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Council to consider permission for DEC grant planting by Upper Susquehanna Coalition on two city parcels
Summary
City staff recommended the council authorize two vacant city parcels for reforestation if the Upper Susquehanna Coalition receives a New York State DEC community reforestation grant. The city would provide limited maintenance for 3–5 years; the program would incur no matching cost to the city if awarded.
City staff asked the council to authorize access to two city‑owned vacant parcels in the city watershed for an Upper Susquehanna Coalition planting project if the coalition is awarded a New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) community reforestation grant.
Staff said the parcels sit on East Street, a short distance past the lower reservoir, and are brushy vacant lots the city would like to reforest to reduce runoff in the watershed. Otsego County Soil and Water Conservation District would partner with the Upper Susquehanna Coalition to procure contractors and manage plantings. If funded, plantings would be bare‑root saplings, roughly 1–2 feet tall, planted at an estimated 500 trees per acre, according to staff comments in the meeting.
Staff said the coalition would administer the grant application and that the city would not be a grant applicant nor required to match funds. The city’s role would be to grant access for planting and to perform limited maintenance for the first three to five years — chiefly periodic mowing to reduce competing vegetation while saplings become established. Councilors were told the maintenance would be modest and not equivalent to regular park mowing. The mayor would be asked to send a letter of support to accompany the coalition’s application, and a resolution to authorize access and support will appear on the council agenda.
Councilors moved the item to the discussion agenda to allow time for questions from all members. No formal vote to authorize planting was recorded in the transcript.
