Fostoria taps $1.1 million U.S. Forest Service grant for citywide tree inventory and removals

Fostoria city officials told the City Council that the city received a $1,100,000 U.S. Forest Service grant and has contracted consultants to inventory and manage street trees across the right-of-way. Eric, the director of public service and safety, said the city selected Davey to complete a complete inventory and hazard-tree survey and Bottomer Tree Service to perform contractor removals and other work. The inventory, Eric said, will log every right-of-way tree, identify hazardous specimens for immediate removal and produce a tree-planting plan that follows state and federal guidelines to avoid single-species plantings and improve resilience. "They have pretty pretty cool software and a program that we're looking at, considering using where we will be able to, those trees will live in that program. We can track them," Eric said, describing the plan to track inspections and maintenance in the software. Why it matters: the inventory and hazard survey are intended to reduce storm-related tree failures, make maintenance more efficient and create the planting plan that will make the city eligible for future state and federal tree-planting grants. City staff said the work was paused briefly while grant questions were resolved and that contracting was chosen to keep the program moving. Details: city staff described the procurement steps used to solicit proposals, saying Davey won the inventory contract and Bottomer will handle contractor removals. The work includes a hazard-tree survey, removal of trees deemed unsafe, a planting plan that limits planting of closely related species, and a registry to record inspections and calls about individual trees. Eric told council the firm expects to wrap up the inventory work in September. He also said the city plans to use the procurement policy to contract portions of the work that include tree removals. No formal council vote on the contracts was reported during the meeting; the director framed the update as an implementation step under the existing grant. The city did not provide a total local match amount during remarks. City officials tied the tree program to storm resilience and to recent state and federal funding the city has won for infrastructure projects. Council members and the mayor noted the broader scope of capital projects downtown, including a separate ODOT paving project on Lytle Street and a listed overpass project estimated in remarks to cost about $15 million; the city said its Lytle Street portion is about $711,000 of a multiyear paving program. Eric emphasized that the inventory and contracting should improve the city's ability to respond before the next storm season. The city will publish procurement records and timelines and return to council with additional implementation details and cost breakdowns when available.