The Jacksonville City Council Neighborhoods Committee has approved $250,000 to fund the planting of a tree at nearly every Duval school.
Jacksonville has roughly $9 million in two tree protection funds.
With the city facing a tight budget year, Councilman Bill Gulliford said he doesn’t want money just sitting there.
“I got to believe that there are things beyond this, which is a great project,” he said. “There are things way beyond this that we can do to utilize those funds in a good way. So I encourage maybe that’s something this committee might look at Mr. Chairman, in the future.”
If the plan passes the full Council, schools will get to pick the type of tree planted on their campuses.
Councilwoman Anna Lopez Brosche said it’s an opportunity for the city to strengthen its relationship with the school district.
The Council is in the process of figuring out the city’s budget for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1.
Photo used under Creative Commons.
