The information presented here will be helpful to grant awardees as they progress through the completion of their funded project.

Program Background

The Healthy Urban Tree Canopy Grant Program provides funding to expand and maintain the tree canopy in Cuyahoga County. The impact of the program and the growth of Cuyahoga County’s tree canopy may take several years to be realized since it takes about eight years for a newly planted tree to grow to a height that can be measured as tree canopy.

Awards Workshop

The Awards Policy Reimbursement Workshop was held on on April 11, 2022.

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Post-Award Timeline

  • All grant awardees were notified by email of their funding award on April 5, 2022.
  • All awardees were required to attend the mandatory Awards Policy Reimbursement Workshop held via Zoom on April 11, 2022.
  • Project Agreements must be signed and returned no later than June 10, 2022. The Project Agreement is a fillable PDF and all requested information in the form must be supplied by the applicant. If not returned by June 10, 2022 the grant award will be forfeited. Additional required attachments to the Project Agreement include:
  • Send Project Agreement with required attachments and direct all inquiries to:

Required Acknowledgement

When publicizing the grant-funded project, the awardee is required to acknowledge the Healthy Urban Tree Canopy Grant Program funding and the financial support of Cuyahoga County, whether promoted on a website; social media; event programs; educational materials; promotional materials; research papers; media interviews; signage; emails; annual reports; benefit events/fundraising. The following must be included on all printed and digital materials:

  • A Cuyahoga County logo
  • The statement, “This project is supported in part by the residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from the Cuyahoga County Healthy Urban Tree Canopy Grant Program.”

Reimbursement Procedure

Requirements

When seeking reimbursement for grant project expenses and to document ‘match’ costs, please use the Grant Reimbursement Form. Reimbursement requests can be sent to:

Requests for reimbursement can be submitted monthly (see Quarterly Reimbursement Schedule) and must include:

  • Project ID # that has been assigned to the grant in the subject line, for example, MAP-22-01 April Reimbursement
  • Invoices/receipts for goods/services
  • Cancelled checks or bank statements showing payment of the invoices/receipts for goods/services
  • Payroll records showing hourly wage and hours worked for in-house labor costs

Please note that the Cuyahoga Soil & Water Conservation District will continuously monitor all stages of the project planting activities and will visit the project site for on-site observation. Awardees will not be reimbursed if the tree planting activity is not approved by the Cuyahoga Soil & Water Conservation District. The awardee is required to notify the Cuyahoga Soil & Water Conservation District no later than 72 hours in advance of any scheduled tree planting activity. To arrange for this site visit, please notify:

Reminders and Tips

  • Project costs not expressly included in the approved application will not be reimbursed.
  • Project cost overruns will be the responsibility of the awardee.
  • Grant administration costs such as travel-related expenses, preparation of reimbursement requests, or preparation of project reporting form are not eligible as ‘match’ costs.
  • Include a detailed description of ‘match’ costs when submitting the Grant Reimbursement Form for reimbursement of grant project costs.
  • For detailed instructions about reimbursements and progress reports, please refer to the Reimbursement Request and Quarterly Report Procedures.

Progress Report

Awardees are required to submit a Quarterly Progress Report based on the workplan. Quarterly Progress Reports can be sent to:

If no work was performed for the grant project, simply check the appropriate box on the form that signifies that no work was done. When completing the Quarterly Progress Report form, please include:

  • Project ID # that has been assigned to the grant in the subject line, for example, MAP-22-01 Quarterly Report

Project Scope Change Requests

Requests to change the project schedule, the project scope, or to use remaining grant funds for tree planting can be made using the Grant Program Change Request form. Any change request must be directly related to the approved grant project and will not be considered if it is a request for additional funding. All change requests will be reviewed by the grant evaluation team.

Project Close Out

 The grant awardee must notify the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission of the project termination with the submission of a Project Close Out form. This form should be submitted with the final request for reimbursement of grant project costs. Other required information that should be included with the Project Close Out form is:

  • Final Quarterly Report
  • A summary report which includes a description of the project highlights
  • Plan of post-grant activities that will support the health of the newly planted trees