Committee hears tree-canopy plan, requests $4 million recurring boost for Forestry amid contract and hiring debate

Detroit's Neighborhood Community Service Standing Committee on Thursday received a detailed briefing on the city's tree inventory and maintenance plan and voted to ask the administration for a $4 million recurring increase to the Forestry Division's budget. The presentation described a mix of in-house work and vendor contracts to address a backlog and expand canopy coverage, while council members pressed officials on contract authority, vendor selection and whether more work could be done locally.

The presentation, delivered by Crystal Perkins, director of the General Services Department's Forestry Division, said the city manages roughly 350,000 public trees and currently budgets a little over $5 million from the street fund for forestry operations: about $2.5 million for vendor contracts, approximately $1.2 million for tree plantings and the remainder for personnel. Perkins said the division has 33 budgeted positions with 13 vacancies and an in-house crew that averages about 45 tree jobs per week; the city's canopy is roughly 22% now and the stated goal is to reach 40% through a combination of increased staffing, better data and continued planting efforts.

Council members focused questions on procurement and the local economic impact. Sandra Ustahl, the city procurement representative, said 14 vendors responded to the request-for-quotes, two were nonresponsive and the department recommended awards to 10 vendors. She said the awards were based on aggregate pricing from responsive, qualified bidders and that the majority of chosen vendors reported employing Detroit residents; GSD and OCP officials said contract authorities were set higher than the current yearly budget to give the city flexibility to add grant or philanthropic funds without repeated amendments.

"We want to use contractors strategically to clear the backlog while we build our in-house capacity," Deputy Director Jarrell Harris said, adding that individual vendors are responsible for about 15 trees per week and that inspections occur before invoices are paid. Perkins said the department aims to service 5–10% of the canopy each year, which equates to roughly 18,000–30,000 trees annually under current capacity.

Council Member Scott Benson moved that the committee submit a memo to the administration and budget department requesting a $4 million recurring general-fund increase to the Forestry Division to expand staffing, create a $400,000 annual training academy, buy equipment and raise pay to be more competitive with the private sector. Benson said the additional funding would allow the city to bring more work in-house and train local residents for forestry jobs.

Member Reneta Miller and other council members pushed back on parts of the procurement picture, saying the ratio of Detroit-based vendors was lower than expected and that long contract durations could limit near-term opportunities for local firms. "If we're serious about providing jobs for Detroiters, we should have more of this work flow to them," Miller said. Procurement and GSD officials responded that five of the ten recommended contracts were Detroit vendors and that they were working with providers such as Detroit at Work to build a hiring pipeline.

After discussion and a procedural reconsideration, the committee approved the motion to send the $4 million recurring funding request to the administration for consideration during the budget process. The committee also advanced several vendor contracts and agenda items to the formal council session with recommendations for approval, including an amended three-year, $2 million authority for contract 67615 (Green Street Tree Care) to provide tree trimming and removal services.

The presentation highlighted the department's efforts to complete a citywide tree inventory and deploy technologies such as lidar and street-level imagery to direct plantings and maintenance. Perkins said the city had completed inventories in Districts 12 and 3, logging more than 84,000 trees and rating roughly 80–86% of those as healthy. She said setting a multi-year maintenance cycle and building in-house capacity are central to a plan that pairs contractors with an expanding municipal workforce.

What happens next: the committee's request for a $4 million recurring increase will be sent to the administration and the budget office for consideration during the budget process; the contracts advanced by the committee will appear on the formal council agenda for a final vote.