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La Porte to plant 18 trees after federal grant revoked; city to cover roughly $10,000
Summary
After losing a federal urban forestry grant, city staff said La Porte will use other budgeted tree-planting funds to plant 18 of an 80-tree order from Dogwood Hills Nursery; estimated cost to the city is about $10,000.
City engineering staff told the La Porte Board of Public Works and Safety on Wednesday that the city lost a federal urban forestry grant that had supported a larger tree-planting order.
Nick Minnick, engineering, said the city had accepted a bid from Dogwood Hills Nursery for about 80 trees but — after the federal grant was revoked — will plant 18 of those trees using other tree-planting funds in the budget. Minnick said Dogwood Hills located inventory for most of the trees and found homes for the remainder, and that the nursery is in St. Joseph County (Middlebury).
Why it matters: City officials said the loss of the federal grant reduces the scale of the planting program but staff will use existing budgeted funds to fulfill a portion of the order to support a local supplier.
Staff estimated the remaining cost to the city at about $10,000 (roughly 22% of the original $50,000 order), and said they would provide exact figures by email to the board. City staff also clarified the tree removals on Indiana Avenue are part of a state-led construction project using state and federal funding and are not related to the urban forestry grant loss. Board members discussed stump removal during construction and emphasized that replaced trees will be covered in the state and federal project money for Indiana Avenue.
The board directed staff to proceed with planting the 18 trees and to return cost details to the board via email.
