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Sunbury work session backs Shade Tree brochure and plans to pursue Chestnut Street plantings
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Summary
At a Sunbury City work session, Shade Tree representatives outlined a no-cost, rolling tree-planting program that prefers requests of at least 20 trees; council members gave informal approval to proceed with address collection and expect to vote on formal authorization at the next council meeting.
At a Sunbury City work session, Shade Tree representative Madison outlined a plan to distribute a tree-brochure and pursue a grant-based planting program that, she said, typically requires a minimum request of 20 trees and is offered at no cost to recipients. "They have a... minimum of 20 trees that will need to be requested," Madison said during the session.
Madison told the council the group used Facebook to solicit resident input and that responses favored Chestnut Street and Susquehanna Avenue; she and council members agreed Chestnut Street should be the initial focus because Susquehanna would be more difficult to pursue. Madison said the brochure will be sent to residents whose properties meet suitability criteria and that the list of available tree species will be limited; residents may indicate preferences but full substitutions are not guaranteed.
On program logistics, Madison said the implementing organization handles subcontracting and that the application process is rolling. "It is a very open ended process," she said, adding that the application requests cost estimates for portions of the project. Madison also said the application must be submitted by a municipality and recommended a city designee be part of the application process so the city and the Shade Tree group align on site choices.
Council members signaled they would give Madison and the Shade Tree group their informal "blessing" to begin identifying addresses along Chestnut Street that appear suitable for planting, subject to checks for utilities, spacing, and engineered drainage. One council member noted some locations, such as engineered parking/greenfield areas, may require further engineering review before trees can be planted.
A participant raised a regulatory question about whether planting trees would affect pervious/impervious surface calculations for stormwater management; the transcript records the concern but does not show a definitive resolution in the session.
An unnamed council member said the council planned a formal vote at the upcoming council meeting to authorize city participation and to designate a municipal contact for the application. The work session transcript does not record the outcome of any such vote.
Madison also raised a separate site—trees behind a storage building by the rec-area tennis courts—and suggested Jerome, who she said serves on the relevant authority board, could refer that location to the authority for review.
The work session concluded with a reminder of the next council meeting, scheduled for 06:15. No formal votes or final outcomes on the application were recorded in this transcript.
