Toccoa to apply for grant to plant downtown trees

Toccoa city commissioners, at the July 24 meeting , approved the application for a grant to continue the Currahee Street Beautification Project.

City Manager Billy Morse said the $15,000 grant from the Georgia Forestry Commission, if awarded, would require no matching funds and provide more than 100 trees to be planted in downtown Toccoa, as well as 20 trees that Toccoa will give away to members of the public in celebration of Toccoa’s 20th anniversary as a Tree City.

Morse told WNEG News that the trees would be delivered this coming fall, and described where the grant-funded trees would be planted.

Morse said a variety of tree species would be included in the planting, and explained that the grant would include one year of maintenance on the trees to help insure their health and adaptation to their new location. 

Toccoa was designated as a Tree City USA in 2006 at the Georgia Arbor Day Ceremony by the Georgia Urban Forest Council. Criteria for becoming a Tree City USA includes spending at least $2 per capita on tree planting, maintenance, pruning and education in the efforts to beautify Toccoa each year. Toccoa is one of 112 certified Tree City USA communities in the state of Georgia.

The commission vote was unanimous in favor of the application for the grant.