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Memorandum <br /> July 16, 1991 <br /> TO: Shawn Boles, City Councilor FROM: Jan Staszewski, Urban Forester <br /> SUBJECT: Small Business Association (SBA) Tree Planting Grant Status <br /> As a board member of the Oregon Urban and Community Forest Council I was <br /> aware that this grant would be made available early this summer. After dis- <br /> cussions with staff, I determined that pursuing the grant this year was not <br /> feasible for three reasons: 1) In this first year, of a three year program, <br /> the federal government had difficulty in developing grant criteria, As a <br /> result the opportunity to apply was brief, allowing only 19 business days to <br /> prepare the grant application. Within this time constraint the City was to <br /> locate and contract with'a private landscape contractor and tree nursery, <br /> plus assure that they met federal hiring requirements. The process to sub- <br /> mit the application would also have required time, which would not have <br /> been available,for review and approval with both Public Works and the <br /> Intragovernmental Relations Division (IGR). In addition, the staff needed to <br /> prepare the application for this grant are the same people working on the <br /> Urban Forest Management Plan. Unfortunately, the strict time line for the <br /> development of the management plan does not allow for other time intensive <br /> projects. <br /> 2) From personal conversations with the people reviewing these grant appli- <br /> cations, cities without established tree programs would have higher priority <br /> over other cities. This money, in part, is to be used as an incentive to <br /> encourage cities to establish a tree program. <br /> 3) In applying for this grant, decisions on policies of where and how to <br /> plant trees would have been made immediately without allowing public input or <br /> approval of City Council. These planting policies will soon be presented to <br /> the citizens at the public hearing on the Urban Forest Management Plan. A <br /> negative impression of the City's public input process may have been made if <br /> these policy decisions were perceived to have been made by staff prior to the <br /> public hearings. With an approved Urban Foresty Management Plan to work <br /> from, I feel we will be in a much better position to pursue this and several <br /> other grant opportunities in calendar year 1992. <br /> I very much appreciate your interest and in your bring this and any other <br /> issues to my attention. <br /> cc: Bob Hammitt <br /> Johnny Medlin <br /> Pam Berrian <br />