WGVA 106.3FM 1240AMMix 98.5101.7 The WallWFLR Finger Lakes Country Classic Hits 99.3The Lake 100.1/104.5 WAUB 96.3FM 1590AM

Auburn Seeking Funding to Aid in Tree Planting & Maintenance

SHARE NOW

Last year, the City of Auburn received nearly $1 million in grant funding to replace over 12,000 trees lost in the city to the invasive emerald ash borer. Now, the city’s hoping to snag an additional $400,000 for equipment to help with that planting and maintenance.

Speaking on FLX Morning, City Clerk Chuck Mason said the new equipment will be an investment into the future of the city’s trees.

With a million dollars worth of tee money coming in over the next five years, there’s going to be plenty of new tree planting throughout the city and this grant, if successful, will give us the equipment that we need to maintain that program long into the future,” said Mason.

To this end, the city is seeking to purchase two vehicles:

An Altec Over center Articulating Aerial Vehicle (bucket truck) would replace the city’s 4300 International Bucket Truck which was purchased in 2012 and has reached the end of its useful life.

The City also wants to purchase an Altec F750 Chip Dump Truck. City staff claim the current vehicle used as a chip dump truck, a Terrastar SFA 4 x 2 with an added Chip Box, is “inadequate to complete most t tree pruning projects in one run.” Therefore, the F750 would not only serve as a dedicated chip dump truck but also allow the city to repurpose the Terrastar to serve other roles.

While the money from last year came directly from the federal government through the USDA’s Forestry Service’s Urban and Community Forestry Program, Mason added that the $395,257 the city is currently seeking would be provided at the state level through the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Urban and Community Forestry Grant Program.

 

Get the top stories on your radio 24/7 on Finger Lakes News Radio 96.3 and 1590, WAUB and 106.3 and 1240, WGVA, and on Finger Lakes Country, 96.1/96.9/101.9/1570 WFLR.