TITLE
Recommendation to authorize City Manager to execute all necessary agreements, and any subsequent amendments thereto, with the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) to receive $108,025 in grant funds to implement the Tree Planting Partnership Program; and increase appropriations in the Development Services Fund (SR 137) in the Department of Development Services (DV) by $108,205. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
On July 30, 2009, the City of Long Beach submitted an application for the Local Government Match Program - Tree Partnership (Tree Partnership), which offered matching funding towards additional qualifying tree planting projects implemented by cities and counties. The primary goal of the Tree Partnership is to assist cities and counties within the South Coast Air Basin to provide additional tree planting within their communities, educational facilities or other public land areas controlled by the city or county. The Tree Partnership also encourages employing students and providing community education as parts of the tree planting projects.
The Tree Partnership was not a traditional competitive grant. Funding was distributed to the most cost-efficient applications that also satisfy specified project requirements.
The City of Long Beach's grant proposal was selected as competitive because of the ratio of trees planted to grant funding requested, the number of temporary green jobs for students/youth, the total number of hours to be used, the percentage of trees that are drought tolerant, and the amount of pollutants expected to be reduced.
The Tree Partnership will be successfully implemented through a combination of scheduled tree plantings and community/neighborhood group plantings. Scheduled planting will be implemented through the hiring of temporary green jobs (students/youth) to conduct regular plantings in medians, right-of-ways and tree wells along major arterials and corridors identified throughout Long Beach. In addition to the scheduled ...
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