By Kim Mason
A city plan to replace trees lost in last January’s ice storm, has been applauded by Centretown community associations.
Both the Centretown Community Citizens’ Association and the Dalhousie Community Association say they will likely participate in the Grow Together program, announced by Mayor Jim Watson last month. The program will match funds raised by non-profit community associations for planting trees in the city, up to a maximum of $2,000 per association.
Glenn Sheskay, president of the Centretown Community Citizen’s Association, said his group is likely to participate.
“This program is something we would be interested in,” he said. “Our organization has always had a goal of greening the downtown area to make it more liveable for residents.”
Sheskay said there are some specific areas in Centretown in need of trees.
“The Gladstone area could definately use some trees, as well as around the local schools,” he said.
Archie Campbell, president of the Dalhousie Community Association, also expresses his group’s interest.
“I think we would participate,” he said. “We could certainly replace some of the casualties of the ice storm.”
Funding for the program comes from the Community Foundation of Ottawa-Carleton.
The foundation received $45,000 from an anonymous donor and turned it over to the city on the condition it be matched by community associations. Community groups will raise their share in fund-raising events.
The program is open to all non-profit community associations in Ottawa.
“There are so many active groups that the $45,000 should be matched quite quickly,” Watson said. “We would like to get as many groups across the city as possible to participate.”
Julianne Bertulli, a special assistant to the mayor , said 52 groups were sent Grow Together applications. She, like the mayor, expects community reaction to be favourable.
“The groups that usually do a lot of fund-raising will have good results,” said Bertulli. “It’s a very self-motivated program.”
Three-quarters of the city’s 60,000 trees were damaged by the ice storm, with 6,000 damaged so badly they must be removed and replaced.
The money raised in the campaign will be added to another $70,000 the city has budgeted for tree planting, said Watson.
Applications for the Grow Together program are due Dec. 15. Funds will be collected by Feb. 27, when the decision on where to plant the trees will be made. They have to be planted on public property, but specific locations will be decided by the City of Ottawa in co-operation with the community associations.