Council approves $78,000 for habitat restoration of streams and forests

The purpose of the agreement is to contract with the Washington State Department of Ecology
Conservation Corps (WCC) to maintain stream and habitat restoration sites around the City.

Maintenance is a follow-up activity that is crucial to the success of restoration and  Read More >>

mitigation capital improvement projects. . Maintenance is typically required by permit approvals for the first five to ten years after project completion. The value of site maintenance goes far beyond permit compliance in that it protects and improves the public investment in these habitat

enhancements, promoting healthy and attractive restoration areas. Maintenance of

restoration sites involves control of invasive weeds, litter patrol, replacement planting, and

other activities important to overall project success. This regular site maintenance enhances

already completed projects, building on the initial investment, as well as improving the

aesthetics of sites.  Read More >>

 

Washington State Department of Ecology’s WCC program crews accomplish a variety of

natural resource-related activities for local jurisdictions and non-profit organizations, and are

awarded to jurisdictions via competitive application. WCC staff are typically interning

college-age students learning restoration techniques and gaining job skills. A crew consists of

six staff that works a 40-hour work week.

The City of Redmond has utilized full or part-time WCC crews since 2004, including a six month

crew and a four-week travel (“spike”) crew for 2012-13. For the upcoming 2013-14 season, the City was granted the opportunity to hire a Federal AmeriCorps-subsidized six month crew. The subsidized crew will save the City $18,700 compared to an un-subsidized 6-month crew. The on-going relationship with WCC is partly because Redmond provides interesting and diverse work for the crews.
 

A six-month WCC crew for Redmond will cost $60,000 (work distributed throughout the

2013-14 season), and a 4-week travel crew to perform specialized work will cost an

additional $18,800. The travel crew includes Corps members that have additional

experience with unique projects. Using the 6-month crew and the travel crew during 2013-

14 will allow the City to continue the progress that has been made on project maintenance

during 2012-13.
 

The work consists primarily of removing invasive plants from City of Redmond capital

improvement project sites, totaling approximately 55 acres distributed around the city.

Installation of replacement plantings also occupies a significant portion of the crew’s time.

In addition, the crew provides assistance with volunteer events, native plant replacement,

habitat assessment, small stream maintenance projects, and site monitoring. The level of

maintenance for each location on the site restoration map varies widely. Older more

established sites may only require a brief check for weeds every six to twelve months, while

recently planted sites are worked intensively three or four times per year.

Consent Agenda, 9/3/2013