City of Colorado Springs - File #: 17-963

• File #: 17-963
• Version: 3
• Type: Ordinance
• Status: Mayor's Office
• File created: 4/20/2017
• In control: City Council
• On agenda: 7/11/2017
• Final action: 7/11/2017
• Title: Ordinance No. 17-54 amending Ordinance No. 16-116 (2017 Appropriation Ordinance) for a Supplemental Appropriation to the General Fund in the amount of $75,000 for tree cleanup from the April 2017 snowstorm Presenter: Karen Palus, Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Director Jay Hein, City Forester

Date	Ver.	Action By	Action	Result
7/11/2017	1	City Council	finally passed	Pass
6/27/2017	1	City Council	denied	Fail
6/27/2017	1	City Council	approved on first reading	Pass
6/13/2017	1	City Council	postpone to a date certain	Pass
5/8/2017	1	Council Work Session	referred

Title
Ordinance No. 17-54 amending Ordinance No. 16-116 (2017 Appropriation Ordinance) for a Supplemental Appropriation to the General Fund in the amount of $75,000 for tree cleanup from the April 2017 snowstorm

Presenter:
Karen Palus, Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Director
Jay Hein, City Forester

Body
Summary:
The attached ordinance is a supplemental appropriation to the General Fund in the amount of $75,000 to continue the Park Forestry Division's emergency response to the April 4, 2017 snowstorm that created significant tree damage throughout much of Colorado Springs.

Previous Council Action:
On November 26, 2016, City Council approved the 2017 Budget per Ordinance No. 16-116, which included the appropriation of funds for the General Fund.

Background:
On Monday, April 4, 2017, the City of Colorado Springs experienced a spring snowstorm that created significant tree damage throughout much of the community. Many tree species were beginning to leaf out, which gave the snow additional surface area to adhere to. As a result, thousands of trees began losing branches. The hardest hit parts of the City were downtown, the Old North End, and Old Colorado City. On the west side of town, nearly every tree experienced some level of failure, resulting in extensive damage. Many roads were not passable due to the high volume of broken limbs. Presenting an even higher risk to the public is the high volume of branches that have either partially or completely broken off from the tree, yet remain in the canopy.

The Forestry Division has fielded well over 1,000 phone calls and online requests as a result of this storm. In addition to the citizen requests, crews are finding tremendous amounts of damage as they work from block to block. The highest priority is removing the broken branches that are still in the canopy, as they pose the greatest threat to human health and property. In the two weeks since the storm, the Forestry Division crews and contr...