TEMPLE TERRACE, Fla. (WFTS) — The Temple Terrace City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution awarding a $53,500 contract to Biotech Consulting LLC for urban forest services, a move city leaders said will give them tools to proactively manage and expand the city’s tree canopy.
The services include three primary goals: a tree inventory and condition assessment for all city-owned trees with a diameter at breast height of 12 inches or greater, a citywide urban canopy assessment, and a comprehensive urban forest management plan.
Four firms submitted proposals, and the city’s evaluation committee—chaired by City Arborist Joe Ferris and including staff from public works and parks and recreation—shortlisted two before selecting Biotech Consulting unanimously.
Watch full report from Jada Williams
Community Development Director Greg Pauley noted that the full 103-page contract is available for public review and confirmed the project will be funded by the city’s tree and landscape beautification fund.
The study will inventory and catalog mature trees on public lands, providing a management plan to guide preservation and identify new planting areas.
“This is going to give staff an opportunity to be proactive and not reactive,” Pauley said. “It will provide staff today and staff years down the road an effective management plan to not only preserve the current urban canopy, but also identify potential planting areas.”
The project will cover designated parks, public spaces, city facilities, preserves, and city-maintained roadways and rights-of-way. Leased properties, such as the city golf course, are excluded from the inventory but will be included in the canopy analysis through aerial imagery.
Biotech Consulting plans to complete the work between September and mid-November. Ferris acknowledged the potential for weather delays but said the timeline was a projection.
Evan Quigley, an environmental scientist with Biotech, said the project will add to historical data.
“The canopy data would be adding to historical data and giving you a sense of how the canopy’s grown, what areas you could plant, the community types of tree community types,” he said. “It’ll be actionable, and a management plan will guide you but also be adjustable based on the wants and needs of the city.”
Arborist Explains Why the Work Matters
Tampa Bay 28 reporter Jada Williams talked to Joe Ferris, Temple Terrace’s City Arborist, about the plans. Ferris said the investment will give residents a clearer picture of the health and future of their trees.
“They’ll be identifying the type of trees, the sizes, their condition, their health condition. Simultaneously with that, they’ll also be doing a aerial survey of all our canopy coverage, which will include any residential trees, any of our heavy wooded preserve areas, which will give a study of what type of canopy coverage we have and how that’s changed over the years. And then both of these will be put together to produce a urban forestry master plan that will be used by the city to help us determine where we can plant new trees to add to our canopy. Focus on the trees that need either removal or mitigation to preserve our trees," he explained.
When asked why that mattered, Ferris didn’t hesitate.
“As our trees are very important to the city. We have protected trees, and this, this is the final puzzle for that protection is having that urban forestry master plan, again, it’ll help guide us on how to protect and preserve our trees and adding to that canopy over the years.”
He also noted the timing, with hurricane season underway.
“We lost a good number of trees [last year], but we still have a really good, strong canopy that’s left,” Ferris said. “It could have been a lot worse than what it was, and we did lose, and you’re going to when you have a category three, and we’re on that strong side of the storm, but we still do have quite a bit of canopy that is left.”
Ferris added that the consulting team will help spot risks before storms hit.
“They’ll identify the trees that need to be focused on,” he said. “Are there ones that are in such decline that they should be taken care of, now, removed or mitigated, meaning that are there things to be done to the tree for trimming and removal, to help preserve the tree, so they’ll focus on that, and that’ll be part of that whole master plan.”
Resident Perspective
Temple Terrace resident Steve Kinney said he was glad to hear about the city’s investment.
“I mean, look around. It’s on the registry of Tree City USA towns and people love their oak trees around here and the rest,” Kinney said. “So if they’re going to invest some money in maintaining that, I’m all for it. I mean, the property taxes around here should more than cover it.”
When asked about the idea of cataloging trees and monitoring losses, Kinney smiled.
“Unleash the arborists! Heck, I’m semi employed right now. I might even look into working with them."
Kinney said the project aligns with his passion.
“My favorite hobby and occupation is walking around in Temple Terrace, taking pictures and such. So yeah, and trees are beautiful and they are rather necessary too.”
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