded," Karam said of the asset-management rollout.

The presentation concluded with staff offering to provide requested documents and to work with council offices on prioritized maintenance requests. The department emphasized the difference between increased tree-planting capacity funded by grants and the ongoing need for stable operating funds to maintain the growing canopy.