Norwalk seeks Tree City USA recertification; reports $1.15 million in tree program spending for 2024

Norwalk City submitted its Tree City USA recertification on Jan. 9 and reported $1,151,006.94 in tree-related expenditures for 2024, an official said during the meeting.

"When we put all of that together throughout the city, the total expenditure of the amount of money was spent was $1,151,006.94 for year 2024 for the Tree City," an unidentified staff member said. The staff member calculated that figure as an expenditure per capita of $12.46 for 2024. By comparison, the staff member said per-capita expenditures were about $9.74 in 2022 and rose in 2023 because of ARPA funding.

Staff said the State Forester had approved the city's recertification and that the application had been forwarded to the Arbor Day Foundation for final approval. "It looks like the State Forester has already approved our application for the recertification, and it's the earliest I've ever seen that approved online," the staff member said.

The city also applied for the Tree City USA growth award. Staff described the award scoring: hiring or having a professional urban forester counted as 10 points (they identified that person as Sarah), tree planting projects were worth 2 points, and departmental communication and coordination earned 3 points. "We had 15 points out of unnecessary 10," the staff member said, explaining that the city applied extra items to ensure they exceeded the minimum required score.

The staff member said the city prepared 52 attachments for the recertification, including materials from the Arbor Day celebration, cleanup events, the mayor's proclamation and supporting documentation from the Tree Alliance. The staff member said the city typically hears about Tree City and growth award results by Arbor Day.

No formal action was required during the meeting on the recertification application; staff will notify the committee when the Arbor Day Foundation issues its decision.