More than new trees: $3.33 million Trees Atlanta proposal held for review

Atlanta’s Finance/Executive Committee voted unanimously Oct. 28 to hold a proposed Trees Atlanta agreement worth up to $3,331,490 for additional information and further review, according to draft meeting minutes.⁠[1][2]

Councilmember Antonio Lewis’s resolution, 26-R-4273, would draw the money from the city’s Tree Trust Fund. The work goes beyond planting: it includes tree maintenance, education for children and adults, training residents to care for trees, and volunteer removal of invasive plants that damage urban forests.⁠[2][3]

The resolution says the interim Parks and Recreation commissioner and chief procurement officer recommend the agreement. It seeks a special procurement under a city-code provision for unusual or unique situations in which normal competitive-purchasing requirements would run contrary to the public interest, but the purchase does not technically qualify as sole-source procurement.⁠[2]

Its argument for the arrangement emphasizes Trees Atlanta’s use of neighborhood volunteers, which the resolution credits with reducing service costs and building neighborhood involvement.⁠[2]

The proposal also includes a tree-by-tree check for NeighborWoods planting: Trees Atlanta would need approval from the parks commissioner or a designee for each tree’s species and location before planting it. That condition applies specifically to the NeighborWoods project.⁠[2]

The minutes’ entry gives no further detail on the information committee members sought. Their recorded action was a hold—not approval of the proposed agreement.⁠[1]