If a storm comes and a big tree falls across a cart path in Peachtree City, it doesn’t matter if someone hears it or not.
What matters is getting that tree out of the way, and that’s why the city budgets $45,000 each year for contracted tree removal.
At last week’s city council meeting, the Peachtree City Council approved a contract for tree removal with Valley Crest at a rate of $49 an hour.
Valley Crest undercut the second-lowest bidder, White Meadows Tree Service, by $1, while the other seven bidders ranged from $55.50 an hour to $166.66 an hour.
In addition to the emergency tree removal, the contract also covers the removal of diseased and dangerous trees from right of way areas, greenbelts and cart paths.
The city has a flat budget of $45,000 for the work.
In other business council approved a one-year agreement with Coweta-Fayette EMC to provide natural gas to city facilities. The city stands to save almost $5,000 over the agreement with a price of 44 cents per therm, which is a five-cent savings compared to the previous year.
Coweta Fayette EMC has been the city’s natural gas provider for at least the past eight years, according to city staff.
In addition to the lower therm rate, Coweta Fayette EMC has consistently offered the city a lower monthly capacity charge than any other natural gas supplier: by about 15 percent.
The other benefit of locking in the low therm rate now is that it will give staff the ability to budget based on a known cost, officials said.
