After years in the making, Prince Edward County council has given a new tree management and preservation policy the green light.

At its meeting Tuesday night, council approved the policy with the aim of conserving, maintaining and increasing the tree canopy of Prince Edward County.

"It is critical to increase our municipal tree canopy and to grow the urban forest for the climate mitigation benefits our declared climate emergency requires," said Ewa Bednarczuk, vice chair of the Environmental Advisory Committee.

She said a great deal of time, research, expert deliberation and thought about the required climate change mitigation has gone into producing this tree policy document.  The group has been drafting, reviewing and commenting on it over the last four years, she said.

"The natural environment plays a key role in addressing and adapting to climate change," Bednarczuk said.  

She pointed to how all levels of government recognize the value of trees and the great return on investment they provide and as a result a variety of funding is available to support the planting of trees in urban areas as well as across the landscape.  She added the natural cover group will pursue these opportunities to help implement the tree policy in Prince Edward County.  

"Many community members have already expressed interest with tree planting and watering activities," she explained.  "Both of these elements will help manage the cost of tree planting and maintenance."

There are also plans to launch an Adopt A Tree program in the County in the spring.

The natural cover group will work to review the new tree policy in action and make recommendations of improvement every three years, she said.  

Council agreed with the staff the 2021 budget of $20,000 for tree replanting would be sufficient.

In other business, the County will consider a request by the OPP to purchase Closed Circuit TV (CCTV) cameras.

Council heard how the OPP has been lobbying for security cameras for a while and has asked the municipality to apply any police services budget surplus to the purchase of CCTV cameras.
The County clerk indicated there was a surplus and will get back to council with those figures.

What the cameras will be used for, their location, how many are required and the total cost is expected in a future report.