Title
Resolution authorizing the Mayor, and Director of Public works of the City of Pittsburgh, to enter into an Agreement or Agreements with Tree Pittsburgh, a Pennsylvania non-profit corporation, for Tree Pittsburgh to utilize goats as a vegetation management option in designated City Parks.
Body
WHEREAS, Tree Pittsburgh’s goal is to protect and restore the City of Pittsburgh’s (City) urban forests; and
WHEREAS, Tree Pittsburgh has received, with the cooperation of Steel City Grazers, Pittsburgh Parks conservancy, Mount Washington Community Development Corporation, and the City, an implementation grant from the Allegheny County Conservation District to use goats as a vegetation management strategy on select sites in several Pittsburgh Parks; and
WHEREAS, Tree Pittsburgh will subcontract with Steel City Grazers, a limited liability company; and
WHEREAS, Tree Pittsburgh has no right to subcontract with any other group unless Tree Pittsburgh notifies the City in writing and obtains approval from the City; and
WHEREAS, the goats have a natural ability to walk where humans and machines are challenged and to eat invasive species that would otherwise be sprayed with chemical pesticides, or left untreated, and the goats will be used to clear sites of invasive plant species that threaten to spread and destroy surrounding tree canopy; and
WHEREAS, Tree Pittsburgh will ensure that the goats are adequately secure to protect the goats and the public by providing fencing and other protective measures as necessary; and
WHEREAS, the City now wishes formally to enter into an Agreement or Agreements to document the responsibilities of each party.
Be it resolved by the Council of the City of Pittsburgh as follows:
Section 1. The Mayor and the Director of the Department of Public Works are hereby authorized to enter into an Agreement or Agreements with Tree Pittsburgh to utilize goats as a means to manage vegetation in select sites in City parks, pursuant to which Tree Pittsburgh will maintain and care for the goats and will provide adequate fencing to protect the goats and the public. This Agreement or these Agreements will be in a form approved by the City Solicitor.