INC NEWS - more bull - "Tree City" but no maintenance

[RW Pickle]

Recent storm activity has opened what appears to be a large "hole" in what
our community has come to expect as "public safety" and "service". And it
all relates to the removal of storm debris and dead trees!

The July 4th storm left a swatch of SW Durham with a mess. Trees across
roads, trees on houses, and like most of the 64 parks in our fair city,
trees down in our parks. Some were dealt with quickly (like the trees that
had fallen across 15-501, Vickers and the one that blocked the street I
live on). While others, like the trees that have fallen in our parks, I
was told, may be three months away from being dealt with.

This brings up the point I discussed with Urban Forestry today about the
lack of manpower to even deal with normal tree debris, much less something
like a freak storm causes. If Urban Forestry spent just a week in every
park in town, cleaning up debris, cutting dead and diseased trees, and
pruning up the dangerous limbs, it would take them a year and a half just
to get that done. And that doesn't even consider the many dead trees that
line our roads or the storm debris from even a small storm like we
recently had last Friday. I've looked at a downed tree in Northgate Park
(I go to the dog park there every day) for two months I know. So the 90
day figure I was told today must be real.

Every so often you hear about the Mayor planting a new tree to maintain
our status as "Tree City USA". You see the signs all over town and our
tree lined streets have become a wonderful part of living here. We can't
continue to be a "tree city" if we can't deal with them. Like everything
else in this City, there comes a time when we just have to get some
outside help just to catch up. That day has arrived!

Typically Urban Forestry deals with cutting down 150 trees a year. This
year, because of the drought last year, it will be more like 850. Then you
add in a freak storm like we had last week, and there's just no way Urban
Forestry can even catch up. When these dead trees start falling, and they
will, I only hope there are not a bunch of children playing under them...
We need a contractor to come in and give our City a hand at getting the
dead, diseased, downed, and pruning or our trees under control. If it's 90
days to get trees down from just the small storm we had last week, what
will happen if we get another Fran this year? It only gets worse until we
can get caught up! We spent millions of dollars on these knuckle boom
trucks. Solid Waste, Neighborhood Improvement Services, Urban Forestry;
they all have them (and 4 more new ones are on the way!). Lets get them
working!!! 90 days is just not acceptable for ridding a public space or
our City right-of-ways of tree debris and standing dead trees. It's time
to get some additional help to get caught up.

RWP
27 Beverly