Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Urban Forest Management topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council advances IU Resilience Institute cohort ordinance after environmental commission presentation
Summary
The council advanced Ordinance 8-20-26 to second reading after the environmental commission described participation in an Indiana University Resilience Institute cohort that would cost Richmond $3,700 and provide $60,000–$80,000 worth of technical support, including a McKinney Climate Fellow and tree-management work.
The Richmond Common Council voted Feb. 2 to advance Ordinance 8-20-26, which authorizes submission, acceptance and appropriation of a grant relationship with Indiana University’s Environmental Resilience Institute.
Lisonbee Bridal, a member of the Environmental Commission, asked for council permission for the city to enter the IU cohort and described previous cohort work as yielding more than $120,000 in tree-planting value and three years of care and maintenance. "This year, the cohort is for an urban management plan," Bridal said, and she estimated the city’s cost to participate at roughly $3,700 while calling the cohort’s technical support worth an estimated $60,000–$80,000.
Bridal introduced Thomas Hill and Laura Kearns from the parks department; Kearns (introduced by Bridal) said the city’s tree inventory is nearly complete and that a management plan would move the city from data collection into prioritized maintenance and limited implementation with help from a McKinney Climate Fellow.
"The management plan is more the nuts and bolts of how are we prioritizing the maintenance that we're doing on our trees," Kearns said, noting that inventory results are identifying hazardous trees and priorities for removal or pruning.
Purcell told the council the finance committee had already met and recommended passage. The council suspended the rules, read the ordinance by title and voted to advance it to second reading; the vote to suspend rules and the advance were approved by voice vote.
The ordinance will return for final consideration at a later meeting; Bridal said timely approval helps IU include Richmond in cohort planning but that participation can be adjusted to local priorities including leaf pickup and other resident concerns.
