Evanston OKs Suburban Tree Consortium contract for fall plantings; forestry supervisor says in-house planting is a future goal

The City of Evanston’s Administration and Public Works Committee voted Oct. 27 to approve a contract with Suburban Tree Consortium to purchase trees and provide planting services for the upcoming planting season.

Council member Kelly moved the contract and Council member Harris seconded. The committee took a voice vote in favor and the chair announced the item carried.

Kelly asked whether increasing the forestry department’s staffing could allow planting to be done in-house. Tom Iannetti, the city’s forestry supervisor, said he is ‘‘looking for [that] in the future’’ but that given current bandwidth and costs, contracting remains the most economical and efficient option now: ‘‘as of now, right now, this is the cheapest and most efficient way to perform that task.’’

The committee chair noted the math worked out to about $373 per tree for the tree plus planting and said that appeared reasonable; members encouraged staff to continue exploring savings where feasible. There was no detailed cost breakdown or staffing timeline provided during the discussion.

The motion passed by voice vote; the meeting record indicates the item carried and the committee then adjourned.