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Sonoma council OKs $75,000 tree-inventory contract, encourages early plantings
Summary
Council approved a professional services agreement with Planet Geo to complete a GIS-based citywide tree inventory and urban-canopy assessment, and members encouraged some early planting before the inventory is finished.
The Sonoma City Council approved a resolution authorizing the city manager to execute a professional-services agreement with Planet Geo (TreePlotter) for a citywide tree inventory and urban-canopy assessment, not to exceed $75,000.
Council members described the inventory as the first step in a multi-part urban-forest strategy that staff said is intended to identify tree locations, species and health conditions in the public right-of-way and around public parks. The contract scope, staff said, will collect GIS-based, editable data for public trees — plazas, parks and rights of way — and will produce an urban-canopy baseline to guide future plantings and maintenance.
"This is step one," Jennifer Gates, community development director, told the council. She said the inventory will be linked to parcel data, will be editable as trees are planted or removed and will help the next parks director identify maintenance and funding needs. Gates said the inventory will not cover large, forested contiguous preserves ("not the big forest parts," she said) but will focus on public trees in plazas and neighborhood parks.
Vice Mayor Wellander expressed support and asked who would manage the data and how staff would ensure the $75,000 investment leads to planting and maintenance. Gates said Planet Geo's TreePlotter platform will be editable and that the city can either continue using Planet Geo for hosting or ingest the data into the city's GIS. The council approved a motion that included a rider encouraging staff to accelerate some tree plantings before the report's completion.
Council members voted in favor of the resolution. The contract term is planned to run through the fiscal year; staff said fieldwork would begin in summer after new lidar data becomes available and will likely complete within about six months.
Ending: Council members signaled interest in pairing the inventory with planting programs and funding requests during next budget cycles; staff said the inventory will be used to identify priority planting locations, maintenance needs and to support future urban-forest policies.
