Harbor Springs City Council approves funding for new trees, to consider maintenance funding options
HARBOR SPRINGS — The Harbor Springs Tree Advisory Board addressed the city council on Monday regarding the benefits trees offer a community, address the goals of the board and discuss plans they'd like to see city assistance in.
The Tree Advisory Board was originally started in 2013, and the board is tasked with completing the city's tree plan, setting and establishing policy, providing input on individual's vegetation requests, educating the public and increasing the city's urban forest.
Among the activities the board has worked on in the last year, board chair Dana Mulder highlighted the completed plan for the Bay Bluffs tree replacement project; hosting the city's third annual Arbor Day Fest, which is a necessary celebration to maintain the city's Tree City USA designation; writing a bi-monthly Tree Canopy column in the Harbor Light newspaper; and finalizing the City of Harbor Springs Street Tree Plan.
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The Harbor Springs Street Tree Plan was designed to provide shade within city neighborhoods, calm traffic, ensure tree locations don't interfere with city infrastructure, make sure trees have the best opportunity for health and more.
Part of the plan will also require maintenance, which the board is requesting funding for. There are also plans to apply for grants to bring in money. The board requested the city fund the first 12 trees as well, which would be accompanied by 12 donated trees. This request was approved by council.
Additionally, there are plans to work with Harbor Springs Public Schools on the Blackbird Pocket Forest project, partner with the DDA on a Downtown Streetscape Project and more.
Following Mulder's presentation, Harbor Springs Arborist Ben Veling spoke to the council about the importance of maintaining trees.
"It is an easy ask for a state agency to ask for grant money to plant a tree, but we don't get any help with trying to keep them alive once they're there," he said.
He spoke about the importance of ensuring young trees are receiving the proper care they need, and that any dying or failing trees are maintained so if one breaks on a person's property, the city is protected in terms of liability.
Additionally, Veling noted the types of natural mitigation trees offer a community, such as keeping the area cooler as a sort of natural air conditioner.
"They are big, huge biological sponges for things like water and for some of the pollutants in the air," he said. "They just suck up everything in the environment and they put it some place where they can release it later. When we can keep trees alive longer it means the air pollution and the carbon that we have as pollution stays sequestered and it's not being returned into the environment."
When it came to maintenance, city manager Victor Sinadinoski said he wanted the council to start thinking about different ways they'd like to ensure money is set aside for the maintenance of trees within the city.
— Contact reporter Karly Graham at kgraham@petoskeynews.com. Follow her on Twitter at @KarlyGrahamJRN.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Harbor Springs City Council approves funding for new trees, to consider maintenance plans
