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Council awards tree‑inventory contract after debate over $18,000 subscription
Summary
The borough approved a contract for a contractor to survey roughly 1,866 street trees under a $22,000 NJDEP grant; council members questioned a five‑year subscription for ArborPro that would cost about $18,000 and discussed having the Shade Tree Commission perform future updates.
The Pompton Lakes Borough Council approved a contract awarding an NJDEP‑funded tree inventory to the contractor proposed on the agenda and debated whether to adopt an optional long‑term subscription for online mapping and maintenance.
Administrator Michael Correa told the council the borough received a $22,000 grant from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection for updates to the community forestry management plan and funding for a tree inventory. “The cost is $7.50 per tree survey,” Correa said, and he estimated the inventory would cover about “1,866 trees” located in the borough right‑of‑way.
Correa described deliverables that will accompany the inventory: an Excel spreadsheet, a PDF arborist report and a Google Earth map that plots thousands of trees and provides photographs, diameter, disease indicators and utility‑conflict notes. Corcoran (administrator) specified the grant covers $14,000 of the inventory work but does not cover the subscription service for the mapping software.
Council members pressed on ongoing costs: one council member questioned paying roughly $18,000 for a five‑year subscription to ArborPro Urban Forest Management, calling it a large outlay for data the borough already holds. “For $18,000 for 5 years just to know where the trees are … I just think it was tax dollars for information that we already have,” another council member said.
Officials suggested alternatives: the Shade Tree Commission and volunteer university partners were discussed as options to update and maintain inventory data between formal surveys; the council recommended referring subscription decisions to the Shade Tree Commission and the commission’s maintenance plan.
The contract award as presented on the agenda was approved by motion. Staff said they will circulate the draft arborist report to the Shade Tree Commission and return with recommendations about whether to pay for the mapping subscription or rely on locally maintained spreadsheets.
Next steps: the Shade Tree Commission will be asked to review the draft inventory and advise the council on subscription needs and budget options during the coming budget cycle.
