City Of Brentwood, MO
Davey Resource Group provides support to the Brentwood, MO, Parks and Recreation Superintendent through professional advice, assessments, and proactive maintenance recommendations for the city’s trees.
Project Narrative:
The City of Brentwood, Missouri, located in St. Louis County, takes pride in offering comprehensive city services, including urban forest management, to its over 8,000 residents. The City recognizes the significant value and benefits that their tree canopy provides and has initiated new strategies to continue supporting the public tree resources.
In 2014, Davey completed a street tree inventory and management plan. The City is now embracing the results of this effort and has developed an aggressive management goal to remove high and severe risk trees, as well as begin replanting in available planting locations and scheduling maintenance pruning. Utilizing the existing tree inventory and TreeKeeper software, the Parks Department was able to run reports showing tree species, maintenance needs, locations, and sizes. Additionally, the existing management plan helped new staff understand how to best prioritize maintenance to improve both tree health and public safety. This information generated political support and allowed the Parks Department to successfully demonstrate the need for additional funding and the Board of Aldermen approved a budget increase to accommodate the request.
Getting A Leg Up In Urban Forest Health
Recently, street tree management in Brentwood was moved from under Public Works to the Parks and Recreation Department. Due to the limited forestry expertise in the City, they contracted DRG to support the Parks Superintendent and provide professional advice, assessments, and maintenance recommendations for trees identified by the City or local residents as possible concerns.
The City of Brentwood has also contracted with Davey more recently to provide “On-Call Urban Forestry Services” with the intent to address the initial short-term work and to establish a relationship for future support. Under this partnership, Davey will provide pruning, removal, planting and tree maintenance, as well as tree inventory data management support, and consulting services for Brentwood’s scheduled tree work, residential tree concerns, and emergency tree situations. Davey may also work with Brentwood to provide solutions for emerging issues including, establishing a strategy for emerald ash borer, developing a proactive 5-year strategic plan, training to maximize TreeKeeper’s potential, and creating a comprehensive tree planting plan for the streets and parks.
The partnership between the City of Brentwood and the Davey Tree Expert Company is a cost-effective model for cities interested in taking a proactive, comprehensive approach to urban forestry management.