Laura, I’m not yet sure what all that covers. Late last year, the council approved a contract for a “drainage blanket” at Barton: [link] That appears to have been prompted in part by direction from FERC. The drainage blanket was split between water fund and general fund. I take your question to be more about source of the money than about what work it will cover, but I have inquired about both topics. It’s possible that will be clarified during the budget presentation at tonight’s meeting.

“As an example, studies show that people tend to spend more money in shopping areas that have more trees, she said.”

That’s an unfortunate framing of the phenomenon. Trees also give us cleaner air and more physical comfort when in their proximity in addition to the positive emotional feeling of their visual presence. Maybe someday we’ll also get more food from them as well here in the city.

I’d like to see the city pursue more local solar energy generation. Prices for photovoltaic modules are dropping, and there’s a window of opportunity to tap into the savings produced through a well considered policy of property tax incentives, maybe rolled into the PACE program.

I am very encouraged by the way our (relatively) new City Administrator is handling these issues. It seems that the city is on a good course again after some disastrous years.